Last Night In The NBA: Trae Young Was Special, The Sixers Avoided A Scare, Westbrook Got Tossed And More

Good morning everybody happy Friday 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. Boy does it feel good to have this blog back in our lives not just because we had a fairly entertaining night with 6 games on the schedule, but also you and I both know you don't want to do jack shit this morning. We waited forever for basketball to return to our lives and it did not disappoint, so if you missed any of the action from Thursday night here's what happened.

Milwaukee Bucks (47-8) 126 vs Detroit Pistons (19-39) 106

OK so it's not at all surprising that the Bucks played a dogshit team and blew them the hell out. That's what they do. This thing ws over in the first 12 minutes once the Bucks got up by 12, and by the half it was 27 so yeah. Only 41 points at the half for the Pistons certainly isn't great, but again this is basically what the Bucks have done all year. 

You wanna know what's bullshit though? The fact that every damn game it seems like Giannis is finishing with more points than minutes played. That shouldn't happen as consistently as it does, but it was more of the same last night with 33/16/4 in just 32 minutes. The guy is running away with the MVP and I will not hear any other argument

I don't care who you are, you are in big time trouble when you get MVP Giannis combined with efficient scoring from Khris Middleton who finished with 28 on 11-18 shooting

and then as secondary scorers both Lopez and Bledsoe fill that role perfectly

If you were maybe hoping there would be some sort of All Star hangover for the NBA's best team, well that certainly didn't work out.

For DET, look this is what happens when you blow your team up. Poor Derrick Rose wasn't traded and now he has to deal with this shit. Here's the crazy part, they didn't shoot all that bad! They finished with 48/35% splits and made 13 3PM. Thats….decent! The problem was the 21 turnovers and the fact that they couldn't stop fouling which led to a huge FTA difference. Can't beat MIL doing that shit, everybody knows that.

The spinzone is that center of the future Christian Wood looked good off the bench and Thon Maker did some stuff I guess against his former team

But we all know the deal here. It's tank season. Traded everyone away, 6.5 games back of the 8th seed, 5th loss in a row, I hate to say it for any Pistons fan out there but chances are things are going to get much worse before they get better.

Miami Heat (35-20) 124 vs Atlanta Hawks (16-41) 129

OK so the Heat need to be a little careful here. They are on the brink of losing homecourt after dropping their 2nd in a row, they're 4-6 over their last 10 and we can't kill other contenders for losing in ATL and then give MIA a pass. No no, you want to be this legit team that feels like it has a chance to win a title or at least at the top of the East, you can't be giving up 129 points on the road to the Atlanta Hawks with basically your whole team healthy. Let's be consistent here. Their lead over PHI for the 4 seed is down to just 0.5 games, and as someone who is 13-17 on the road this season homecourt is every bit as important to MIA as it is to PHI. If they don't get their shit together, their playoff road is going to get a whole lot tougher.

On the positive side Bam was a fucking beast

What a breakout year he's having. A cool 28/19/7/3/1 on 9-20 shooting in 36 minutes is big time stuff. They play small but the way Bam can dominate the glass/paint it really doesn't matter. This was Iggy's 4th game in MIA (1-3) and it was……underwhelming at best. Just 8 points on 3-7 shooting in 23 minutes off the bench and a team worst -33. Yikes. Jimmy Butler made some good plays late but wasn't all that efficient at 6-18

but the bigger story has to be their defense. What happened to it? They are a middle of the pack defensive team all of the sudden and didn't hold ATL to under 27 in any quarter. I get they didn't have Tyler Herro, but not sure that is an excuse for getting run out fo the gym by a 16 win team. 

For ATL, all you really need to know was Trae Young. We talked about it last night, but this was one of the more dominant 50 point performances you'll see

The dude was special, there aren't too many like him on the planet and whatever I can look past the defense if you're going to be bombing from the logo. It's not like the Hawks are trying to win or make the playoffs so give me some excitement on the offensive end instead. You're going to watch Hawks games solely because of Trae Young don't lie to yourself.

But we also saw some encouraging signs from some of the other young guys like Heuter, Hunter, and Reddish, all who played well

They may lose all the time, but the Hawks are still a fun watch, so at least they have that going for them.

Brooklyn Nets (25-29) 104 vs Philadelphia 76ers (35-21) 112 F/OT

What a weird as game this was. Sixers jump out to a 20-4 lead, then BKN goes on a ridiculous like 46-8 run or some shit to go up by 20, only for them to ultimately blow that lead and choke down the stretch. They were up 5 with 2 minutes left, pooped their pants and you just can't do that on the road in PHI. All that work from Dinwiddie and LeVert was for nothing

and I'm sorry but what the hell is Dinwiddie doing on that last possession. If you are going to hold the ball at halfcourt until there are 5 seconds left, you have to take the shot. Period. Him trying to get cute backfired, it gave PHI momentum and then they got dominated in OT. About as poor execution late in a game as you're going to see from BKN. Stupid fouls, turnovers, missed bunnies, just brutal. This team would frustrate the hell out of me if I was a Nets fan and not just because Kyrie is injury prone and is out for the season. I feel like they have a ton of losses just like this so far this season, but to score just 1 point in OT? Gross.

