Luka Doncic, The Celtic Killer
From Luka Doncic’s continued brilliance against Boston to Portland’s demolition of the Lakers, I broke everything notable that happened last night around the association.
Utah Jazz (115) vs Miami Heat (118)
This game wasn’t very close. The Heat, and their ugly new uniforms (a topic for another day), controlled this game. Tyler Herro continues to set the world on fire and the Heat defense held Utah in check.
Miami survived a scare from the Jazz late to continue their early-season dominance. Miami’s offense is living up to their namesake and the Utah Jazz are still my least favorite good team in the NBA. Let’s break it down.
Utah Jazz
The Jazz were dormant for most of this game. They couldn’t stop the Heat defensively and they just prayed that Donovan Mitchell hit shots for them offensively. Their lack of defenders and “hope shots fall” philosophy is why I will continue to not view them as true contenders.
What Is Bench Production?
Donovan Mitchell was the reason this game was close. While some of the other starters chipped in somewhat, the bench didn’t hold up their end of the deal.
Joe Ingles: 1/4 shooting – 3 points – 27 minutes
Ingles has remained a great shooter off the bench this season for the Jazz but was hardly involved in this game. He and Clarkson needed to provide more in this game, and they didn’t.
Jordan Clarkson: 3/9 shooting – 7 points – (-27) plus/minus
Speaking of Clarkson, this is what you get with him. You can always expect him to explode for 30 points on a given night, but then he’ll play like this. This is just how microwave scorers are. The Jazz just need to hope that Clarkson won’t do this in the playoffs.
Eric Paschall – 12 minutes?
Does Quin Snyder need help? Paschall should be starting over Bojan Bogdanovic in the starting lineup for Utah. He is a much better defender and you’re not losing much offense.
Paschall is a real difference-maker, but he can’t difference make from the bench.
The Jazz need more bench production. The three guys I just mentioned are some of the bench unit guys in the NBA. But when they can’t play defense, they need scoring from somebody not named Donovan Mitchell.
One Defender Isn’t Enough
Speaking of defense, my biggest gripe with the Jazz reared its ugly head once again. This team lacks great individual defenders
They don’t have any bodies to deal with the physical Jimmy Butler. Nobody to try and stop the fireball that is disguised as Tyler Herro. The Jazz might have Rudy Gobert, but they have nobody to stop opposing perimeter players.
Miami reigned down 3’s and shot a blazing 60% from the field in this game. You just can’t win games with 4 guys who aren’t great defenders on the floor.
Rudy Gobert can win all the DPOY awards that he wants. But teams with lots of shot-creators will exploit them. Just ask the Clippers how they beat this team last season.
I still don’t like the Jazz. That will never change.
Miami Heat
The Heat continue to light the world on fire. The score indicates this game was close, but it wasn’t. The Heat controlled this game on both ends and looked as they did in the Bubble. Dominant.
Tyler Herro Has Decided To Stop Missing Shots
Tyler Herro has discovered a new mindset. One where he just has figured out a cheat code to the NBA. The mantra is simple. Don’t miss shots. It’s as easy as that.
Last night, Herro again followed said mantra. He had 29 points, outscoring the Jazz bench on his own. He shot 61% from the field, hit 6/8 3-pointers, and continued to ooze swagger and confidence.
Herro is the front runner for 6th Man of the Year right now by a mile. It’s hard to imagine him not winning the award with how good he’s been this season. His new mantra seems to be helping him.
The Heat’s Starting Lineup Has Been Elite
The Heat’s starting lineup this season hasn’t changed. Lowry, Robinson, Butler, Tucker, and Adebayo. This starting lineup is defensive-oriented, but the offense hasn’t been slouching behind. When PJ Tucker signed with the team this offseason, I envisioned this starting lineup and salivated. I was right to do so.
Miami’s Starting Lineup In 2022 (99 minutes)
109.3 Offensive Rating
95.0 Defensive Rating
14.3 Net Rating
The Heat’s starting lineup has been lethal defensively this season. The offense has been powered by steady doses of Butler and Adebayo. The addition of Tucker has made their defense miles better than it was last season.
And this is all with Duncan Robinson shooting 33% from 3-PT range. If he gets things going, then people better start running for the hills.
We need to talk about those new jerseys. What was wrong with the old ones? These new ones are just trying to do too much. Make it simpler. This is more important than you think.
Nikola Jokic Continues To Be Amazing
I don’t think I’ve talked about Nikola Jokic this season. I am incredibly disappointed with myself for this. Here you go Nuggets fans.
The Nuggets offense hasn’t been great this season, for a few reasons. The help around the reigning MVP hasn’t been great, but Jokic has kept them afloat, as he always does. In this game against Houston, Jokic put up another masterful game;
28 points – 14 rebounds – 2 steals – 60% FG – 9/11 FT
Jokic was dominant in this game. He gobbled up rebounds, bullied the Rockets in the post, and got to the line a lot. With MPJ leaving early due to injury, Jokic helped the Nuggets stay in this game.
