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.
12/06/2016
THE GAMES
ORL 124 (10-12) @ WAS 116 (6-14)
NY 114 (12-9) @ MIA 103 (7-14)
CHI 91 (11-10) @ DET 102 (12-11)
PHI 91 (4-18) @ MEM 96 (15-8)
SA 105 (18-4) @ MIN 91 (6-15)
PHX 105 (6-15) @ UTA 112 (14-9)
THE REST OF THE LEAGUE
So the San Antonio Spurs won another one on the road. They really must hate the riverwalk.
All jokes aside, they are now 13-0 on the road. Again, the best road start was done by last year’s Golden State Warriors, when they rang off 14 straight out of the gate. And the best road streak belongs to the 1972 Lakers with 16 wins in a row.
The Spurs have the slumping Bulls on Thursday in Chicago. They’ll go home for two games and then they’ll hit the road on a tail end of back-to-back on the 15th when they face the Suns in Phoenix. That game in Phoenix is the record-breaker for best road start. If you want to look even further ahead, they can tie the best road win streak by beating Houston on the 20th and then they can break that record by beating the Clippers on the 22nd.
One game at a time, though.
Utah has heated up. They’ve won seven of eight games. And their only loss was against the Heat in a controversial manner. The start of that hot stretch coincided with George Hill‘s return. He suffered a toe injury and hasn’t played in the last four games but Dante Exum and Shelvin Mack have done a wonderful job running the team. Also, Gordon Hayward has averaged 27.0 points per game in that 7-1 stretch. And Rudy Gobert had double-digit rebounds in each game. Safe to say that they’ve stepped up their game silently. But I’m trying to get you to notice.
And Detroit has won four of five. As of now, Tobias Harris continues to be their primary offensive dude. In those four wins, he’s averaged 21.3 points and in that loss against Orlando, he only scored 11 points. He’s shooting a nice .372 from behind the arc this season. They will continue to have that adjustment period with Reggie Jackson slowly coming back. Also, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had the same luck as Harris against Orlando (9 points) but was fantastic in the four other games (averaging 19.0 points). He continues to be a pest on the defensive end. And Andre Drummond has four straight double-doubles.
Since they started that 4-1 stretch, the Pistons were 5th in offensive rating and 6th in defensive rating. And they beat some pretty good teams, too. So uh-oh?
The Knicks continue to play well. The Magic are starting to wake up a little bit. And the Wizards still can’t figure it out. Is there some serious unrest in that team?
And the Bulls have lost three straight since they beat the Cavs. So I guess the lesson is… don’t beat the Cavs? Don’t listen to me.
LINE CROSSER
(PHOTO CREDIT: AP.)
John Wall wasn’t exactly happy with the loss. Even when he went for:
52 points, 8 assists, 3 steals.
Obviously a career-high in scoring for Wall but it still wasn’t enough to beat the Magic.
WATCH THIS PLAY
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA.)
The Bulls tried to run the break but Reggie Jackson stole the ball and threw TNLP to Andre Drummond. Magnificent play right there.
SOME THINGS ARE BIGGER THAN BASKETBALL
Zach Randolph made his return to the court for the first time since his mother, Mae Randolph, passed away last Thanksgiving. (On a side note, this was also Randolph’s 1000th NBA regular season game.)
It has to be tough to do anything after your mother passes away. I don’t know how Zach was able to handle it; it always seems to be too soon to come back after going through something like this.
Memphis has embraced Randolph ever since he got traded there in 2009. The Grizzlies then became a Western power. He had a bad reputation before he got there and ever since then, he’s been a model citizen. They were basically a perfect match.
It was awesome for the Memphis crowd to give him a standing ovation. It was great for his teammates to give him huge hugs after the game was over. And it’s so good that Zach felt the love every second there. We sometimes do need a safe haven and a distraction when a personal catastrophe happens and Randolph found it on the court with his teammates and those wonderful fans in Memphis. He ended the game with 12 points and 14 rebounds but, really, that’s a tiny nugget in the scope of things. After all of this, this is still only a game.
We will continue to think and pray for Zach Randolph and his family. Rest in peace, Mae Randolph.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Nikki Boertman/Commercial Appeal.)
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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