Last Night In The NBA: Close Games, Overtimes, And The Suns Are Good?
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of Last Night In The NBA where we catch you up on everything that went down from last night in the Association. I know there was playoff baseball and MNF on, but those were blowouts so what you should have been doing was watching the 8 fake basketball games that were on the schedule. For the most part things were close and competitive with a couple blowouts sprinkled in, but overall it was a solid night of hoops. Sad you missed it? It’s OK, we all make mistakes, just keep reading. Here is everything you missed.
Dallas Mavericks (2-1) 115 vs Philadelphis 76ers (3-1) 112
Technically this game was played like yesterday morning because China lives in the future, so we may as well start there. These teams already played each other a few days ago which PHI won, so it was nice to see DAL flipped the script. A competitive game basically the entire way through, as no team won a quarter by more than 5 points, the Mavs who were without DeAndre Jordan and Dirk, and Harrison Barnes, got a great game from their prized rookie Luka Doncic
There isn’t anyone doubting whether or not this kid can play is there? I hope not. A good shooting night overall for the Mavs at 47/40% splits with 15 3PM, just imagine what this team can do offensively when they have all their talent. One of those teams that may not win many games, but will definitely be entertaining to watch.
For PHI, to be fair they rested Saric, but everyone else played. Embiid and Simmons were of course their usual beast selves, Embiid with 29/7/4/2 and Simmons with 10/9/6/1/2. Both shot 50% from the field and looked every bit as ready for the season as you’d think
But what about Markelle? You know the one Sixers Twitter cummed themselves over when he made that one (and only) three? Well I’ll just give you the numbers and you can form your own opinion. No bias here, just straight real actual production. Against NBA competition this preseason, Fultz is shooting 38/20% averaging 7.3/4/2 with 2.3 TOs. Is that good? Well that’s up to you to decide.
Chicago Bulls (1-2) 104 vs Charlotte Hornets (3-1) 110
Another close one, dare I saw the Bulls actually looked somewhat competent in this game. Mostly because Zach LaVine, who I love seeing healthy, went off for a solid 26 points on 9-15 shooting in his 25 minutes
Pretty impressive stuff to do all that in just three quarters. And sure, who cares if no other starter really did all that much, at least Bobby Portis continued to show he can be a productive player off the bench with 17/8 on 6-10. And hey, as a team going 44/37% with 10 3PM is nothing to sneeze at. Personally I would have loved to see more out of Wendell Carter Jr (3/2/5) but these are the Bulls we’re talking about so I’d say overall this was a nice showing for them.
For CHA, who maybe has different expectations on their upcoming season, they were led by Kemba who was nails with 20/7 on 8-16
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and as a team they were much more complete. Six total guys in double figures, Jeremy Lamb continued his strong preseason play with 16/6 on 6-11, and then Malik Monk did his thing off the bench, made a couple threes, and as a team with just 14 TOs thats probably close to how we can expect CHA to play. Some decent defense, Kemba scoring, low TOs. That’s their formula.
Indiana Pacers (2-1) 111 vs Cleveland Cavaliers (201) 102
Finally IND avenges for last year’s playoffs! Good for them. Just like he did in that playoff series, Victor Oladipo dragged his nuts all over the city of CLE, to the tune of 23/6/3 on 6-10 shooting
The Pacers got off to a quick start, were up by 20 at the half, and it was a wrap from there. While Olapido was the only starter that balled out, their bench was huge with Sabonis/Sumner/Evans combining for 44 points on good shooting splits. This is the kind of depth scoring that leads many to believe (myself included) that IND should be in the top 3-4 conversation this upcoming year in the East.
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For CLE, not a great showing by the starters, or really anyone on the team. The starters while without many key players went a combined 13-40 which stinks, and not even Collin Sexton could save them, as he had just 3/4/3 in his 22 minutes on 1-7 shooting
But bey, at least they kept trying and scored 35 points in the fourth! You can build off that.
Brooklyn Nets (1-1) 110 vs Pistons (1-2) 108 F/OT
Like I say, preseason basketball can be exciting! Even more so when we get overtime preseason basketball which I’m pretty sure I’m the only one on the planet who enjoys it. The Nets held on, mostly due to the clutch play of D’Angelo Russell who was money down the stretch
I also want to just shot out Jarrett Allen too, not just because of his 17/9 on 7-12, but because of THIS block. Absolutely outrageous
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That takes a good amount of skill and even bigger balls to meet Blake at the rim like that. Kudos to you sir.
