Last Night In The NBA: It's Almost Must Win Season For Some
Happy Monday everybody and welcome to another edition of Last Night In The NBA where we catch you up on everything went down from the night before in the Association. As we officially move to Spring we’re approaching part of the NBA calendar where teams are starting to face must win situations. Tensions are running high, things that you thought were working weeks ago are suddenly turning back into pumpkins, teams are fighting every day for playoff positioning, and everyone is trying to avoid a multiple game loss skid. You could say this is when the NBA is starting to heat up for its stretch run. There were 9 games last night and most fit this way of thinking in one way or another. If for whatever reason you couldn’t see the action, don’t worry I’m going to distract you from work for a little bit. Here’s what happened
Rockets (52-14) 105 vs Mavericks (21-46) 82
No real surprise here obviously that the Rockets pulled this one out. Even knowing that Harden didn’t play, it’s tough to be all that impressed given the talent discrepancy of these two teams. Normally the Rockets are used to two guys having nearly half their points and that didn’t really chance. CP3 and Gordon combined for 50 of the 105 as DAL never really found an answer for either
Like many of HOU’s games, this one was over after the first 12 minutes when they secured a 25-14 lead. Sure DAL made things a little close in the second quarter, but scoring just 35 second half points was not enough if you can believe it. This win put HOU back on top of the West by 1.5 games, which is actually their largest lead in forever, even when they were winning 17 in a row. That makes total sense.
For DAL, not much you can do when you end the night with 35/16% splits and your best players can’t buy a basket. It’s hard to beat any NBA team with that let alone the best team in the league. They still live in the 7th spot in the lottery standings so that’s not exactly great either, maybe just let Nerlens do whatever he wants and actually play him more than 15 minutes a night
I know Carlisle hates him but what do they have to lose?
Raptors (49-17) 132 vs Knicks (24-43) 106
At this point the Raptors are getting a little ridiculous. I think they’ve won what, 15 of their last 16? Scoring 120+ in regulation time and time again, this one was actually close if you can believe it. Sure the final score ballooned and that’s mostly because the TOR bench was simply RIDICULOUS.
I’m talking 69 points and no player missed more than 4 shots. As a team they finished with 50/45% splitms, 16 3PM, 25 FTA, and just 11 TOs. This was on a night where DeRozan and Lowry combined to shoot 7-24 too, so it’s not exactly like the Knicks got killed by the Raptors stars.
Even if rotations shorten in the playoffs (which is something I’ve noticed people on Twitter LOVE to point out when you talk about how good TOR has been), that doesn’t really matter to me. To me their bench play is still important in a series because if there’s a chance Lowry shits his pants again, they are now able to overcome that in ways they couldn’t in previous years. So no TOR might not go 11 deep in a series, but they have guys that could very well change the course of a series.
For NYK, NBA purgatory is a bitch, and that’s where the Knicks are. Too good to be in the high lottery, not good enough to resemble an actual basketball team. Times are tough, but at least they had THJ step up and still try, he had 25, and he even talked some shit!
Also shouts to someone named Luke Kornet who came out and dropped 18 points. I’m going to assume that was a career high so congratulations!
Bulls (23-43) 129 vs Hawks (20-47) 122
Ah a nice toilet bowl matchup. Love these. Despite it coming against the Hawks, the Bulls probably played their best game all year offensively in this one. The 129 points are nice, so are the 29/45% splits with 17 3PM and just 5 TOs. Things were balanced for the most part, with 7 players in double figures and some good performances from almost every young promising piece
Bobby Portis also had 21 off the bench for CHI, who sit just a few games better than DAL for the 8th lottery spot. Adding a top 10 pick to this group should do wonders for them moving forward. Of all the tanking teams in the league, CHI probably has the brightest future in my opinion.
For ATL, they can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it most likely looks like a top 3 pick. They’d be silly to do anything to mess with their odds, and I’ll tell ya Taurean Prince got pretty close with his 38/6/7 on 11-18 shooting
Also I’m sure you saw the Rovell challenge. While it did not look natural to me, it was will the best defense anyone has played in a Hawks uniform all season.
Timberwolves (39-29) 109 vs Warriors (51-16) 103
A huuuuuuge win for MIN. Huge. They had been sliding, dropping three straight and with the champs in town, things had a chance to get ugly for them. Playoff seeding is so tight right now that any prolonged losing streak could very well send them right out of the top 8. So what did they do? They took advantage of their biggest mismatch, KAT.
Draymond Green had no answer whatsoever for KAT. Hard to imagine Thibs doesn’t want to give this dude every shot because he showed us last night that he can play with the big boys. In a big game like this Wiggins also showed up, finishing with 23/5 on 9-16 shooting. It was no secret MIN knew how big this game was, KAT even talked about it
And I get they beat GS without Curry, but last time I checked they still had Green, Durant, and Klay, so this is impressive in my book. Also DRose made his debut, and it was mostly meh
For GS, it’s not rare that they lose two games in a row, but here we are. Durant was every bit as dominant as you expect him to be without Curry in the lineup, he finished with a stellar 39/12
Klay had 21, and even that goober Zaza Pachulia had a nice night with 16/11
If I’m the Warriors, I sit Curry for the remaining 15 games. So what if this means they never catch HOU and are locked in as the 2 seed. What’s more dangerous, a sort of hobbled Curry as a 1 seed or a fully healthy Warriors team as a 2 seed? Exactly.
