Luka Torches Celtics; What Is Wrong With The Raptors? 3.31.21
It’s another day of NBA basketball on the last day of March and we have a busy day with 10 games on the schedule.
Portland Trail Blazers vs Detroit Pistons
Healthy
Now that Portland is essentially fully healthy they have been playing really well. The first half was close because the defense wasn’t good. In the 2nd half the effort was a lot better as they made it much tougher on Detroit. Portland scored 73 points in the 2nd half as they put this game away.
Dame’s shooting came back as he had 33 points and 10 assists. CJ had 24 and 6 assists on 50% shooting. Roco continues to torch the nets in the month of March, scoring 16 points on 4/5 3-PT shooting. Norman Powell had 14 points with 5 combined steals and blocks. To have him as a 3rd option in the starting lineup is such a luxury.
Melo had 16 off the bench and Kanter had 10 and 8.
Now that Portland is healthy they are very good. They have so much offense and the defense has been looking good. Powell is a better defender than Trent and if everybody tries on defense it’s a lot better. Portland has a tough 2nd half of the year and it’ll be interesting to see how they fare against some of the best teams in the league. Also finishing the road trip 4-0 is nice.
A For Effort (First Half Only)
You tried but getting outscored by 24 in the 2nd half isn’t exactly a recipe for success.
Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers
Defense
This offense isn’t good but the reason the Heat have been so good this season is their defense. After the first quarter the Pacers didn’t score over 25 points in a quarter. From the 6:49 mark of the 4th, Indiana scored just 5 points. They didn’t score from 6:49 to 41.7 seconds in the 4th. It was amazing defense. Sabonis was shut down as was Brogdon as the Heat did a great job on those two. If the Heat offense can’t find it’s way, this is how their defense is going to have to play.
20 points from Duncan Robinson with 6 3-pointers on the night. 18 from Butler and solid nights from Adebayo and Dragic. Also got 17 from Herro off the bench.
This defense is just amazing.
Broken
This offense is so inconsistent. With Sabonis, Brogdon, and Levert in a lineup you should be able to score more than 87 points. Not scoring for nearly half the 4th quarter isn’t helped. Sabonis shot the ball just 8 times as he was rendered ineffective. Brogdon was just 2/12 from the field and Holiday was 2/11. The bench was solid but this offense and team in general just continues to disappoint.
Dallas Mavericks vs Boston Celtics
Luka Doncic In Incredible
I know that’s pretty obvious by now, but my god was he absolutely torching the Celtics in this game. The first half was all Dallas their incredible shooting. Doncic was 8/9 from the field, 5/6 from 3 and had 24 in the first half alone. The Mavs shot 57% from 3 and led by double-digits for a majority of the first half. But the game wasn’t over. The Celtics started to make a comeback in the 4th but Doncic made an incredible step-back 3 from 31 feet out that put the Mavs back up 9. Jalen Brunson hit some free throws and the Mavs survived for a very good road win.
Luka had 36-8-5 on 11/15 shooting, 7/11 3-PT. When you miss as many 3’s as you do free throws, you’re doing something right. Porzingis was solid but his defense was excellent. He had 5 combined blocks and steals and altered so many shots. 21 off the bench from Brunson who continues to improve was also good.
The Mavs are figuring things out now that they’re healthy they have been very good. Luka has been incredible shooting the ball and when he’s shooting well there’s nothing defenses can do. This Mavs team has Luka and that’s really all you need sometimes.
Missed Opportunities
You have Brown, Tatum, Fournier, and Kemba Walker. How many shot makers/creators do you need just to miss 1,000,000 wide open shots. Sure Boston got back into this game in the 4th, but they would’ve won if they actually hit some. Tatum missed some layups, Brown missed an open 3, they just couldn’t capitalize on open looks. They couldn’t stop Luka at all and they couldn’t do anything to stop the Mavs 3-pt onslaught.
Tatum had 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals but he continues to annoy me. All his success came going to the rim and yet he didn’t do if often. It’s like he doesn’t want to be successful. Walker had 22-5-6, Smart had 17-5-7, Brown had 24. That’s such good production but the defense is just been so bad this year. Evan Fournier was better than he was in his debut, although I would argue anything is better than 0/10 shooting. He’ll definitely have to be a better 6th man if Boston wants any hope at turning this season around.
Houston Rockets vs Brooklyn Nets
This Was Supposed To Happen
In the first half the Rockets made more 3’s than the Nets did and they led. They scored 42 points in the first quarter and led by 11. They were in control against one of the best teams in the league. But the Nets started to comeback, as Houston scored just 19 in the 3rd. Even with Harden exiting the game early with a hamstring issue, the Nets onslaught continued. Just 21 points in the 4th from Houston was not nearly enough to win as they blew this game in the 2nd half.
Hail Harris and Irving
After a terrible display of defense in the first half the Nets turned it up in the 2nd half. Harris got going, finishing with 20 of his 28 in the 2nd half. He hit 7 3’s and along with 31-6-12 from Kyrie Irving, the Nets outscored Houston by 23 in the 2nd half to win. James Harden left the game with a hamstring issue as this team cannot stay healthy.
Irving had 31-6-12 like we mention and Joe Harris had 28 with 20 in the 2nd half. Harden had 17-8-6 before leaving early and the bench was solid. 11 points and 6 rebounds from Griffin who had a +23 plus/minus. He’s been really good for Brooklyn and Nicolas Claxton should be starting. 12 points and 8 rebounds as he got 21 minutes and Jordan got just 12. This man should be starting.
