Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Willie Cauley-Stein’s stint with the Golden State Warriors was short-lived.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group.)
So Dwight Powell is slated to be out for the season with a ruptured Achilles he suffered against the Clippers on Tuesday. The Mavericks moved quickly to cover this hole in the middle.
Enter Willie Cauley-Stein. The Mavs traded a second round pick from this upcoming draft to get Cauley-Stein from the Warriors, who have a season lost because of a ton of injuries. Cauley-Stein will be that new designated roll man for the Mavs and provide a bit of defense, too.
Cauley-Stein spent his first four seasons with the Sacramento Kings before going to the Warriors in the offseason. For the Warriors, it saves them close to $6 million on the luxury tax.
The Mavs also made a deal as they traded Isaiah Roby (second round pick acquired from Detroit last summer) to the Oklahoma City Thunder for three-year veteran Justin Patton, who was promptly waived. This roster spot that Patton left was for the Cauley-Stein trade.
Dallas done good in an emergency trade and Warriors dump salary. It’s not the blockbuster trade people who fantasize on the trade machine every day but this might pay some dividends for the Mavs should Cauley-Stein help devastate teams with the pick-and-rolls and be consistent defensively.
Also, I’m still waiting for people to get a Collie so they can name him Willie Collie-Stein.
Bullet Passes
10 out of 11 games on Friday night were won by the road team. Only Oklahoma City won at home (they were against the Hawks) so it was good to be the visiting team that day.
Although we probably shouldn’t count the Bucks/Hornets contest? The Bucks won against the Hornets but they were not playing in Charlotte. The NBA had their first regular season game in Paris, France as they continue to expand their reach on a global scale.
So Buddy Hield was taken out of the starting line-up in favor of Bogdan Bogdanovic. Remember that Hield signed a massive extension in the summer with the Kings. Hield responded with a 21-point game in a win over Chicago. Whether this continues is anyone’s guess but even with this performance, I can’t imagine Buddy being happy about this “demotion.”
Kawhi Leonard had a triple-double for the first time in his career (33-10-10). This is honestly surprising in a way but also a great sign because, again, we talked about his “weakness” in playmaking for others.
The Miami Heat is invincible at home. Except against Los Angeles teams, apparently.
People actually thought Marquese Chriss scored on this possession.
This was just originally ruled a made basket pic.twitter.com/qUYN5QmusA
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) January 25, 2020
Outstanding.
The Scoreboard
MIL 116 (40-6) @ CHA 103 (15-31)
MEM 125 (21-24) @ DET 112 (17-29)
BOS 109 (30-14) @ ORL 98 (21-25)
TOR 118 (31-14) @ NY 112 (12-34)
LAC 122 (32-14) @ MIA 117 (31-14)
SAC 98 (16-29) @ CHI 81 (17-30)
HOU 131 (28-16) @ MIN 124 (15-30)
DEN 113 (31-14) @ NO 106 (17-29)
ATL 111 (11-35) @ OKC 140 (27-19)
PHX 103 (19-26) @ SA 99 (20-24)
IND 129 (30-16) @ GS 118 (10-37)
Watch This Play
DeMar DeRozan goes coast to coast for this DeVastation.
(VIDEO CREDIT: ClutchPoints.)
I feel like he should go back for the dunk contest. He’s never won it, which is unfortunate.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.