Last Night In The NBA: Basketball Is Back And Boy, So Is The Drama

Good morning everybody 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. Basketball finally returned to our lives last night after what seemed like a never ending break, and we were blessed with 6 games on Thursday’s schedule. Considering four of them were decided by 5 points or less, and three of them really came down to the last few possessions, I would say the NBA picked right back up where it left off before the break in terms of drama. As we know both conferences are so tight that every one of these last 25ish games of the season are extremely important, which is why there are probably some unhappy fanbases this morning. It was a wild night, so if for whatever reason you were unable to watch that’s OK, just keep reading. Here’s what happened.

Phoenix Suns (11-49) 98 vs Cleveland Cavaliers (13-46) 111

We may as well get the tankfest out of the way early. For those not familiar this was the #1 lottery odds team in MPHX vs the #3 lottery odds team in CLE, and given how far back CHI is in the 4 spot, it really wasn’t going to hurt either team all that much if they walked away with a win. The top 3 lottery odds have the same chances, but the Cavs do have to be a little careful. They’re 4-6 over their last 10 and they lead over the Bulls is down to just 1.5 games, so it would benefit them to go on a nice little losing streak just to secure their positioning. That may be hard with Kevin Love now back in the lineup because people forget he’s actually pretty good at basketball

and you combine that with Cedi Osman who honestly if he wasn’t on CLE people would probably watch him more and realize there’s talent there as well

Just like when everyone plays the Suns the Cavs actually looked like a functioning basketball team with 34 assists, and balanced scoring. A big second quarter got tem the lead which they held the rest of the way. This was now their 8th win at home on the year and like I said they should enjoy it, but not make a habit of it.

For PHX, an impressive 16 straight losses. That’s some Knicks level losing right there and they’re pretty much all but guaranteed a top 3 spot. You know my line of thinking when it comes to this team, they’re fun to watch simply because of Devin Booker and a few others, and as long as you never expect them to win and just focus on that they are actually watchable

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Not surprising they lost when you see their 41/31% splits and 17 TOs while also getting destroyed on the glass 51-38. Ayton was relatively quiet which is a little concerning considering who was in the CLE frontcourt, but again they want the losses so it’s whatever. We can move on from this game we’ve said enough.

Miami Heat (26-31) 102 vs Philadelphia 76ers (38-21) 106

Playing without Embiid, things may have been a little closer than Sixers fans wanted, but man did Boban step right in and give them an Embiid like dominant performance

He started the game off like 6-6 or something crazy like that, and his overall size was simply too much. It really is a shame that I can no longer enjoy watching Boban play, but man is he entertaining. The Sixers got nothing from their bench so in order to pull this out it was going to have to come from that uber talented starting five, and outside of Boban they responded

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Guys like Redick and Butler struggled from the field going just 9-26, but Redick was there to hit his normal dagger three late and the Sixers were able to recover from what was a horrific third quarter in which they only scored 16 points and blew their halftime lead. Even though it’s the Heat, every win over the course of this next week without Embiid is going to be huge, and this game leapfrogged them over BOS for the 4 spot in the East for the time being. They didn’t shoot all that well and their depth was still an issue but none of that really matters as long as you win, and the big fourth quarter made sure they avoided disaster.

For MIA, it was nice to get a Vintage Wade performance

and they did have their chances late, leading this game with about 2 minutes left, but they couldn’t stop Boban and then Kelly Olynyk missed a three and it was a wrap. Once Redick hit the dagger three to make it a two possession game with a minute left you knew there was no way MIA was going to come back and this loss now has them outside of the playoff picture by 0.5 games, tied with the Magic who just so happened to have won 5 straight. The weird thing is the Heat are actually better on the road, but they’re 3-7 over their last 10 and it looks like it’s going to be a fight for them just to get back into the top 8.

Boston Celtics (37-22) 97 vs Milwaukee Bucks (44-14) 98

We’ll be talking about the Celts in their normal postgame blog I just want to say this. If you are blaming this loss on the officials, you are an idiot. That is what I don’t want to see happen. Were their bad calls? Sure. But that is NOT why this team lost the game, period. We’ll talk more about that later I just had to get that off my chest now.

For MIL, well Giannis sure is pretty good you could say

and then like always when these two team play guys like Malcolm Brogdon and Khris Middleton delivered brutal clutch shot after clutch shot down the stretch

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This game showed us that these two teams are pretty even and it would be one hell of a playoff series if it ever happened. The Bucks out executed the Celtics down the stretch and they deserved this win, and seeing as how they are unstoppable at home it’s really not all that surprising. Sure the Celtics were shorthanded, but the Bucks showed why they are the class of the East and even perhaps the league, something they’ve shown us right from the start of the season.

