Last Night In The NBA: Giannis Made NBA History, The Rockets Finally Beat The Warriors, Late Game Drama And More

Good morning everybody happy Thursday and welcome 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. I hope you didn't think you were going to get any work done this morning because we had 9 games on the schedule which means we have a lotttt to talk about. It was a mix of everything, surprising blowouts, some NBA history, late game drama you name it we got it on Wednesday night. If for some reason you got busy and missed the action that's OK, because here's what happened.

New York Knicks (1-7) 102 vs Detroit Pistons (4-5) 122

OK, things are bad for the Knicks. We all sort of knew that was going to be the case when every good free agent decided they wanted nothing to do with NYK or their cap space, and you're now looking at the worst team in the league record wise. Winless on the road at 0-5 which is the worst road record in the league, they also have the worst point differential in the league at -10.5. You'd hate to say the time to tank is officially on not even 10 games in, but it's officially on for the Knicks. You truly hate to see it. 

So maybe ignore the score, ignore the reality of what this basketball team is at the moment and instead just focus on these highlights because there's not much else to say.

Listen RJ Barrett looks legit so at least the Knicks and their fans have that going for them. Plus Frankie Smokes didn't look completely inept in his start with 11/4 on 5-7 so who knows maybe there's a future here, but probably not.

For DET, in the battle of the Morris twins, Markieff walked away the big winner here. He had 22/4/5 on 7-11 which helped set the tone because this may have been one of the best offensive performances from DET all season. Three guys with at least 20 points, Andre Drummond continues to be an absolute monster shouldering most of the load while Blake is still out

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but how about Tony Snell going a perfect 9-9 from the floor? Tony Snell! That's not what he does, in fact it's the complete opposite of what Tony Snell does and it was wild to watch

The bad news is they are still under .500 which isn't great, but if their goal was just to tread water until Blake got back then that's exactly what they've done. They finished with a very impressive 55/50% from the floor with 15 3PM, but I don't know if that's them or the fact that they were simply playing the Knicks defense. Either way if you want to ba a good team you have to beat up on these lower tier teams and that's what the Pistons did.

Washington Wizards (2-5) 106 vs Indiana Pacers (4-4) 121

Much like the Knicks, it's not a hot take to say the Wizards stink because we all knew they would this season. They hung around for the first 12 minutes but that was pretty much it, and the 38/32% performance certainly didn't help things. Imagine for a second a situation where the team stinks but Bradley Beal plays well and drops 30

or as I like to call it, every Wizards game this season. Maybe that's a little harsh because Thomas Bryant, the best free agent value signing of the summer had a nice 20/11 as well

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but other than that there wasn't much to write home about. Rough night for rookie Rui Hachimura who has mostly been really solid this season but went 0-5 last night, and a tough night for my guy Isaiah as well who finished 3-10. 

For IND, they got Sabonis back which was a nice lift for them 

and overall the offensive balance for the Pacers was really food. A total of 7 players in double figures, the new Pacers continue to play so well for them it's starting to become a real thing

and even guys like Aaron Holiday came out of nowhere and looked great

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Much like the Pistons, the Pacers right now are just trying to survive and stay afloat while Myles Turner and Oladipo make their way back. They're a legit 3-1 at home and you can't ignore how unselfish they are playing, their 35 assists on 44 FGM is pretty damn impressive. The fact that Brogdon keeps finishing with 10+ assists is certainly not something I ever saw him doing based on what he gave in MIL, but he may be one of the best surprises of the season in this new role he has in IND. Once they get Turner back the defense will only get better too.

Chicago Bulls (3-6) 113 vs Atlanta Hawks (3-4) 93

The Bulls didn't blow a game! Big congratulations to them for finally not shitting away a game in the fourth quarter even if they certainly tried losing the final frame 28-22. Fortunately though their offensive explosion was too big for even this team to ruin and a large part of that had to be the career night for Satoransky

This is a guy that was always solid in WSH and now has a real opportunity for minutes with the Bulls so it's good to see he's making the most of them. He has great size as a PG and while he may not give you this type of production every night is definitely a steady option at that position. You add this night with a solid outing from Baby Dirk

and some 50% shooting as a team and it's no surprise they were able to have a blowout like this. The Bulls season has been pretty weird so far, if they just didn't puke on themselves in fourth quarters, this team is most likely above .500 right now. They may have to eventually pick a direction, either get your shit together and be good and flirt with the 8 seed, or just mail it in and tank for another year. It looks like they are headed for NBA purgatory and that is NOT what you want.

