Last Night In The NBA: Luka Makes More History, Chris Paul Returns, Fuck The Lakers, Melo May Be A Knick Again And Much More!
Hello again everyone 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. I know the basketball world is focused on Anthony Davis not being a man of his word and demanding a trade now instead of this summer, but there was also a good amount of basketball played yesterday and seeing as how I’m positive you still don’t want to start your work yet, we should talk about it. It was a pretty full slate with 9 games on the schedule and over half were actually close so that made for a pretty entertaining Sunday. We had a good mix of close endings, some NBA history, big time matchups and a whole lot more. If you were having a Sunday Funday and missed the action, here’s what happened
Cleveland Cavaliers (10-41) 104 vs Chicago Bulls (11-39) 101
The day got started with this fantastic tanking matchup, and boy did it not disappoint. Not in the sense that it was good basketball, it most certainly wasn’t, but in a sense that at least it was entertaining down to the final seconds. These two teams have put on a master class in tanking so it was unfortunate that one of them had to win, but in a battle between a 5-20 home team and a 5-22 road team, it was anyone’s guess who would be the one to snag the definitely not needed W. Sadly for Cavs fans it was them, mostly because they were able to get at least 16 points from 4 different players on their roster including the game winner from new Cav Alec Burks
This win snapped a 6 game losing streak and with how tight things are at the top of the tanking standings, you’d hate to see CLE go through all that losing and somehow not make the top 3 because they couldn’t manage to lose to the Bulls.
For CHI, pretty perfect night if you ask me. They got great performances from their young talent
and helped their lottery odds at the same time. That’s how you do it folks. Normally you’d be mad about losing at home to the Cavs, but not here. The Bulls know what’s at stake and I respect their dedication to the tank. Hopefully they get rewarded so my internet friends in CHI can have something fun to root for.
Sacramento Kings (25-25) 108 vs Los Angeles Clippers (28-22) 122
Is this the Kings coming back down to earth a little bit? Just 5-5 over their last 10, currently 3 full games out of the final playoff spot, this matchup may not have seemed all that important on the surface but there are things to consider here. For starters, it’s the Clippers that currently own that final spot, and this win officially puts them at 3-0 in the H2H series which means if SAC somehow ties them later in the year, they own the tie breaker. It’s hard out there in the West right now, where even though LAC has now won 3 in a row, literally every team in the West also is riding a winning streak. I’m not kidding
so making sure they didn’t drop this game at home was pretty important. Even without Gallo in the lineup this team still put up a shit ton of points and just like they have all year a lot of that was due to the production they got from birthday boy Montrezl Harrell off the bench
Not only is he having a breakout year, but he should also be considered for both 6th Man and Most Improved in my opinion. I don’t think anybody saw this type of season coming from Harrell, and honestly he’s probably good enough to start which is just an added luxury for LA. The Clippers were able to get off to a good start in that first quarter and never really looked back which is certainly a step in the right direction for a team that’s just 15-10 at home. Thankfully Harrell had some help
and the Clippers were outstanding when it came to passing the ball with 35 assists on 42 makes. Lou Williams, not a known passers, had his second consecutive game with 10 assists off the bench! Who can say they saw that coming.
For SAC, defense was an issue all night and has been a main reason this team has slid a little bit. In a conference this tough you have to be able to defend because there’s going to be nights like what SAC had where they shoot 39/22% and really can’t get anything going offensively. De’Aaron Fox led the way with 21
but no other starter shot the ball all that well and then Bogdanovic was the only bench player to really turn out but he shot just 5-13 as well. Five guys in double figures sounds nice, but when it comes in a blowout it’s mostly whatever.
As a team that doesn’t own their pick this summer, things could start to get real ugly real fast unless they figure out their defensive issues.
Milwaukee Bucks (35-13) 112 vs Oklahoma City Thunder (31-18) 118
Now this was one of the most exciting games of the night. Even with OKC getting out to a huge lead early and Giannis having what looked like would be an off night, the Bucks are so good they were able to claw their way right back into this game and actually had a game in the fourth quarter. MIL came out and dropped 70 points in the second half, Giannis found his stroke and turned in a cool 27/18/4
and really the MIL starters were the ones that carried most of the load in this one, even a tough defense like OKC seemed to have problems with them
You know what’s been one of the craziest stories of this entire year? How fucking good Brook Lopez has been from three this year. We’re not at the point where he’s givingup stepback threes!
Probably the most underrated FA signing this summer and I don’t think it’s even close.
For OKC, even with the MIL starters balling out, the Thunder had just enough fire power to punch right back. Paul George played like an MVP with 36/13 on 12-21 including a nice Giannis poster
Westbrook messed around with another triple double
and look when this team is at home where they’re 17-7, finish with 46/50% splits and 16 3PM with only 11 TOs, you’re simply not going to beat them. You get those type of performances from their stars and then solid contribution from role players like the 16 points and 5 blocks from Jerami Grant, and you see why this is a top 3 team in the West
OKC has now won 5 in a row, and could absolutely catch DEN if they play like this
Toronto Raptors (37-15) 123 vs Dallas Mavericks (22-27) 120
Man, what a collapse from the Mavs. Right after getting back into this game with a huge 3rd quarter, their late game execution made me want to claw my eyes out. It makes no sense to me that on a night where Luka Doncic is having a career performance becoming the only teenager in NBA history with a 30 point triple double
that he didn’t get to take nearly every shot in the closing moments of this game. Instead Harrison Barnes wouldn’t stop shooting, and missing, also missed 2 late FTs, the Mavs played zero defense in the last two minutes as TOR scored on like 5 straight possessions, and just like that the Mavs blew what was a very winnable game against a great opponent. That’s pretty rare for a team that’s 18-7 at home, and as someone who needs TOR to start losing, I was none too pleased.