For DET, when Blake wasn’t getting embarrassed at the rim, he was doing a little bit of everything else
the problem was outside of Langston Galloway (24 points), nobody else could really hit a shot. The Pistons shot just 36/39% for the game, and while it was impressive they only turned it over 7 times, it was clear all their effort in order to come back in this game in the first place left them in a tough spot come OT. But hey, at least we got an entertaining game between two teams that will be fighting for that 7/8 seed. I’m not complaining,
Orlando Magic (1-2) 89 vs Miami Heat (1-3) 90
I told you, this night was filled with close contests, and this battle for Florida is no exception. As expected, the Magic struggled, just 37/27% splits and three guys in double figures, but at least they showed up on the defensive end. Mo Bamba was “meh” to say the least in his 23 minutes
and really the only one to truly show up offensively was Vucevic, who continues to up his trade value in my opinion.
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Since he’s clearly not in the Magic’s future plans, I would trade him for an asset or two immediately. What are they waiting for? Just give Bamba all the minutes already.
For MIA, it was a thrilling ending for sure, but they pulled it out and avoided disaster. Kelly knocked down some threes, Whiteside hit the boards, and McGruder came off the bench and was probably their best player on the night
Obviously we’re all just waiting for them to trade for Jimmy Butler, so I won’t spend too much time on how their players looked. They won’t be part of this team for much longer anyway.
Washington Wizards (2-1) 110 vs New York Knicks (3-1) 98
Now this looked a lot more like the Wizards I know. All five starters in double figures, their first two bench rotation guys in double figures, and then nothing else from their bench. Been seeing that formula for years
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Safe to say they played pretty well even with some main rotation guys sitting this one out, or maybe it was because they played the Knicks, it’s hard to tell. It was a good sign that Wall/Beal were effective and mostly efficient, and it was a good sign they actually played defense. Now they can continue to think they are better than they really are and we can all go about our day.
For NYK, well, in terms of the starters at least Frankie Nicotine looked decent, but Alonzo Trier was definitely the best guard to hit the floor in this game. They won the fourth 29-22 so things looked a little better, but make no mistake, the Knicks got killed in this game right from the jump
Maccabi Haifa 100 vs Sacramento Kings (2-2) 132
What a way to close out things for the Kings! Granted it wasn’t against NBA competition but you think I care? Nope, sure don’t. Big night for Justin Jackson from the starters with 18 points on 7-12, and then on the second unit it was my favorite player of this preseason Harry Giles (16/7) and Buddy Hield (22 points on 9-11 shooting) that really caused the separation. I mean they had a 41, 35, 31 quarter scoring spree. When do we see that from SAC? Almost never. Pays to play not NBA competition sometimes.
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Don’t get sucked in, don’t get sucked in, don’t get sucked in. Shit, I think I’m getting sucked in.
Phoenix Suns (2-2) 117 vs Golden State Warriors (1-2) 109
OK, is this the beginning of the end of the GS dynasty? Sure looks that way to me. With Steve Kerr returning to his old stomping grounds you would think his team would be motivated, but he got tossed
and the team never recovered. Sure Curry was pretty awesome with his 23 points on 8-14
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and yeah Kevin Durant did some things
but the facts are the Suns only scored 18 points in the fourth quarter and won comfortably. Sure, not having Klay or Draymond clearly matters, but stop raining on the Suns parade OK you jerk? This may be their biggest win of the entire season.
For PHX, classic case of a jolt of energy after a firing. You see it all the time. Somewhere Ryan McDonough was screaming at his TV watching his prized #1 pick dominate the best team on the planet, which is a little sad
I mean 51/42% splits as a team with 14 3PM and just 17 TOs? Who are these guys! Even the former Rockets in Anderson/Ariza did Rockets things with 35 combined points and 8 3PM between the two. Maybe the Suns won’t be so bad after all! At the very lease, a definite League Pass team that’s for sure.
And that’s it! You’re now all caught up on everything that went down last night in the NBA. We’re back with three more contests today, Sharks/HOU, MIL/OKC, and DEN/LAC. I know you’re probably going to want to watch Sox/Yankees but why? Yankees stink. If you somehow choose to though that’s OK, just come back tomorrow morning and I’ll fill you in on everything you missed.