The Hangover: Raptors Win 10th In A Row; Anderson Scores 36 In Pelicans Win

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This is the Hangover. We get basketball-wasted all the time. Yes, we recap the NBA every night in our own way.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press/AP.)

Six games on tap. One team is trying to go for a franchise record on win streaks. Let’s see what happened.

01/28/2016

THE GAMES

ATLANTA HAWKS 92 (27-21) @ INDIANA PACERS 111 (24-22)

The Hawks lost newly-minted all-star Paul Millsap in the second quarter after a sprained ankle. The game seemed like it was going down to the wire but the Pacers finished with a 23-2 flourish. And Myles Turner was excellent in his first career start.

BEHIND THE LINES
Monta Ellis (IND): 25 pts, 5 rebs, 6 assts, 5 stls.
Myles Turner (IND): 20 pts, 6 rebs.
Jeff Teague (ATL): 20 pts, 5 assts.

DENVER NUGGETS 117 (18-29) @ WASHINGTON WIZARDS 113 (20-24)

(PHOTO CREDIT: Nick Wass/AP.)

The baffling Wizards couldn’t protect their home court. They came back from a 12-point deficit to tie the game before Gary Harris and Danilo Gallinari made back-to-back treys. Gallinari would add another long jumper and the Nuggets held on for a four-point win.

BEHIND THE LINES
Nikola Jokic (DEN): 15 pts, 10 rebs.
Danilo Gallinari (DEN): 26 pts, 5 rebs, 6 assts.
Emmanuel Mudiay (DEN): 20 pts.
John Wall (WAS): 17 pts, 7 rebs, 9 assts, 4 stls.
Marcin Gortat (WAS): 12 pts, 10 rebs.

NEW YORK KNICKS 93 (22-26) @ TORONTO RAPTORS 103 (31-15)

Toronto led New York by 10 at halftime. The Knicks cut the lead down to one but they never got over the hump. Toronto’s all-star backcourt led the way and brought the lead back to double digits. Knicks never threatened again and Team Canada has won 10 straight, which is a franchise record. WE THE NORTH and stuff.

BEHIND THE LINES
Jonas Valanciunas (TOR): 11 pts, 18 rebs.
Kyle Lowry (TOR): 26 pts, 6 rebs, 10 assts, 3 stls.
DeMar DeRozan (TOR): 26 pts.
Arron Afflalo (NY): 20 pts.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS 83 (20-28) @ MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 103 (27-20)

The Bucks were held to 14 points in the second. The Grizz went on a 17-4 run that carried over from the first half. And out of the Bucks’ 16 three-point attempts, only one went in. Try winning like that.

BEHIND THE LINES
Jeff Green (MEM): 21 pts, 5 rebs.
Marc Gasol (MEM): 15 pts, 8 rebs, 4 stls.
Greg Monroe (MEM): 21 pts, 7 rebs.

SACRAMENTO KINGS 105 (20-26) @ NEW ORLEANS PELICANS 114 (17-28)

(PHOTO CREDIT: Gerald Herbert/AP.)

Ryan Anderson went nuts in the first half as he scored 30. The Kings had to play from behind for most of the game and they never got closer than five points. Suddenly, the Kings don’t look so good while the Pellies have won six of eight. That’s going to make the playoff picture interesting.

BEHIND THE LINES
Ryan Anderson (NO): 36 pts, 9 rebs.
Jrue Holiday (NO): 25 pts, 5 rebs, 8 assts.
Norris Cole (NO): 17 pts, 7 rebs, 10 assts.
Omer Asik (NO): 8 pts, 13 rebs, 4 blks.
Rajon Rondo (SAC): 17 pts, 6 rebs, 15 assts.
DeMarcus Cousins (SAC): 26 pts, 10 rebs, 6 assts, 5 blks.
Ben McLemore (SAC): 26 pts.

CHICAGO BULLS 114 (26-19) @ LOS ANGELES LAKERS 91 (9-39)

This is a broken record.

BEHIND THE LINES
Pau Gasol (CHI): 21 pts, 12 rebs, 7 assts.
Jimmy Butler (CHI): 26 pts, 5 rebs, 10 assts, 4 stls.
Jordan Clarkson (LAL): 16 pts.

GETTING SOCIAL

WATCH THIS PLAY

Derrick Rose tosses it up for Jimmy Butler for the alley-oop. Keep running, Derrick.

https://youtu.be/XCaBS69Mt-4

(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA First Take.)

THE TAKEAWAY

Look at Toronto roll with 10 straight wins! They are looking really good right now. The funny thing is that they’re still missing DeMarre Carroll. He can only help this team when he comes back. That streak by Toronto has pulled them away from the rest of the East. So it’s the Cavs, the Raptors, then everyone else in the conference. 3-8 is separated by 2.5 games.

Washington continues to disappoint as they are still at the outside looking in. The good news, I suppose, is that they’re still only three games behind the up-and-down Indiana Pacers.

THE PAU GASOL APPRECIATION COLUMN

Kobe Bryant said that Laker fans didn’t appreciate Pau Gasol. He was right. From 2010-11, I saw a lot of Laker fans turn their back on Pau. And I should know; I still follow a ton of Laker fan on Twitter. I was one of his biggest defenders and I felt so bad for Pau that I felt that he should’ve been traded just so he could get out of that bad situation in L.A.

Gasol left when he became a free agent in the summer of 2014. But while I agree with Kobe that a lot of Laker fans didn’t appreciate Pau, “I” definitely appreciate the Spaniard.

So here are a few things that I want to share about Pau Gasol.

Pau once appeared in a telenovela called Eva Luna.

(VIDEO CREDIT: Melinda H.)

This one was around April 2011. This was around the time Laker fans thought “he was not concentrating on basketball.” Pau would go on to have a bad postseason and that really put more fuel in the fire.

Anyway, here’s more.

(VIDEO CREDIT: Daisy.)

Pau Gasol sings How To Save A Life by The Fray. I think this was for charity but this was just awesome how he had a back-up band while he sang karaoke. Outstanding.

(VIDEO CREDIT: Sesame Street.)

And in this one, Pau Gasol makes the best basketball coach ever as he teaches the residents of Sesame Street the game. It’s adorable.

If you thought, that was adorable. Well…

(VINE CREDIT: Sesame Street.)

I wanna have a dance party with Pau Gasol. He just seems like a cool guy.

I rest my case. One last hug.

https://youtu.be/x0QYakB6OcE

(VIDEO CREDIT: Ximo Pierto.)

Follow Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass for all tweets about the NBA and terrible pop music. Also, check out his podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental.

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