Portland Trail Blazers (35-23) 113 vs Brooklyn Nets (30-30) 99

Now we see why POR made that huge offer sheet to Kanter a few years ago, The big man made his debut last night and something tells me Blazers fans are going to love him

On a night when Dame couldn’t buy a bucket going just 5-21, we actually saw something pretty unusual when it comes to the Blazers and that’s some balanced POR scoring

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Things were close through the first two quarters and the Blazers used a big 34 point third to get their separation, and I would say it was interesting to see this team be effective through post play when so much of their success usually relies on their backcourt. Having both Nurkic and Kanter as legit offensive scoring options gives this team a different dynamic once we get to the postseason that may make a huge difference once the game slows down and defenses ramp up, especially on the perimeter. Now that we saw what it looked like against a BKN team that has decent rim protectors, I think it changes how you have to view the Blazers moving forward. They’re in the 4 spot and lead HOU by 2 games, but a nice streak by them over the next few weeks could definitely have them as high as 3, especially if they figure out how to win on the road.

For BKN, they’re sort of stuck in that 6 spot in that they can’t go much higher, but they need to be careful with tams like CHA and DET now within striking distance. They’re 3-7 over their last 10 which is the worst of any top 8 team in the East and on a night where they shot 39/14% I’m not sure what they expected. A little surprising they shot that poorly at home, but they did manage to make it somewhat close in the fourth, but in the end they ran out of gas. Shit happens.

Sacramento Kings (30-28) 123 vs Golden State Warriors (42-16) 125

I know this sounds crazy, but it seems like every time these two teams play these games are always right down to the wire. They’ve played 4 times this year and no game as been decided by more than 5 points. Sure the Warriors have won them all, but the facts are the these Baby Kings sneaky matchup really well with GS. That has to make oyou feel great as a Kings fan and your mind wander a little bit as to how fun a potential 1 vs 8 playoff matchup this would be. Marvin Bagley II really showed out on the big stage with 28/14

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and even when it looked like the Warriors were going to pull away late, a few huge Buddy Hield threes and the drama was right back

which brings us to the last possession. The Kings had a chance to either tie or take the lead with their final possession, and this is what they came away with

Hield did have that deep three initially, but with so much time I have no problem with him not shooting it there. Even if he admits he should have pulled the trigger

The mistake in my mind was once he started to drive he had Bogdanovic WIDE open that he should have dished it to him instead of taking that tough turnaround

That’s a wide open look that you have to make. Tough way to lose it.

For GS, yeah I mean what are you going to do when they get this sort of production from their main guys

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I’m sure they didn’t enjoy the scare SAC gave them. but they should be used to this by now. This was a big win for them too given that DEN was just 2 games behind them for the top spot, but when this team makes 19 3PM and has 45/41% splits playing at home, they tend to not lose. Definitely one of the more fun games of the night though.

Houston Rockets (33-25) 106 vs Los Angeles Lakers (29-29) 111

You may have thought I was joking when I blogged yesterday about how the NBA was helping the Lakers given the officiating crew, well now after the game happened is it still so funny? I mean look at this

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Yeah, the Rockets did blow a 19 point lead, but once things got tight you can’t argue they didn’t get a little screwed. Sure Harden extended his streak

and CP3 played well

but it was clear they couldn’t contain their frustration with how Scott Foster and his crew called this game down the stretch. Now personally, I say don’t blow a 19 point lead and you won’t have to worry about that, but between the three early fouls on Harden, the late “charges” to foul him out for just the 7th time in his career, I get why Rockets fans may be a little upset right now. The players certainly are

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For LAL, man did they need this win. You have to give them credit for fighting their way back, and they did it through more than just relying on LeBron which is what you want as a Lakers fan

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They won the final quarter 28-16 which ultimately sealed it and this win now brings them within 2.5 fo the final playoff spot and just 1 game behind SAC for 9th. They still have a long way to go and a tough remaining schedule, but starting the homestretch with a home win like this is huge, which is why the NBA assigned the crew they did. Safe to say I nailed that one.

And that’s it! You’re now all caught up with everything that happened last night in the NBA. We’re back with 9 more games tonight but given it’s Friday go out and enjoy yourself and I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Have a great Friday!