Do The Celtics Have To Make A Move?; Kennard & Mann Save LA! 3.22.21
It’s another day of NBA basketball and we have 8 games on the schedule today.
Sacramento Kings vs Cleveland Cavaliers
Pace
When the Kings are getting stops and playing with some pace, they are a fun team to watch. They did just that in this game as they controlled the Cavs throughout. The offense was good as usual and they were pushing the ball all the time and it took a toll on the Cavs. They finally got some stops and they played an all-around solid game.
De’Aaron Fox continues to play so well, finishing with 30-6-6 in this game. He has really unlocked his shooting and that’s why he’s been so good.
After a little slump, Tyrese Haliburton showed us who’s the ROTY (sorry Lamelo). Haliburton was 11/15 and a career-high 28 points as he torched the Cavs. Hield had 19 with 5 3-pointers.
Richuan Holmes was 8/9 with 17 points and 16 rebounds with 2 blocks. He’s going to be a hot free agent target this summer. The Kings can be good if they can get stops. Unfortunately that’s a big IF.
Offense Not Found
Offense continues to hurt this team. Simple as that.
OKC Thunder vs Minnesota T-Wolves
3-PT Shooting
OKC was on fire from 3-PT range and it won them this game. They led for most of the way and whenever the T-Wolves mad the game close, a couple 3’s put them at bay. The lead was 15 at the start of the 4th and they rode that wave for the win. OKC was 21/37 from 3, getting 63 points on 57% shooting from beyond the arc. SGA had 31 and the bench was great. Ty Jerome had 15 with 5 3’s, new acquisition Svi Mykhailiuk had 10, and Kenrich Williams added 12.
Pokusevski was solid with a 13-10 double-double as OKC’s youth movement has been pretty good this season. I really like the way Ty Jerome has been playing and shooting and I think the Mykhailiuk pickup was solid. OKC continues to just be solid.
3-PT Shooting, But Negative
While OKC was on fire from 3, the T-Wolves were the opposite. They couldn’t guard the 3-pt line and they could never regain control of this game because of the Thunder’s hot shooting. Minnesota was 14/39 from 3, shooting 36%. That’s decent but nowhere close to what the Thunder were doing.
Towns struggled against the length of Roby and Brown, as he took 28 shots to get 33 points and 10 rebounds. Edwards was ok with 16 (on 16 shots) and Jaylen Nowell had 14 off the bench. Defend the 3-pt line better and this won’t happen.
Charlotte Hornets vs San Antonio Spurs
Terry Rozier Is Very Clutch
Usually when thinking of great clutch players, we think of All-Stars and superstars. Terry Rozier isn’t either of those and yet he’s been one of the most clutch players this season, behind Dame obviously. But Rozier consistently one of the best clutch players in the league. He’s shooting 55/57/90 in the clutch this season. Insane. The Hornets had to battle for this game as it was close for the entire game. Hayward put them up 3 at the line late and a Patty Mills miss gave Charlotte the win.
Hayward had 27-7-6 as he had a big bounce back night. Rozier had 24 and that was about it. The offense wasn’t as good without Ball on the floor, however it was good enough to get the win and for Charlotte to get back to 0.500.
Need Shooting
11/32 from 3 isn’t good enough. The Spurs just don’t have offensive firepower. Sure DeRozan was 11/16 from the field and had 28 and 5 assists. Derrick White was 7/11 with 21 points. The bench was solid. But this team doesn’t shoot very well and that hurts them. The Hornets hit one more 3 than the Spurs and got to the line more. The Spurs lack of shooting hurts them and keeps them from being a good team. Right now they’re average.
Utah Jazz vs Chicago Bulls
There We Go
After some poor shooting nights, Utah got back on track. Mitchell was finally efficient on 11/19 shooting, finishing with 30-6-6. Gobert had 21 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high 9 blocks. Conley was solid and the bench was good. But Joe Ingles has turned himself into the best 6th man on this team as Clarkson continues to struggle. It took him 16 shots to get 16 points. Meanwhile Ingles was 6/8, 5/6 from 3 and finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Perhaps Ingles should be considered more for the award.
Moves
Lauri Markkanen was 3/12. Coby White was 4/12. You know what you need to do.
Toronto Raptors vs Houston Rockets
9 In A Row
Not only is this 9 straight losses, you lost by 18 to the Rockets. Who had lost 20 straight games. Maybe it’s time for a rebuild.
