Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Sorry. Late again. Still working with a migraine.
Domantas Sabonis led the Pacers to a victory over the Lakers..
(PHOTO CREDIT: Frank McGrath.)
Yes, I seem to jinx NBA teams these days.
I talked about the Lakers’ long road win streak. Well, that was snapped on Tuesday after the Pacers edged them out, 105-102.
The Pacers are such a deceiving team. You’ll recognize some players but none of them are marquee names. Then you realize that Domantas Sabonis (yes, the son of legend Arvydas Sabonis) is fourth in rebounding and is a double-double machine. You know that Malcolm Brogdon has emerged as their consistent leading scorer. Myles Turner has struggled offensively but he still brings rim protection. T.J. Warren has brought offensive punch. And their bench has been productive with the Holiday brothers (Aaron and Justin), the scrappy T.J. McConnell, and the sharpshooting Doug McDermott. They’re doing all of this without Victor Oladipo, who is due back soon.
It’s that defense once again that keeps them in games. They’re the ones that don’t care about the trends; they’re 29th in three-point field goal attempts but 9th in percentage (.363). They don’t shoot a lot of free throws by are 4th in percentage there (.806). And they’re second in midrange shot attempts, which I’m sure infuriates the people that love analytics. They’re more of the old-school type of team, which has been like that since the Frank Vogel days. And if you know Nate McMillan‘s coaching style, his teams are never fast.
Anyway, their defense has been great. We mentioned Turner’s rim protection but, overall, their team doesn’t give a lot inside. They also don’t let you shoot threes (4th in three-pointers allowed). The Pacers will make opponents work for every shot and it’s really given them fits.
They may not be the best team in the East. But man, will they be a tough out once the playoffs come around.
Bullet Passes
DeAndre Ayton has returned from his long suspension. He didn’t miss a beat as he went for 18 points and 12 boards.
The problem was that the Clippers clobbered the Suns.
De’Aaron Fox also came back after he had a severely sprained ankle. I guess he looks fine.
What do you know? The New York Knicks scored 143 points and piled on the poor Atlanta Hawks. Trae Young did score 42 points. He should have scored 66.
The Pelicans lost their 13th straight game. And this certainly didn’t help:
Refs miss a Shot-Clock violation at the end of the game, that would have given the Pelicans another possession pic.twitter.com/KlgZVuguSC
— The Render (@TheRenderNBA2) December 18, 2019
They could’ve had another possession and would’ve had a chance to win the game. I’m not saying they SHOULD’VE WON but it would’ve been nice to get a shot at it.
Here is the response from the referees:
(From the NBA Officials on Twitter.)
But if it looked suspicious, why not blow the play dead? I suppose I can’t blame the refs, either, because the Pelicans kept going. Whoops.
The Scoreboard
SAC 102 (12-15) @ CHA 110 (13-17)
LAL 102 (24-4) @ IND 105 (19-9)
ATL 120 (6-22) @ NY 143 (7-21)
BRK 108 (15-12) @ NO 101 (6-22) (OT)
ORL 102 (12-15) @ UTA 109 (16-11)
PHX 99 (11-16) @ LAC 120 (21-8)
Watch This Play
I am going to keep saying this. LeBron James thinks Father Time is around age 50.
(VIDEO CREDIT: ERCC vids.)
What a beautiful reverse oop jam.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.