For PHI, no Ben Simmons no problem. Joel Embiid had his absolute way with any BKN defender, he was simply too much to handle

He got the help he needed offensively from Tobias Harris who had an efficient 22/12/6

and then Alec Burks was massive off the bench with 19 points

Those three were pretty much it in terms of offense. Al Horford didn't do shit off the bench and was a -26 in his 19 minutes, Josh Richardson struggled and went 3-12, but this Sixers team continues to find a way to win at home even while playing mostly like shit. That's why homecourt is so important for them, and had they lost this game there would have been so many hot takes this morning so at least they avoided that. They've won 4 in a row and have MIL on deck which will be a little bit better of a measuring stick than the under .500 Kyrie-less Nets.

Charlotte Hornets (19-36) 103 vs Chicago Bulls (19-37) 93

I can't imagine anyone really cares about this matchup so let's make this quick. The Hornets are kind of like the Hawks in that they most definitely stink, but at the same time they have some intriguing young players. They are definitely having a better season than most thought when we all saw the roster, and as the young kids continue to develop, who knows? Maybe this could one day be a 7/8 seed? Guys like Miles Bridges and Malik Monk combined for nearly half their points

They got up big early and never really looked back. It's not like they played great, as a team they shot just 8-28 from deep and had 17 TOs, but that's the beauty of playing the Bulls. You don't even really have to play all that well to beat them (sorry if this offends).

For CHI, tough to win when LaVine goes 8-22, but at least Thad Young played with some energy and had a nice 22/11 with 4 steals

You thought maybe they had a run in them when they came out in the third and got back into the game winning the quarter 29-19, but then they followed that up with only scoring 20 points over the final 12 minutes and it was all for nothing. Tough season that's for sure. 

Memphis Grizzlies (28-27) 125 vs Sacramento Kings (22-33) 129

So this year's Grizzlies are basically last year's Kings, so it's only fitting they had one of the better matchups of the night. Memphis has been one of the hottest teams in 2020, they are 7-3 over their last 10 and despite the loss still have a comfortable 3.5 game lead over POR for the final playoff spot. It was more of the same with Ja Morant and JJJ doing their thing and carrying most of the scoring load

but with Dillon Brooks having a tough 4-14 night, someone from the second unit had to step up and that dude was De'Anthony Melton who had a career high 24 off the bench

This thing was close pretty much the entire way, so the 19 TOs from MEM is what really hurt them, that and the inability to defend without fouling. The one thing you have to give them is they always play hard, and one or two stops down the stretch probably changes the outcome of this game. 

Remember, the Grizzlies have a brutal closing schedule so dropping games like this are especially tough.

For SAC, OK so maybe they almost blew this in the final seconds fouling a three point shooter, but they didn't so credit to them for the win. Hard to lose when as a team you shoot 50/48% with 19 3PM and only 10 TOs. That's beating pretty much every team in the league. Harrison Barnes and De'Aaron Fox held it down for the starters with 58 combined points

Then for the second unit it was Buddy Hield and Kent Bazemore who combined for 38. All of those points were very much needed, and honestly it's what makes this Kings team so frustrating. There is real talent there! Their season was destroyed by injuries and they may have a coach that has no fucking idea what he's doing, but the talent is there.

It wouldn't shock me if next season this team is healthy and they have the type of season that the Grizzlies are having now. 

Houston Rockets (35-20) 135 vs Golden State Warriors (12-44) 105

So nobody is surprised at this score, we all knew what was on deck. But look, if this is the ceiling of this new Rockets style, where they can shoot 52.9/51% with 25 3PM, well good luck. Nobody is beating this offense when it is feeling it like this. I mean 6 different players with at least 3 3PM? What the fuck even is that?

And in perfect Westbrook fashion, he got tossed with about 6 minutes left with the Rockets up like 40. Only Westbrook is psycho enough to do something like that. Like just take a deep breath and realize you don't have to talk shit at that point of the game. He did have a cheap shot, and I did love how he basically called out the Warriors dude for being a bitch since he wouldn't do anything about it, but calm down man it's just the Warriors and not even the good kind.

For GS, it maybe looks like Andrew Wiggins might be able to actually…..play?

In 4 games so far we're seeing Wiggins average 22.8/2.8/3.0 on 57/52% splits with 2.5 3PM a night. Where the hell was that all this time? Obviously a small sample, but there is no denying the Warriors bump is real. 

A good game for Jordan Poole as well

but this shit was over after the first quarter once the Warriors got down 38-17. More of the same.

And that's it! You are now all caught up with everything that went down last night in the NBA. We're back tonight with a full slate and I for one cannot wait. Hopefully this helped kill some of your morning, have a great Friday!