Last Night In The NBA: Trae Young Is Balling His Dick Off, Playoff Seeding Madness, & Much More!
Good morning everybody happy Friday 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. Now everyone knows you don’t plan on working today with the tournament still going on, so allow this blog to serve as a little appetizer for you because in my opinion adding more basketball to your life is never a bad thing. We had 6 games on the schedule on Thursday night, and while only a few were relatively close it was another night where by the end of it the playoff races in both conferences look like total chaos. With 10 games left things are as tight as I can ever remember and that’s because you never know what might happen on any given night. Playoff teams are being upset, teams are keeping pace with each other as they jockey for position, and as always if you didn’t catch the action last night because you were watching college, here’s what happened.
Minnesota Timberwolves (32-40) 106 vs Charlotte Hornets (32-39) 113
Nothing like a competitive matchup between two lottery teams to get the blood flowing this morning. These are obviously two teams that are just waiting for the season to be over, unfortunately MIN has had to shut down a bunch of players for the rest of the season due to injury, and the Hornets, well the Hornets just mostly stink.
Surprisingly enough things were pretty balanced for MIN. All five starters in double figures led by KATs 21/16/6/2, and remember he’s due for a massive raise if he ends up making an All NBA team this year, it’s certainly going to be a tough conversation when that time comes because I don’t know who you leave off. He’s averaging 30/12 this month after putting up a cool 30/14/4 in February. It got tot he point where CHA basically triple teamed him because the man is such a force.
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Surprsingly even Wiggins played well with an efficient 20/5, and he had his moments as well
and for the most part things were even the entire way. Sure their defense fell apart in the fourth quarter a little bit and that’s ultimately why they lost, but I commend their ability to actually try even though these games mean absolutely nothing for them.
For CHA, of course you got your usual Kemba dominance, no surprise he played well given it’s tournament time
But it was also a big day for Miles Bridges, who not only celebrated his 21st birthday, but also had his first career double double and di dthings like this
you combine that with Michigan State winning, all in all a pretty good day for Bridges. The bad news is that even with the win the Hornets are 3 games out of the final playoff spot, so I would say if you enjoy watching them play get it in now because it’s not going to last.
Denver Nuggets (48-22) 113 vs Washington Wizards (30-43) 108
Don’t let the final score fool you, this was certainly not a cake walk for the Nuggets, even if the Wizards are god awful. The Wizards came right out and punched them in the mouth, and their starting five was great as no player shot under 50%
Obviously since Wall went down that was pretty much their season, but Bradley Beal has been an absolute monster ever since, and especially since the All Star break. Things got a little crazy in the third where neither team could hold onto their double digit leads and the Wizards did have another chance late, but when it comes down to getting that one big momentum stop to pull off the upset it just wasn’t happening. Obviously there is no shame in losing to a really good Nuggets team, and seeing as how their 6 games back anyways nothing really would have changed.
For DEN, it was their first game since the win in BOS, and they got it done with about as balanced of an attack as you’ll see. A total of 8 players in double figures, four guys with 15 points and 52/46% splits with 14 3PM and just 8 TOs.
This was a prime example of that awesome DEN depth people talk about. Yeah it was against the Wizards but it just goes to show you that they don’t always have to just rely on Jokic or Millsap or Murray to pull out wins. They can go 9 or 10 or 11 guys deep on their bench and still play quality basketball. Seeing as how they are in a race with GS, every win for them is going to be huge, so being able to fight off WSH and start this road trip off 2-0 is pretty important.
Utah Jazz (42-30) 114 vs Atlanta Hawks (25-48) 117
Oh UTA baby what are you doing. Now is not the time to be losing to the Atlanta Hawks. Not when you’re fighting for your playoff seeding lives. And sure, Donovan Mitchell was a bad man
and the rest of the starting five showed up offensively
but where was that patented UTA defense? Down double digits at half we saw it in that third quarter where they made their run to actually take a 5 point lead heading into the fourth, but then it failed them once again allowing 31 points an ultimately the loss. It now has them currently in the 7 seed which I’m sure isn’t ideal for them, and while everything could change in a day these are the matchups you have to win if you’re in this Western conference race so that you can control your own destiny. All this does by losing to a lottery Hawks team is increase the chances you’re going to get a matchup you probably don’t want.
