Last Night In The NBA: LeBron Ripped Some Hearts Out, Zion Made More History, The Raptors Are A Goddamn Wagon And 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. It was another entertaining night of basketball with 7 total games on the schedule, giving us a little bit of everything in terms of another rivalry classic, some historic performances, surprising wins, and the playoff race is getting tighter and tighter with each passing night. I can't imagine what you might have been doing yesterday instead of watching since basketball is really the only thing going on right now, but in the event you missed any of the action here's what happened.
Minnesota Timberwolves (16-39) 116 vs Denver Nuggets (39-18)
With no KAT, the Wolves have one objective and that is to lose as many games as possible. At this point of the season they aren't going to make the playoffs and in a game they didn't have D'Angelo Russell active either, yeah you aren't going to beat one of the best teams in the conference. Especially on the road. It was a return for Malik Beasley against his old team and he led the way for the starting group and honestly MIN was pretty balanced with 7 players in double figures. They were decent from three making 14, but the problem of course for them was on the defensive end. That's not new, they gave up 43 points in the first quarter and 73 in the first half. They did get a prayer night from Kelan Martin which was cool I guess
but as we know if you can't defend in this league you're going to be in a world of trouble. MIN has now lost 4 in a row and is 1-9 over their last 10, and own the 3rd worst record in the league. Yikes.
For DEN, an important win to keep them in the 2 seed currently, this was a taste of what this team is capable of offensively, especially at home. Guys are starting to get healthy and as you can see this is one of the most explosive offenses in the league. They only made 11 3PM so it's not like they just got crazy hot or anything, but what they did get was great performances from their starting group
Their froncourt of Millsap/Jokic was a problem for most of the night, they combined for 49 and a lot of it was Millsap dominating from deep. He finished 9-11 in then game and Jokic 11-14, so as you can see there weren't too many answers for either of them. Mix in some efficient scoring from both Jamal Murray and Gary Harris
and as a team they shot 58%. The Nuggets aren't going to lose many games in which they shoot like that and only turn it over 13 times. You expect a team like this to handle MIN with ease, and that's pretty much what happened.
Indiana Pacers (33-24) 81 vs Toronto Raptors (42-15) 127
OK, what the hell was this shit Indiana. This game was over in the first 5 seconds it felt like. Maybe it was the whole only scoring 3 points in the first 8 minutes of the first quarter, but holy shit did they get absolutely demolished. Just 32 points at halftime, they shot 32/24% with 17 TOs, and you do that shit on the road especially in TOR, well that's how you lose by 40+. I don't even know what I could potentially show as a highlight they were so pathetic, maybe Sabonis' 12 points?
The Pacers are now 3-7 over their last 10 and you can pretty much pencil them into the 6 spot. No Oladipo in this one, but I'm not exactly sure it would have mattered. I don't see them catching PHI even though they are just 2 back and it looks more and more like this is who they are going to be. Not the lose by 40 part, but the don't have homecourt in the first round part.
For TOR, I mean they're a buzzsaw right now. We already knew this but them and MIL have spent the better part of two months just rolling through teams. This was a situation where they did it collectively as a team, it wasn't like one dude blew up for 40 or anything like that. They killed the Pacers from deep with 17 3PM, and it came from everywhere
I honestly can't imagine there is a person out there who isn't taking the Raptors seriously. What more do you need to see? They've won 17 of their last 18, beat IND 3 times, beat the Sixers, and we'll see what happens when they have MIL in a few days. That'll let us know how close this group that is. They've beaten up on bad teams during this stretch which is what you expect from good teams, and they have shown they are a different animal in their own building. The battle for the 2/3 seed is going to be close the rest of the way, and if they look like this I don't know how they don't snag it.
Boston Celtics (39-17) 112 vs Los Angeles Lakers (43-12) 114
We'll be talking about the Celts in their normal blog, so for this we can focus on what we saw in LA which was basically what we usually see. LeBron and AD did most of the heavy lifting, combining for 61 of the 114
both made huge buckets late in this game, first with AD's three and then LeBron's game winning turnaround fadeaway. You knew that's what you were going to get from those two, and the difference was honestly what Kyle Kuzma gave them off the bench
his 16 points were huge, and the defense he played down the stretch on Tatum and how the Lakers decided to trap Tatum every time he touched the ball proved to be the difference maker. I think what we learned in this game is maybe these two teams are a whole lot closer than most people thought, and it remains true that having to play against LeBron in any sort of close game is hell. It feels like he's come out on top in those against the Celtics every time we find ourselves in a close one and I'll admit that's pretty annoying.
I could argue this was more about the Celtics choking than the Lakers winning, but we'll save that for the Celts blog.
