Last Night In The NBA: Blowouts, Upsets, Fired Coaches And Much More!
Good morning everybody, happy Monday 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. On a day where almost everyone was focused on football, there were also 7 NBA games on Sunday, but sadly, it was a day filled with mostly blowouts. Some upsets for sure, even a coach firing, but I wouldn’t exactly say it as a night filled with high drama. The good news is I know you don’t want to do shit this morning and I have a plethora of basketball highlights to show you, so why not get started. If you didn’t happen to catch any of the action yesterday, here’s what happened.
Brooklyn Nets (20-21) 117 vs Chicago Bulls (10-30) 100
There’s no denying the fact that D’Angelo Russell may be playing the best basketball of his career as of late. Over his last 5 games he’s putting up 26.5/7.5 on 48/35% splits with 3.3 3PM a night. That’s not too shabby. Last night he was the best player on the floor for the Nets, dropping 28 in his 33 minutes
Now winners of three straight, the feisty Nets are being pretty feisty. They are quickly moving up the bottom of the East, now only 0.5 games behind MIA for the 6th seed. They’ve done that not just through the strong play of Russell, but also because Jarrett Allen is turning into one of the best young centers in the entire NBA. He had another solid night in this game, finishing with 19/6 and a couple blocks
then off the bench both Napier and Demare Carroll were fairly unstoppable, both combining for 38 points
For a game that was tied at the half, the Nets used a strong fourth quarter in which they won 29-18 to ultimately pull away and this was a big win because it brought them to .500 on the road and gave them some momentum they will be riding with into Boston today.
For CHI, just a rough day for Chicago all around. Zach LaVine led the way with 27 points
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and Bobby Portis was very effective off the bench despite his minutes restriction with 17/5
and hey, it’s actually good news that the Bulls have lost 4 in a row and are 3-7 over their last 10. It would have been an even worse day had the Bears lost and the Bulls won, so there’s that. To help cheer you up, here are some babies racing
Los Angeles Lakers (21-19) 86 vs Minnesota Timberwolves (19-21) 108
I found it pretty fitting in terms of summarizing the dysfunction that is the Timberwolves that even with all their previous chances to fire Thibs, it came after blowing out the Lakers at home. That is just too perfect. Normally you get blown out by a dogshit team, that’s usually what triggers the firing; I can’t remember too many times you get canned after beating a team at home by 20+, but that’s why MIN is MIN. The good news is, maybe the next coach that comes in will be able to help their young talent, because they looked pretty good last night
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This was a blowout essentially from the jump, the Wolves got out to a 35-19 lead and never really looked back. Wiggins had 25 in the first half which makes his 28 look a little worse but whatever at least he was finally a positive. The reality is this team is still 2 games out of the 8 spot, but usually we see teams get a little spark when there is a change like this. Sure the Bulls didn’t, but they’re the Bulls. I wouldn’t shock me if we see MIN go on a little run here, especially if they’re going to be defending like they did in this game.
For LAL, let’s all be honest here. This team stinks without LeBron. So much so I feel like I saw on Twitter last night that the LeBron-less Cavs of last year have a better winning percentage than the LeBron-less Lakers this year. Don’t give me that conference bullshit either, their young talent is supposed to be good right? Now let’s also keep telling the truth, Kuzma didn’t play either his his lower back injury, so maybe this was a result every Lakers fan knew was coming.
Just 36/22% splits, 21 TOs, no shit you’re going to get blown out on the road when you do shit like that.
The Lakers have now lost 3 in a row and are desperately close to falling out of the top 8 with UTA right behind them just 1.0 games out. They are the only team in the top 8 who isn’t 6-4 or better over their last 10, they’re coming in at 3-7, so things haven’t exactly been great since LeBron went down.
Orlando Magic (17-22) 96 vs Los Angeles Clippers (23-16) 106
Speaking of teams that couldn’t buy a bucket, may I introduce you to the Orlando Magic. They finished with just 37/29%splits, blew their early 10 point first quarter lead because they followed it up only scoring just 19 in the second quarter. Now Nikola Vucevic was again awesome, he’s going to make a team at the deadline very very happy. He moved up to 6th in scoring all time for the Magic after his 16/24/8 performance
and Mo Bamba was out there doing Mo Bamba things
but to beat a good team like LAC at home, you have to be able to score. Rocket science I know, but it’s true.