It Happened
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
Boston Celtics vs Memphis Grizzlies
Missed Opportunities
Without Tatum and Walker this game was pretty close. But the Celtics couldn’t rebound at all, allowing Memphis to bleed out the clock in OT. The Celtics made a nice comeback at the end of the 4th capped off with a Theis alley-oop jam to force OT. But they could have won this game had their defense not been swiss cheese, again.
Jaylen Brown had 27-9-5 as he was good. Jeff Teague went back to 2015 Jeff Teague as he was 10/12 from the field with 26 and 6 assists. Smart had 16-5-5 and Theis was solid. Williams had 17 off the bench and Grant Williams added 10 off the bench as well. The Celtics shot much better in this game but Memphis had 17 offensive rebounds. Getting Aaron Gordon likely won’t solve that problem.
Offensive Rebounds
The Celtics should have won this game. They were shooting better than Memphis but Memphis got more 2nd chance opportunities with 17 offensive rebounds, including a few key ones in OT that sealed the deal. Memphis’s offense finally got going and they couldn’t be stopped as they got a nice win.
Morant finally got going with 29 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists. Finally. Brooks had 24-7-7 and his usual amount of pesky defense. Anderson had 14-5-7 with 3 steals and 3 blocks. Slow-mo is good at the whole defense thing. Valanciunas had 16 and 19 with 7 offensive rebounds.
Bane had 13 off the bench as Memphis has such a good bench. Bane has become so much more than a shooter and has been one of the steals of the draft. But they have too much talent, so much that their rotation is leaving out good guys like Xavier Tillman and Gorgui Dieng. When JJJ comes back it’ll be worse. I think they have to trade guys like Winslow or somebody else for draft capitol, just to free things up. There is such a thing as too much depth.
Indiana Pacers vs Milwaukee Bucks
Yikes
Without Malcolm Brogdon, Indiana got slaughtered by the Bucks and their shooting. In the first half the Bucks had 83 points with 14/20 shooting from 3 (70%). 5 Bucks were in double figures as Indiana was getting slaughtered. Here are the Bucks final numbers:
140 points on 57% shooting, 62% 3-PT, 24 3-PT makes, 6 guys in double figures, 3 guys over 20+ points. That’s a yikes for the Indiana “defense.”
That Was Fun
Man the Bucks were killing Indiana. I already showed you what they did above, so here are the individual numbers. Jrue Holiday was 11/15 from the field with 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 14 assists. Khris Middleton had 25-8-6, Pat Connaughton was 7/9, 6/7 3-PT with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Lopez had 18, Portis had 18 and 10 off the bench and Forbes had 12.
All of this without Giannis.
Atlanta Hawks vs LA Clippers
Maybe The Hawks Are Still The Same
The Hawks were cruising in this game. Shots were falling and they led by 22 with 4:15 left in the 3rd. They lost, and they lost the lead fast. Up with 22 with 4:15 left and that lead was gone. A 16-2 run by LA to end the 3rd, led by 11 from Kennard put LA back in the game. Atlanta only led by 8 entering the 4th. The Hawks were outscored 37-20 in the 4th. The Clippers barrage of 3’s continues and the Hawks got left in the wayside. The offense shut down and the Hawks imploded in a matter of minutes.
Some things never change, including Atlanta sports teams blowing leads.
For Once It’s Not LA Blowing Leads
Usually the Clippers are the team blowing leads. They’ve done it a lot in their franchise’s history, including the Bubble meltdown. But today they were on the other end of things. Who led them back? Luke Kennard. I have been petitioning for this guy to get more playing time and when he did, he made it worth it. Down 22 with 4:15 left in the 3rd, Kennard hit some shots and spurred a 16-2 run to end the 3rd. Of that 16 he scored 11 and the lead was just 8 entering the 4th.
The Clippers hot shooting continued with guys like Terrence Mann joining in. LA outscored Atlanta 37-20 to get the win.
The Clippers bench was amazing. Kennard was a blazing 8/8 from the field and 4/4 from 3, finishing with 20 and 7 rebounds. Terrence Mann played like the Bruce Brown rover move, slipping screens for easy scores. He was 8/14 with 21 points and 10 rebounds. These two were excellent down the stretch of this game.
I definitely think Kennard deserves minutes. He gives you shooting and I don’t know why you would take him out considering the extension you gave him this summer. He deserves more PT.
What Are Your Thoughts From The 8 Games Today? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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