Last Night In The NBA: James Harden Looked Like An MVP, The Sixers Failed Their Dress Rehearsal, We Have New Splash Brothers In Oakland And More
Good morning everybody happy Saturday 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. There's a chance you may be a little hungover today after a long night of drinking which is why this blog is perfect for you right now because few things do the trick when you're immobile on the couch or sitting on the porcelain throne like basketball highlights. The preseason officially concluded last night with 5 more games which means we're officially ready for Tuesday night. What a journey it's been to get to this point but we made it. Now if you were out or were watching playoff baseball instead, here's what happened.
Washington Wizards 3-2) 112 vs Philadelphia 76ers (4-1) 93
It was the Sixers coach Brett Brown that called this game a dress rehearsal for Opening Night, not me. While I find that a little confusing seeing as how Ben Simmons didn't play and my understanding a dress rehearsal included the entire cast, they did play the other 80% of their starters as well as all their regular rotation players real minutes. Losing by nearly 20 at home is not exactly what you want to see. There's no arguing that the Sixers have a very talented team on paper if you're just looking at names and you don't ask them to hit an outside shot because well…..they can't. Just 7-27 from three in this game, the starters went 2-13 and for the entire preseason they finished 51-161 (31%). That stinks and it something to keep an eye on moving forward. Especially considering they played a team from China, ORL, CHA, WSH and DET this preseason who aren't exactly defensive masterminds.
But hey, at least Embiid had 17 points (-20) in his 23 minutes
and Thybulle does look like a very much NBA ready defender so there's that. This team is going to win a lot of regular season games this loss doesn't change that, but their lack of outside shooting that reared it's ugly head through all 5 has to be an issue.
For WSH, fresh off Bradley Beal's extension this team came out and punched PHI right in the mouth early and did not let up. Huge second and third quarters are what ultimately made this game out of reach, and really strong play from their young guys was ultimately the difference. You would think to beat a team like PHI that Bradley Beal would have to carry them but he only had 13 points on 5-12 shooting
They did sort of all apart in that fourth quarter scoring only 18 points, but finishing with 48/42% splits and only 14 TOs against that caliber of defense is nothing to sneeze at. The Wizards may not win a whole lot this season so let them and their fans have this moment. Between this and the World Series, everything coming up DC!
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Toronto Raptors (2-2) 123 vs Brooklyn Nets (3-1) 107
In the Raptors preview I touched on their outside shooting and how with Green and Kawhi gone someone was going to have to step up and fill that role, since spot up shooting was a huge part of their offense last year. I mentioned OG could be one of those guys, and last night he only added fuel to that fire
he led all scorers with 18 and that was big because their other two main guys in Siakam/Lowry sort of stunk and combined to go just 7-22. Not exactly ideal for two guys who could be making a combined 60M+ in the next few days. If I was a Raptors fan I would love how balanced things were with 7 players in double figures and as a team they put up 46/51% splits with 24 3PM. Those are prime Warriors numbers.
We did get to see a bunch of Siakam spin moves which always rule, and a play like this I feel like is going to define their offense
let Siakam create off the dribble, attract the defense with his spin and then find a shooter somewhere. That's as close to Kawhi as they're going to get.
For BKN, Kyrie made his home debut which I'm sure was very exciting for their fans
and even I can admit Year 1 Kyrie is so much fun to watch. The problem is and BKN will figure this out as the season goes on, defense is important. For them to really make waves this year without Durant it's going to take a whole lot more than fancy Kyrie offense, they're going to have to defend. It also doesn't help that Kyrie basically took twice as many FGA as any other starter and only went 7-17, but that's what they signed up for. It's not like he had much help, as a team they only shot 38/32% and guys like Dinwiddie who are going to play a major role only went 3-14 so chalk this up to just an off night for this offense.
But the giving up 123 at home with awesome splits is more concerning. Couldn't defend the three point line, gave up 70+ points in the first half, all that shit is going to do is have you end up the 6 seed in the East which would be a disaster imo.
