On Saturday night the Portland Trailblazers won a game where they were down five with under 12 seconds left thanks to two legit Luke hitting the Death Star vent legendary deep balls from Dame Time. And then somehow 24 hours later the Wizards did the same thing to the Nets! God bless the NBA. Cody with all the highlights from the weekend!
This was a weekend of close finishes. Nay, impossible finishes. This weekend was a giant neon sign reminder that THE GAME IS NEVER OVER! On Saturday, with 11.5 seconds left, the Chicago Bulls were up FIVE at home on the Trailblazers. That is a game you have to close out. Instead, Logo Lillard hit a 37-foot bomb to cut it to 120-122. Then the Blazers tied up LaVine on the ensuing inbounds. After winning the tip, Lillard nailed a fadeaway three over poor, innocent Lauri Markkanen to seal the victory. The Bulls—and everyone outside the Blazers organization—was stunned.
Not to be outdone, the following night the Washington Wizards were also down FIVE with 12 seconds left against the Brooklyn Nets. Brad Beal ran down the court and pulled up on a dime a 30-foot bullseye. The Wizards stole the ensuing inbounds pass and the ball was kicked to Russell Westbrook who—in maybe the most miraculous part of the weekend given his recent trials—hit a three of his own. The Nets failed to retaliate as TLC’s layup rimmed out and the Wizards won. Two teams each scored six points in the final 12 seconds to win a game. Nutso. To quote KG, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!
James Harden can get a triple double before he has his morning coffee. On Friday, he had a 25-10-11 in a win against the Thunder. In Brooklyn, Harden’s scoring is down, but his distributing is up. He leads the NBA with 11.8 APG since arriving in NY.
In a matchup between an established superstar and an the star who wants to take that leap, Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped a 38-11-5-2-2 and Zion Williamson tried to keep pace with a 21-9-2-1-1. Zion got the last laugh though as the Pelicans took this one 131-126. Also a big revenge game for recently traded G Eric Bledsoe who hung a season-high 7 threes on the Deer.
Continuing a theme, Giannis threw down a 34-18-9 in a loss to the Hornets on Saturday. LaMelo Ball shined with 27 PTS, 9 AST, and 4 STL.
Joel Embiid continued his efficiency masterclass with 37 PTS and 11 REB in less than 27 minutes.
Nicola Jokic is just cruising right now. He muscled his way to 33 PTS at the half! Finishing the game with a blinding 47-12-5 on 65% shooting, the Nuggets ended the Jazz’s 11-game win streak on Sunday. Meanwhile, after starting the season 6-7, the Nuggets have found their flow, winners of 6 of their last 7 the Nugs have risen to 4th in the West at 12-8.
In the Nets-Wizards game I mentioned in the open, Westbrook added 41 PTS and 10 REB to that game-winning three. Not bad for a guy who’s “washed.”
In that Blazers-Bulls game also from the open, Lillard had 44-9-5.
I feel like I should put Andre Drummond’s 20 and 20 games in the fine print of this thing. Once again, he had 25 PTS and 22 REB against the Timberwolves. Drummond has three 20+ REB games in the Cavs first 20 games.
The Lakers squeaked by the Celtics on Saturday, but the most important result of the game will be Marcus Smart’s health. If his injury is bad, it will be a major problem for the Celtics.