That’s been the case for most of the season, which has led to Jokic putting up numbers that are in some ways, better than his MVP campaign;
Nikola Jokic is 2022
(bold indicates better than MVP season)
25.4 points – 13.4 rebounds – 5.2 assists – 1.6 steals – 60% FG – 40% 3-PT – 69% TS
Jokic is being more efficient than ever. He’s shooting more 3’s and that’s been working for him. While his assist numbers are drastically down, I’d attribute that more on his teammate’s missing shots than Jokic’s playmaking being worse.
The Nuggets are (somehow) 5-4, even with their poor offense. They can thank Nikola Jokic for that.
Portland Trail Blazers
Without Lebron and Anthony Davis, a dominant win was expected. A dominant game is what we got. Portland got off to a big lead and just never relinquished it as the Lakers’ offense looked horrendous all night long.
Another balanced scoring attack for Portland, featuring great games from Nurkic and Dame. After that horrendous road trip, we have recovered at home, back to 5-5 on the season.
Damian Lillard Is Getting There
Damian Lillard hasn’t lifted off yet in 2022. He’s in the worst shooting stretch of his career and it’s been shocking to see. Not only as a Blazers fan, but after years of just averaging 30 points and 7 assists, you get used to Dame being good. When he’s not, especially for a longer period of time, it just doesn’t look right.
We’ve seen flashes of Dame getting back to normal, but this game against the Lakers might have been his best game of the season.
Dame looked, for lack of a better word, healthy again. He was blowing by guys, getting good lift on his jump shots, and playing free. He finished with 25 points and 6 assists on 47% shooting with six 3-pointers. Pretty pedestrian night for Lillard’s standards, but it’s a step in the right direction.
If the Blazers want to do anything remotely meaningful this season, they need Damian Lillard to do it. We all know what he’s capable of doing on a nightly basis, given what he’s done over the past few seasons. Once we see some 40-point games in a row, then we can finally say that Dame Dolla is back.
The Starting Lineup Has Been Great
After a rocky start to the season, the starting 5 for Portland has been excellent. To end last season with Norman Powell, the Blazers had a great starting unit on both sides of the ball. This season, it’s been more of the season.
Portland’s Starting 5 In 2022 (125 minutes)
114.3 Offensive Rating
103.7 Defensive Rating
10.6 Net Rating
Dame, CJ, Powell, Covington, and Nurkic have all been great this season. Even with Dame’s struggles, the offense continues to click. The defense overall has been miles better under Chauncey Billups.
If the starting lineup continues to play like this, then it’s hard for Portland to lose games. That’s a very encouraging development.
We’re playing the Clippers, again? That’s three times already! How is that even possible?
Luka Doncic Is Everything I Need
Like most seasons, Luka Doncic hasn’t been off to the best start in the world. Or should I say, just a little less amazing than normal? That sounds better. Doncic’s shooting hadn’t been great to start the season, but for whatever reason, he loves to play the Boston Celtics. Maybe they said something about his mom?
Luka Doncic Against The Celtics
6 Games – 28.0 points – 7.0 rebounds – 6.5 assists – 53% FG – 55% 3-PT – 2x Hearts Broken
Notice how that last stat says 2x hearts broken. Doncic drained a deep stepback 3-pointer last season to beat the Celtics. Let’s just say he did something similar in this game.
Doncic just has a knack for hitting ridiculous shots for game-winners. Add the Celtics (again) to a list of teams that include the Grizzlies, Blazers, and Clippers (playoffs). The dude just does this for fun.
The best part of this play is that it could have been avoided. Dallas had the ball in the backcourt with 14.7 seconds left and just 8 seconds on the shot clock. The Celtics all but guaranteed themselves at getting the last shot in this game.
Instead, Marcus Smart fouled Luka Doncic with 11.4 seconds left. That was a foul to give, but it ruined the Celtics’ chances to win. The shot clock went off and the Mavericks got the last shot. Not only that, but Dallas got to think of a new play. If you remember, that play resulted in them winning the game.
And we can’t even blame the coach. Smart was just being an idiot. Just a few days after complaining like a toddler about his two All-Stars not passing, Smart does this.
Alienating your franchise cornerstone too? Oh, we’re getting close to a “you’re really stupid” bingo card for Marcus Smart. All that’s left is for him to get suspended for conduct detrimental to the team. Oh wait, didn’t that already h-
BINGO FOR MARCUS SMART!
What Are Your Thoughts From Last Nights Games? Leave A Comment Down Below!
Follow My Instagram/Facebook To Never Miss A Post: @hoopnotions
