Last Night In The NBA: Ja Morant Locked Up Kyrie, The Warriors Are Pathetic, Andrew Wiggins Showed An Actual Pulse And Much More

Good morning everybody happy Monday 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. On a day filled with football and World Series baseball there was also 5 games on Sunday's schedule and since I know for a fact you are looking for any and every reason not to start your TPS reports, why not spend a little time this morning with some basketball highlights? A fantastic idea I know, so if you missed any of the action from yesterday here's what happened.

Golden State Warriors (0-2) 92 vs Oklahoma City Thunder (1-2) 120

I could give you a description of what's going on with the Warriors, but why not let Draymond Green explain

Yup, I guess I would tend to agree, the Warriors fucking suck right now. Like embarrassingly bad. A level of futility I didn't know they could reach and frankly we should all be kind to them as they try and figure out how to actually be competitive with three all stars on the roster. That's a tough task for any NBA team let alone one with the best shooter on the planet. The numbers are pretty insane, they've been outscored by 51 points the last two games and haven't led for even 1 second of any of them. WHAT? Not even like a 2-0 lead? That number feels wrong but it's the truth. The defense might be the worst in the league and there aren't exactly reinforcements on the way so I'm not sure how this gets better anytime soon. That big Fuck You season we all thought we were going to get from Steph Curry hasn't really happened

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and I have to say, I don't exactly hate the Warriors getting a taste of their own medicine. Considering shit like this is what they've been doing to the rest of the league for the last 5 years, not a single fucking person is going to feel sorry for them. Remember, this is one of the cockiest teams in existence when they are on top of the mountain, so seeing them have humble pie shoved down their gullet isn't the worst thing to witness.

Also, now we can see what Steve Kerr is really made of. If he's really this awesome coach, maybe stop losing by 50. The actual numbers are pretty insane though, a GS team that shoots 32/15% and only makes 5 3PM? When have we ever seen that shit before.

For OKC, maybe this team is actually going to be good as long as they have CP3? Hell, he didn't even do anything in this game and it was still a blowout. 

Why? Well mostly because they shot the ball great as a team, 55/46% with 15 3PM, but also because guys like SGA showed why they're one of the best young prospects in the league

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This kid is going to be a stud, there's really no other way to say it. His athletic as hell, he can get to whatever spot he wants and he has great size. You combine that with some great Gallo moments

and awesome bench production

and that's how you get a blowout like this. All game long it felt like OKC was making dagger three after dagger three and basically scoring whenever they wanted and sure maybe part of that has to do with GS's absolutely pathetic defense, but give them credit. You start the game off with three straight 35 point quarters and that's impressive I don't care who you are. The OKC defense is just as nasty as we saw last year which is always a good place to start, and who knows maybe OKC won't be sellers come February.

Brooklyn Nets (1-2) 133 vs Memphis Grizzlies (1-2) 134 F/OT

For those counting at home this is now a loss against MIN, a needed buzzer beater to beat NYK, and now another loss to MEM to start the season for BKN. But hey, at least Kyrie is scoring a lot right! That fancy dribbling is a great distraction from the fact this team could very well be 0-3 to start the year. If it feels like veyr one of their games is coming down to the last shot that's because they are, and even on nights when Kyrie has 37

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it took him an 11-27 performance to get it. As you can see, his leadership skills are already on display in BKN

and the Nets were even in a position to potentially win because they finally let someone else take a last second shot and while Dinwiddie missed it led to a Joe Harris tip in which seemed like maybe that was going to do it. Kyrie had some help, mainly Caris LeVert who was great

and Jarrett Allen who honestly should be starting but didn't because DeAndre Jordan is Kyrie's buddy

but in the end a down fourth quarter is what gave MEM hope, and then once you got into OT it was a rock fight where you got the sense that whoever had the ball last was going to win. Well, that's exactly what happened.

For MEM, you are LOVING life right now because Ja Morant basically went toe to toe with Kyrie Irving in a huge game, put the absolute clamps on him at the end of regulation, and showed that star potential we all thought he had coming into the year. What a performance

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And I have to admit, it was a little poetic that former Celtic Jae Crowder, someone that loved being in Boston and fit them perfectly was the one that sent Kyrie home packing. That had some Red Auerbach magic ,mixed in I just now it

Who knows how many wins the Grizzlies may have, but I doubt there will be many more exciting than this. You sprinkle in some Dillon Books going for 21

and this was a great home win that can really give your team some legit momentum, especially a young group like this.

