Last Night In The NBA: The Legend Of Luka Continues To Grow
Morning everybody and welcome back to another edition of Last Night In The NBA where we bring you up to speed on everything that went down from the night before in the Association. It was a busy Saturday night with 9 games on the schedule, and I’d say it was a night of magic and upsets. Love when we have a near full slate and almost every game is entertaining, so if you were out enjoying yourself on a Saturday night and didn’t get to watch, keep reading because here’s what happened.
Boston Celtics (15-10) 133 vs Chicago Bulls (6-21) 77
We’ll be talking more about this in the usual Celtics blog which will be out after I finish this, so let’s just move on. You don’t need to really see anything from Chicago because frankly I’m not sure they even showed up. Worst home loss in franchise history, that’s how you tank!
Shouts to Shaquille Harrison though, he played great
Houston Rockets (11-14) 104 vs Dallas Mavericks (13-11) 107
Fair to say the Mavericks are the best team in Texas? That seems crazy on the surface but with the Spurs heading for the lottery and the Rockets still looking broken as hell, the Mavs have to own that title until further notice. The Rockets are now 6-9 on the road (nice but not nice) and on a night where Harden and Paul combined for 58 points, you thought maybe this was going to be the game they got back on track. They made 15 3PM, were back to playing defense, and everything looked like we were headed towards a Rockets win
but then the last three minutes of the fourth quarter happened. You know, the quarter in which the Rockets scored just 20 points. You think things get easier, but HOU now faces POR/LAL/MEM/UTA up next after already having lost 3 in a row and 7 of their last 9. This is with their team fully healthy too. Things continue to be a disaster and it most likely is going to get worse.
For DAL, the story is Luka. Period. An 11-0 run all my himself over the last three minutes to win this game, I mean the kid is a stone cold killer
That step back three is Harden Level if not better already, and he’s a teenager. I know there are other rookies having great season, but Luka is a different breed man. The Mavs are 7-3 over their last 10 and a very impressive 11-2 at home.
As dominant as Luka was he had help, with Jalen Brunson looking solid starting for DSJ
and Wesley Matthews chipping in 21 with 4 3PM. A look ahead tells you they have ORL/ATL/PHX/SAC/DEN so the Mavs have a real opportunity here to climb the West rankings.
Sacramento Kings (13-12) 97 vs Indiana Pacers (16-10) 107
Trying to figure out how to get by without Oladipo, nice win by the Pacers here. The Kings are kinda bad, but play teams tough and even though no team could really buy a bucket in this game, the Pacers brought the noise in the fourth quarter to finally pull away, and they did it behind the strong play of Bogdanovic and Thad Young
Sabonis was his usual consistent self with 14/6 off the bench on 6-10 shooting, and we saw why this team has a top 5 defense holding the Kings to one of their lowest scoring nights of the year. Both teams were on a B2B so that probably played a factor, but even still if you’re an IND fan you take any win you can get right now.
For SAC, perhaps they are coming back down to earth a little bit after their great start. They have one more game on this trip against CHI which they should win, but then its MIN/GS/DAL/MIN/OKC/MEM/NO/LAC/LAL/LAL/POR/DEN/GS up next. Look at that run! That’s a brutal schedule if you ask me. Last night though, De’Aaron Fox was solid with his 18/6 on 7-14 shooting
but outside of him no other starter was all that efficient. Buddy Hield had 20 but shot 8-20, and after getting off to their strong start the Kings lost the last three quarters, which is usually less than ideal.
Denver Nuggets (17-9) 98 vs Atlanta Hawks (6-20) 106
Yeah, that score doesn’t make all that much sense. But after learning that Paul Millsap and Gary Harris are going to be out for a while, the Nuggets are running out of bodies. Not to make matters worse, but Jamal Murray left the game too after getting kicked in the shin so that’s not great. With everyone out that meant all the Nuggets really had was Jokic
and while he was awesome, he couldn’t do it by himself. As a team the Nuggets shot just 37/25% and I would so no matter who you play, scoring 21 points in three straight quarters probably isn’t going to get it done. Filling in for Millsap, Trey Lyles went 2-3, and nobody on the second unit was all that efficient either, so yeah this was a surprising loss. As great as the Nuggets have been this season, they are now 8-6 on the road and any time you lose to a 5 win Hawks team, that’s going to be a bad loss.
For ATL, what a career night for John Collins!
So much focus is always on Trae Young (3-12) but last night it was the Collins show. The Hawks guards combined to go 8-30, so they really needed his presence to carry them, and I would say 30/12/5 with 3 3PM did the trick. While I’m sure there are some Hawks fans that are mad they are giving away losses, I think you take a win here and there if it gives you that type of performance from a franchise cornerstone.
