Hornets Continue To Stay Hot!; Are The Suns Contenders? 3.30.21
It’s another day of NBA basketball and we have just 4 games on the schedule today.
Charlotte Hornets vs Washington Wizards
Who Needs Lamelo Anyway?
Since Lamelo broke his wrist, the Hornets are 4-1. The offense really hasn’t been that much worse and the playoffs are becoming more of a reality for the Hornets. The shooting in the first half (10 made 3’s, 50% 3-PT shooting) kept them ahead. They held their lead until the 4th when the Wizards cut the lead to 3 but Terry Rozier hit 4 straight buckets to put the Hornets out of arms reach and gave them another win.
Rozier had 27 points with 19 of them coming in the 2nd half. 26-11-6 from Gordon Hayward as he got out of his recent funk. 17-5-6 from Graham and a double-double from Zeller off the bench. The Hornets are two games over 0.500 as they haven’t missed a beat with Lamelo being out. They are still talented and are surprisingly the 4th seed in the East, mainly because it’s the East.
Washington Wizards
With no Beal and no Westbrook explosion this result was no be expected. The Wizards couldn’t hit anything from 3 in the 2nd half was Westbrook was just 7/20 from the field. Rui Hachimura tied a career high with 30 points but this was a game controlled by the Hornets.
Philadelphia 76ers vs Denver Nuggets
Philadelphia 76ers
Don’t let the score fool you. This game wasn’t close at all.
Denver Emerging Big 3
MPJ-Murray-Jokic is a scary Big 3 for the future as they are all under 26 years old. Here’s what they did in today’s game:
MPJ: 27 points and 12 rebounds on 11/16 shooting, 5/7 3-PT
Jamal Murray: 30 points and 6 rebounds on 12/24 shooting.
Jokic: 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists on 8/14 shooting.
That was the entire Denver offense. Michael Porter Jr. is thriving playing next to Jokic and he’s becoming a very efficient player despite the fact he sometimes takes stupid shots. Jamal Murray has been playing much better in the last couple of months after a slow start to the season and Nikola Jokic is my MVP. This trio will be the key if Denver wants to go far in the playoffs.
Orlando Magic vs LA Clippers
Orlando Magic
Wow, this was unexpected. It’s likely an anomaly
2020 Bubble Deja Vu
Really, the Magic? Allowing 66 2nd half points to the Magic and getting outscored by 21 in the 2nd half to the Magic? Really?
Atlanta Hawks vs Phoenix Suns
Not Enough
Even without John Collins for most of this game the Hawks hung tough with the Suns. But they could never pull ahead in the 2nd half as it always felt like the Suns were one step ahead. A Jae Crowder 4-point play with 23 seconds left put the Hawks down 7 and ended the game. It was a valiant effort from the Hawks.
Bogdan Bogdanovic led the way with 22 points and 6 assists as it’s good to see him playing well after a slow start to the year. Young struggled but Capela was solid and the bench had 3 double-digit scorers. But not having Reddish or Hunter hurt the Hawks as they have never been fully healthy this season.
Balance
I have often praised the Suns as one of the most balanced teams in the league and they again showed it in this game. They had 7 double-digit scorers as they share the ball as good as any team in the league. They remained ahead for most of this game and survived multiple Hawk runs. A Jae Crowder 4-point play with 23 seconds left iced the game as the Suns have won 6 of their last 7 games.
21 from Booker led the way but 20 from Saric on 7/8 shooting was big for the Suns. The entire Suns starting 5 was in double-figures plus Saric and Craig off the bench. I really like what the Suns have going. They have offense and defense, shooters, playmakers, everything you could want in a contending team. I still believe the Suns can contend for a championship with how good of a team they have been this season.
What Are Your Thoughts From The 4 Games Today? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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