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For ATL, I get it, no John Collins, but still have some self respect. You get the doors blown off at home by the Bulls? What happened to being a team on the rise that was ready to take the leap this year. Those teams don't lose by 20 at home to the Bulls. Not only that, they also don't have 24 TOs. That's gross. 

I will say though, just like I put in the other blog, is it time to ask if Jabari Parker is actually turning things around?

maybe he was motivated playing his old team or something I dunno, but he's looked pretty damn good for ATL so far. You can't say the same for the rest of the starters, nobody else finished in double figures, Trae Young went 3-12 (0-8) with more turnovers than assists, and shit if it wasn't for the legend of Vince Carter and the second unit this would have been an even bigger disaster

Sacramento Kings (2-6) 120 vs Toronto Raptors (5-2) 124

Speaking of teams that we all thought were going to take a leap but instead suck big time ass, waddup Sacramento Kings you dicks. Where the hell was this type of effort last season when I could have used it? Assholes. On one hand, there's no shame in losing up in TOR, that place to play is tough as hell for a lot of NBA teams and at least the Kings were in it till the end. That's great! Their young guys looked pretty good while doing it too

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Offense has never really been the question for SAC, what plagues them is how pathetic they are on the defensive end. I get Bagley is out but come on, stop giving up so many points you are ruining some great offensive performances. TOR didn't have one quarter under 29 points, and even if the Kings played the Raptors mostly even for 75% of this game, they started off by giving up 36 in the opening quarter and were suddenly down 13. Brutal.

For TOR, you know what you aren't going to do? Beat the Raptors when they are at home and shoot 55/48% with 14 3PM. They win that game pretty much every single time, especially when they are as balanced as we saw in this game

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For everyone that thought TOR would fall off the face of the earth now that Kawhi is gone, they're 5-2 and a pretty decent 4-0 at home to start the year. They have their holes like pretty much every team in the league, but Kyle Lowry has gotten off to a great start and is putting up numbers among the best guards in the league and they most certainly are not going away. Playing this team will always be a bitch because they still have crazy athletes, a ton of length, and a couple of all stars on the roster.

Golden State Warriors (2-6) 112 vs Houston Rockets (5-3) 129

Who says the Rockets will never get past the Warriors and James Harden always chokes! New season, new result baby!

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they added Russell Westbrook and look at them, finally getting past their boogeyman. Very happy for you Houston

Basically if you were a Rocket in this game and you touched the floor, you played and shot the ball well. They made 21 3PM, only turned it over 12 times and had 6 players in double figures. When HOU actually looks like HOU and shoots the ball like this you can't beat them at home or really anywhere for that matter, and I won't even mention how this wasn't even a real Warriors team because I understand mentally how important it was for them and their fans to finally see this team beat the Warriors after what's happened the last 5 seasons. Let them have this.

For GS, Eric Paschall continues to be on an absolute tear for this team and is such a good story it's basically saved the season in a sense that Warriors fans can ignore how fucking terrible they are and instead focus on how well he's playing

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They also got a 28 point performance from Alex Burks out of nowhere off the bench which was cool for them

but I mean giving up 129 in regulation certainly isn't all that great. No quarter under 30 points, I'd say I'm surprised but come on look at this roster. Shit like this is the new normal for GS at the moment and while we all can laugh and enjoy it we better get our jokes in now because they're going to get a high lottery pick and then we're all fucked once again.

Minnesota Timberwolves (4-3) 121 vs Memphis Grizzlies (2-5) 137

Speaking of not playing any defense whatsoever, may I present to you the Minnesota Timberwolves. I mean how on earth do you defend (pun not intended but intended) this type of defensive performance against the lowly Grizzlies? KAT even played to! Well maybe that explains it. How about this, ignore that part and the fact that MIN is sinking like a rock and instead focus on the offensive performances of KAT and Wiggins cuz they combined for 55

Jarrett Culver also made his way into the starting lineup and didn't look half bad so maybe there's something there as well

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but just like every goddamn year if the Wolves don't show an ounce of improvement on the defensive end, it's going to be another lottery season which is sort of their forte. 

