Bulls All-Star Duo Gets It Done; Can The Celtics Finish Season Strong? 4.4.21
It’s another day of NBA basketball and we have 7 games on the schedule today.
Brooklyn Nets vs Chicago Bulls
Not Enough Firepower (For Once)
Even though just Kyrie Irving has won the Nets games, it wasn’t enough in this game. After leading early, the Bulls went on a 16-5 run to end the first half and Brooklyn trailed by 11 at the half. The Bulls led by as many as 18 midway through the third and while the Nets cut the lead to 7 in the 4th, a Zach Lavine dagger 3 with 1:22 left ended the game.
Not that the Nets played bad or anything. 24 points and 15 assists for Irving and 21 off the bench for Uncle Jeff Green. Nicolas Claxton playing 8 minutes is a joke but the Nets just didn’t have enough firepower for once and their defense certainly didn’t help them.
All-Star Duo Working (Finally)
The Bulls All-Star duo hadn’t exactly been great, Zach Lavine had been struggling and dealing with injuries and the Bulls had lost 6 straight entering this game. After falling behind by 9 early, it was all Chicago. A 16-5 run to end the first half put them up 11. They led by as many as 18 midway through the 3rd and while the Nets did cut it to 7, Zach Lavine hit a dagger 3 that put the game out of reach.
Zach Lavine had 25 and Vucevic had 22 points and 13 rebounds, by far the best game this duo has had this season and it snaps a 6-game losing streak. Tomas Satoransky had his best game of the season with 19 points, 11 assists, and 2 steals. He was that solid 3rd scoring presence and it helped put Chicago over the top. The Bulls also made 21 more free throws than the Nets. That also helps.
LA Lakers vs LA Clippers
Starters Are Horrible
The LA Lakers starters were terrible. Nobody scored over double digits except for Marc Gasol who is upset he isn’t getting more playing time despite the fact that he’s 36 years old and not in Lebron James shape. Schroder was 3/12 from the field and Kuzma was 2/10. The Lakers starters combined to score 42 points. The bench trio of Harrell, THT, and Caruso combined to score 43 points. That’s a yikes. LA’s shooting struggles continue and against a sharp-shooting team like the Clippers, that’s not a recipe for success.
However LA was missing both their superstars and even if LA lost to LAC with both superstars, we all know it’s pretty meaningless in the regular season anyways.
Luke Kennard Minutes (Good Thing)
Kawhi had 19 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals. Morris had 22 points and PG had 16 points. That’s all cool. But once again, I have called it. I have been saying all this time that Luke Kennard deserves more minutes as he was somehow out of the rotation. But he played in 18 minutes and was very good. 15 points on 6/10 shooting, 3/6 from 3. That’s what I am talking about.
LA made 7 more 3’s than the Lakers did and dominated this game, as they should. They are still missing Ibaka and Beverley but Rondo made his debut. Only played 13 minutes but had 3 assists and 2 steals. I definitely think he was what the Clippers needed more than the talent that Lou Williams gave them. Similar to the Ibaka-Harrell swap. Need over pure talent.
Charlotte Hornets vs Boston Celtics
Struggle Against Good Teams
The Hornets weren’t good against good teams when healthy, and now they’re without Lamelo and Hayward for multiple weeks. The Hornets might start to take a tumble in the standings.
Playing As A Team
For the first time in a while I felt like Boston played as a team on both ends. The defense was finally looking good as after the 2nd quarter they shut down the Hornets. Contesting shots and shutting off driving lanes as it looked like the Celtics of old. The offense was lots of passing and stupid Jayson Tatum shots. But no seriously, they were playing for each other. If Boston can play like this more often, a deep playoff run isn’t out of contention.
The Celtics made 21 3’s and shot 54 of them as they were getting 3’s up. 22 from Tatum and 17 from Brown led the way. Evan Fournier had another great game with 17 off the bench as he’s been great in these past two games. Smart, Williams, and Walker were all solid but the defense was excellent and the offense was flowing really well like it should be more often with all the talent that the Celtics posses. (29 assists proves that the offense flowed well).
If Boston does this more often, they can still be a dark horse in the East.
Memphis Grizzlies vs Philadelphia 76ers
Elite Defense
The defense was again amazing as they shut Philly down all night long. The offense wasn’t half for once as they scored 45 points in the 3rd and dominated this game. 7 guys were in double figures as it’s another win by committee game for the Grizzlies. They made 16 3-pointers, which was 8 more than the 76ers.
This team with an offense would be scary because they are very good defensively. Taylor Jenkins is a very good defensive coach and he has this Grizzlies team locking people up often. JJJ likely comes back before the playoffs start so if Memphis can get their offense to be decent, the playoffs aren’t out of the picture.
Embiid Get Healthy
The 76ers might have been good without Embiid, they were awful in this game. Shooting continues to be an issue as they don’t have good spacing. Ben Simmons has been horrible this season without Embiid, as ironic as that is to say. The 76ers still have their same flaws, over reliant on Embiid, poor bench and shooting. Missing 10 free throws and shooting 24% from 3 are prime examples of that.
Golden State Warriors vs Atlanta Hawks
Golden State Warriors
This game was close throughout until the 4th when the Warriors had times where there offense couldn’t get going after being fine through 3 quarter. Lou Williams gave the Hawks some separation and Golden State allowing 38 4th quarter Hawks points wasn’t great. Nobody to blame here but the Warriors.
If it was a 3, Curry wasn’t hitting it although he still had 37 points. On 3/12 shooting from deep. Oubre and Wiggins were solid, combining for 36. The Warriors bench was thoroughly bad. They scored just 19 points compared to the Hawks 55 bench points. The Hawks also made 20 more free throws as fouls continue to hurt the Warriors. Oh yeah, here come the Kings and Pelicans for that 10th spot. No pressure or anything.
The Refs Were Totally Fair (*wink-wink*)
The Hawks offense was only good because of the bench. Trae Young was awful and only guy going much of anything was Capela who had 24 points and 18 rebounds. But 55 bench points is very nice. Gallinari had 25 points and 10 rebounds, although he was 13/15 from the line. Lou Williams added 15 in his best game as a Hawk. The Hawks scored 38 points in the 4th as they just kept getting to the line.
The Hawks were 33/45 from the line compared to just 15/21 for the Warriors. The Hawks made 18 more free throws and shot 24 more. A little bit of discrepancy between the two, don’t you think?
New Orleans Pelicans vs Houston Rockets
What Is Going On?
Lonzo Ball hit a career-high 8 3’s and had 27 points. The Pelicans shot 43% from 3. They scored 122 points while missing 2 All-Stars. James Johnson played 33 minutes. Welcome to 2021.
Pain
Losing to a team missing two All-Stars. Welcome to Houston.
Orlando Magic vs Denver Nuggets
You Had One Job
The Magic led by 18 at halftime as they were domaining thanks to their 3-PT shooting. The 2nd half was a different story as Orlando went ice cold from the field and Denver took the lead in the 3rd. The Magic kept fighting but a last push from Denver put them in front for good. As a Blazers fan I really needed Denver to lose, so thanks for that Orlando.
2nd Half
The first and second halves of this game were polar opposites. The first half was the Nuggets looking out of energy and the Magic dominating. Let’s call that fantasy. The 2nd half was reality. Denver turned things up on both ends and shut down Orlando. The Nuggets outscored the Magic by 28 in the 2nd half.
3 starters scored 20+ points (Gordon, Porter, Murray). Jokic was one rebound away from a triple double and now Denver is 4th in the West, overtaking the floundering Lakers.
What Are Your Thoughts From The 7 Games Today? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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