Happy Hump-day and good morning! Have some nightmares last night thinking about how you’re going to pay for the mortgage despite developing a Cocaine addiction? Well, we have the cure, with a recap of all your hoops action from last night. So sit down and relax for a minute, because here we go!
New York Knicks- 102 Charlotte Hornets- 94
As @BobSaietta pointed out, Melo was looking for Zing from the get go. pic.twitter.com/UYmhMQeAAw
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 18, 2015
The folks upstairs told me to limit my Knicks bias, so I’ll try to, but good God what a performance from our hero Kristaps Porzingis. Kristaps went for a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Knicks to a victory that pushed them to 6-6 this season. Porzingis was aided by Carmelo Anthony’s 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists, with three of those assists being dished out to Kristaps.
To the Hornets credit, they tried very hard to stop Kristaps, which is the first step to success. But you can’t stop the Latvian monster. Despite Kemba Walker’s 31 points and the inventor of Linsanity himself, Jeremy Lin’s 13 off the bench, the Hornets fell to 5-6 and continue to be a team that really doesn’t have much of an identity.
Denver Nuggets- 115 New Orleans Pelicans- 98
W-w-what?
The Nuggets are 6-5?
It’s true! After their win, the criminally underrated Danillo Gallinari and co. moved above .500 on the season and continue to be one of the NBA’s biggest surprises. Gallinari went for 31, 8, and 8 whole continuing to stake his claim as one of the NBA’s best. Rookie Emmanuel Mudiay added in 13 points and 8 assists in the Denver win.
The loss was another tough one for the Pelicans, who fall to a shocking 1-10 start. Even more important than the loss was the the potential injury to superstar Anthony Davis, who left the game after just six minutes with a shoulder issue. As of this writing, it’s unknown the extent to which Davis injured himself, although we of course hope the Brow is able to continue playing at a high level.
Minnesota Timberwolves- 103 Miami Heat- 91
Despite Hassan Whitesides triple-double, the Heat failed to secure a victory, dropping Miami to 6-4 this season. Whiteside’s 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 blocks led to the first triple-double of it’s kind this season and complimented Luol Deng’s 20 points nicely on 8-14 shooting nicely.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves continue to try and prove that they can play with anyone in the league. The young duo of Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns continued to show it’s seemingly endless potential, with Wiggins going for a team high 24 points while the rookie Town’s “settled” for 14 points and 14 rebounds as the T Wolves improved to 5-6 this season. Oh and also, Hassan Whiteside victimized someone with the above block. Just horrendously beautiful.
Detroit Pistons- 104 Cleveland Cavaliers- 99
The Cavs dropped 99 points. Eternal shame.
Anyway, this Pistons team might be legit!
Against arguably the NBA’s best team, the very young Pistons refused to back down, led by the two headed dragon known as Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond. Last night, Jackson went for 24 points and 12 assists, overseeing the win that sent the Pistons to 6-5 this year. It was the rising star of Drummond that had the biggest effect on the game though, with Andre going for 25 points and 18 rebounds, as Drummond continues to stake his claim as one of the leagues top rebounding threats.
While they may have lost, the Cavs are still led by LeBron James and sit at 8-3, so yeah, not much sympathy from me towards Cleveland. James dropped 30 last night and outside of Mo Williams and Kevin Love, carried the Cavs most of the way here.
Brooklyn Nets- 90 Atlanta Hawks- 88 ]
Simply shocking pic.twitter.com/lbvIvHwzBg
— NetsDaily.com (@NetsDaily) November 17, 2015
In front a capacity crowd, who apparently consisted of a grand total of 12 people, the Nets won for the second time! Woo! Brook Lopez led the charge with 24 and 10, but was assisted by four other Nets’ scoring double digits, including 14 points off the bench for Shane Larkin. No points were bigger though, than Thad Young’s two free throws with 1.4 seconds left to push Brooklyn to 2-9.
Despite a 41% shooting mark from behind the arc, the Hawks would fall to 8-5 and continue to be something of a mystery team to many. The veteran frontcourt of Al Horford and Paul Millsap combined for 35 points and 11 rebounds. Sadly, Kent Bazemore was not around to Baze-More, as he was out with injury.
Washington Wizards- 115 Milwaukee Bucks- 86
The Wizards and Bucks are both two of the NBA’s most exciting young teams, but last night was all about the Wiz.
John Wall and the rising Otto Porter Jr. would lead the way in scoring with 19 points apiece, while Wall also added in 9 assists and 6 rebounds. Six different Wizards’ scored in double-digits, pushing Washington to a 5-4 record this season.
Poor shooting nights from Greg Monroe and The Greak Freak, who combined for 4-19 from the field and just 13 points. The always steady Khris Middleton went for a team high 14 points on 6-12 shooting, but 27 turnovers doomed the Bucks and saw them drop to 4-5 this season.
Golden State Warriors- 115 Toronto Raptors- 110
Phew, that was close.
But not close enough.
The Warriors continue their historic run to start the season, pushing their record to a perfect 12-0. Not surprisingly, they were led by Steph Curry, who at this point is almost definitely a direct descendant from somebody important. Steph went for 37, including 5-10 from 3-point land. Curry’s fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson poured in 19 points, a welcome sign for a player that has surprisingly gotten off to a bit of a slow start.
This may have been a painful loss for Toronto, but it also proves what many have been saying for weeks now- This Raptors team is legit. Standing toe-to-toe with the NBA’s best team is never fun, yet Toronto played a tough game all night, led by the backcourt of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, both of which put up 28 point evenings. DeMarre Carroll, who may end up being the best signing of last offseason, shot 7-12 and had 6 steals for the 7-5 Raptors.
Well that’s about it for Tuesday night’s action.
Have a good day!
