Last Night In The NBA: The Cavs Stink At Tanking, Jahlil Okafor Might Be The New AD, Game Winners And Much More!

Good morning everybody happy Wednesday 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 wsa another busy night on the schedule with 7 games in totoal, 5 of which were decided by 10 points or less. We got a little bit of everything from tanking teams having no idea how to tank, to shocking upsets, to game winners, overall it was another solid night. For those of you who weren’t able to catch it all that’s OK, because I’m here to tell you all about it. Here’s what happened

Washington Wizards (21-29) 113 vs Cleveland Cavaliers (11-41) 116

Make no mistake, this final score is only this close because the Wizards put up a huge fourth quarter in which they scored 44 points. The reality is they went into CLE, laid an egg, and got their ass handed to them by one of the worst teams in the league. Not exactly what you want if you’re a Wizards fan since they have way too many wins to seriously be considered a high lottery team but not enough wins to even be in the playoffs. That’s why this stings. They may as well try and make the playoffs and maybe pull off an upset, but now with their second loss in a row they find themselves 3.5 game behind the 8 spot.

As depressing as I’m sure this was, at least WSH fans got to see Bradley Beal ball out

and then there was someone named Jordan McRae you came in off the bench and had a perfect 5-5 night, that was cool

but that doesn’t excuse getting down by 19 to this Cavs team. Have some self respect.

For CLE, you fucking morons. What business do you have winning 2 games in a row? Don’t you know how any of this works? I hope you feel good about yourself because you just let CHI back into the tanking race. Both have 11 wins now and are separated by just 0.5 games for that 3rd spot. Can’t the Cavs see that all the tanking teams around them are doing their job. NYK has lost 10 straight, PHX has lost 9, CHI 4, so why on earth would you be trying to win games right now. So pathetic they can’t even tank right, it’s sad.

The main reason they won? The Wizards had no answer for Cedi Osman and Jordan Clarkson

Advertisement

CLE shot 53/44% and had 15 3PM which usually gets it done, their 6 players in double figures was also nice if you were a team that needed wins but again, CLE doesn’t. You realize what’s at stake right? Figure it out.

Milwaukee Bucks (36-13) 115 vs Detroit Pistons (21-28) 105

This was what we in the biz call a wire to wire win. The Pistons are in a similar position as the Wizards where they have way too many wins to be high lottery contenders, but not nearly enough to actually make the playoffs. This was also their second loss in a row that has them 3.0 games back of the 8th spot out East. Why do they stink so bad? Well one of the main reasons is they can’t seem to win at home. Just 13-12 on the year while also rocking a negative point differential, you bring that into a showdown with Giannis and it’s not going to end well for you.

It was a fairly quiet night for Blake who had 18/7/9 which was good, but he went 6-16 with 5 TOs which I would say wasn’t all that great. That meant someone else was going to have to step up to carry the scoring load, and in this one it was Reggie Jackson who had 25.

He was the best Piston on the floor in this game, and then you also had Luke Kennard chipping in with 19 off the bench

but like I said, DET got down early and never could get the stops they needed to get over the hump.

For MIL, once again, things for them were extremely balanced. Obviously it starts with Giannis who continues to not show any signs of regression

Advertisement

but what makes the Bucks so dangerous is the production always seems t come from everyone on the roster. This is not a case where they have Giannis and then nothing else. This in my opinion is why they’re so tough to beat, deep as hell

They finished with 54% shooting and 13 2PM all while taking great care of the basketball. They have the NBA’s best record for a reason, and while it all will come down to the playoffs for them, there’s no denying they’ve been one of the best teams in the entire league heading into the break.

Oklahoma City Thunder (32-18) 126 vs Orlando Magic (20-31) 117

I know they were playing the Magic, but those guys can be feisty at home when playing a good team, so I consider what OKC did in this game to be rather impressive. Mostly because Paul George and Russell Westbrook were unstoppable

Advertisement

Every time OKC tried to make a run and extend their lead the Magic punched back and we actually had ourselves a game heading into the fourth quarter. In fact the Thunder had to come from behind and put up a big 35 point fourth just to pull this out. Normally we see OKC be carried by their two stars and nothing else, they were without Steven Adams which meant they were going to need a third scorer and that’s where Dennis Schroder came in

On a night where George/Westbrook/Schroder combined to shoot 29-47 and outside of Westbrook’s 5 TOs nobody else really had any, this was the type of performance they needed in order to remain in striking distance of DEN. This was their 6th win in a row which is the second longest active streak in the NBA and their 15th road win, which is good for the 3rd most in the league.

For ORL, I guess you just wanted to play a competitive game which you did, so that’s a win. It was the same old story for them as they were carried by Nikola Vucevic

Advertisement

and it was cool that the Grant bothers got to play against each other sadly though the Magic’s one didn’t really do all that much off the bench. This was now the 4th loss in a row for ORL, they’re 5 games out of 8th, it’s pretty much a wrap for them.