Now for ATL, look Luka may be the ROY, but Trae Young has shown us that maybe the trade wasn’t as lopsided as we originally thought. He is balling his dick off right now and the Hawks, while they may be losing, are fun as hell to watch
Imagine if they somehow get lucky and add Zion to this squad? That’s an instant must watch League Pass team. The Hawks had 7 players in double figures, finished with 47/47% splits and made 19 3PM against a defense that’s supposed to be pretty good. Their 25 wins is certainly more than most people thought they would end up with and we still have 9 games left. Any other year Young is the runaway ROY, so I’m happy that trade worked out for both sides.
Detroit Pistons (37-34) 118 vs Phoenix Suns (17-56) 98
How on earth could playing the Suns be important at this stage of the year? Well if you’re DET it’s big because it puts you a game ahead of BKN for the 6 spot which means avoiding TOR in the first round which I think both of those teams want to do. They’re 7-3 over their last 10 so the Pistons are starting to play well at the right time, and even on an off night shooting like this was for them, playing the Suns pretty much guarantees you 110+
Now things were pretty tight in the first half, but good defense holding PHX to just 38 second half points allowed the Pistons to ultimately pull away, and a nice early fourth quarter run put this game out of reach for good. It’s always nice when you can secure a win without having to rely heavily on Blake because he struggled, and this result only increases the chances of an Embiid/Drummond playoff series which is exciting because they hate each other.
For PHX, guys are getting shut down due to injury, Jimmer isn’t there yet so you may as well just enjoy Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton
That’s it, no need to discuss them any further, you know the deal with the Suns by now.
Dallas Mavericks (28-44) 100 vs Sacramento Kings (35-36) 116
Another matchup between lottery teams, at least this was a chance for us to enjoy some good young NBA talent. The Mavs really couldn’t buy a bucket, finishing with 39/30% splits, but they did get some encouraging performances from two of their young pieces
but the harsh reality is they’ve lost 15 of their last 17 and currently don’t even own their own first round pick (goes to ATL). I think we all agree one day the Mavs will be good once Porzingis is back and they add pieces with their cap space, but right now they flat out stink out loud.
For SAC, they’re obviously a really run team that won’t be making the playoffs and that’s just too bad. The talent on this team is for real, and it’s going to be a problem for a long, long time
I don’t care if this was against DAL, Marvin Bagley is snagging double doubles left and right, De’Aaron Fox is one of the best young point guards in the game and is only getting better, and Buddy Hield is shooting the ball at pretty much a Steph Curry like level. We also haven’t even really seen Harry Giles and what he’s capable of, this team is loaded top to bottom with great talent and I think is a lock for the playoffs next season. Their 63 points in the second half is what helped them pull away, and even if some fans wanted Luka at the time of the draft, I don’t think anyone is complaining now.
Indiana Pacers (44-29) 89 vs Golden State Warriors (49-22) 112
And here is the Pacers slide. We all saw it coming when we saw their schedule, they’ve now lost 4 in a row and things are not going to get any easier. Hard to win in GS when you put up 38/26% splits and turn it over 15 times, and really after the first quarter this thing was pretty much a wrap. Only one starter in double figures, the bench had to carry most of the load and that’s never a good sign when facing a super team. Maybe they were missing Nate McMillan or something, but the Pacers need to figure shit out if they want to hold onto that 4 seed.
For GS, it’s not like they went crazy, nobody had more than 19 points, but they were balanced and their defense was crisp and sometimes that’s all you need
Obviously since it was a blowout the reserves got good burn, and remember since DEN also won this was an important win for GS to keep their 0.5 game lead over the Nuggets. Not having to really use your starters will be big for them moving forward so they stay fresh because those two teams play each other in about a week and I feel like the stakes of that one are going to be pretty massive.
And that’s it! You are now all caught up on everything that went down last night in the NBA. Hopefully this helped you get ready for today’s action, enjoy the tournament and have a great Friday!