I got fooled into clicking on a clickbait article that told me that DeMar DeRozan had toppled one of Michael Jordan’s all-time Bulls franchise records.
He now has more points in his first 16 games with the Bulls than any player in franchise history.
His first… 16 games. That’s a strange number for your clickbait article.
Cherry pickers gonna cherry pick. It makes their clickbait title technically true while offering nothing of actual substance.
LeBron scored over 40 points on the way to a 30 point romp over the Blazers. Portland has some seven players out on health, including the coach, and two more on injury. They’ve had to draft in some minor league and short-contract players, a couple of which look stronger than the A-team. Reggie Perry, in particular, stood out to me. It also looks to me like Ben McLemore should be replacing one of the starters. Dude was high scorer for PDX with 28 against LAL.
We’re now 13th in the west and the team just looks demoralized.
Maybe I’m just not looking hard enough, but I’m thinking there should be way more buzz about the Chicago Bulls. This is a franchise that’s accomplished next to nothing for over twenty years, and now they’re in first place in the East? And right after the recently-ended hegemony of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Giannis Antetokounmpo seizing his hard-earned crown? I know no one ever wants to risk bringing up you know who again, but I think a back-from-the-dead resurgence is really worth following!
From what I could dig up, this looks like one of those “really hard to close out” cases.
DeMar DeRozan just became the first NBA player ever to hit game-winning buzzer beaters on consecutive nights!
Last night’s game between POR and Miami had three ejections and a flurry of technicals. Kyle Lowry was tossed early on after he threw the ball at a ref, and another Miami player got a T early. Very late in the game, Miami’s Herro ran into a Nurkic screen, which is like hitting a concrete wall, and was knocked to the floor. Angry over what was clearly a legitimate screen he ran after Nurk and shoved him from behind. Nurk turned around, and if it hadn’t been for another alert Miami player stepping in, Herro would have been a red smear on the court. As it was, Nurk gave Herro what amounted to a push in the face. The refs ejected both of them. Luckily it wasn’t a closed fist or Nurk could have been suspended.
There is a ref from Canada who officiates NBA games now, and this is the second game in which I’ve seen him eject someone for what seemed to be a very minor incident. I don’t think Lowry was making an aggressive act towards him, but the guy is very quick to take offense. The last time it happened to Lillard, who was just talking to him about a foul that was called. He wasn’t agitated or yelling, but was ejected anyway.
In his return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Pacers’ Lance Stephenson became the first player since specific statistics have been tracked in 1996-97 to come off the bench and score 20 points in the first quarter. He ended up with a Pacers career-high 30.
Can we keep him the rest of the season?
Last night when the Raptors were losing by 15 and it felt like they were losing by fifty, I noted the spread was Raptors +13 and laughed, saying out loud “Pretty sure they’re not covering that spread tonight.” They covered the spread, winning by 14.
Right now Fred VanVleet is playing basketball about as well as it can be played. He is absolutely carrying the team; without him they’d be well out of a playoff spot. If he doesn’t make the All Star team I swear I’ll go to the NBA head office and complain in person.
I just saw the second half of the game. VanVleet went the third quarter without missing a shot, and got his first triple-double after a slow start. Damn straight he deserves an All-Star berth. Toronto played three quarters of real basketball. It’s taken the team time to sync but they’ve looked good winning the last five.
Damontas Sabonis scored a career-high 42 points on 18-of-22 shooting, and Lance Stephenson added 16, to lead the Pacers to an upset win at home over the surging Utah Jazz. I particularly loved this highlight: http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=33022705
I’ve got an idea. Let’s keep Sabonis, Stephenson, and Duarte, and put everyone else on the trading block.
The Raptors won their sixth straight in a close win over a decent Pelicans team. They’ve played fewer games than some of their competitors due to Covid rescheduling. But three wins over .500 and looking in decent shape, especially if things continue.
Siakam and VanVleet combined for 61 points tonight and 56 for the last six games. Siakam sometimes started slowly after coming back from a shoulder injury. So this is good to see. I’ve voted for Fred to go to the All Stars. Deserved, but it won’t happen automatically no matter how many times the announcer calls him Freddy Allstar.
A phoenix has arisen from the ashes, it would seem. Down three of their top guards, POR has cobbled together a team out of mostly bench players and short-term contract players that has evolved into a winning combination. Two nights ago, they thumped SAC, and then last night gave the Nets all they could handle and beat them, too. Granted, Harden was out, but even so the Blazers were aggressive on both ends of the court and led for most of the game. They still have Covington and Nurkic, who provide solid defense, etc., but most of the others are second- and third-stringers who have something to prove. I’m looking forward to seeing if they can deliver again in Denver.
Lance Stephenson has been re-signed to another 10-day hardship contract with the Pacers. Fuck the 10-day contracts; sign him long-term!
Man, I thought Portland was hapless until I saw them play Orlando last night. They beat them by ten even though everyone but Nurkic seemed to be having an off night. The Magic couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat.
The Raptors played very well against a strong Bucks team. They played well against the Heat until allowing a 9-0 run near the end. But against the 9-32 Pistons they shot like they all had ear infections. I’ve seen better shooting at country fairs.
Lance getting 18 minutes in a huge win against Golden State wow he must be loving this. Lot of work to get them close to a play in spot tho. what is happening to GS? they are 3-7.
Pacers went on the road and beat both the Lakers and the Warriors. Beat the Lakers without Turner, and the Warriors without Sabonis.
Will the real Pacers team please stand up?
Same for the Blazers game with the Heat. Miami put on their blitzkrieg defense in the fourth quarter and pretty much shut down the Blazer offense. Not sure what the animosity is with Miami. Jimmy Butler got tossed early for threatening a ref. In the last game they played against the Blazers, Kyle Lowry got tossed. They must love paying those fines.
To be fair, the Raptors have been on a five game road trip. Most games they have relied on just seven players. Trent is out, and makes a big difference to the team stats when playing. Overall they have played well. But they are back to .500 because a tough loss, though inevitable from time to time, is not a W.
Season really is all over the place tho. just looking forward to 2nd round of the playoffs maybe getting the right teams in the right spots. weird season again. warriors struggling on the road.