Day 9: Ending the year with hoops!
CHI 133 v. 130 WSH
The Wizards go down to 0–5 as Otto Porter scored 28 PTS with Lavine scoring 22 PTS in this victory. Bryant, Beal, and Westbrook combined for 78 PTS and still lost the game due to lack of defense. They had a really bizarre play with 5.5 sec remaining where instead of inbounding it normally they through the ball across the court did they think only .55 sec were remaining anyways no matter how much they score on offense their atrocious defense wont let them win many games.
PHI 116 v. 92 ORL
The Magic suffer their first loss this season at the hands of a good looking Philly team. Embiid, Harris, and Curry combined for 62 PTS. Simmons and Howard each had a three pointer the 6ers shot 48% from the field in this blowout win. Orlando only hit 9 threes as the offense couldn’t find its rhythm throughout the game.
IND 119 v. 99 CLE
Once again all the starters on the Pacers scored in double figures with Sabonis leading the way. He scored 25 PTS with 11 REB and 7 AST leading the Pacers to a blowout win. The Cavs did fight till the end as they cut down the lead to 11 with 4 mins remaining but Sabonis was too much to handle. Sexton and Garland combined for 49 PTS in this loss.
TOR 100 v. 83 NYK
The Knicks had a solid lead and were in the game until the end of the third quarter when the Raptors took over with Lowry scoring 20 PTS on 6–12 shooting and VavVleet scoring 25 on 9–19 shooting leading the Raptors to their first win this season. The main reason the Knicks lost was that they made only 3 three pointers and shot 36% from the field.
HOU 122 v. 119 SAC
Harden and Wall lead the Rockets to their first win this season scoring 33 and 22 PTS each. They were supported by Christian Wood with his 21 PTS and 12 REB. Gordon also provided valuable minutes off the bench with 17 PTS. The Kings are no joke and they once again put up a fight and almost won the game behind Barnes who scored 24 PTS with Holmes and FOX combining for 44 PTS.
PHX 106 v. 95 UTA
The Suns had a comfortable lead beginning the second half. But they almost threw it away at the end as the Jazz rallied and Mitchell started hitting shots. Devin Booker then iced the game scoring 7 PTS in a row. Booker ended the game with 25 PTS. Bridges and Crowder also scored 16 each in this win.
Utah has not found its offensive rhythm. Bogdanovic literally went 0–5 from the field. Mitchell has to take it easy and play more team basketball rather putting all the pressure on himself to score. Shooting 23 shots to only make 9 is not efficient.
NOP 112 v. 80 OKC
Brandon Ingram got ejected for making a play on the ball. Yes, he hit Roby on the head but he got the ball first. A flagrant 1 is understandable but I’m not sure why it was a flagrant 2. Not that it mattered since the Pelicans took over and all of their starters scored in double figures and shot 48% from the field in this blowout win. Ingram was still the leading scorer on the Pelicans.