Friendly reminder: The Nets Big 3 has only played 7 games together. Scary Hours indeed.
Also first time the Nets have had the first seed since April of 2003. Nice
Utah Jazz vs Memphis Grizzlies
Who Needs Mitchell Anyway?
The Jazz won this game despite no Donovan Mitchell and a flock of birds hitting their plan. Now that’s a good win. The Jazz offense was solid except for the 3rd when they scored just 18 points. 26 points and 7 assists from Conley led the way but 24 off the bench from Clarkson and 23 from Bogdanovic were big boosts. The Jazz made 11 more 3’s than the Grizzlies and they won this game. Take that birds.
Memphis Grizzlies
If 36 points and 7 assists from Morant, 18 from Kyle Anderson, 17 from Dillon Brooks, and 16-14-5 from Valanciunas can’t win Memphis a game, I don’t know what to say. The Grizzlies had a -33 3-pt margin and the bench was for once terrible. Desmond Bane struggled and the one time Ja Morant decides to actually play well Memphis loses to a team missing their best scorer. Nice.
New York Knicks vs Minnesota T-Wolves
Choke
The Knicks had this game in hand. The defense was solid and they led by double-digits entering the 4th. What could possibly go wrong? The Knicks lead started to disappear and then Anthony Edwards took over. He scored 7 straight points and then gave Malik Beasley a wide open 3 that he drained to give the T-Wolves the lead with 37.8 seconds left. After a couple of turnovers, a Randle miss and mad scramble, the Knicks had 5.1 seconds to score and win. RJ Barrett missed the step-back jumper and the Knicks blew this game.
23 from Barrett and 26-12-6 from Randle along with 17 from Payton. A shame the Knicks lost this game.
Anthony Edwards In The Clutch
Anthony Edwards came up big when Minnesota needed it most, with 7 straight points down the stretch and the assist to Beasley that ended up being the go-ahead 3. I love how Edwards attacks the rim and I think that if he develops a jumpshot, watch out.
Edwards was pretty efficient for one and finished with 24 points, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. 20 from Malik Beasley who hit 5 3’s, and Towns had 18-17-6. Jaden McDaniels had 18 points as he has been a pleasant surprise this year. The bench didn’t do anything but the T-Wolves definitely have a bright future. They have D-LO, Beasley, Edwards, Nowell, Towns, McDaniels, Culver. Not a bad young core.
Toronto Raptors vs OKC Thunder
Toronto Raptors
This team is so bad. They are 1-13 in their last 14 games and they have just lost it. Losing to an OKC team without SGA and scoring just 14 points in the 4th is embarrassing. Sure Gary Trent had 31 points. Sure Fred VanVleet did this:
18 points, 7 assists, 5 assists, 5 blocks, and 4 steals.
Just the 4th guard in the last 20 seasons to put up a 15/4/4/4/4 statline. That’s cool but the Raptors are a mess. Maybe it is time for are a rebuild.
OKC Thunder
I would shower OKC in compliments, however the Raptors are now terrible so I guess it’s just a good win. 7 guys in double figures as even with SGA going to miss a couple more weeks the Thunder are capable of being decent.
Sacramento Kings vs San Antonio Spurs
Sacramento Kings
The Kings offense was ugly in this game. They shot just 31% from 3 as they couldn’t make their usual amount. De’Aaron Fox had just 4 points in the first half and Buddy Hield was 0/8 in the first half. The Spurs controlled this game throughout.
Finally, Offense
Yay! Offense!
Milwaukee Bucks vs LA Lakers
Bucks Big 3
The Bucks Big 3 is finally playing together like I hoped they would. For the first half of the year Jrue Holiday just wasn’t getting the ball. Now that he is the Bucks Big 3 is legit. Holiday was 11/16 from the field and finished with 28 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. This is why he was brought to Milwaukee.
Middleton had 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists and Giannis had 25 points and 10 rebounds.
While I don’t think the Bucks will go far, their only chance to win anything is if their Big 3 plays well. Although I’m sure Mike Budenholzer will find a way to mess things up.
Peaking Early
The Lakers hit 8 3’s in the first quarter and led by 6. After that it was all Bucks, which was to be expected. The Lakers are obviously short-handed and no Andre Drummond in the 2nd half didn’t help anything. I understand when people say Drummond is going to be good on the Lakers when AD and Lebron are back, however he’s not that good to begin with so I really don’t know how much improvement you can get. But now LA has a problem. Both Portland and Denver are right behind them in the West and with LA’s recent slump they are just 0.5 games ahead of both those teams. LA might drop in the standings a bit and fast.
Also after hitting 8 3’s in the first quarter, LA hit 2 for the rest of the game.
Chicago Bulls vs Phoenix Suns
A For Effort
With no Lavine, this game was pretty close all things considered. The Bulls always remained close but the Suns were seemingly always one step ahead. But it’s good to get some of the other guys going as 6 were in double figures. Vucevic had 24 and 10 rebounds and Denzel Valentine had 19 off the bench. It’s a good game for confidence but that’s about it.
This Shouldn’t Have Been Close
This shouldn’t have been close because of what Devin Booker was doing. Booker was 10/14 from the field in the first half with 22 points. He finished with 45 points on 17/24 shooting. CP-3 had 19 and 14 assists and Saric had 16 off the bench. The Suns continue to be very good as they worked hard for this game. I am one of the only believers that this team is a legit contender in the West.
What Are Your Thoughts From The 10 Games Today? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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