Last Night In The NBA: Game Winners And Surprise Wins
Welcome to another edition of Last Night In The NBA where we catch you up on everything that happened from the night before in the Association. There were just 4 games last night, and for the most part things were pretty close in all of them, including a game winner and a pretty shocking upset. If you missed it that’s OK, here’s what happened.
Wizards (14-11) 109 vs Suns (9-18) 99
Don’t look now but it seems like the Wizards are starting to figure things out, even without John Wall in the lineup. At 14-11 they are currently a 6 seed in the East, and while beating the Suns is something pretty much every team does, they got it on the road which in years past has usually been a thorn in their side. As you can expect, this turnaround is largely due to Bradley Beal playing out of his goddamn mind, and last night was no different. He finished with 34 points on 13-22 shooting in a team high 37 minutes
Only Markieff Morris was another starter in double figures, he had 21 on 8-12 shooting, so if you’re a Wizards fan you must be pleased with how your second unit played. Again, this was another area that has been trouble for this team, but last night they had 49 of the 109 points. As a team WSH shot 50% and turned it over just 10 times which is a recipe for success, and they had their strongest quarter in the fourth quarter which they won 24-15. These are all things that they are going to have to continue to do if they want to get home court in the first round of the playoffs.
For PHX, hard to win this game without your best player, and while every starter ended up in double digits, you could tell they missed Booker. TJ Warren led the way with 23/8 on 9-20
but it all came down to midway in the fourth when they cut it to a two point game, missed some chances to tie, and then boom an 11-3 run by WSH closed the door. The Suns have now lost 4 of their last 5 and are now 4-10 at home.
Lakers (9-15) 107 vs Sixers (13-11) 104
Game of the night, no question. A battle between two rebuilding teams if you want to call it that, mostly because PHI is about 10000 steps ahead in their Process. Both teams had their full lineups so it was a great chance to see a lot of the future of the NBA in one game. The Lakers finished with 7 players in double figures, and they got great performances from their high end lottery talent.
Lonzo had maybe his best game as a pro, with 10/8/8/3/4 on 5-11 shooting
To me, this was more impressive than his triple dub against PHX. I would say this was a more complete game on both ends from Lonzo, and a performance that will probably do wonders for his confidence.
Then there was Brandon Ingram. In a battle against 1 vs 2 from the 2016 Draft, it certainly did not disappoint. He finished with 21/7/6 on 7-21 shooting, and most importantly, the game winning shot
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Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson had 16 a piece coming off the bench, and to some degree the Lakers were a bit lucky to hold on for dear life after blowing a 16 point lead. Either way, a big time shot and a big time win on the road no doubt.
For PHI, back to back losses against PHX and now LAL, they sit in the current 8 spot in the East with only a game up on the 9th seed. Now they are also within a game of the 4 seed so by NO means is it time to panic, but here’s the thing. They have a 0.0 point differential. They score 108 a night, and give up 108 a night. There is only one other team currently in the Top 8 seeds in the East that do not have a positive point differential, and that’s MIL. PHI is 5-5 over their last 10, and this one hurts because they had all their horses playing.
Ben Simmons was his usual dominant self, with a nice 12/13/15 triple double
Embiid was HIS usual dominant self, with 33/7/6/1/5 on 11-17
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Covington and Redick did their thing, combining for 34 points on 12-25 including 6 made threes, and sadly, they came up just short. After coming all the way back and tying it up with like 40 seconds left, they just needed one stop, and they couldn’t get it. That happens in basketball sometimes.
PHI also now has the most losses at home in the East with 6. A shit ton of time to figure things out for sure, but if you want to be taken seriously, you can’t be losing to PHX and the LAL at home, you just can’t.
Nets (10-14) 100 vs Thunder (11-13) 95
Excuse me? OKC is losing to BKN now? Jesus Christ is it an utter disaster over there. I guess when you have no answer for Caris LeVert, who had 21/10 off the bench, that sort of stuff happens
Playing in Mexico and shorthanded, given they just traded Trevor Booker before the game, color me shocked that they were able to beat a team that has the firepower of OKC. The Nets have now won 3 of 4 and I couldn’t be happier. Go Nets Go!!
For OKC, yikes bro. Sure Westbrook had 31/8/6, but he shot 10-27 which isn’t great!
The other main parts of their starters were what I would call disappointing to say the least. Melo and Steven Adams combined for just 23 points on 11-33 shooting. That ain’t gonna cut it, and sneaky makes me really really nervous. Why? Let’s say this team is struggle city through ther AS break, it’s clear to OKC that PG13 is unhappy and may not resign, they gotta move him right? Now what if CLE dangles that BKN pick? That would be an issue.
As a team, even against the Nets, having 38/20% splits and scoring under 100 points usually is going to get you beat in the NBA. 37 second half points with that kind of offensive talent has to be frustrating as hell for the fine people of Oklahoma who root for this team. I’m sorry you had to go through that.
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Rockets (19-4) 112 vs Jazz (13-13) 101
The Rockets just keep rolling. The current #1 seed in the West, winners of 8 straight and 9-1 over their last 10 with the second best point differential in the NBA, they are very much for real. Did you know since CP3 came back the Rockets haven’t lost and he’s averaging 10 assists a game in under 30 minutes? I’d say that’s pretty fucking ridiculous. In this win, Harden/CP3/Ryan Anderson all let it hang on the face of the Jazz
You’re not going to beat HOU if they shoot 47% from the field, and 42% from deep while making 18 threes. If they are going to play a lick of defense too? Forget about it. Things were relatively close until that breakout third quarter they won 37-20, and from there the Jazz tried to rally, but were ultimately unsuccessful.
For UTA, after their 6 game win streak, they’ve now lost 2 in a row and find themselves in the 8 spot in the West with OKC and LAL lurking. Most of their starters struggled outside of Donovan Mitchell, who continues to have a VERY strong rookie season. He finished with 26/4/4 on 9-19 shooting in a team high 35 minutes
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It’ll take some time for Rudy Gobert to get back into game shape, but you can see how much the HOU style was a problem for UTA. Favors was basically a non factor with foul trouble, and if you turn it over like the Jazz did, you’re asking for an early death.
And that’s it! You’re now all caught up on everything that happened last night in the NBA. We have 8 games on tonight including some good matchups like SA/BOS, CLE/IND, and GS/DET. Go ahead and live your life on this Friday night, and I’ll tell you about everything tomorrow.