Last Night In The NBA: Markelle Fultz Buries The Lakers, Historic Shit From Luka, Surprising Upsets And More

Good morning everybody happy Thursday 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 full slate last night with 10 games on the schedule so I hope you didn't have much planned for this morning because I'm going to warn you now this blog is going to be long as hell. Thursday gave us a little bit of everything, there were surprising upsets, late game drama, historic individual performances, you name it we got it. If for some reason you got busy and missed any of the action just keep reading because here's what happened.

Brooklyn Nets (18-22) 106 vs Philadelphia 76ers (26-16) 117

If there's one thing we know about these Sixers it's that they are an entirely different team when playing in their own building. On the road? Hot garbage and a 7-14 record. At home? Perhaps the best team in the league at 19-2. One could argue that them finding their way into a top 4 seed is extremely important because even with Embiid this team has been poopoo on the road. Seeing as how even with this win they still woke up in the 6 seed, they definitely have some work to do to climb out of this underachieving hole they've dug for themselves halfway through the season. 

You do have to give credit to guys like Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris though. They've both stepped up with Embiid out and that was huge last night in a game Al Horford shot 4-14. Simmons was a monster in the first half when this game was close, the Nets really didn't have an answer when it came to stopping Simmons from doing whatever he wanted

the combination of his size and strength was simply too much. This game was close pretty much the whole way until the fourth quarter, and that's where we saw the Sixers take their defense to another level. A big like 15-3 run to close the game is what made this look much more of a beatdown than what it was, and as dominant as Simmons was in the first half, that's how unstoppable Harris was in the second, with 20+ of his 34 coming over the final 24 minutes

He made gigantic shots down the stretch in the final minutes and you pair that with the Nets only scoring 16 points in the fourth, this was a huge closeout in a game the Sixers really needed to have. Can't dig out fo your hole by losing to under .500 teams at home.

For BKN, things haven't exactly been all that great since Kyrie came back. It doesn't help that he shot 6-21 and what a team worst -29 in his 37 minutes. We're already at the point where Kyrie is giving his usual 10,000 quotes where he is saying all the wrong things and boy do I not miss that bullshit. If not not for Spencer Dinwiddie and Jarrett Allen this team gets blown out big time

and in the fourth Kyrie was nowhere to be found. In fact, the entire offense from BKN down the stretch was pathetic. Terrible turnovers from Dinwiddie where he just dribbled for 20 seconds and then out of bounds, not running any sort of offense forcing Jarrett Allen to force up junk and get shot clock violations, it was pretty clear they were pooping their pants when it came time to win. The Nets are now 7-13 on the road and 4 games under .500 on the season and in no way look like the high energy, tough, always competing team we saw last year. 

Detroit Pistons (15-27) 116 vs Boston Celtics (27-12) 103

Believe me, we'll be talking about the Celts in their normal blog and boyyyyyy do I have some thoughts there. For now, let's focus on the Pistons because this had to be one of the most efficient offensive games the league has seen this season. Who finishes qwith 60% shooting as a team? Four guys with at least 20 points and they missed a combined 13 shots. That's ridiculous, but right from the opening jump they made it clear that they were just not going to miss all night from 2pt. If you played for the Pistons and you took a shot from inside the arc, it was going in plain and simple. They were the more aggressive team, they played with more energy, they attacked the basket, and to be honest they earned this win. Career nights from two fo the four that went off, shit like that happens in the NBA I guess

Markieff Morris got them started early, and then Sekou and Derrick Rose finished them off. It's hard to not be impressed with the run Derrick Rose is on the right, 7 straight games with 20+ points, he looks like CHI Rose to me and the Pistons have an interesting decision on their hands. Do they try and flip him for some real assets to jumpstart this rebuild or try and hold onto him long term? I'm sure there are contenders out there that would like his services for the stretch run.

The Pistons came out and punched the Celts in the mouth to start the second half and there really was no response. A wire to wire beatdown is how I would best describe it and something that was definitely one of the surprises of the night. 60%??? Fuck outta here.

San Antonio Spurs (17-22) 100 vs Miami Heat (28-12) 106

There are few teams that stink as bad as the Spurs do on the road (6-13) so the fact that they were even competitive against a team that as been virtually unstoppable at home (18-1) was a surprise. Unfortunately they ran out of gas in the fourth quarter after digging out of their early hole, but guys like DeMar DeRozan were fantastic with a cool 30/5/7 on 12-14 shooting

He basically was the only thing working for the starting group, LMA went 5-12, Murray 2-6 and Forbes 4-13. Shit, DeRozan was the only starter to take a FT in this game. Not exactly what you want to see as a Spurs fan trying to pull off the upset. The only help DeRozan got was from Patty Mills off the bench who had 21 which isn't going to cut it.

The good news is the bottom of the West is still wide open. Even with the Grizzlies winning 6 in a row the Spurs woke up this morning just 1 game out of the 8th seed. Despite being 5-5 over their last 10, their playoff hopes are certainly still alive, they just need more than one guy to show up against a good team. 