Chicago Bulls (11-40) 117 vs Brooklyn Nets (26-24) 122

Now this is a team that knows how to tank! The Bulls continue to pull this whole losing thing off to perfection while still giving their fans hope by turning in great individual performances. In this one, there was Baby Dirk’s 18/19

Zach LaVine’s 26/5/4

Hell even Jabari Parker got into the mix with 22 off the bench!

Just when it looked like maybe the Bulls could steal this one they made sure to give it back by not being able to stop turning the ball over and play no defense, which in my mind is exactly what you want them to do. They get it, they know what’s at stake and the Cavs could learn a thing or two from them.

Advertisement

For BKN, nice bounce pack performance after dropping that game in BOS. D’Angelo Russell wasn’t benched this time in the fourth quarter and he responded with a team high 30

but just like we saw against the Celtics, the BKN bench continues to play really well. Shabazz Napier is making the most of these minutes with Spencer Dinwiddie out

he tied a career high with 5 3PM and people may not realize but the Nets have had one of the best records in the league over the last 50 or so days. Even with their injuries, they’re still legit.

New Orleans Pelicans (23-28) 121 vs Houston Rockets (29-21) 116

I don’t want to alarm you, but I think Jahlil Okafor may have actually turned himself into a usable NBA player.

Could he be the next AD for them? Only time will tell, but what I can say is he’s been pretty goddamn impressive as of late

Advertisement

I don’t know of anyone who thought this was possible, but he really has seemed to find a home in NO. Good for him. Besides Okafor Jrue Holiday played a great second banana with 19/6/8, and the Pelicans had one of the most shocking upsets of the night. This is a team that’s only 8-20 on the road, was missing AD/Mirotic/Randle/Moore/Payton, and went into Houston and won convincingly. What is that?

For HOU, brutal loss. Yeah James Harden continued his 30+ point streak but he needed 32 shots to do it which isn’t what we call efficient

Defense was an issue all night as the Pelicans never had a quarter under 27 points, and I would say their 39/33% splits didn’t help all that much either. The Rockets have to be careful here as they are just 0.5 games ahead of the 7 spot, so now is not exactly the time to go on a slump. I will say one other positive they had was the play of Kenneth Faried who is playing like a man possessed since joining this team

Advertisement

But yeah, if you’re the Rockets and you want to be considered a top team, you can’t be losing to the Pelicans at home, just can’t do it. Even with NO begging them to take this game by semi-pooping their pants at the end, they needed a big time three that never came. Very sad!

Phoenix Suns (11-42) 124 vs San Antonio Spurs (30-22) 126

You wouldn’t think it, but this was perhaps the most wild game of the entire night. Normally the Suns are painful to watch but that was not the case in this game. Devin Booker and Jamal Crawford were awesome, combining for 60 of their 124

which is all fine and good but the juice of this game came at the end. With the ball up two the Spurs looked like they could just run out the clock and walk away with the win. That’s when this happened

Advertisement

what a brutal turnover in a situation you absolutely cannot have one. Great job by PHX not fouling and suddenly they had new life. You would think that would be a momentum swing, but sadly, Rudy Gay happened.

For SA, this would have been a disaster if not for Rudy Gay. Sure LaMarcus Aldridge did most of the damage with his 29/14

but this win happened because of Gay. He was solid all night with 16/5/5, and when it came time for someone to end this game he rose to the challenge and nailed the game winner

Talk about a wave of emotion for both sides. I wouldn’t exactly say a contested long two is the best shot, but he made it so who gives a shit. I know Suns fans will probably be bummed, but this was the best thing for them. The loss will mean more than a stupid win, and at least they were entertained. I say cheer up butter cup things went how you needed them to go.

Advertisement

Oh and for a team that hates threes, the Spurs are sneaky really good at them

Philadelphia 76ers (33-18) 121 vs Los Angeles Lakers (26-15) 105

With LeBron still being a little bitch and a bunch of other guys out, this result wasn’t all that surprising. PHI came out quick and had a 19 point lead after one, and even though there were times where it looked like they may blow it, they were never really challenged. You’re not beating them when they shoot 45/41% and have 15 3PM and then also get great performances from their Big 3

Embiid did have a little back injury scare so that’s something to keep an eye on, but when you have Jimmy Butler smoking joints in the middle of this game that kind of gives you an idea of how they played.

This win keeps them 1.5 ahead of BOS in the East, and something tells me LeBron sat this out intentionally so that PHI wouldn’t be tied with BOS in the loss column. Can’t rule it out.

For LAL, it was basically Brandon Ingram and nobody else

JaVale McGee did have 17/14 but most of his shit is just easy dunks

Having 21 TOs at home will always get you beat, and they now find themselves 2 full games behind the Clippers for 8th in the West. It’s been a disaster without LeBron, and maybe that’s what he wants but they certainly dug themselves into a little bit of a hole.

And that’s it! You’re now all caught up on everything that happened last night in the NBA. We’re back tonight with 8 more games and as you know if you can’t watch em all just check back in the morning and I’ll fill you in on what you missed!