There was a lot of action in the NBA last night and this is your breakdown of it all! Five games, 4 incredibly close finishes and a few upsets here and there!
Brooklyn Nets (9-6) 125-123 Milwaukee Bucks (9-5)
It was the Clash of the Titans in an incredible game in Brooklyn last night – the Nets going at the Bucks for the first time this season with three possible MVPs on the court in Kevin Durant and newly-acquired James Harden for the Nets and Giannis Antetokounmpo for the Bucks.
Harden played 41 of 48 possible minutes and dropped 34 points, 12 assists and six rebounds for a stellar game against a stellar opposition in last year’s MVP in Antetokounmpo and managed to help his new team over come last year’s Western Conference semi-finalists. Durant also dropped 30 points with nine rebounds and six assists.
It wasn’t all bad for “The Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo though, he also had 34 points, with 12 rebounds and seven assists. The loss means the Bucks drop to second in the Eastern Conference.
There were multiple lead changes in the fourth quarter but it was Brooklyn who inevitably came out on top – point guard Joe Harris and Durant hitting dagger three-pointers in the last minute of the game left to win the game by two points.
In the end, it was Brooklyn’s better three-point shooting percentage that made the difference – 48.4% compared to Milwaukee’s poor 29.7%. The result improves Brooklyn’s record to 9-6 which puts them fifth in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto Raptors (5-8) 116-93 (6-7) Dallas Mavericks
It was another gloomy night for the Dallas Mavericks as they fell for the third game in a row, this time to the Toronto Raptors for just the Canadian team’s fifth win this season.
Guard Luka Doncic had an uncharacteristically poor night – only putting up 15 points, his 3rd-lowest tally since the start of last season. Instead, 7’3″ power forward Kristaps Porzingis led the way in points for Dallas with 23, nine rebounds and an assist.
Despite Dallas’ poor performance, that is no disrespect to the Raptors, who thoroughly deserved the win and beat the Mavericks in almost every single meaningful stat. Guard Kyle Lowry led the way for them with a great statline and contributors Pascal Siakam and Chris Boucher off of the bench both had good games.
This means the Raptors find their third straight victory after a very shaky start to the season and takes them up to 13th in the Eastern Conference whilst the Mavericks are left in 10th in the Western Conference.
Miami Heat (5-7) 113-107 Detroit Pistons (3-10)
Last year’s NBA finalists Miami Heat managed to get a much needed win over the Detroit Pistons last night in the AmericanAirlines Arena.
Center Bam Adebayo was the most influential player on the court, boasting 28 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, and point guard Goran Dragic wasn’t far behind with 22 points. Their defence did a great job of shutting down Pistons star player Blake Griffin to just five points in 35 minutes, with the Heat managing to out-rebound the Pistons.
Veteran Derrick Rose came off the bench for the Pistons and put up a strong 21 points but it wasn’t enough to pull the Pistons back from the deficit they found themselves in.
Before the game, both teams came together for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and held out a banner during the national anthem. The win for Miami leaves them 12th in the Eastern Conference whilst the Pistons stay dead last on just three wins from 13 games.
Chicago Bulls (6-8) 125-110 Houston Rockets (4-8)
New Houston Rocket Victor Oladipo had 15 first-half points but it wasn’t enough to secure his team the win on his debut as they fell 125-110 to the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls, who won their last game against the Dallas Mavericks, won behind a 30-point display from star player Zach Lavine. It turned out to be the free throws that cost the Rockets the most though, missing six of 17 – if those had gone in, they would’ve won by a point.
The result condemns the Rockets to a lowly 14th in the West and signals that they are struggling greatly without James Harden, but the Bulls rise to 11th in the East, just three wins back on leaders the Boston Celtics.
Golden State Warriors (7-6) 115-113 Los Angeles Lakers (11-4)
What was probably the upset of the night happened on the West Coast where the Golden State Warriors beat the L.A Lakers at the Staples Center after completing a 19-point comeback in the second half.
The Warriors won the game off of the back of Stephen Curry’s 26 points and managed to limit both LeBron James and Anthony Davis to under 20 points – the first time both have scored under 20 points in the same game.
Curry hit some great shots – one being a stepback three-pointer over Davis to give the Warriors the lead. Kelly Oubre Jr. also had 23 points for the Warriors alongside Andrew Wiggins’ 18 point outing.
James had a chance to win the game with a three-pointer at the buzzer but it clanged off the rim and the Warriors hung on to complete an impressive victory over the defending NBA Champions.
The win means the Warriors climb above the Memphis Grizzlies and the Oklahoma City Thunder to 7th in the Western Conference and means that the L.A Clippers will have a chance to jump the Lakers if they beat the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.
