Last Night In The NBA: Where Coming Up Clutch Was The Name Of The Game

Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Last Night In The NBA where we bring you up to speed on everything that went down from the night before in the Association. I know how brutal today is for you, after a nice long Thanksgiving break the last thing you want to do today is be back at work. Well that’s where this blog comes in because we had 8 games last night and almost all of them were thrilling, down to the wire battles. It was a night where coming through in the clutch was the main theme, and when you have that many exciting games it means there are a shit ton of basketball highlights to get to which also means you won’t have to do shit at work for a little while. Pretty awesome right? So if you were traveling home, or maybe watching football and you missed some of the action that’s OK, here’s what happened

Orlando Magic (10-10) 108 vs Los Angeles Lakers (11-8) 104

So wait, are the Magic good? Few teams in the NBA have been playing as well as the Lakers have been over the last 10 or so games, and here come the Magic pulling out a win on the road? Impressive. Even more so when you factor in they were down 10 after the first quarter, but it was a huge night for Nikola Vucevic who led the way with 31/15/7

which was huge in both the second and third quarters in which the Magic put up 67 points. To have a 15 point lead on the road in the fourth quarter, lose that final quarter by 11 points and still walk away with the win, something the Magic have now done in four of their last six, tells us that maybe this isn’t such a bad team after all. I know we’ve seen good starts from ORL before only to then see them head to the Lottery, but I dunno this year feels different. This was a team that barely lost to TOR as well during this stretch, so make no mistake they are playing some solid basketball right now.

For LAL, this is now the second time they’ve lost to this Magic team, and those are the only losses for them in the last 9 games. They had a tough time scoring down the stretch here, going scoreless over the last 2:24

but that doesn’t mean that LeBron and the kids didn’t show us some stuff

Offensively they weren’t all that bad, finishing with 46/38% splits, the problem was really the TOs, where the Lakers had 18. That’s tough. Also shout out JaVale McGee who had a nice 12/7, but also had 7 blocks. He must have been given some of LeBron’s secret sauce because he’s been so great for the Lakers this year. Now they head to DEN which is never an easy place to play, but any sort of early panic about the Lakers should be dead by now I would say.

Phoenix Suns (4-15) 107 vs Detroit Pistons (10-7) 118

Sure the Suns just beat the Bucks, but that was a fluke. You know the deal with them, the games aren’t about the wins or losses, it’s just about seeing their young talent do fun things on the court, and this was one of those nights despite the loss.

Outside of those two no other Suns starter took more than 8 FGA, and honestly they shot well as a team at 51%, they just ultimately ran out of gas in that fourth quarter, losing it 35-23. Whatever though, I could watch Devin Booker and Ayton dominate like that every night. Also, hats off to Jamal Crawford for passing the 19K points plateau

For DET, as is often the case the story for them was the strong play of their front court

and for most of the way they traded baskets with PHX which I’m sure was frustrating for Pistons fans, but a nice 15-3 run in the fourth put any potential nerves to bed. This was another afternoon game which has been tough for the Pistons so far this year, but they’re now 6-3 at home and very much in the mix among teams in the East. I don’t know how you can’t be impressed with the new version of Blake we’ve gotten this year, and I think you take 46/39% with 16 3PM and just 12 TOs if you’re a fan of this team.

Charlotte Hornets (9-10) 123 vs Atlanta Hawks (4-16) 124

I told you the night was about coming up clutch, and this was our first example. What an upset by the Hawks here, where they got solid nights from their two guards in Trae Young and Jeremy Lin as well as a dominant night from John Collins

But the play of the game was obviously Kent Bazemore’s game winner

you combine that play with the game winning block from Collins on Kemba, and this was a great win, even if the Hawks don’t really want wins right now. This win snapped a 10 game losing streak for ATL, and gives you a glimpse into what their future may look like once these young guys get even better.

For CHA, a team that has been so good in clutch situations as of late struggled a little bit down the stretch in this one, and Kemba was somewhat human going just 7-23 from the floor.

Malik Monk was nails off the bench with 26, and he seems to be rejuvenated now that Steve Clifford isn’t the CHA coach anymore

I could say the same thing for Marvin Williams who had 20/13 on 7-14 shooting including 4 3PM

This loss now brings CHA to a game under .500 and just 3-7 on the road, which isn’t all that great.