Houston Rockets (4-2) 144 vs Miami Heat (4-1) 133
If you like offense boy was this the game for you. On the HOU side they finally looked like the Rockets we know with no quarter under 30 points, 22 3PM and James Harden out there looking like an MVP
but he wasn't alone. When the Rockets are rolling they kill you from multiple places, and that's what happened here. Along with Harden there was a great performance from Eric Gordon off the bench with 23, Clint Capela was a monster
and Westbrook finally didn't look like a complete disaster (don't look at his shooting numbers this preseason, you may vomit)
With most teams I would say a performance like this is the exception and not the rule, but this is truly who HOU is and how they want to play. Over half their shots were threes, they got to the line a ton, and they turned it over a ton while at times playing spotty defense. If that doesn't sum up HOU then I don't know what does. But in the end they won, which they are going to do a lot of this season.
For MIA, it's not an accident that they sat Jimmy Butler and their defense looked like dogshit. They get a pass for that, and really the story for them was Kendrick Nunn going nuts and matching Harden point for point basically
that sure came out of nowhere but that's the beauty of preseason basketball. They also got solid performances from their secondary scorers and role players
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and offensively they were just as good with only one quarter under 35 points. The third quarter sort of boned them but again they were missing their best defensive player so what do you expect. Still think this team is going to be much better than people think and could fuck around and compete for the 4-5 spot.
New Orleans Pelicans (5-0) 117 vs New York Knicks (1-3) 116
No Zion no problem! If there's one team that has looked very impressive this preseason it's the Pelicans and that's not even factoring in Zion. The pieces look like they fit perfectly, the new guys are picking up Alvin Gentry's system, and their other young players have looked greaet
As impressive as Zion has been, do NOT sleep on NAW who has been pretty much just as good and a huge part of why they went undefeated
the Pelicans were balanced with 7 players in double figures, they shot the ball great at 48/41% with 17 3PM and if not for missing 15 FTs this would not have been so close at the end. I have no idea if this team will even compete for like the 9th spot in the West, but they are going to be fun as hell even with Zion out for weeks.
For NYK, their young guys balled out as well
and Mitchell Robinson is back to blocking everything in sight (4 more) which makes him and Randle a very interesting frontcourt. This is another team where the wins don't really matter. Right now it's about playing hard and being in games while getting flashes from their young talent. That's all you can really ask of a rebuild and so what if they choked the game away at the end. That's going to happen a lot I would imagine.
Memphis Grizzlies (3-2) 91 vs San Antonio Spurs (2-3) 104
Finally the Spurs are actually winning preseason games. Luckily they were playing MEM because they honestly didn't even play that well, just 39/45% splits with 19 TOs and their starters for the most part shot like shit. Just 4-14 for LMA
5-12 for DeRozan, and if not for the second unit they probably lose this game
The Spurs are a team many think will be out of the top 8 when it's all said and done and while I think it's foolish to ever doubt Pop, they haven't exactly looked all that great this preseason. But as we know they're usually there at the end, but they have to play a lotttttt better or things could get out of hand quick. Not every team they face is going to be a rebuilding Grizzlies team.
For MEM, look at this stage you know your going to struggle, but it's all about being competitive and getting good showings from your young talent, both of which happened in this game
Jaren Jackson Jr was the only young guy who didn't look all that great, and as a team their 34/20% splits was disgusting, but again none of that really matters this season for MEM. Ja Morant's passing is legit as hell, they have good building block pieces, if this is how their whole season looks I'd chalk that up as a win. Just be competitive and develop, that's the name of the game.
Los Angeles Lakers (3-3) 103 vs Golden State Warriors (2-3) 124
The Lakers sat virtually everyone so there's not much you can take away from this game other than how good Norvell Jr looked
but does anyone else find it weird that these two teams have played each other 4 times this preseason? Is that normal? How many other pairings had that sort of schedule? I get they are two marquee teams but that feels a little excessive.
For GS, they did not sit their players, in fact everyone played so no duh they came away with the easy win.
Another 18 3PM night for GS, it's hard to even put any real stock into this seeing as their competition was garbage, but at least we saw some signs of a splash connection between Curry and DLo. It's probably a little concerning they were actually losing this game heading into the fourth quarter given who was actually playing for GS, but at least they had a big fourth quarter to avoid the embarrassment.
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It looks like the Curry revenge tour is definitely on and that's exciting, but the Warriors struggling this much with LA during the preseason is a little concerning moving forward seeing as how they are the direct competition.
And that's it! You're now all caught up with everything that went down last night in the NBA. We're off until Tuesday when the games count for real so get your sleep now. Have a great Saturday everybody!