For TOR, they avoided their third straight loss which was big for them, and when you have Kawhi playing like he did last night, TOR tends to find a way to win
The Raptors were ridiculous offensively, with 44/50% splits and 17 3PM with only 7 TOs, so the fact that this was even close was surprising. With MIL losing this win now brings them to a tie atop the East and a 3 game lead over IND. Their 16 road wins lead the Eastern Conference, and this was a case of a veteran team staying calm under pressure and executing well down the stretch. Everything late was at the rim or a high percentage look, and you have to give them credit for that even though it makes me rather upset.
Orlando Magic (20-30) 98 vs Houston Rockets (29-20) 103
For whatever reason, this Magic team plays the Rockets tough. They already beat them this year, and their final matchup of the season was no different. The good news for the Rockets is they didn’t blow this one, CP3 came back and looked pretty much like the old Chris Paul
It’s not really surprising how important he’s going to be for them moving forward, and I know many people thought that Paul’s return would mean Harden’s production would come down a little bit, only that’s not what happened at all. Guy still dropped 40 and had the game icer on a nasty stepback
The HOU bench gave them jack shit, just 18 combined points, so really this wasn’t all that different from the games they had to play without Paul. They needed Harden to carry them, he did, and now the Rockets are sitting pretty at 19-7 at home. Also, shout out to Kenneth Faried who had another 12/10/5, he’s been fantastic since getting traded to this team. What a find my Morey.
For ORL, they certainly hung around in large part due to Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic
Unfortunately scoring just 16 points in the fourth quarter is going to do you in every time. Just 38 second half points against an offense like HOU isn’t going to cut it, and it was too bad too because they did have an early 16 point lead after the first quarter. Ah well, they’re blowing things up anyway so what’s the big deal.
Utah Jazz (29-22) 125 vs Minnesota Timberwolves (24-26) 111
Safe to say the Jazz have saved their season right? It seems like this team is clicking on all cylinders offensively, they’re getting solid contributions from their entire roster led by Donovan Mitchell who is playing at an All Star level right now
He had 22 of his 29 in the second half, and you combine that with the balanced scoring the Jazz put up
there’s no surprise that it was too much for MIN to handle. I’m sure Rubio enjoyed getting the revenge playing his old team, and looking at this UTA team they are poised ot make a serious run in my opinion. They’re 9-1 over their last 10 which trails only GS, they are figuring out how to score which has always been their problem, and it really does look like they’re about to have the same sort of second half run they did last year.
For MIN, nearly all the scoring came from KAT/Wiggins who combined for 57 of the 111
they were both great which is impressive given who they went up against. Then there was also Jerryd Bayless and his 19 points filling in for DRose who is out with an ankle injury
but the name of the game is defense, and to have that poor of an effort at home tells me that maybe it wasn’t a Thibs problem? MIN has lost 2 in a row and now sits 4 full games outside of the final playoff spot. Not great!
Washington Wizards (21-28) 119 vs San Antonio Spurs (29-22) 132
Who saw this type of offensive shootout coming? I’m not sure what got into these Spurs, but 132 points on 57/47% splits with 16 3PM all in regulation certainly is not something we see from them very often. Not only did LMA carry them
but Davis Bertans was automatic off the bench to the tune of 21 points and 5 3PM
This is a guy who the league turned DOWN for the 3 point contest because that makes a whole lot of sense. The Spurs finished with 7 players in double figures, got 54 points from their bench, and improved to a very nice 19-7 at home. The craziest part, they did this all without DeMar DeRozan!
For WSH, it was much of the same. Nearly everyone played well that touched the floor, especially the starters
Three guys finished with at least 20 points, they made 18 3PM as a team, and they even showed up in the fourth quarter which almost never happens! The problem was their 17 point third, but I’ll give them credit, they played well. Yeah they didn’t play a lick of defense, but at least offensively they showed up.
Miami Heat (24-24) 106 vs New York Knicks (10-38) 97
It was a special night at MSG last night with Wade making his second to last appearance at the Garden this season, and he did not disappoint
The bad news is Derrick Jones Jr suffered a pretty bad knee injury which you truly hate to see
In terms of the actual game, this was actually close for the most part until the Knicks dropped 12 points in the third quarter, but something tells me their fans won’t be too upset. I’m sure Heat fans were surprised to see the corpse of Wayne Ellington hit the floor since he’s pretty much fallen out of the rotation and he had a nice 19 with a couple threes
This win was important for MIA because it keeps them ahead of CHA for 7th in the East and finally gets them a few games over .500 on the road.
For NYK, THJ led the way with 22, but that’s not what Knicks fans should care about. To me, the story here was the reception that Melo got in his return to MSG
Listen to those fans! They know their best chance at snagging Zion is to bring Melo back and let him jack up a billion shots and play no defense, and honestly I wouldn’t hate seeing it. For a guy that never delivered while he was actually a Knick, that may just be the perfect way for his story to end. They stink, they want to stink, Melo can help with that no doubt.
Phoenix Suns (11-41) 102 vs Los Angeles Lakers (25-24) 116
This was a brutal one to watch given all the players that were missing so let’s make this quick. If I could sum up this game in one clip, it would probably be this
The Suns, a nice 4-22 on the road pretty much only had Booker and Mikal Bridges do anything noteworthy
with 40/26% splits and 16 TOs this shit was painful to watch so let’s keep it moving.
For LAL, I mean who cares all these guys are going to be traded for AD now, so it’s not like this matters eithert
Fuck the Lakers always and forever.
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 5 more games so just make sure to check back in the morning if you can’t watch tonight. Have a great Monday!