Portland Trail Blazers (2-1) 121 vs Dallas Mavericks (2-1) 119

Close games everywhere you look at this one was no different. It was back to the old tried and true method for the Blazers, you want to win just give the ball to Dame/CJ and let them cook

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They accounted for 63 of the 121, only two other players finished in double digits, and it was Dame coming up clutch late that ultimately sealed it. It didn't always look promising with DAL getting off to a great start and this team finding themselves down 12 at the half, but a big third quarter gave them life and when you get within striking distance that's usually when Dame takes over.

The bad news is POR lost Zach Collins with a separated shoulder which will probably have him out for a while and they aren't exactly super deep with bigs at the moment. To distract any POR fan from that reality, focus instead on Rodney Hood actually looking like a guy who may finally have a legit role and who may have figured things out at the NBA level because he looked good

For DAL, once again the Luka/Porzingis duo proved to be one of the best in the league. They already compliment each other so well it's pretty terrifying.

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You can get a sense of why people think this team may be able to make the playoffs. Two unicorn players certainly give you a chance, and honestly the Mavs have been pretty damn good to start the year. They were in this game despite the 39/26% splits, and part of that was them living at the line (41 FTA), and they're actually getting legit production from their second unit. As good as Luka/Pozingis were, some big shots by the bench is what made this such a close game.

At this point you have to be buying the Mavs stock, and if this team stays healthy they are going to be a bitch to play it doesn't matter who it is.

Miami Heat (2-1) 109 vs Minnesota Timberwolves (3-0) 116

Ok so we can all admit that one of the better surprises of this early start to the season has to be the Timberwolves being 3-0 right? Not only that, but they are actually getting solid play from Andrew Wiggins. I mean what? You pair that with the utter dominance we are seeing from KAT, and wouldn't you say this is what MIN fans have been dying to see ever since these two became teammates?

Wiggins had 16 points in the fourth and was hitting crazy stepback threes, Jeff Teague chipped in with 21 of his own

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and a huge 39 point fourth quarter was ultimately the difference. What a job by Ryan Saunders to start the year, could it be that he is finally the first coach to get through to Wiggins? That would change pretty much everything about this team if we are going to get a version of Wiggins who actually tries. To come back from being down 10 late in the third for a young team is nothing to sneeze at.

For MIA, of course no Jimmy Butler which is just too bad given their history, and then Dion Waiters and James Johnson are suspended so it's not as if this was the full Heat team but still, tough one to drop on the road for sure. On the positive side rookie Kendrick Nunn looks AWESOME

as does Justise Winslow who is really coming into his own as the point guard of this team

If there's one thing the Heat do have even with Butler's absence it's shooting between Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson

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and you would think if they had their closer available the end of this game probably looks a little different. The 21 TOs hurt, as does the 33-15 FTA difference, but sometimes you face a team that is just destined to win and if it takes Andrew Wiggins going nuts to pull it off, well you like with that.

Charlotte Hornets (1-2) 101 vs Los Angeles Lakers (2-1) 120

Listen, this is going to be the case for pretty much every team this year. You need a confidence boost? Play the Hornets. No surprise the Lakers looked better, with AD and LeBron carrying most of the load

but we even had a nice little Dwight Howard revenge game off the bench

and sure, maybe it was a little concerning that this was a close game entering the half, but the Hornets eventually turned back into the pumpkin we know they are, scored just 39 points in the second half and that was that.

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For CHA, not the most efficient night at 38/38% splits and like I said the second half was pathetic, but they did get decent performances from Miles Bridges 

and Terry Rozier

hell even Cody Zeller was giving the Lakers the business 

but in the end you knew the Lakers were going to figure it out and pull away at home. This won't be the first inconsistent showing we see from this team this season, but hey at least they made the Lakers try so there's that.

And that's it! You're now all caught up with everything that went down last night in the NBA. We're back tonight with another huge 11 game slate which is music to my goddamn ears. Have a great Monday!