Washington Wizards (20-35) 117 vs Chicago Bulls (20-38) 126
It's a tough spot to be in when you drop a career high 53 points and you still get waxed by the…..Chicago Bulls. No wonder Bradley Beal was on the Wizards bench hating his life at the end of this game
Here's the thing though. Nobody forced Beal to sign either of his extensions. He willingly chose to stay THIS SEASON, so what exactly did he think was going to happen? That the Wizards were suddenly going to be good? So while it sucks that his talent is being wasted on this team, he chose the bag. Nobody made him do that, so it sucks that he's stuck on a bad team but that's life. Hey, at least the Latvian Laser also did some shit
but just like always when it comes to the Wizards their problem has nothing to do with offense. We know this team can score. What can are completely incapable of though is preventing the other team from scoring. I'm not positive they know this but in basketball the goal is to limit how many points your opponent scores. Maybe they just don't know that so if this blog is what brings that to their attention then you're welcome.
For CHI, it's been mostly a disaster season, there's no denying that. Their front office is a disaster, everyone hates their coach, they aren't winning games, so you get an offensive performance like this and you have to use it as a small win. A very nice 55/4u% performance with 18 3PM as a team, this was a game when pretty much everyone had it working
How about Coby White! If you're a Bulls fan and you need some good vibes today about this team, we saw White make a little NBA history in this one.
That's pretty good! Definitely what I would recommend Bulls fans focus on instead of the current state of their basketball team. Way more positive.
San Antonio Spurs (24-32) 103 vs Oklahoma City Thunder (35-22) 131
OK it's time to just accept that the Thunder are just flat out good. They're balanced, they defend, they have great young talent and a good coach, and this is a team that is now just 1.5 games from a top 4 seed. They've won 3 in a row and are 7-3 over their last 10 which has to make them one of the biggest surprises of the season. They've been able to show that this level of play is sustainable and they are absolutely going to be a bitch to play in a playoff series. A total of 8 players in double figures, they finished with 57/45% splits as a team and the production came from both units
Chris Paul putting up a cool 10/9/10 with 0 TOs, the Thunder blew this game open with a massive 37-18 third quarter and that was that. This game was fairly close prior to those 12 minutes, and it just goes to show how explosive OKC can be. It starts on the defensive end for them, and it looks like their decision to keep this group together at the deadline is paying off. What a season for them so far.
For SA, yeah I mean they stink, we knew this already. LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan combined for a -49, they shot just 36/28% as a team and had just four total player in double figures. That shit isn't going to cut it on the road against a quality opponent. The Spurs are just 10-20 on the road this season, and now trail the 8th playoff spot by a full 4 games. I know in previous years it would be foolish to consider the Spurs dead, but I don't see them leaping POR/NO/MEM to get back into playoff contention. It's close to being a wrap for them.
When your two best players combine to shoot 7-22, your entire bench also stinks and your starting point guard goes 0-7, I'm not sure what you expect to happen.
New Orleans (25-32) 115 vs Golden State Warriors (14-25) 101
We are inching closer and closer to a potential Lakers/Pelicans first round matchup. You cannot look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want to see that. No disrespect to MEM and what they've done this year, but their closing schedule is brutal and the Pelicans are starting to build some momentum. They are 7-3 over their last 10 and trail MEM by just 3.5 games. When you have Zion doing Zion things and making history every night he steps on the floor
You can't rule it out. Another monster 28/7 for him last night on 13-20 shooting, nobody is showing any sort of ability to slow him down. It's remarkable really. Zion is actually better than advertised? That's terrifying.
Then you sprinkle in some Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram, and Melli buckets and this Pelicans team is intriguing as hell
I just think NO is a much better matchup for LAL, plus you have the whole AD trade storyline, LeBron vs Zion, etc. Come on you know you want to see it.
For GS, I mean credit to them for actually having a lead at the break, that was fun for them. Granted it all immediately fell apart over the final 24 minutes because they played no defense, but that's to be expected.
We can move on.
Detroit Pistons (19-40) 104 vs Portland Trail Blazers (25-32) 107
The Pistons are a bit confusing because they clearly just blew up their team and decided to tank, yet didn't trade Derrick Rose. They traded/bought out pretty much everyone else but him so that's a bit weird, and this was a tough one to drop. Now they really shouldn't have ever been in this game in the first place after the 40-24 first quarter, but their second unit, really Christian Wood kept them in it
The Pistons actually took control of this game over the second and third quarter, but ran out of gas over the final 12 minutes scoring just 19 points, and as a result here we are. Now 8-20 on the road this season, this team has lost 6 in a row and is 2-8 over their last 10. A tough year pretty much from the jump, it's time to rebuild which means securing as high a pick as possible.
For POR, they needed this win in a big time way. With NO winning and MEM sliding, despite not having Dame in the lineup they are still contending for that 8th spot. They trail by just 3, so any win they can snag is beneficial. Most of the damage was done by both Melo and CJ McCollum who had 73 of the 104
but they also got a solid night from Hassan Whiteside in the middle with 16/17/3/4 on 8-14 shooting
This team gets Dame and Nurkic back eventually and I could see them being in this fight for the rest of the season. Their issue is the road where they are 10-20, and the whole defense thing, but on this night they found a way to defend down the stretch and let their stars carry them. It's all about keeping pace while Dame rehabs his dick muscle, and that's exactly what they did.
And that's it! You are now all caught up with everything that went down last night in the NBA. We're back tonight with 8 more games so your entertainment for the night should be covered. Hopefully this helped ease you into your workday, have a great Monday!