Jazz (37-30) 116 vs Pelicans (38-28) 99
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A big time win by UTA as well yesterday. This win now gives them the edge over NO in H2H, winning the season series 3-1. They’ve now won 6 games in a row, and while they currently sit in 10th like they have basically all year, they are now tied with DEN/LAC, and sit just 0.5 games back of SA and 1.5 games back of as high as the 4 seed. Few teams in the NBA are playing as well as UTA has lately, and it’s showing
Rubio led the way with a nice 30/10/7
then you had Donovan Mitchell chipping in a modest 27 on 10-21 shooting
Gobert held up his end against AD with a nice 19/16,
and then you can’t forget Joe Ingles either who finished with 20/3/5 on 7-11 shooting
They are clicking on all cylinders right now, and I really hope they are able to pull off this incredible run and make the playoffs.
For NO, it’s not time to panic yet, but we’re getting there. This was now their second loss in a row, and while they still own the 4 spot, if they keep playing like this that won’t hold. Shooting was definitely an issue, and honestly just when you thought you’d see AD do it all, he goes out and drops a triple double which should be no big deal, but then you realize that one of those doubles was 10 blocks and yeah, he’s a freak
If NO wants to stay in contention in the West, they can’t be dropping games at home moving forward.
Nuggets (37-30) 130 vs Kings (21-46) 104
The reason teams like NO can’t let up right now is because there are teams like DEN who are scratching and clawing their way back into the top 8. A matchup against the pathetic Kings is exactly what this offense needed, and as you can tell by the score they had a little bit of fun
Hard to beat DEN at home when they shoot 56%, make 15 3PM and turn it over just 7 times. Up and down the roster everyone played well, from Jokic who you just watched, to Murray and Harris combining for 41, to the bench and Trey Lyles and his 14/8/3 in 18 minutes. DEN in this building is a different animal and they’ve shown they can hang with GS/HOU for a game or two. I’d love to see them and UTA sneak in.
For SAC, at this point they’re just going through the motions, hoping to improve their lottery chances. They did get 18 from Buddy Hield off the bench on 8-15 shooting which was nice. I also continue to like their social media, honestly it’s the best thing about their team
Someone, somewhere, is having a rough morning this morning after trying to eat more than 130 chicken nuggets.
Pacers (39-28) 99 vs Celtics (46-21) 97
Full blog is coming, but basically one look at their injury report and….
Sixers (36-29) 120 vs Nets (21-46) 97
It’s looking more and more like PHI is going to stay in this 6 seed, which would make for a pretty boring first round matchup between them and IND. I think we all want PHI/CLE for the sheer entertainment of Embiid vs Lebron. While this game was against BKN, they offensive production from the Sixers is still nothing to sneeze at. Emiid was his usual dominant self
and guys like Covington (19) and Saric (18) did a good job of the secondary scoring since Simmons was rather quiet with just 11/6/6 on 4-9 shooting.
Then their bench had multiple guys in double figures and as a team they finished with 53% shooting. Not bad!
For BKN, at least D’Angelo Russell showed up
Lakers (30-36) 127 vs Cavaliers (38-28) 113
God I hate the Lakers with every fiber of my being, but even I can’t lie. They were fun to watch last night as they completely destroyed the Cavs
Obviously there were two big stories here, the first being the play of Julius Randle. The guy was the very definition of monster as no one in a CLE uniform had any idea how to defend him. Too quick, too physical, too aggressive for them to handle. It’s actually sad that Magic probably lets Randle go because he thinks he can bring in two big fish, when really they should be holding on to Randle moving forward. He’s only scratched the surface in my opinion.
The other gigantic story from this game was obviously Isaiah. You all know the story by now, and I can imagine him going on that personal mini run to put this game away felt pretty good. Isaiah is the ultimate chip on his shoulder player, and that’s how he played last night. This looked like the Isaiah pre injury, and his chemistry with Randle was noticeable. I’m happy he played well because you know he wanted to stick it to Lebron, and he backed it up.
For CLE, look, a lot of their main guys did not play so it’s hard for me to pile on too hard. Wait who am I kidding I loved every minute of this disaster. You know Lebron was pissed seeing Isaiah go off and George Hill and Jordan Clarkson look like trash. This defense is still giving up a billion points whether Tristan Thompson and Rodney Hood play or not. Things all the sudden don’t look so fun and awesome now do they Lebron? Perhaps maybe you overreacted?
I will say this though. Larry Nance Jr has definitely worked out for them, so at least 1 of their new guys isn’t pissing Lebron off. That’s a start!
This loss now has them in the 4 seed in the East, and just 0.5 games from not having homecourt. Cue the “Lebron is all that matters who cares if they have home court” takes from the butt clenched CLE fans, it should be an interesting stretch run for CLE that’s for sure.
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And that’s it! You’re now all caught up on everything that happened last night in the NBA. We have just 4 games on tonight but they include SA/HOU and POR/MIA so it should still be a fun night of basketball. As always if you get busy tonight and can’t watch, just check back here tomorrow and I’ll fill you in.