Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Sorry a bit late today.
The Mavs went into Milwaukee and upset the Bucks, ending their long winning streak.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Morry Gash/AP.)
Funny how I championed the Bucks in the last few days. But I felt they weren’t getting enough pub for their winning streak. Of course, I jinxed it and now their winning streak is over.
The Mavericks did it and they did the deed without MVP candidate Luka Doncic, who is out with a sprained ankle. The stars pretty much aligned for the Mavs at that point. Maybe it’s the whole “no one believes in us” belief. Maybe they really ARE that good and the casual audience outside of Dallas STILL doesn’t know three names out of that roster.
Well, first off, Kristaps Porzingis (yeah, I know) finally had a game where he didn’t look like he was going through the motions. And I understand he was because, before this season started, he hadn’t played an NBA game in more than a year. This time around, he played like he owned the court. He made back-to-back threes that SHOULD have put the game out of reach. Nevertheless, the Mavs obviously do NOT win the game without Porzingis, who had 26 points.
Seth Curry came in and had another big performance. He had 30 points against Detroit last Thursday and then on Monday, he put in 26 points to supplement Porzingis’s scoring. He had a nice mix of penetrating moves to go along with his signature Curry family three-point shooting.
The role players did their job. Dorian Finney-Smith had 15. Jalen Brunson did the distributing, finishing with 13 points and 11 assists. Delon Wright came off the bench to score 13. And the Mavericks, just an average team in defense, were doing the job on that end for most of the game.
The Bucks nearly did a miraculous comeback and had a chance to tie the game after being down 11 points with 40 seconds left. Sterling Brown, unfortunately, lost the ball after Giannis Antetokounmpo (48 points and 14 boards!) missed a free throw. A win is a win, though, and what the Mavs did was pretty fantastic.
If the Mavs go on a run after this, you know where the turning point happened.
Good streak and good game, Bucks.
Bullet Passes
We know the Raptors have players that are stepping into bigger roles like Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet. Don’t look now but Norman Powell has also emerged. Powell has averaged 18.8 points and shot .442 from three in December. Just someone to watch for as the Raptors continue to surprise everyone.
The Spurs were up by 25 at one point but that was erased by the Rockets by the third. Late in the fourth, back-to-back threes by Ben McLemore and P.J. Tucker gave the Rockets the lead for good.
This really isn’t the San Antonio Spurs that we have known for two decades.
Not to be outdone, the Bulls were up by 26. And they ended up blowing the lead. We got a vintage performance from Chris Paul, who had 30-10-8. Once in a while, he can still do those kind of games.
Zach LaVine had 39 points but it was not enough.
The Scoreboard
WAS 133 (8-17) @ DET 119 (11-16)
CLE 113 (6-21) @ TOR 133 (18-8)
SA 107 (10-16) @ HOU 109 (18-9)
MIA 111 (19-8) @ MEM 118 (10-17)
DAL 120 (18-8) @ MIL 116 (24-4)
CHI 106 (10-19) @ OKC 109 (12-14)
POR 111 (11-16) @ PHX 110 (11-15)
Watch This Play
Damian Lillard gets in for the tough lay-up and draws the foul from Aron Baynes. That tied the game and he made the go-ahead free throw that would end up being the game-winning point.
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA BandWagon Fan.)
Dame Lillard continues to be clutch as the Blazers continue to dig themselves out of the hole they fell in.
(Sorry so late and short. I have a migraine to deal with.)
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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