Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily, even when COVID has ravaged the league.
The Clippers snapped Utah’s sizzling 9-game win streak.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Kelvin Kuo/AP.)
It’s reasonable to say that the Jazz and the L.A. teams are the current favorites to win it all. The Lakers obviously grab most of the headlines and rightfully so; they are the defending champs and they have LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Coming into Friday, the Jazz have opened eyes around the league as they had won 20 of 21 games and were on a 9-game winning streak. Also, they beat the Clippers last Wednesday.
The thing was the Clippers weren’t in full strength. For Friday, they got Kawhi Leonard AND Paul George back as well as Nicolas Batum, who has had a resurgence this season.
And the Clippers needed the hot start against the current best team in the league (record-wise). Especially since Utah also got back Mike Conley, who had missed the last few games. It definitely helped to have the stars back; Kawhi had 29 points back, despite not having the greatest shooting night. But where the Clips needed to win was the rebounding battle and they did that, even if Rudy Gobert grabbed 15 for his own. Clippers outboarded the Jazz, 45-38.
As we now know nowadays, the Jazz are the most prolific three-point shooting team in the league, leading in both made and attempts. They’re also fourth in percentage and that can really overwhelm a team. Utah did go 12 for 34, which is an average .353 but it was good enough to not engulf the Clippers.
The Jazz had to play from behind most of the time. When they did catch the Clippers, the supporting cast made them pay. Kawhi did his usual but they got 19 points from Lou Williams and 17 points each from Patrick Beverley and Marcus Morris. Bev and Mook made huge threes in the fourth and they needed every one of them as the Jazz tried to make a furious run at the end. Bojan Bogdanovic (23 points) and Donovan Mitchell (35 points) did what they could; they were able to cut the deficit down to two with 13 seconds left. Mitchell’s three that would’ve cut it to one didn’t go and the Clips got revenge from Wednesday‘s loss.
How Utah bounces back is what we’ll watch out for; they had only lost twice in the last 45 days. But the Clippers in full strength is also one to watch. The Clips are 16-3 when both Kawhi and George are on the floor and 6-6 without. And, yes, they hope to be in full strength come the playoffs. They just have to prove that they can finish off teams while they’re down.
Bullet Passes
So we had two 50-point games on Friday.
Jamal Murray was a scorching 21 for 25 on the floor. He was 8 for 10 from behind the arc. And he didn’t shoot any free throws! That kind of overlooks Nikola Jokic‘s 7th triple-double of the season (16-12-10 along with four steals).
In the meantime, Cleveland just can’t win a game…
In the meantime, Joel Embiid LIVED on the line. 15 for 17 from the charity stripe. He was 17 for 26 on the field on HIS way to 50. He also grabbed 17 boards, dished 5 dimes, and blocked four shots. Incredible night for Embiid.
The Suns bounce back with a win over the Pelicans. Chris Paul set a season-high for most assists in a game with 19. Jokic had 18 earlier in the season.
Milwaukee finally snapped their losing skid (which was at 5 games). Giannis Antetokounmpo went for 29-19-8. Sheesh.
Golden State just CANNOT win three straight.
Nikola Vucevic also had a trip-dub with 30-16-10.
While we had an ugly game between Toronto and Minnesota, which seemed to set back basketball 30 years, we did have a hell of a play. You’ll see. Scroll down.
NBA Scoreboard
Feb. 19, 2021
Watch This Play
This might be the best dunk of the season thus far. If you pay an iota of attention to the NBA, you know what I’m talking about. TOP GUN ANTHONY EDWARDS:
ANTHONY.
EDWARDS. pic.twitter.com/AduIP1LKup
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2021
I don’t know how Yuta Watanabe is not in a million pieces right now. That was a heck of an explosion.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.