The Hangover: Warriors Nearly Upset By Sixers; Cavs Score Win Over Sixers

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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: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images.)

Seven games on a Saturday night as we are now only two weeks away from All-Star Weekend.

01/30/2016

THE GAMES

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 108 (43-4) @ PHILADELPHIA 76ERS 105 (7-41)

The Warriors were just cruising along, dropping 73 in the first half and leading by 24 in the third quarter. For all intents and purposes, it was over.

But the Sixers went on a rampage, going on a 15-2 run to tie the game with 22.3 seconds left. A possible upset was brewing… until Harrison Barnes stuck it to Philly with an open corner three with 0.3 seconds left. It would’ve been unbelievable if the near-impossible happened. It would’ve given me hope to do near-impossible things like beating Battletoads for NES, going out with Rachel McAdams, or doing a cartwheel.

BEHIND THE LINES
Klay Thompson (GS): 32 pts.
Draymond Green (GS): 10 pts, 13 rebs, 9 assts.
Andrew Bogut (GS): 8 pts, 16 rebs.
Stephen Curry (GS): 23 pts, 5 rebs, 6 assts.
Isaiah Canaan (PHI): 18 pts, 4 stls.
Robert Covington (PHI): 12 pts, 13 rebs.
Ish Smith (PHI): 16 pts, 5 rebs, 9 assts, 4 stls.

DETROIT PISTONS 107 (25-23) @ TORONTO RAPTORS 111 (32-15)

The Pistons were only down by seven in the fourth quarter. Then they blinked and then they were down 20. Detroit tried to rally back, even if impossible; Brandon Jennings and Darrun Hillard made it interesting in the final seconds. But Team Canada held on for their 11th straight win, making us believe that there may be a challenger to the East throne. But probably not.

BEHIND THE LINES
Bismack Biyombo (TOR): 12 pts, 13 rebs, 3 blks.
DeMar DeRozan (TOR): 29 pts.
Andre Drummond (DET): 11 pts, 12 rebs.
Brandon Jennings (DET): 22 pts.

DENVER NUGGETS 105 (18-30) @ INDIANA PACERS 109 (25-22) (OT)

Lot of close games on this Saturday.

Monta Ellis would come up big for the Pacers. They would go to overtime and the Pacers would quickly take a five-point lead. The Nuggets threatened by cutting the deficit to one but Monta made a huge three-point play with 20 seconds left. That would be the final score as Indy wins in OT.

BEHIND THE LINES
Monta Ellis (IND): 32 pts, 9 rebs, 6 assts, 3 stls.
Jordan Hill (IND): 20 pts, 7 rebs, 6 blks.
Danilo Gallinari (DEN): 23 pts.
Kenneth Faried (DEN): 16 pts, 12 rebs.
Nikola Jokic (DEN): 16 pts, 11 rebs, 5 stls.

BROOKLYN NETS 103 (12-36) @ NEW ORLEANS PELICANS 105 (18-28)

(PHOTO CREDIT: Gerald Herbert/AP.)

Brook Lopez would carry the load for the Nets but it was Jrue Holiday off the bench that would do the hitting for the Pelican. His three-pointer with nine seconds left broke the deadlock. Joe Johnson would counter with a three of his own three seconds later. Then Holiday put up a difficult jumper that was well-defended that went in with a second to go. New Orleans steals the win and find themselves only three games behind the 8th seed.

But JA-RULE HOLIDAY. TO EVERYBODY THAT BE LIVIN’ IT UP…

BEHIND THE LINES
Anthony Davis (NO): 20 pts, 16 rebs.
Jrue Holiday (NO): 26 pts, 7 assts.
Ryan Anderson (NO): 24 pts, 6 rebs, 5 assts.
Brook Lopez (BRK): 33 pts, 10 rebs, 4 blks, 3 stls.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS 123 (21-24) @ HOUSTON ROCKETS 122 (25-25)

The fourth quarter was wild in this one as Dwight Howard and Nene were ejected. The Rockets then made four three-pointers to get up by six inside five minutes. Then John Wall and Jared Dudley got it going late. Wall’s three-pointer would catch the Rockets. Then Dudley’s lay-up with 37 seconds left would give Washington a four-point lead. A James Harden three-point play would cut the deficit to one.

