Last Night In The NBA: Multiple Buzzer Beating Game Winners, Paul George Shoved It Down The Pacers Throats, The Bucks Refuse To Lose And More

Good morning everybody happy Tuesday 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 was another busy night on the NBA schedule with 9 games in total with over half of them being decided by 10 or less we had a little bit of everything. Massive blowouts, two buzzer beaters that happened within like 5 seconds of each other, if you spent the night instead watching that terrible MNF game and missed any of the action then keep reading because here's what happened.

Los Angeles Clippers (18-7) 110 vs Indiana Pacers (15-9) 99

Paul George made his return to IND again last night and it appears as though Pacers fans still aren't over his departure because they booed the shit out of him. This also happened when he was in OKC, and unlike some other star players in the league who are afraid of a little booing, PG13 does what you would expect and takes those boos and it fuels him in a way that he absolutely murders his opponent. Last night was no different

It could have been worse for Pacers fans, at least George told his team he wanted to be traded so they could find the best possible solution. Not like he just left them high and dry. But this is what you expect from these blue chip players when they are in this position. They don't avoid the game, they embrace being the villain and shove it down your throat. With no Kawhi in the lineup it was George's show, and he and Montrezl Harrell did most of the damage

to win on the road like this against a good IND team with no Kawhi and Lou Williams shooting just 2-19, that's impressive. The road has been the one area where the Clippers struggle, now 5-6, so if they are going to be beating quality teams away from home while being shorthanded, well shit.

For IND, things were never really close and that's what happens when you shoot 35/28%. This is a team that is similar to LAC in that they are much better at home than on the road, and at least guys like Sabonis and Brogdon showed up and had great games

Things got a little out of hand early, it was clear from the jump that they did not have a defensive answer for Paul George, and I think things snowballed and before they could do anything about it this game was out of hand. Even with the improved fourth quarter defense to told LAC to just 19 points, by then the damage was done.

Cleveland Cavaliers (5-18) 88 vs Boston Celtics (17-5) 110

We'll talk about the Celts in their normal blog, so instead let's focus on the Cavs and don't worry this will be quick. So it's now out there that Kevin Love wants out and the Cavs are willing to listen to offers and that it'll take some salary relief, a first round pick, and a good underachieving young player to get it done. That's all fine and good but how about Love do the Cavs a favor and not suck ass? The Celtics aren't supposed to have any post defense yet Love puts up 7 points on 3-12 shooting in 27 minutes. How's that trade value! 

Honestly the only player on the Cavs that you know is going to kill the Celtics anytime they play is Tristan Thompson. Maybe it's because he feasts on the glass, but he always, and I mean always kills the Celtics and last night was no different

As expected the rest of the Cavs stunk, this got to as high as a 29 point lead at one point, and the Cavs are sinking like you read about. 

Toronto Raptors (16-7) 93 vs Chcago Bulls (8-17) 92

Poor Baby Bulls, they cannot close a game to save their goddamn lives. Here they are, at home, going blow for blow with the much better Raptors and they were so damn close. Even had the ball with like 10 seconds and a chance to win, only they ran a clogged toilet offense, took a terrible last shot and it was another heartbreaking loss. They had a lead with about 1:08 to go and couldn't get a stop, then Baby Dirk got blocked and a missed Lowry layup gave them one last chance. Here's what they did with it

Not the best look you've ever seen. But hey, at least Zach LaVine got his

and Wendell Carter Jr looked pretty good which would be big for the Bulls

but listen, you have to execute better down the stretch when you're at home like this. Another very winnable game instead goes into the loss column and the Bulls might be in a position where it's time to think about the lottery.

For TOR, this team just finds a way. Now without one of their best players all season in Fred VanVleet, it doesn't matter the Raptors find a way to win a game they probably should have lost. Siakam got back to being his #1 option self

and he won't get many MIP votes, but Norman Powell has been really really solid for this Raptors team this season, and definitely a contributing factor to why they have the record they do

Here's the thing about the Raptors, you know they can defend, they are now 2-0 in games decided by 3 or less and are 13-0 against teams that are below .500 and are 7-5 on the road. That's the shit you have to do if you want to keep pace with the other good teams at the top of the East, and we've seen even with injuries this Raptors team isn't just going to lay down. They'll be a tough out all year I promise you that.

Sacramento Kings (10-13) 119 vs Houston Rockets (15-8) 118

Man things just aren't going the Rockets way of late. They get boned with that call in SA, then the NBA denies their protest because they have eyes and watched them blow a 20 point lead with plenty of time left, then you get to last night at home and the Kings come out of nowhere and beat you with a 30ft game winner. Oh and there are already rumors that their head coach will be gone after this season. Damn. But hey, at least Harden and Westbrook combined for 61!

Call me crazy, but maybe Werstbrook shouldn;t have been screaming "game over!" after he made his layup with 5 seconds left. It's not over until it's over my friend and I bet he feels stupid now. Like with almost every HOU loss you can point to the defense and  would say allowing 60 second half points played a role in this loss, especially that third quarter where the Kings found new life. HOU went 17-50 from three which is outrageous, but also turned it over 19 times so I'm not sure what they expected. As we've seen this season you let SAC hang around late, they have the shooting to kill you.

For SAC, this was a big win because I'm pretty sure it snapped a 10 game losing streak in HOU. They shot the ball great as a team with 45/44% splits and 20 3PM, and it was one of those nights where Buddy Hield was on and I can tell you from first hand experience those are terrifying games

but when the game was on the line it wasn't Buddy Hield that the Kings went to. The man to complete this upset was Nemanja Bjelica who was nails from about 30ish ft to win this whole thing

The Kings, who were once dead, are right back in it just 1 game back of the 7 seed. They stink on the road at 5-9, but if they can at least get to .500 there, it's not crazy to think this is a playoff team and remember they are missing two huge pieces in Fox and Bagley both out.

