Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
The Sixers and Furkan Korkmaz have won two straight at home after going 0-4 on their last road trip.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Yong Kim/Philadelphia Inquirer.)
So the Sixers are still in 5th place in the Eastern Conference. They haven’t been a threat to be in the Top 4 seeds in a while. They’ve been marred by chemistry issues, inconsistency, and lack of outside shooting (bottom half in 3-point percentage). And you can argue that they have the most talented starting five in the league today. Plus they got two guys that can takeover in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Some people have already written off the Sixers. The Bucks have been dominant all season. The Celtics have bounced back from last year’s issues. The Heat haven’t played well as of late but they’ll get a shot in the arm with their new acquisitions. And the Raptors… my God, the Raptors… are showing everyone that they’re still the champions until further notice; they’ve won 14 straight games.
It is easy to go ahead and leave the Sixers off as East threats. But again, these guys are capable of being in the Finals. If Kawhi Leonard’s shot bounced the wrong way, we could be talking about the Sixers being East finalists last year. Whether they’d make the Finals over the Bucks was another question but my point was they were right there.
So they gave away a few second round picks to get more outside shooting in Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III. Robinson played against their win against the Bulls. But what’s funny was that maybe they need to use more of the outside gunner they’ve had all along/ Here’s what I said on January 18th:
I really think the Sixers should get Furkan Korkmaz more involved. He’s one of the more reliable perimeter shooters they have. Korkman unleashed a career-high 24 points off of 6 for 9 three-point shooting in a Sixers win over the Bulls.
After the trade deadline, Korkmaz went for 34 and then 31 points in back-to-back games. What the heck, man?
I will say this: Embiid still hasn’t been as dominant as he was last year for whatever reason. And he’s showed flashes of that dominance in some games. If he can be that guy in the postseason, the Sixers will be hard to stop. People keep clamoring for Simmons to shoot a three but he has had an outstanding year on both ends of the floor.
What they seem to lack is that glue guy that keeps the team together. We all thought that would be Al Horford but he’s the one that has kept mentioning that there are issues with the team. Horford is familiar with that in Boston last season and there’s a chance that this could be a repeat situation in Philly.
Still, I see Philly as a threat if they could get it together. They have all the makings of a championship team even BEFORE the trade deadline. We’ve seen teams with chemistry issues eventually correct themselves and win the title. It could very well happen with the Sixers. That is, if they could get past teams like the Raptors, Bucks, Heat, and Celtics.
Bullet Passes
Trae Young busted out with 48 points in the Hawks‘ marathon against the Knicks. It’s his 9th game with 40 or more points this season and his 5th game with at least 40 points and 10 assists. The Hawks are 4-5 when he scores 40 or more.
But you know, people say he’s NOT an all-star.
I can’t believe it took Ja Morant this long to get a triple-double but he did it against the Wizards on Sunday night. 27-10-10 for the rookie. Also, the Grizzlies are back over .500.
Well, the Clippers bounced back from their disaster against Minnesota. If any team ever needs a comeback game, just play the Cavaliers. Kevin Porter, Jr. had a nice windmill, though.
Marcus Morris (senior, that is) made his debut with the Clips in that same game. But I mean, the Clips won by like 241 so it’s hard to gauge his 10-point performance.
Andre Drummond debuted with a 19-14 game. Not bad, obviously. But they’re still Cleveland and he’s going to be unfairly judged yet again because he’s playing for an awful team.
The Heat are going to have to pick it up. They are 5-6 in their last 11 games and have lost their last three games. Jae Crowder did have a good debut with 18 points and 11 boards. But they’re 0-3 in their current West Coast trip. Woof.
The Scoreboard
BOS 112 (37-15) @ OKC 111 (32-21)
NY 135 (17-37) @ ATL 140 (15-39) (2OT)
CHI 111 (19-35) @ PHI 118 (33-21)
MEM 106 (27-26) @ WAS 99 (18-33)
UTA 114 (34-18) @ HOU 113 (33-20)
LAC 133 (37-16) @ CLE 92 (13-40)
MIA 109 (34-18) @ POR 115 (25-29)
Watch This Play
Bojan Bogdanovic does it again! A scintillating buzzer-beater from deep against the Rockets.
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA.)
A PERFECT shot even with two defenders around him. What a bucket.
GG.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.
For the rest of the season, I will sign off with GG, which usually means “Good Game.” But we also know “Gigi” is Gianna Bryant’s nickname. This will be my tribute to her.