For LAC, Tobias Harris continued to make his care for an All Star appearance with some motivation against his former team
things got a little dusty with Marcin Gortat on Polish heritage Day
but ti be honest the Clippers didn’t really shoot the ball all that well either just 43/36%. The good news is they still find themselves in the 4 spot in the West, and trail OKC by just 2 games.
Miami Heat (19-19) 82 vs Atlanta Hawks (12-27) 106
Miami, what the hell are you doing. I’ll tell you what you aren’t doing. Making any damn shot you take. Not often you see an NBA team go 35/14% from the floor and not even crack 90 points when everyone minus Dion Waiters plays, but that was what happened. The staters were horrific, and really if not for the strong play of the second unit, this would have looked even worse and it already looks pretty bad.
It was cool to see Vince and Wade go at each other one last time, but that’s about nit because this game was mostly trash for MIA.
For ATL, a win they certainly did not need and I’m not sure they even wanted. They got strong guard play which always helps
John Collins had another double double with 13/13, and the Hawks now move to 7-10 at home. For those curious, they now sit in the 5th spot in the tanking odds, so they definitely have some work to do.
Washington Wizards (16-24) 116 vs Oklahoma City Thunder (24-15) 98
Hey look, sometimes you throw up clunkers at home. It happens. You play a team where a guy gets hot, things start to get out of control, and the next thing you know you lose by nearly 20 points to a team that stinks. The facts are OKC didn’t really have an answer for either Bradley Beal or Otto Porter Jr who was back and came off the bench. The combined for 45 points and were a problem all night
Sprinkle in a little effective Jeff Green
and that’s how you secure a great road win. This whole thing was very non Wizards, they kept it close, got great production from their bench, and then didn’t fall apart in the fourth quarter. In fact they won that 12 minutes by a score of 26-19. Good for them.
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For OKC, it was Russell Westbrook and MPG13 and nobody else really
they didn’t get much from their bench, seeing this OKC team give up that many points at home is a little surprising considering they own the league’s best defense, and they are now 6-4 over their last 10. The efficiency wasn’t there for the most part and you combine that with a lack of defense, well that’s the formula for getting blown out. Like I said shit happens, the Thunder are still in a fine position, just their first bad loss in a reaaaaaallly long time. No biggie.
Indiana Pacers (26-13) 105 vs Toronto Raptors (30-12) 121
The Pacers had been one of the hottest team in the league, winners of 6 straight when they went into TOR last night. They learned what we all already know, that the Raptors ar ea goddamn machine. They tried to stay close, did a decent job early, but the Raptors just keep coming at you.
Sabonis got the start and chipped in 16/11 which he pretty much does every night, but the problem for the Pacers was mostly on the defensive end. In that fourth quarter it just seemed like every single possession the Raptors were getting layups. Hard to come back when you can’t get a stop to save your life.
For TOR, they finished with 51/51% splits, and we saw their depth come through in a big way. No starter had more than 18 points, 8 players were in double figures, and on a night where Kawhi didn’t play and Lowry only had 12 points on 4-10 shooting, it didn’t matter one bit
Right after beating MIL, this win now has TOR back atop the Eastern Conference standings and it’s going to be tough to knock them down if they are going to continue to play like this. I really can only explain them by calling them a machine, because that’s honestly what they look like.
Charlotte Hornets (19-20) 119 vs Phoenix Suns (9-32) 113
Charlotte finally won a game! Should nout to their strong guard play in Kemba and Tony Parker, they carried this team for the most part
There are rumors that Batum and Frank The Tank are on the block but I’m not sure anyone even wants those two, so it looks like the Hornets may be stuck. As of now they sit in the 8 spot with a 1 game lead over DET, so this was a win they desperately needed. Also shout out to Willy Hernangomez, who I feel like always plays well.
For PHX, not a great night for Devin Booker who went just 3-7, but guys like TJ Warren stepped up with 23 points, DeAndre Ayton had a nice 19/9
and then there was the play of Josh Jackson off the bench, he led everyone with 22 points on 9-13 shooting
Sure they’ve lost 6 in a row and are 2-8 over their last 10, but they also are in the #2 spot in the Lottery tanking odds so it’s not all negative! Sounds like a win in my book.
And that’s it! you’re now all caught up on everything that went down last night in the NBA. We’re back tonight with 8 more games that include some good matchups like BKN/BOS, DEN/HOU, and LAL/DAL. As always if you can’t watch just check back in the morning and I’ll bring you up to speed on what you missed.