Last Night In The NBA: A Thrilling Sunday Of Basketball
Happy Monday everybody and welcome to another edition of Last Night In The NBA where we catch you up on everything that happened from the night before in the Association. With all of the college basketball going on and then the Oscars at night, chances are you may have missed what went on in the NBA world. I’ll tell ya, it was one of the better days of the season. Of the 7 games that were played, 7 of them were decided by 8 points or less, and 6 were decided by 5 points or less. Close games with exciting finishes everywhere you looked which is exactly what you want as we head down the home stretch of the season. Sounds fun right? Bummed you missed it? That’s OK, here’s what happened
Hawks (20-44) 113 v Suns (19-46) 112
How can a tank bowl matchup be entertaining? I’m not sure but this Hawks/Suns game most definitely was. While some matchups have playoff implications, this game was more about tanking implications and the Suns are starting to get this down to a science. They’re now 1-9 over their last 10 and find themselves in the 2 spot in the lottery standings. Smart of them to keep it close and then have Devin Booker miss the game winner so the league doesn’t catch on to their tanking intentions.
This was a game mostly because Booker and TJ Warren combined for almost half their points
and some of their other young pieces played well too like Payton and his 11/10/14 and Jackson and his 10/4 off the bench
Payton continues to be an interesting player because I’m not quite sure what his market is. How much are the Suns willing to match this summer? Is there a team out there that would overpay for him? I mean look at what he’s done since coming to PHX
It’s not as if PHX already has a PG they can turn to other than him, and even if they draft Luka Doncic, perhaps holding onto Payton makes the most sense.
For ATL, they need to stop winning if they want to be serious about getting into the top of the lottery. They are 3-7 over their last 10 which may seem like it sucks but it’s hurting them. They’re now 5th in the lottery standings and they got this win with a pretty balanced attack. Taurean Prince led the way with 22/5 on 8-16
and their second unit combined for 47 points which isn’t all that bad. The Hawks could have folded after Warrens layup with 20 seconds left, but credit Prince for knocking down the game winning three. I suppose it helps winning when you make 17 threes like the Hawks did, and the Hawks remain a “tough” team to beat at home. By tough I just mean that 15 of their 20 wins have come in that building, they obviously still stink and will probably regret these late season wins.
Raptors (45-17) 103 vs Hornets (28-36) 98
Another close game, but another win for the Raptors. They’ve now won 4 in a row, are 9-1 over their last 10 and have won 13 of their last 15 games. Their lead is now 2 full games over BOS atop the East, and few teams in the league are playing as good basketball as TOR is right now. At this point the phrase” nobody is talking about TOR” is becoming so cliche because that’s just not true. I’ve talked about them a bunch here on the blog so I’m a big tired of the disrespected card most TOR fans play. We respect your team. It is very very good.
Instead of the usual formula where DeRozan and Lowry do most the damage, this was a complete performance from the starting unit as four of the five guys had at least 14 points. As a team they didn’t shoot all that well, just 42/29% splits and for some reason they couldn’t stop fouling, giving CHA a crazy 35 FTA. Despite the close score, TOR was in control for most of the game, they just got a little complacent in the fourth when CHA made their run.
For CHA, they’ve now lost 3 in a row after their nice little 5 game win streak, essentially killing any slim chance that they could sneak into the top 8. It’s no surprise that they started to play good teams (PHI/BOS/TOR) and all the sudden looked like the team that was 8 games under .500
That doesn’t mean guys like Kemba didn’t ball out
or that Dwight didn’t get another double double because he did
it’s just really hard to win in TOR where the Raptors are now 26-5 which just happens to be the most home wins in the NBA.
Pacers (26-27) 98 vs Wizards (36-28) 95
You want to talk about an important game, look no further than this matchup of current 4/5 seeds. The Pacers are rolling, giong 7-3 over their last 10, they not sit just 0.5 games back of CLE for that 3rd spot in the East. Now it looked early as if IND was going to run away with this game, they got out to a huge lead early which was impressive for a team that’s just 15-16 on the road, and they can largely thank Victor Oladipo who was great
but he wasn’t exactly doing it alone. Other starters played well too, like Bojan Bogdanovic and his 20 points on 7-12, and Myles Turner with a solid 12/13.
The Pacers have not just been one of the better stories in the East this season, but really the entire NBA. To think that this team could potentially be a 3 seed when it’s all said and done just shows how silly it is to rapid react to big time trades (myself included). We had no idea how it was going to work and we as the internet just assumed it was going to be bad. Little did we know Oladipo was poised to break out and this team actually has some pretty good depth.
For WSH, they almost had the comeback. Down big heading into the fourth quarter, they pulled off a 30-18 frame, but when it came time to make just one final shot, Bradley Beal missed all three of his attempts in the final 19 seconds. I know he’s a fantastic shooter, but this seems to happen a lot right? It feels crazy to not want Beal to take a game deciding shot, but I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him make one. Whether it was gator arming it against Boston in the playoffs or whatever, it just never feels like he makes them.
Beal did play well, he finished with 22 points and a career high 11 assists and he was instrumental in their run by hitting shots like this
it just wasn’t meant to be. The bad new is WSH has now lost 3 in a row and has just a 1 game lead over PHI for the 5th spot. No longer in a position of homecourt in the first round, this team needs to be careful and stop the bleeding immediately or next thing you know they could be in the 8th spot.
