This is the Hangover. We get basketball-wasted all the time. Yes, we recap the NBA every night in our own way.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Dykes/AP.)
Four games happened on Thursday. Recap!
02/04/2016
THE GAMES
NEW YORK KNICKS 105 (23-29) @ DETROIT PISTONS 111 (27-24)
The Pistons had a 27-point lead and Carmelo Anthony was having a bad shooting night. Everything seemed peachy for the Motor City.
But the Knicks caught them in the fourth quarter as Robin Lopez, Arron Afflalo, and Langston Galloway led the rally. Lopez’s lay-up actually gave them the lead with about two minutes left to go. However, the Pistons made three three-pointers in a span of a minute that finally knocked the Knicks out. Stan Van Gundy must have enjoyed that difficult win.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Carlos Osorio/AP.)
Maybe not.
BEHIND THE LINES
Stanley Johnson (DET): 22 pts, 9 rebs, 5 assts.
Andre Drummond (DET): 17 pts, 13 rebs.
Reggie Jackson (DET): 21 pts, 5 assts.
Robin Lopez (NY): 26 pts, 16 rebs.
Arron Afflalo (NY): 24 pts.
Carmelo Anthony (NY): 19 pts (4/18 FG), 11 rebs, 8 assts.
HOUSTON ROCKETS 111 (27-25) @ PHOENIX SUNS 105 (14-37)
Things looked good early for the dying Suns as they started the game off on a 20-5 run. But since the Suns these days aren’t good, they lost the lead in the third quarter. They came back strong in the fourth quarter, taking a four-point lead. Shots behind the arc, though, won it for the Rockets. A Trevor Ariza three gave Houston the advantage and a corner three by Corey Brewer gave them a six-point lead that essentially put it out of reach.
Hey, look! Identical scores! So here are some dogs.
Pistons/Knicks and Rockets/Suns finish with identical 111-105 scores. pic.twitter.com/j3OzDGOeYB
— Rey-Rey (@TheNoLookPass) February 5, 2016
BEHIND THE LINES
Corey Brewer (HOU): 24 pts, 4 stls.
Dwight Howard (HOU): 5 pts, 16 rebs.
Trevor Ariza (HOU): 22 pts, 4 stls.
P.J. Tucker (PHX): 13 pts, 9 rebs, 5 stls.
Archie Goodwin (PHX): 22 pts, 7 assts.
Alex Len (PHX): 12 pts, 18 rebs.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS 99 (11-41) @ NEW ORLEANS PELICANS 96 (18-31)
The Lakers led for the most part as Kobe Bryant made us think it was 2008 all over again. His back-to-back three-pointers, which he was short-arming early in the season, gave the Lakers a 12-point lead halfway through the fourth. In the meantime, Anthony Davis brought us back to 2016 with the way he kept the Pelicans afloat all game.
Another three by Kobe with less than a minute to go put the Lakers up six. The Pelicans still came back, though, and cut it to two. Bryant would split his foul shots to give New Orleans a shot to tie but Jrue Holiday‘s three did not go.
Just when I was starting to believe that something was going to happen, Pelicans!
(PHOTO CREDIT: Stacy Revere/Getty Images.)
BEHIND THE LINES
Kobe Bryant (LAL): 27 pts, 12 rebs.
Anthony Davis (NO): 39 pts, 11 rebs.
TORONTO RAPTORS 110 (34-16) @ PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS 103 (24-27)
It was a battle between two of the best starting backcourts in the league. But Portland only led once in this game and it was 1-0. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry helped Toronto get in cruise control. Rip City got within three points in the fourth before Lowry ripped the Blazers with eight points in a 10-0 run. Team Canada has now won 13 of 14 games.
BEHIND THE LINES
Kyle Lowry (TOR): 30 pts, 6 rebs, 8 assts.
Jonas Valanciunas (TOR): 14 pt, 11 rebs.
DeMar DeRozan (TOR): 29 pts, 5 rebs.
Damian Lillard (POR): 27 pts, 5 rebs, 11 assts.
C.J. McCollum (POR): 21 pts, 6 rebs.
GETTING SOCIAL
Raptors win! 2-1 on the road trip so far. Now they have a nice break until Sunday. #RTZ
— Abigail A. (@aamartey1) February 5, 2016
Would ya looky there…the Rockets won. 🚀🚀🚀 #RedNation
— Aubrey Nicole (@heeeyitsaubrey) February 5, 2016
Tonight we got a better glimpse of how good Stanley Johnson can be. 44 minutes for the rook.
— Connor Ryan (@Thedjcryan) February 5, 2016
@kobebryant had extra lift tonight on a lot of his jumpers. Great to see vintage Mamba!!! #DontGo #nba
— Brian Witherspoon (@Spoony29) February 5, 2016
WATCH THIS PLAY
Normally, you see Kobe Bryant doing the posterizing. This time around, he’s on the other side as Ryan Anderson throws it down in front of him.
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA.)
THE TAKEAWAY
So a little about Blake Griffin. Suddenly, there are now trade rumors about the guy.
Can we blame the Clippers? No, not really. Yes, Griffin is apologetic for what happened but you can’t have things like that happen around your team. And with the way the Clippers are right now, it’s championship or bust and you can’t have distractions on the way to the title. For all we know, this could galvanize the group and spur them on to win the title. But usually, even if you’re a star, you cannot have someone punching people around.
If Blake is gone after this summer, don’t be surprised. Also, punching your co-worker, no matter how lame he is, is a bad idea.
Kobe has scored 65 points in the last two games. Remember when he would score that in ONE game? Anyway, we have two months left of Kobe. And possibly Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and maybe even Dirk Nowitzki.
The Blazers losing knocked them out of the 8th spot. They are now a half-game behind the Utah Jazz. This is going to be a fight for the right to get knocked out by either the Warriors or the Spurs. Still, I think it’s good morale for Utah, Portland, or Sacramento (ESPECIALLY) for them to make the postseason.
Happy Friday!
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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