ABOUT LAST NIGHT
The Chicago Bulls snapped their five game losing streak, overcoming a big night from Kemba Walker to hold on for a 123-120 win at home over the Charlotte Hornets. Justin Holiday scored 27 points on 10-15 shooting to lead Chicago in his first game as a new dad. Kris Dunn added a career high 22 points, to go along with 5 rebounds and 7 assists on 10-16 shooting off the bench, in what was definitely the best game of his young career.
It was just enough to withstand Kemba Walker’s 47 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists on 17-27 shooting. In the final seconds, with the Hornets down 121-120, Walker drove to the basket and got a good looking layup attempt against Lauri Markkanen, but it rolled off the rim, allowing the lowly Bulls to escape with a win.
The Cavaliers now have their longest winning streak of the season after winning their fourth in a row, 118-113, in overtime against the Clippers. After trailing all night, the Cavs finally caught up, tying the game at 105 with a LeBron James three with 47 seconds left on the clock. In overtime, they grabbed their first lead at 106-105, on a lone James free throw, and held on from there.
LeBron finished the night with another stellar line: 39 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists on 17-26 shooting. Dwyane Wade came off the bench for 23 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. The Clippers were led by 23 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists from Blake Griffin, who also shot an unfortunate 8-25 from the field. DeAndre Jordan added 20 points and 22 rebounds on 10-12 shooting, but the Clippers have fallen on hard times. They’ve now lost seven in a row, and people are starting to wonder aloud if it’s time for coach Doc Rivers to hit the road.
Just one night after the Rockets wowed us by dropping 142 points on the Suns, the unimpressed Nuggets came out and unleashed 146 on the Pelicans, who managed just 112 themselves. Denver adhered to coach Mike Malone’s “0.5 mentality”, meaning that each player on the team should only hold the ball for half a second before deciding whether or not they’re open enough to take a shot, or whether passing the ball to someone else is the better option.
The Nuggets, who shot 62.9% from the field, were led by Jamal Murray’s 31 points on 13-18 shooting.
“It was fun,” said Gary Harris (22 points, 5 assists, 9-11 shooting) after the game. “When we play like that, we’re a hard team to beat.”
Not fun was what happened to Anthony Davis. He suffered a concussion in the third quarter after Nikola Jokic’s dome collided with his own. He left after playing just 21:14 with 17 points and 5 rebounds on 7-11 shooting, the lone bright spot on an otherwise forgettable night for the Pelicans. Hopefully he is able to return sooner rather than later, or the Pelicans (8-8) might slide down the Western Conference standings into a hole that would be tough to escape from.
The Spurs came back from a 23 point deficit to defeat the Thunder, 104-101. The comeback tied their third largest under coach Gregg Popovich. The legendary coach had this to say after the game.
“It was a fine win. The guys really dug deep, pounded the rock. We kept a great attitude, and they just kept their minds on playing basic basketball and things turned their way. The effort was great, and they played a lot smarter in the second half. They took care of the ball, and just showed a lot of courage. Overall, a great team win.”
LaMarcus Aldridge led the way with 26 points and 9 rebounds, while Carmelo Anthony led the Thunder with 20 points and 6 rebounds.
San Antonio fell behind early after a yucky first quarter that ended with more Spurs turnovers than Spurs field goals. As we all know, you can never count them out, and with 38.3 seconds left in the third quarter, they tied the game at 78 with a Davis Bertans three. They grabbed a lead right at the start of the fourth with another three, this time from Manu Ginobili, and took it from there.
Our Game of the Night turned out to be quite lackluster, with the Toronto Raptors taking care of business with a 107-84 victory over the New York Knicks. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry each scored 22 points. Lowry added 8 rebounds and 10 assists, and shot 8-12 from the field, while DeRozan shot 10-16 with 6 rebounds and 7 assists.
Despite the big win, the Raptors got some bad news on Delon Wright. The young backup point guard has a dislocated shoulder, suffered in Wednesday night’s win over the Pelicans.
The Heat nearly squandered a 25 point lead, but held on for a 91-88 victory over the Washington Wizards.
“It was pretty harrowing,” said coach Erik Spoelstra. “But, look, nothing is guaranteed in this league. But the process that this team is committed to, I respect that… to really spend a lot of time trying to fix some of the things that we’re going through.
Washington cut their deficit all the way down to 89-88 with 11.3 seconds left, but a James Johnson free throw, and a missed jumper from Bradley Beal sealed the victory for Miami. Beal finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Hassan Whiteside’s 22 points and 16 rebounds on 10-12 shooting led the way for the Heat.
The Bonus 