Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily, even when COVID has ravaged the league.
Stephen Curry helped Golden State to a win over Utah on his 33rd birthday.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group.)
The Golden State Warriors proved they can hang with the best. Heck, they proved they can beat the best. The Warriors defeated the Utah Jazz by 12 points.
Stephen Curry was incredible with 32-5-9. Draymond Green procured a triple-double with 11-12-12. Andrew Wiggins probably played his best game of the season as he scored 28 points. And James Wiseman (16 points) and Jordan Poole (18 points) were both keys off the bench. They were able to counter Utah’s three-heavy offense with 16 of their own, one more than the Jazz.
It snapped a four-game skid for the Warriors. And it was definitely a signature win for this crop of Dubs. I know G. State is trying to make some noise this year with their shorthanded roster. I loathe looking far ahead in terms of the NBA but I’m just wondering how they will do should Klay Thompson return. And with the way athletes are returning these days, this might be a terrifying team once again should Klay return like Kevin Durant or Breanna Stewart.
But I think all talk about Curry not being able to “carry” a team to the playoffs without his stars should just stop. Also, why is this so important to people? Basketball is a team game; of course, your team isn’t going to be great if they don’t have talented players. No disrespect to this year’s roster, mind you; obviously, we know that Wiseman and Wiggins are high picks in their respective drafts. But the title teams the Warriors put out some special players. It was a great mix of youthful stars and veteran leadership. We know the team was all about Steph, Klay, and Draymond but they don’t get to that next level without the guile of Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut, Shaun Livingston, and David West. Obviously, it was immense that they also had Durant but this team won 67 and 73 games without KD. And while I’m not sure if they would’ve won titles in 2017 and 2018 without Durant, I’m still positive they would’ve won in the neighborhood of 60.
Anyway, the West should be enjoying this time with the Warriors not being on top. Because it might not last long. Heck, they’re already giving fits to Utah. And they might give fits to the Lakers later on tonight.
Bullet Passes
And there you have it: the Atlanta Hawks are STILL undefeated in the month of March. They are 5-0 since Nate McMillan took over.
There were a few of surprising wins on Sunday. The Pelicans waxed the Clippers (more on this later… or you can just scroll down to see the waxing). The Timberwolves got one on the Blazers. If you can call this an upset, the Bulls smacked around the Raptors.
Obviously, Fred VanVleet is the next PG in line for Toronto. I see all these rumors swirl about Kyle Lowry and it makes me sad. But I’ve always rooted for these signature players to always stay with their teams. Lowry wasn’t a Toronto Raptor his whole career but he is labeled as the greatest Raptor in history. It would suck to see him go.
Joel Embiid may be out for a few weeks but remember that the Sixers still have a deep team. But I wonder if this hurts his chances for MVP if Philly continues to play like this. I’m sure Joel would say that it’s fine as long as the team wins.
How about rookie Aleksej Pokusevski going for 23 points and 10 boards for the Oklahoma City Thunder?!
Oh, and the Houston Rockets still can’t win a game. They have lost 16 straight and my gosh, that’s just horrendous.
NBA Scoreboard
Mar. 14, 2021
Watch This Play
THIS IS A JAXSON-ON-JACKSON CRIME.
QUIT PLAYIN’ WITH JAXSON pic.twitter.com/O3OdCcoW0A
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 15, 2021
Jaxson Hayes just punked the hell out of Reggie Jackson. My gosh.
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.
R.I.P. Nala.