Then it was all missed lay-ups from there. Wall would miss a lay-up with nine seconds left, giving the Rockets a chance to win. But Harden would miss his own lay-up and Josh Smith‘s putback wouldn’t go, either. The Wizards magically escaped with the victory. I am so clever.

BEHIND THE LINES
John Wall (WAS): 19 pts, 8 rebs, 13 assts.
Marcin Gortat (WAS): 13 pts, 11 rebs.
Dwight Howard (HOU): 20 pts, 7 rebs.
James Harden (HOU): 40 pts, 7 rebs, 11 assts, 4 stls.

SACRAMENTO KINGS 117 (20-27) @ MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES 121 (28-20)

Them bears led by 22 in the first half and were even leading by 20 in the fourth quarter. But the Grizzlies were held scoreless for over four minutes in that last quarter as the Kings cut the lead down to two. The Kings kept being pesky and had a chance to tie the game down three with 15 seconds left. But Darren Collison, who had been instrumental in that comeback, lost the ball. Grizz come away with the close win.

BEHIND THE LINES
Jeff Green (MEM): 29 pts, 3 stls.
Marc Gasol (MEM): 22 pts, 6 rebs, 5 assts, 5 blks.
Darren Collison (SAC): 20 pts.
Rudy Gay (SAC): 21 pts, 7 rebs.
DeMarcus Cousins (SAC): 17 pts, 14 rebs, 3 stls.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS 103 (39-8) @ CLEVELAND CAVALIERS 117 (34-12)

(PHOTO CREDIT: Jason Miller/Getty Images.)

The Spurs played without Tim Duncan and this was yet another out for them. With no rim protection from the Spurs, the Cavs led big early and never relinquished control. LeBron James made sure of that by scoring 16 third quarter points. Their big three all scored over 20 once again and all is good once again at the Land. For now.

BEHIND THE LINES
Kevin Love (CLE): 21 pts, 11 rebs.
LeBron James (CLE): 29 pts, 5 rebs, 7 assts.
Kyrie Irving (CLE): 21 pts, 6 assts.
Kawhi Leonard (SA): 24 pts, 6 rebs.

GETTING SOCIAL

WATCH THIS PLAY

It honestly should have NEVER come down to this. But give Harrison Barnes (and the Warriors, really) credit for not folding completely against the Sixers. The Sixers would rather let someone else than the MVP shoot it but Barnes came through for the Dubs.

(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA.)

THE TAKEAWAY

Well, that Cavs/Spurs was one hell of a game, according to ESPN:

Anyway, I would still take the Warriors and the Spurs over the Cavs. But fortunately for the Cavs, they would only face one of those teams in the Finals, should they make it there. And they should. Even with the Raptors looking good, I see NO EAST TEAM threatening the Cavs, provided they stay healthy.

If you noticed, six of the seven games played on Saturday had a margin of four points or less. Of course, we didn’t think that the Spurs/Cavs would be the one that would have a double-digit margin. And we know that Warriors/Sixers should’ve never been that close to begin with.

Maybe the Pacers won because George Hill no longer has blonde hair…

I guess it’s starting to round back into form, per se, but the fifth-seeded Grizz would be the third seed in the East. Still, the East have eight teams over .500 so you can tell the East has definitely improved. The mid-tier teams aren’t backing themselves into the postseason, per se.

Somehow, Portland is the 8th seed in the West. Also, the Kings have lost four straight after that five-game win streak. I am sad for the Kings.

LeBron James wore shorts that were noticeably different from his teammates. What a rebel!

(SCREENSHOT CREDIT: SB Nation.)

They were changed during the first quarter. No need to panic and make more rumors about LeBron leaving The Land again.

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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