For MIA, they too had one guy go off, that man was Kendrick Nunn who matched DeRozan with a 33 point night on 13-18 shooting of his own

He had a little more help which was ultimately the difference, Bam had himself a night with a near triple double of 14/13/7

and Dragic was solid off the bench which was important because Jimmy Butler had a rough 4-11. The thing with the Heat is they seem to always find a way especially at home when things get tight. The defense gets better, they execute down the stretch, and winning the fourth 31-23 was all the difference. Also didn't hurt to make 17 3PM, and it just goes to show how many ways this team can beat you if you aren't careful.

Washington Wizards (13-27) 106 vs Chicago Bulls (15-27) 115

I know this is a game between two teams with dogshit records, but I expected the scoring to be much higher. In reality, it was pretty much the same story for the Wizards where Beal is nice and carries most of the offensive load and no other starter really helps out. Nobody had more than 12 other than Beal's 23, and if that's depressing I get it, so instead just enjoy some Latvian Laser magic

The Wizards losing isn't all that new, and it was the third quarter that ultimately did them in, but by now I'm sure their fans are used to this type of performance.

For CHI, Zach Lavine is making a very strong case that he should be an All Star, something a certain blogger predicted at the start of the year no big deal

The Bulls starting backcourt was a problem for the Wizards as he and Satoransky combined for 48 of the 115 and both were over 50% from the floor

I'd say it's impressive that CHI had three straight quarters of at least 30 points, but then you remember they played one of the worst defenses in the entire NBA so that's something that should happen. I know their record stinks, but if LaVine keeps this up there's no reason he should be kept out of an All Star game that last time I checked is being played in CHI. He doesn't just do this shit against the Wizards of the league either, he's been giving the entire league the business since the season started.

Indiana Pacers (26-15) 104 vs Minnesota Timberwolves (15-25) 99

The hottest team in the East right now is the……Indiana Pacers? You bet bud. Currently hold the longest active winning streak in the East and guess who gets their best player back in like a week. ON a night where all the teams around them minus Boston won, it was important for the Pacers to pull this one out and stay ahead of PHI in the 5 seed. It took them combing back from being down double digits, but both Sabonis and Brogdon were beasts in this game and carried them down the stretch

The fact that the Pacers have been this good while not having their best player and also having to deal with Brogdon missing a ton of time shows me this team is not just legit from a talent perspective, but from a coaching one as well. Yeah beating MIN is no big deal, everyone does it, but they have kept pace with pretty much every team not named MIL in the East and that is impressive as hell. I imagine they'll only get better as they get healthier, and they have the look of a team that could be a bitch to play in the postseason.

For MIN, no KAT, Wiggins had 10 points, so how do you think things were going to go. The fact that this was even a winnable game for them was impressive and hey at least their prized rookie looked good

They've now dropped 3 in a row so I think we're at the point where we can start to accept that this team is headed for the lottery once again, and you almost wonder if they just shut everyone down, ship off parts and start over next year. Personally even if KAT comes back I don't see them catching any of the other teams vying for the 8th spot, and they may as well try and get as high a pick as possible.

Charlotte Hornets (15-29) 86 vs Denver Nuggets (28-12) 100

The Nuggets messed around and let the Hornets hang in there early in the first quarter, then it looked like things were back on track and we were in for a blowout when they got some separation in the second quarter. Unfortunately they only scored 17 points in the third and we had ourselves a ballgame heading into the final frame. That didn't last since the Hornets came right back and scored just 17 in the fourth, but the Nuggets were a little lucky here because their starters didn't play all that well. Nobody over 14 points, the story of this game was what the Nuggets got off the bench, particularly from MPJ

It sure as hell looks like there are going to be a lot of unhappy GMs when they realize they passed on taking this kid. He has stud written all over him and he's still so raw as a player. These type of performances are becoming more and more the norm the more Mike Malone plays MPJ, and he's the type of talent that could take the Nuggets from pretender to legit contender if he fulfills his potential. They already had one of the best young cores in the league before adding him, now he's this legit? That's scary.

For CHA, it was the opposite. They got jack shit from their bench, a total 13 points from the whole group. They had to mostly rely on Terry Rozier and I can speak from experience that's never usually what you want

Offensively they struggled at just 40/34%, they got killed at the FT line, but there is certainly no shame in losing in DEN. That's a tough arena to win in and even harder when you are a 8-16 road team. We can move on.

Toronto Raptors (26-14) 130 vs Oklahoma City Thunder (23-18) 121

Well the Raptors are healthy again and guess who is back to being really fucking good. Hope everyone enjoyed thinking they were dead because not only are they very much alive but their talent is legit and they can beat anyone in this league. They shot a RIDICULOUS 61/55% from the floor which helped make up for the 18 TOs. Basically if you touched the floor for the Raptors in this game you played well. Pick a name and they were great

It's not like OKC is a weak defense too, that's certainly not the case and for me it's what makes this performance from TOR even more impressive, They finally got the band back together after what felt like forever and they didn't miss a beat against a legit defense on the road. You're lying if you don't think that was impressive. They trail the 2 seed by just 2 games, so it's time we remember who the defending champs are and give them some respect.