Pelicans (36-26) 126 vs Mavericks (19-45) 109
I am ALL IN on this Pelicans run baby. They have the second longest active win streak in the NBA at 8, they’re just 0.5 games out of a 3 seed, and even though it was against shitty DAL, everyone on their roster played great last night
AD with 23/13, Mirotic with 24/5, Holiday with 30/7 and Rondo with a near triple dub of 14/9/10. Few teams are playing as exciting basketball as NO right now, and I can’t believe AD is actually backing up his claim that he made to Rachel Nichols a few weeks ago. He said they were right there and just needed a run, and I’d say a run is exactly what they are on right now. Their offense looked so balanced last night, with 53/46% splits, 10+ made threes, 20+ FTA and just 11 TOs. Sometimes it’s about playing your best basketball at the right time, and if you’re SA/MIN/POR I’m not sure you want to see these guys in a series. It also makes you wonder, do they really need Boogie? Normally I hate these “are they better without X” player, but considering his injury and the price it will take to keep him, is there any scenario that the Pelicans can have in which they decide to move on? Is it the WCF?
For DAL, it really comes down to this. Who cares if they win, just show me Dirk and Dennis Smith Jr. The good news is both were great!
Bucks (34-29) 118 vs Sixers (34-28) 110
By FAR the best game of the night and one that also has some playoff seeding implications. It was important for MIL to win this game not just because they had lost 4 straight, but it also gave them the all important 2-1 lead in the H2H matchup against PHI. This is important because these two are right next to each other in the 6/7 spot, separated by just 0.5 games.
I could talk about how crazy this game was for both teams, each going on insane runs on multiple occasions, but I’m more of a visual learner so I’d rather show you. This is fucking wild
As you can expect, Giannis was a major factor factor in this win, and it wasn’t just by dunking either. He hit multiple big time 15 foot jumpers which just makes me terrified to think about what he can be once he learns to shoot consistently
You don’t come back twice from the deficits MIL had with just one guy showing out, and thankfully for MIL fans that wasn’t the case. There was Bledsoe who was solid with 22/5/7
and more importantly, Jabari Parker looks GREAT
The Bucks have a decision to make on him this summer, and while there were questions on how he would look coming back from ACL surgery, things look pretty damn good to me. His size and scoring is what is going to make MIL a tough out in a playoff series, he just makes them so much more versatile. I’m happy he’s back and looks better than ever.
For PHI, look I’m sure PHI fans are used to this by now. Nobody blows leads like the Sixers do, and you just knew once they got off to like a 10-0 start that there was no way they would hold it. But to blow it twice? Yeesh. It’s not often you go 55/50% from the field, make 14 threes and still lose. How did they do it? Well they turned the ball over 26 time. 26!!!! This led to 36 points for MIL, it’s what sparked their comebacks and is the reason PHI dropped this game. Now they’ve still been playing good basketball as of late, these things happen and they are still alive for homecourt, but man you have to take care of the ball on the road.
The good news is Simmons was again fantastic
Saric was lights out going 9-11 from the field
and Embiid still had 19/8 on 50% shooting which was a good night for him outside of his 7 TOs. Looking ahead, the Sixers, who are 2-3 over their last 5 are set to face CHA/MIA/BKN/IND/BKN/CHA/MEM/ORL over their next handful of games, so this isn’t exactly time to panic. They play like they did for most of February, they’ll be fine.
Clippers (34-28) 123 vs Nets (20-44) 120
The Clippers are doing their best to fight their way into the top 8 in the West, and it would have been pretty embarrassing to drop a home game to the pathetic Nets who hadn’t won on the road in months. Fortunately for them guys like Rivers and Lou Williams stepped it up late
They also got solid performances from guys like Tobias Harris who had 26
and Milos who had 14/4
With how close things are at the bottom of the West, the Clippers are very much still alive, going 7-3 over their last 10 they sit just 0.5 games behind DEN for the final spot. I am almost certain that H2H tie breakers are going to come into play for both LAC and UTA to sneak in, which is why don’t let anyone tell you early NBA season games don’t matter. These last 20+ games in both conferences show just how much they really do.
For BKN, it’s too bad they wasted a big night from Caris LeVert who had 27
and a good night from Joe Harris
Okafor was cleared but didn’t play, and while there was a brief moment in the season where it looked like the Nets would actually be respectable, it turns out they are in fact terrible just like we all thought. They’re now up to 4th in the lottery standings, and CLE fans have to be licking their lips with the possibility of them ending even higher.
Kings (20-44) 102 vs Knicks (24-40) 99
We end with another close game, this one being another tank bowl as well. The Kings are one of those weird bad teams where I always find myself watching them and think to myself they aren’t all that bad to watch. Some tanking teams make it brutal, like ATL, but some are fun, like SAC and PHX.
Not many people will talk about him for ROY, but Bogdan Bogdanovic is having himself a very solid rookie campaign
I’m telling you, if you don’t care about the wins and losses, SAC can be fun to watch
For NYK, hey at least Tim Hardaway Jr showed up
The other good news for the Knicks is this was their 4th loss in a row which has put them at 9th in the lottery standings. Despite being 1-9 over their last 10, their 24 wins are a few too many to really make their way up the lottery odds, so I would start looking at mock drafts for around the 9-10 range if I were a Knicks fan. I’m sure that guy will finally change things!
And that’s it! You’re now all caught up on everything that happened last night in the NBA. We’re back at it tonight with 7 more games including BOS/CHI, MIL/IND, and POR/LAL so it should be another fun night of basketball. As always if you can’t watch just check back here tomorrow and I’ll fill you in.