Orlando Magic (11-12) 101 vs Milwaukee Bucks (21-3) 110

OK so the Bucks may never lose again. They should be going for 20 in a row when they play the Lakers, but for the moment they are at 15 and christ are they devastating. Normally they kill you with their balance, but last night was more the dominance of their two All Stars

and like you would imagine, this game was over at the break. Hell it was over after the first quarter but the 22 point lead at the half sealed it. You aren't going to beat MIL when Giannis gets whatever he wants, they shoot 46/39% as a team and made 16 3PM and seeing as how they are 11-1 at home you get the idea. 

For ORL, it was the opposite for them, couldn't buy a bucket over the first 24 minutes and outside of Evan Fournier and Terrance Ross there wasn't much to write home about offensively

The Magic should be good enough to make the top 8 in the East, but their 3-8 road record is a sneaky problem and they are holding onto that 8th spot currently for dear life. If this is the 1/8 matchup though you get a sense of how that series would go. 

You can't really blame ORL though, the Bucks are running through EVERYONE.

Detroit Pistons (10-14) 105 vs New Orleans Pelicans (6-18) 103

Only one thing matters when talking about the Pistons in this game, and that is Derrick Rose.

you have no heart if you don't love seeing him hit this game winner. Everything he's been through in his career, his revival in MIN and then backing it up with being just as good in DET is a great story. That game winner was vintage DRose and he had a fantastic quote about it after the game

As a team the Pistons still have a lot of work to do in order to get into playoff contention, but worry about that later. Enjoy this moment because Derrick Rose is awesome when fully healthy and it looks like he's at a place where he can get back to being that absolute beast that we all remember.

For NO, sigh. They've now lost 9 in a row and well, things aren't great. If you need a sliver of hope though as a Pelicans fans, at least Brandon Ingram is playing like a guy who wants a max extension this summer. 

The scoring is proven to be real, as is the three point shooting which is not something we saw from him as a Laker, so that's a nice development. Outside of Jrue Holiday the rest of the starters sucked ass

and it was tough that the game winner came against their best defender, but that's the NBA for you. You can see why the Pelicans are being overly cautious with Zion, no need to rush him back just so he can play for this high lottery team, but man I don't think many expected them to be THIS bad.

Minnesota Timberwolves (10-13) 109 vs Phoenix Suns (11-12) 125

You know what isn't going to happen? The Suns losing a game on Aron Baynes birthday AND the night where he finally makes his return to the lineup. No surprise he instantly made an impact with 12/7 off the bench and the Suns got back to their winning ways. He held things down for the second unit, and with three starters dropping at least 20 points

this team looked much more like the team we saw start the year. You cannot underestimate what Aron Baynes does for a team, and if the Suns can hang around .500 then they are going to flirt with that 8/7 seed all season. They have the highest point differential of any team currently ahead of them for the 6 seed, and they'll be getting Ayton back at some point too.

For MIN, maybe they were still recovering from their brutal loss in OKC, but outside of KAT and Wiggins who had 56, no other starter had more than 8 points and only 1 more player had double figures

Poor shooting combined with anemic defense and 16 TOs and that's pretty much the exact recipe for how a team loses to a good opponent on the road. The Wolves continue to be consistently inconsistent and have now lost 5 in a row and are 3-7 over their last 10. Woof.

Oklahoma City Thunder (11-12) 104 vs Utah Jazz (13-11) 90

Speaking of woof, what's up Utah Jazz. This was the team many people had as a team that could make a deep playoff run? I'm not seeing it and they are at risk of going on a big time slide if they aren't careful. It's still somewhat early sure, but let's just be honest here, they've been terrible these last few weeks. No Mike Conley in this game but I'm not sure that's a negative given how he's looked in a Jazz uniform, and it's clear they need way more than just Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert to win in this conference

For this loss to come at home too? Well that just makes it hurt that much more. Nothing from the bench, terrible outside shooting, it doesn't matter how good the defense is if this team can't find a way to score.

For OKC, they continue to be that pesky team that is probably going to find it's way into the playoffs and be a tough ass out for someone. They didn't have Gallo in this game and still got enough offensively to pull this out. Mostly because their guard play continues to be fantastic this season

Schroder has been huge for this team off the bench and his 27 was a big part of why OKC won this game. It was the classic OKC blueprint of solid defense, taking care of the ball (10 TOs) and when you do both of those things and you get good guard play against a struggling opponent that's how you get a much needed road win. OKC is just 4-7 on the road this season so every one of these road wins matters as they try to hold onto a playoff spot.

Memphis Grizzlies (7-16) 110 vs Golden State Warriors (5-20) 102

Man what a matchup between two powerhouses this season. I can't imagine you stayed up late to watch this game so all you really need to know is Ja Morant came back for the Grizzlies and was back to being his dominant self

And for GS it was another poor shooting night with high turnovers and really just DLo and Burks did anything

sadly though they trailed the whole way and are now 2-8 at home. Both of these teams should be in the high lottery when it's all said and done, and while MEM is loaded with young intriguing talent, something tells me the Warriors rebuild is going to happen a little bit quicker. Right now though, both are gross to watch.

And that's it! You are now all caught up with everything that happened last night in the NBA. We're back tonight with 4 more games so you know the drill. Have a great Tuesday!