Things Got Completely OUT OF CONTROL...
Things got completely out of control last night in the NBA. We saw teammates fighting on the bench, a bloody face, some circus shots and some really baad shots. We got it all, so let’s start in Miami where Jimmy Butler made the headlines for facing his former team after the ugly departure. But, we witnessed first hand that there’s no bad blood between them, it’s all love. Friendly love I hope. Jokes aside, before the game Jimmy got his tribute video and the crowd showed support for the guy that literally dragged them to 2 NBA finals from the 5th and the 8th seed in the East. But then, the game started and without Steph Curry, Butler was a shadow of himself on the court. Buckets got dunked on by Bam, and then rejected not once but twice by Wiggs and Ware for the utmost joy of the home fans. He scored just 11 points on 3 of 12 shooting in 28 minutes of action. Why so little playing time? Because the Heat shot the lights out in this one. 17 - 3’s on 25 attempts, that’s 68% from downtown. The buzzer beater by Herro put the Heat up by 17 going into the locker rooms. And coming out in the 3rd, Adebayo has put the defensive player of the year nominee into a blender.
Bam led his team with 27 points in a wire to wire beatdown. And Kel’el Ware just put the cherry on the top when he did this.
After the game, Jimmy wasn’t feeling like talking to his former teammates so he was headed straight to the showers. Meanwhile, Steph and the rest of the Warriors crew showed love to Andrew Wiggins. Moving on to Utah where tensions escalated on the Grizzlies bench. Wow, Bane shoved Aldama so hard putting him in his seat like he’s a little kid, not a head taller. This seemed to get the competitive juices flowing because the Grizzlies went from trailing by 14 in the 2nd quarter, to leading by 40 at the end of the game.
A 54 point turnaround in a game is not something you see quite often. And in the middle of it all, KJ Martin threw the worst airball of the season.
That was horrendous. Regardless, Memphis had 10 guys scoring over 8 points, and you guessed it, Bane and Aldama led the way with 21 and 19 points respectively.
And from one blowout to another just to show you this astonishing fact. The Spurs went 10 and a half minutes without scoring a single bucket against the Pistons. That’s right. From 11:20 in the 2nd quarter when Mamukelashvili hit this triple, all the way up to 32 seconds left in the period when Devin Vassell made this layup, San Antonio went 0 for 17 from the field. They scored 7 points though, but all from the free throw line. Detroit used that to go on a 30 to 12 stretch and seal the victory even at halftime. The Pistons won their 2nd straight without Cade Cunningham, and have the best defense in the league in the last 15 games.
They’re breathing in Milwaukee’s neck right now. With the bad news about Damian Lillard’s blood clot in his right calf, which could sideline him for the season, Detroit has a chance to climb the standings. They can push for a higher seed to avoid New York and secure a playoff matchup against the Pacers. And speaking of my Knicks, they tore the Mavs apart last night. With AD sitting this one, because of the back-to-back obviously, New York dominated inside the paint. Both Karl Towns and Josh Hart notched a triple double which got them a spot in the history books. But the man of the hour was OG Anunoby.
He led the Knicks with 35 points on 62% efficiency, showing what a true warrior looks like when he saw blood on his face, but wiped it off with his jersey before knocking down the 3.
On the other side, Naji Marshall had himself a ball game. A career high 38 points for Marshall, but to no avail. This must be the quietest 38 ever.
And while we’re talking about 30 point games, Paolo Banchero just got his 4th in a row.