Last Night In The NBA: The Sixers Remain An Embarrassment, Luka Doncic Isn't Human, Donovan Mitchell Is A Monster And More!

Kevin C. Cox. Getty Images.

Good morning everybody happy Monday and welcome back to another edition of Last Night In The NBA where we being you up to speed on everything that went down from the night before in the Association. Sunday was filled with another drama filled 4 games with our first slate of Game 4s, and depending on who your favorite team is some went better than others. The one thing I can tell you is that if you love offense, this was the day for you. A total of 6 of the 8 teams that played last night scored at least 122 points and only one went into overtime. You would think defenses would tighten up in the playoffs but that is in no way what we saw unfold yesterday. Now as always, if you had chores to do or maybe you got busy and missed some of the action that's OK, here's what happened.

Boston Celtics (4-0) 110 vs Philadelphia 76ers (0-4) 106

We'll be talking about the Celts in their normal blog so we'll spend this space talking about the lowly, pathetic excuse for a franchise known as the Sixers. I know a lot of what you'll hear after this sweep is "they didn't have Ben Simmons" and I get it, their fanbase needs something to hold on to. However, if you are led by someone who they all say is a top 10-15 player, you have two max guys available and your trade deadline shooting that was supposed to fix your issues, how do you not even win 1 game? I get losing the series, that's fine, but you get swept? WOOF. Joel Embiid had the emptiest 30/10 averages I've ever seen. Every single loss he disappeared in the second half and was a complete non factor. He did not protect the rim at all in this series and showed no signs of being the defensive monster I kept being told he is.

And this is why the Sixers won't go anywhere. They always find the excuse. This time it was no Ben Simmons and Brett Brown. Where is the accountability for the stars? Joel Embiid has never been past the second round at any point in his CAREER. It's always someone else's fault though? He gets zero flack for not winning a SINGLE game? Must be nice. Their future is pretty much fucked, Tobias Harris and Horford have 7 years and 228M left on their deals. Embiid's conditioning will never get better and now they have to hope whoever they bring in as a new coach is down to play how the Embiid wants. But hey, at least they won the regular season series 3-1!

Los Angeles Clippers (2-2) 133 vs Dallas Mavericks (2-2) 135 F/OT

Luka. Doncic. That's it really, we could stop right there and you'd know pretty much everything you needed to about this game. Youngest player ever to throw up a 40 point triple double, he finished with 43/17/13 in 45 minutes on a bum ankle, and of course he gave us all the Luka Magic we could handle

What's crazy is that down the stretch Luka looked like he was out of gas, which you would expect. He was doing everything for this team. But between his huge layup late and then that stepback to win it, he was able to dig deep and find just enough to pull it out. With no Porzingis in the lineup this was a huge win for Dallas to keep their season alive and honestly they've outplayed the Clippers in 3 of the 4 games this series. The beauty of this team is Luka doesn't have to do it alone, this is the #1 offense in the league for a reason and you saw why yesterday

As a team the Mavs shot 50% from the floor and had just 11 TOs. They demolished the Clippers on the glass which was a surprise, and coming back from 21 down is no joke, especially against a team like this. This series has upset written all over it, and a lot of that has to do with Luka Doncic. This is his first taste of the playoffs and you'd never know it. The kid is truly something different.

For LAC, look there's only so much Kawhi Leonard and Lou Williams can do. In this one they combined for 68 points

They were both incredible. Kawhi got into a zone in the fourth quarter that is utterly terrifying. But here's the thing, if Lou Williams is your second best player, you have a problem. Especially when you mortgaged your entire future to bring in Paul George. Playoff P might be having the worst playoffs of any star in the entire league. He's been down right horrible. Makes you wonder if Kawhi immediately regrets his decision. This is the guy he wanted to play with? The one going 3-14 every night and being pretty much useless? That seems like a bad thing to hitch your wagon to. 

The big bad Clippers were supposed to be deep and legit defensively, yet they allowed 34, 25, 28 and 14 points to close this game out. Does this look like a title team to you? Because I see a team that is struggled to beat a 7 seed. 

Toronto Raptors (4-0) 150 vs Brooklyn Nets (0-4) 122

OK seriously what the shit is this. How is someone going to drop 150 points in regulation? I don't care if it was against the Nets, that is utterly ridiculous. They never had a quarter under 34 points! What even is that. The Raptors finished with 55/46% shooting, 22 3PM, and only 10 TOs. Pick a name and they were great

Now the big thing is what happened to Kyle Lowry's foot. Reports are it has something to do with the arch and he's getting an MRI today. Given the series with BOS doesn't start until Thursday, you hope everything will turn out OK. There's not much to take away from this series for the Raptors to prepare since the defense they are going to face is much better, but there is no denying how good the champs look right now. They look like a wagon and a team that is not going to be bounced easily.

For BKN, listen, we all knew this was going to happen. It's OK, the Nets fought hard during their time in Orlando and have nothing to be ashamed about. This was like 54% of their roster. They didn't have Joe Harris, nobody expected them to win a game in this series. On the plus slide Caris LeVert looked great

and either he's going to be the legit third piece next to Kryie and KD or the Nets are going to flip him for a star. That would make me happy as a Nets fan. Dude is legit. 

Now they have to decide what they are going to do about their coach, but the timer officially starts for this team. They can't have a first round sweep next year or else things are going to get dicey.

Denver Nuggets (1-3) 127 vs Utah Jazz (3-1) 129

This series has been bananas, but is most likely now over. Tough blow to the Nuggets who were really good all year, but their health ultimately came back to bite them. It's not often you have two guys drop 50 in the same game, but Jamal Murray was on another level for the Nuggets

and Jokic was right there with him with 29 of his own

But what do we always say when it comes to the Nuggets. Their offense is great, they have a ton of depth, but if they don't defend none of it matters. Never holding the Jazz to under 30 points is not exactly how you snag a playoff win. Allowing them to shoot 57/48%, they were lucky to just lose by 2. This was crazy the whole way and they just needed a stop or two down the stretch and this series would have a completely different feel. Now the 3 seed is about to get upset and they really only have themselves to blame. A game like this is a great example of why defense is important.

For UTA, what more can you say about Donovan Mitchell? He threw up his second 50 point performance of this series, and man is he a force to deal with on the offensive end

It feels like he rises to the occasion in situations like this, and it was very clear that the Nuggets were going to allow him to get wherever he wanted with ease. He got great support from Mike Conley who has looked awesome in his first few games back

and hell even Jordan Clarkson has been a problem off the bench during this series, something I certainly did not see coming. I knew he could score, but throwing up 9-13 performances? Nope, didn't know that was a thing he could do

You sprinkle in the efficient dominance of Rudy Gobert

and this Jazz team looks dangerous. I had questions about how they were going to score the ball, but it looks like the plan is to just give the ball to Mitchell and let him cook. Them getting this version of Mike Conley considering what they got all year is a huge difference maker and if they wrap this thing up in 5 it's time to consider the Jazz to be a legit threat to win a couple games in the next round.

And that's it! You are now caught up with everything that went down yesterday in the NBA. We're back today with another 4 games and I imagine things will be just as tense as we saw on Sunday. Here's to getting another great day of playoff basketball, let's have ourselves a Monday!