Philadelphia 76ers (14-8) 127 vs Brooklyn Nets (8-13) 125

Moments and games like this is the exact reason why this team traded for Jimmy Butler. They needed someone to help them in clutch situations since Embiid sort of struggles there, and that is precisely what Jimmy Butler gives them. While it’s true he isn’t the best three point shooter, what makes him so dangerous is that none of that matters when you give him the ball with the game on the line. He’s a bucket getter, and in those situations percentages get thrown out the window. So just like he did against CHA, he ended Brooklyn’s night with the exact same type of play for the win

Here it is one more time

The guy is cold blooded, there is not much else you can say. It’s why Sixers fans are loving life right now as they should. You look at their last handful of wins, all of them are close, something that didn’t really happen pre-Jimmy. Throw in the fact that Embiid is still a monster

and it doesn’t even matter that Fultz is essentially gone. This team doesn’t need him.

For BKN, that’s a tough loss to stomach not just because the Sixers are a good team and you were at home, but because you had a handful of awesome performances yourself

That’s the thing about the Nets, they’re pesky. They are going to play every team they play tough, and sadly it does not look like they watched any film. Everyone and their mother knew Jimmy Buckets was taking that shot, you have to find a way to defend that better. It’s not very often that a team shoots 56/40% and loses, but the FTA difference certainly hurt them, and then there was that clear travel on Embiid and late out of bounds call that sort of boned them, but that shit happens. At the end of the day they gave up 127 at home, and that’s usually a recipe for disaster.

Miami Heat (7-12) 115 vs Toronto Raptors (17-4) 125

The Raptors just keep on chugging along collecting wins. Now 9-2 at home, they needed that strong 36-29 first quarter to hold on since the rest of the way MIA actually played them close, and while giving up 115 at home is a little concerning, at the end of the day they won so it’s whatever. When as a team you shoot 51% and turn it over just 9 times while also getting awesome performances from both Kawhi and Siakam combined with 42 points from the bench, I would say TOR checked all the boxes on this one

After a little three game slide TOR has now won 5 straight, so any potential thought of them coming back to the pack looks silly now.

For MIA, a tough loss no doubt, but they did get Vintage Wade which is always fun

he finished with a crazy 35/5/6 off the bench, and even made 4 3PM! Other than him only Josh Richardson and Bam showed up,

everyone else was pretty much trash.

New York Knicks (7-14) 103 vs Memphis Grizzlies (12-7) 98

Ummm, what are the Knicks doing. Winning three in a row? All over the Celtics, Pelicans, and now Grizzlies? Is anyone on this team aware of the caliber of players coming out of Duke this year? I think David Fizdale needs a stern talking too. You cannot be winning multiple games in a row when there are teams like ATL/PHX out there stinking up the joint. Wake up Knicks you goddamn idiots

For MEM, a little hiccup for sure, as they’ve now lost back to back games and have a date with TOR up next, Still awesome at home at 7-2, but after winning 7 of 8 they’ve sort of hit a speed bump

Both Conley and Gasol combined for 50 of their 98, and how about Jaren Jackson Jr. 16/6 with 7 blocks on 6-6 shooting and 4-4 from deep. Holy shit

Utah Jazz (9-11) 133 vs Sacramento Kings (10-10) 112

The Jazz are so goddamn confusing. One night they can’t score 70 points, the next they are dropping 133. They came out firing last night finishing with 53% and as you can expect it was the usual cast of characters that played well

They had 74 points in the second half which is impressive, and for the most part their bench played well with four players snagging at least 9 points. Not the best defense, but sometimes that doesn’t matter when you can’t miss.

For SAC, the 17 TOs hurt, and that kind of took the wind out of their sails even though guys like Bogdanovic and Bagley played well

Personally I’d like to see SAC go on a little slide here, as they’ve now lost 4 of 6 and have the LAC up next.

Los Angeles Clippers (13-6) 104 vs Portland Trail Blazers (12-8) 100

Is it crazy that I think Doc Rivers should be getting some Coach Of The Year love? The Clippers are fucking good, and I don’t think anyone saw this coming

Despite going 5-25 from deep, they also only had 4 TOs which is pretty insane, and they did get to the line 34 times compared to just 10 for POR. That’s a huge difference obviously. Tobias Harris continues to have a great year in hopes of getting a big time deal this summer, and SGA continues to be one of the most solid rookies of anyone in his class. Add in another double double for Harrell off the bench, a guy who should be in consideration for either the 6th man or MIP award, this Clippers team is rolling.

For POR, this was just their third loss at home, but they’ve now lost 3 in a row and 5 of their last 7. That’s not great! Outside of Dame it was a struggle for almost everyone else

as CJ was the only other starter in double figures, but he went 8-21. I would say going to Aminu that much down the stretch is NOT the most ideal situation, especially when Dame is on your team, but what do I know.

And that’s it! You’re now all caught up on everything that happened last night in the NBA. We’re back tonight with 7 more games that are filled with good matchups, so just make sure to check back in the morning if for whatever reason you can’t watch. Have a great Monday, I hope this helped!