For MEM, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Grizzlies absolutely nailed this past draft. See for yourself

Not bad! Now what if I told you these two weren't even the best Grizzlies on the floor last night? That honor certianly doesn't go to JJJ who was 0-5, but rather Dillon Brooks who was nails with a cool 31 on 9-16 shooting

This is team that dropped 72 first half points and followed it up with another 65 in the second half which makes my brain hurt because the Grizzlies are not supposed to explode like this. Sure they're 2-5 but they are a young rebuilding team and when you get nights like this you forget about all the losing because you're too busy getting drunk off the future potential. Have yourself a day Grizzies fans.

Orlando Magic (2-6) 106 vs Dallas Mavericks (5-2) 107

Shoutout Magic for finally scoring over 100 points for the first time this season. The bad news is Vucevic missed a great look from deep to win it after they were gifted a couple of missed Seth Curry FTs and at 2-6 and 0-4 on the road things certainly aren't off to as good a start as we saw last season. But hey, Jonathan Isaac had a fucking dominant performance

and Aaron Gordon looks like he's working his way out of whatever funk he had to start the year

but the 6-24 from three hurt as did the 18 TOs. Can't do that on the road against a really good team and think things will work out for you, even if they almost did.

For DAL, a brutal night for Porzingis who went just 4-14 in his 34 minutes, and for most of the first half Luka was held in check. He's too good of a player to stop for a full game though and he was an absolute beast over the final 24 minutes

also shoutout JJ Barea who made his season debut last night and led the bench by making a handful of threes

it's good to see a team that we all hyped up heading into the year actually is living up to it unlike the Hawks or Kings.

Philadelphia 76ers (5-2) 104 vs Utah Jazz (5-3) 106

Now, we have to say it early. The Sixers were without Ben Simmons who only played 10 minutes because he got a booboo on his shoulder. He didn't tear anything or dislocate it or maybe even have a real injury, the team declared he was "sore" so he did not return. Make of that what you will. That meant others were going to have to step up and it certainly wasn't Al Horford and Tobias Harris which is unfortunate considering the team gave them $289M because I'm sure it wasn't for a 7-25 performance. Only 7/4 for Al which is pretty familiar for this time of year.

It wasn't all bad though, Embiid was a monster

and still got whatever he wanted even against Gobert, and then Josh Richardson looked pretty good, especially on the defensive end

my question is where was the All NBA defense from Thybulle? I was told he was Kawhi Leonard and yet he only played 13 minutes, didn't have a block or steal, went 1-4 and was a -13 on the night. Weird. There also wasn't much bench scoring which continues to be a problem for this team even if Sixers fans want to ignore that reality, and sadly they woke up this morning a 4 seed. Imagine that? Embarrassing. They are a Furkan prayer in POR away from having 3 losses, how pathetic.

For UTA, great job by them with their late game execution. They didn't panic once the Sixers made it a close game and they can thank their studs for getting it done

they are also finally getting some actual production from Mike Conley which Jazz fans have to be relieved to see considering how bad he's been to start the year

and this was huge for UTA because the 2-7 seeds all now have 5 wins. You basically can't lose in this conference it's bananas.

Milwaukee Bucks (6-2) 129 vs Los Angeles Clippers (5-3) 124

As we know Kawhi bitched out and didn't play in this game which was too bad but the Clippers more than made up for his absence

and all they needed was one or two fourth quarter stops and they probably win this game. I suppose that's where Kawhi would have come in handy but this is the path the Clippers have chosen. They made it close with some late Shamet threes, but in the end it was just too much Giannis.

For MIL, always cool to see your franchise player make NBA history

and even better when guys like George Hill come off the bench and drop 24 out of nowhere including a huge putback dunk late

just like we all thought, MIL is still that dominant team we all had to deal with last year. Giannis literally cannot be stopped and has to be the leader for MVP so far, and my guess is not much will change over the course of the year. They may have a slight issue blowing leads, but this is going to be a top 2 seed I have no doubt.

And that's it! Phew, that was a lot but you are now caught up with everything that went down last night in the NBA. We're back tonight with four more games and some good matchups so if you can't watch just check back in the morning. Have a great Thursday!