For OKC, it's starting to feel like they are going to end the season in that 7 spot. That's still better than most people thought heading into the year and they do have the talent to compete with the best of the best in the West on any given night. They just trail DAL by 3 and have a 4 game lead over the 8th spot so where they are now feels right.

Their guard play continues to be awesome, whether it's CP3, SGA, or Schroder, all of them have been consistently solid all year

Their issue was simply on the defensive end. Couldn't stop a nosebleed and when that happens that's how you get beat on your own floor. No coincidence that both road teams that shot 60% last night won.

Portland Trail Blazers (18-24) 117 vs Houston Rockets (26-14) 107

By now we know these two teams don't like each other, Dame and Westbrook have their famous beef, but I don't think anyone expected the Rockets to drop this game at home. But this is the frustrating part about the Blazers. They have the talent, they are just wildly inconsistent. Take this game for example, the starters got whatever they wanted offensively and were virtually unstoppable

Dame and CJ had nearly 50, Melo an efficient 18/12, Whiteside an 18/18, this is an example of what this team is capable of. The Rockets don't stink, they are 14-5 at home and one of the best teams in the league and they got their shit pushed in right from the jump. That's why when you look at the Blazers record and the fact that they are currently a 10th seed, that would infuriate me as a Blazers fan. The good news is they are just 1.5 games from the 8th spot so they are technically still alive, and this is a team that if they play to their potential in a playoff series why couldn't we see some upsets? They have the talent, they just need to consistently defend and play with energy night in and night out.

For HOU, not panic time by any means, but they have dropped 2 straight and are 5-5 in their last 10. A slight lead over DAL for the 5 seed, this was just one of those nights where they couldn't buy a bucket. Only 39/32% splits on the night and a 13 point 3-12 performance from Harden, this result isn't all that shocking. Sure Westbrook went off with a nice little 30 point triple double

and of course he talked his shit despite….losing, but hey that happens. They also got 20 from Eric Gordon off the bench which is nice to see as he works his way back from being hurt

but just like the Blazers, if this Rockets team isn't going to defend then they are big time fucked.

Dallas Mavericks (26-15) 127 vs Sacramento Kings (15-26) 123

I still can't get over how much better on the road this season the Mavs are. They won just 9 road games all of last season and already have 15 this year. Of course, Luka doing ridiculous Luka things has a lot to do with that

Just a 25/15/17 in 34 minutes for Luka, no big deal, only the youngest Mav ever to do it. Fortunately for him, he wasn't alone. The Mavs shot 51% in this game and got all the secondary scoring they neededf from guys like THJ and Seth Curry

now winners of 3 straight it looks like the Mavs are responding nicely to their little skid, and just like HOU is still in the conversation for a top 4 seed, all without Porzingis who was another late scratch and has missed the last 9 games. If they can figure out how to win at home (12-10) they might really have something.

For SAC, what a weird team. Should be better than their record, were super hyped heading into the year, but have also had some brutal injury luck. This was a glimpse of what they could look like healthy, and Barnes/Fox/Hield certainly put on a show

All three had at least 25 points and all were mostly efficient. The problem with them is the same old  shit though, no defense. Not sure how you win when you start a game giving up 35, 36, and 37 points, but the answer is you don't. Defense will always be the achilles heel of this team and I don't see how that changes anytime soon.

Orlando Magic (20-21) 119 vs Los Angeles Lakers (33-8) 118

No AD, but that shouldn't matter. The Lakers are the second best team in the league, were 16-4 at home and had never lost to an under .500 team all season. This is a game you expect them to win, especially with LeBron in the lineup, Shit, they even got great performances from their bench with three guys snagging at least 17 points. Sure LeBron had an "off night" and still finished with 19 assists

but when Kyle Kuzma throws up a 2-10 that certainly doesn't help the situation. Listen, every NBA team has bad losses, it happens and the Lakers are not immune to it. The fact is the Magic took it to the Lakers and earned this win, and they bullied LeBron & Co in the process.

For ORL, easily their best win of the year and my oh my would you look at what Markelle Fultz is turning into. His second triple double of his career, is it possible the Sixers lost the Fultz trade TWICE?? It appears that way

He was great all night and especially clutch in the fourth quarter with two layups to seal it, and honestly it's great to see. He may never live up to that #1 pick hype, but this dude is a legit NBA starting caliber player and the Magic got him basically for free. Remember they ALL promised us that were going to see a different Fultz this season, and so far that doesn't look like a lie.

You sprinkle in a little Aaron Gordon doing crazy shit at the rim

and this may have been the biggest surprise of the night. 

And that's it! You are now caught up with everything that went down last night in the NBA. Phew that was a lot, have a great Thursday!