This is the Hangover. This is where I get drunk on the NBA as I recap last night’s action as well as a few things going on around the league. Here’s your word vomit.
03/27/2017
THE GAMES
ORL 112 (27-47) @ TOR 131 (45-29)
DET 95 (34-40) @ NY 109 (28-46)
CLE 74 (47-26) @ SA 103 (57-16)
OKC 92 (42-31) @ DAL 91 (31-42)
MEM 90 (40-34) @ SAC 91 (29-45)
NO 100 (31-43) @ UTA 108 (45-29)
(PHOTO CREDIT: Darren Abate/AP.)
WATER IS WET AND THE SPURS CONTINUE TO WIN
It’s so funny how the “Spurs are boring” when they are universally the most respected franchise in the league. During the season, they have personalities like tree stumps. But Gregg Popovich and company get guys who won’t disrupt the system and, as a result, they win a ton and are always in contention. The Spurs are also trendsetters; remember that this whole resting players thing started with them (if the Pistons, who are 2 1/2 point-underdogs in the latest betting odds for NBA, were a top team, they would rest their guys, too, as they are on a tail end of back-to-back). The point is that all the NBA teams want to work their magic like the San Antonio Spurs.
They may not catch the hot Golden State Warriors but the frightening thing about the Spurs is that you know they’re always going to be around. They’ve made the postseason the last 20 years and 27 of the last 28 seasons. They’re like one of the last difficult bosses in a video game (sometimes, THE final boss). Teams always have to have or do something extraordinary just to beat them, it seems. We always seem surprised whenever they get beat, even if the Spurs are deemed the underdogs in a playoff series. That’s what you want for a franchise. Which is why I laugh so hard every time Spurs fans complain. Sometimes, they don’t know how good they have it.
And who are we to say they can’t win it all? We worry about their rim protection but every team has its weakness. Year after year after year, we keep saying that this is the season the Spurs finally taper off but they never did. Before we knew it, they found Tim Duncan‘s successor to the throne in Kawhi Leonard. And somehow, they got LaMarcus Aldridge as a second fiddle, even though the Spurs aren’t known to get big names in the free agent pool. Plus once again, the Spurs just do their work. They don’t seem to care about who gets all the glory and they don’t seem to care who gets all the shots. They all know their roles and they know that, in the end, it’s all about the betterment of the franchise.
And this is what baffles me. All these fans want that team in the NBA that is excellent year after year after year and that is also drama-free. We have that in the Spurs. So why do we choose to ignore them?
Ahh, human beings. They love conflict so much.
THE REST OF THE LEAGUE
Some fans were so surprised about the Cavaliers actually playing in full strength against the Spurs. Of course, LeBron James gets elbowed by David Lee on his upper back and he was out of the game after the third quarter.
Score one for Team Rest Our Players.
We’re all about blowing leads these days? It’s gotta blow chunks when you’re up 13 points with 3:30 left in the game and you end up losing. That’s exactly what the Dallas Mavericks did against the Oklahoma City Thunder. They’re starting to break away from the Memphis Grizzlies, who lost again and this time it was to the comeback kids from Sunday, the Sacramento Kings.
Anyway, the battle for the fourth seed has gotten interesting. The Thunder are only two back on the loss column behind #4 Utah Jazz. The Clippers are also two back but they have more wins (44) than OKC (42).
By the way, with the Cavs losing, the Celtics have pulled ahead in the East as the #1 seed. How trippy is that? The rebuild is successful, to say the least. And it’s definitely ahead of schedule. Also, they still have the right to swap picks with the awful Nets. The East #1 seed has a chance to add a franchise cornerstone. I remember the 2003 Pistons had a chance to do that and they added the #2 overall pick, Darko Milicic. Whoops.
Gosh, Pistons. Get it together.
The Raptors continue to be dangerous. They’ve won six straight and have pulled within a half-game of #3 Washington Wizards. Interesting.
LINE CROSSER
(PHOTO CREDIT: AP.)
That makes it 37 for Russell Westbrook.
37 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists.
I didn’t even do much work in this section; I just basically changed numbers. But again, what he’s doing is just so so incredible. And we’re not finished talking about Russ just yet.
WATCH THIS PLAY
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA.)
Westbrook helps stun the Mavericks with this go-ahead J with 7.1 seconds left.
Follow Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass for all tweets about the NBA. Also, check out his podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental.
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