Also, I hope Vince never retires
Washington Wizards (11-15) 101 vs Cleveland Cavaliers (6-20) 116
OK what the hell is going on around here. I know the Wizard are a bit of a disaster, but they’ve been playing better lately and now you’re going to get run off the floor by the Cavs? Not the best look, especially when rookie Collin Sexton COOKS John Wall
Any concerns over the health of Tristan Thompson should be put to bed, as he looked great and nearly had a 20/20 night
The Cavs got off to a great start, dropped 38 points in the first quarter and never looked back. A wire to wire win they finished with 52/48% splits, made 15 3PM and turned it over just 7 times. That’s a winning formula if I’ve ever seen one. It’s hard to find a Cav that didn’t play well, and just like with ATL while it may have been annoying to give up a potential loss, you take that if it means you get that sort of night from Sexton.
For WSH, Bradley Beal did his part for sure
But yeah, John Wall finishing with 1 point going 0-5 from the field is pretty crazy. He said after the game this was the first time in his entire life that has happened, and I believe him. When three of your starters put up a total of 11 points, that’s usually going to give you problems. In a weird way the Wizards bench was their best asset which isn’t usually the case, and they even threw up 35 points in the fourth quarter which almost never happens, and they STILL got worked by 15. Now 4-10 on the road, the Wizards clearly have a lonnnnnng way to go.
Brooklyn Nets (10-18) 112 vs New York Knicks (8-10) 104
In the battle of NY, you had one team in BKN that is trying to be good despite being without their best player, and then the Knicks who as we know don’t want wins. That’s why this result isn’t all that surprising, and for BKN they are going to have a real tough decision as to what to do with Spencer Dinwiddie this summer
He finished with 25 points off the bench, and the starters outside of D’Angelo Russell (4-14) were great as the team finishde with 48/50% splits. Even with their best attempt to blow this game scoring just 18 points in the fourth quarter, they still pulled it out and are now 6-8 on the road. Not quite in the playoff picture, but they’re lurking.
For NYK, pretty perfect night really. Another double double from Kanter
and Allonzo Trier showing once again he deserves a full time NBA contract
not really sure what more you could ask for as a Knicks fan, especially on nights where ATL/CLE both won.
Los Angeles Lakers (16-10) 111 vs Memphis Grizzlies (15-10) 88
Hate them if you want (I do), the Lakers just keep on winning. Now 7-3 over their last 10, the Lakers went out and hit 16 3PM, got a big lead early, and it was a wrap by halftime
Josh Hart in a starting spot had 16/4/2/3/2 on 5-10 with 4 3PM so that’s something to keep an eye on, and it’s not often someone comes into MEM like this and blows them out. They usually slow things down too much for that to happen, but LeBron obviously had different plans.
For MEM, they’re 5-5 over their last 10, no starter had more than 12 points, and Conley/Gasol combined to go 9-21. Even Jaren Jackson Jr who has been on a tear was mostly held in check with just 11/8, and when you put up 40/20% splits at home against a LeBron team, things tend to not work out for you. They’ve now lost 3 of their last 4 at home, and that was at one time their biggest advantage. Still in the playoff hunt, but the Grizzlies need to make sure these recent struggles don’t blossom.
Minnesota Timberwolves (13-13) 105 vs Portland Trail Blazers (15-11) 113
While it’s true the Wolves have been playing better since the trade, they still have all sorts of problems on the road. Now 2-9 on the season, they did their best to hang around but ultimately ran out of gas in that fourth quarter. Their starters were great, with all five in double figures and three of them with at least 18 points
but as has often been the achilles heel of this team, it came down to needing to get defensive stops late which they were unable to get with those Dame/CJ threes at the end.
For POR, they’re trying to scratch and claw their way back to the top of the West, and Dame is doing his best to get them there
CJ was back after his little ankle thing and had 19 points, but the second best player for POR on the floor had to be big old Nurkic
He pretty much abused KAT whenever he wanted, and the Blazers now move to 10-4 at home which is going to be big for them moving forward. This was a one possession game entering the final quarter, so it was the perfect time for the Blazers to put up their highest quarter of the night (32 points).
Miami Heat (11-14) 121 vs Los Angeles Clippers (16-9) 98
Advertisement
Ummmm what? The Clippers lost by 20+ at home to the Heat? Those same Heat that were 5-5 on the road? I didn’t even know the Clippers knew how to lose at hot home, but I guess there was some magic in the air on Wade’s 1,000th career game. I mean the guy made 5 3PM which was only like the 3rd time in his career he’s done that, so that’s a bit of a prayer
They also got a great night from Justise Winslow who had 21/9
and then despite going 2-15 from the field my man Olynyk had 15/10/4 off the bench, and if you could believe it this was a close game heading into the fourth, and then things sort of fell apart for the Clippers. The Heat did their part and dropped 30, sadly though only one team actually played over those final 12 minutes.
For LAC, little bit of advice. Score more than 8 points in the final quarter in a close game. You don’t have to go crazy, you just can’t score 8 points.
While you may be upset at how this game ended as a Clippers fan, at least you get some free Chick-fila
unfortunately, you have to wait for it.
And that’s it! You’re now all caught up on everything that happened last night in the NBA. We’re back tonight with 4 more games, most of which are decent matchups but I expect a lot of you will be watching football instead. If that’s the case just check back tomorrow and I’ll bring you up to speed on what you missed.