Hello and welcome to the first edition of the NBA Roundup!
The general plan for these is for them to be released every morning at 8 AM. Inside will be a general scope of last nights basketball action, filled with good ol’ scores, stats, and those hot takes you’ve just got to have with your morning crossword puzzles. The idea is partially stolen from SB Nation’s “Good Morning Let’s Basketball” and the lovely Tom Ziller, who I don’t know at all but I’m sure will do a better job at it than I.
So without further delay, let’s get into last nights NBA news for November 8, 2015!
Minnisota Timberwolves-102 Chicago Bulls-93
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) November 8, 2015
Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins are going to be a lot of fun to watch pay together for the next decade. Last night, the two combined for 48 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 assists as the T Wolves took down the Bulls in Overtime. Wiggins still has work to do in order to improve his free throw shooting (5-10 last night), but the duo looked very comfortable playing together already as this young Wolves team continues to find it’s footing.
The Bulls, meanwhile, struggled throughout offensively. While their defense held the Wolves to just 40% shooting, Chicago shot just 35% themselves, with stars Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose combining for 7-28 on FGA. Rose might be able to throw out 29 points once a month, but one has to wonder if he’ll ever be a consistent scoring option again on Fred Hoiberg’s squad.
Orlando Magic- 105 Philidephia 76ers- 97
Much like the Wolves, the Magic are a young team with a bunch of talent starting to find their way. The 76ers may not be the best team in the league, but these are the types of games Orlando will have to win if they look to contend in the East. Don’t Google Fournier continued his strong star, dropping 17 points, while Elfrid Payton had his best shooting performance of the season, going 8-10 with 20 points. Super Mario Hezonja, who would be playing 48 minutes a night if I were coaching (that’s why I’m not coaching) added 11 off the bench.
For the 76ers, Isaiah Cannon added a lot of pop off the bench, shooting 6-12 from behind the arc for 23 points. Nerlens Noel was ejected with a Flagrant 2 late in the third quarter. If Philly wants to finally be competitive in the East, they have to find a way to keep Noel on the court and out of foul trouble. Rookie Kahlil Okafor continues to impress offensively, adding in 19 points on 7-14 shooting.
Atlanta Hawks- 114 Washington Wizards- 99
Hey gang, remember that time I said the Hawks were going to fall back a lot after last seasons 50-win campaign due to the loss of wing-man Demarre Carrol? Forget about that! Atlanta moved to 7-1, a franchise best, after taking down the Wiz Cliz Saturday night. Kent Bazemore continued his streak of not giving Baze-less, dropping 25 while Lakers fans cried about not extending a Qualifying Offer to him.
It was a tough loss for the Wizards, who saw a poor shooting night from Point Guard John Wall (6-16, 19 points). More importantly, Bradley Beal appeared to injure his shoulder late in the game. In his first contract year, Beal had been off to a hot start, averaging 25 PPG, and appeared to be blossoming into another young star for Washington. While he remained in the game following the injury, Beal has since undergone X-Rays on the shoulder. The results of the test are still unknown.
Dallas Mavericks- 107 New Orleans Pelicans 98
The Pelicans are probably not going to go 0-82. Probably. Right now though, New Orleans is deeply struggling after falling to 0-6 with this loss to Dallas. Outside of Anthony Davis, who continues to get his (25 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), NOLA is struggling to find production anywhere. Eric Gordan scored 21, but continues to struggle defensively with a +/- of -5, while Ish Smith shot just 3-14. True Holiday, Tyreke Evans, and Omar Asik need to get healthy quick if the Pelicans want to make a playoff run.
The Mavs, meanwhile, continue to be solid, moving to 3-3 on the season. Dirk Nowitzki is still a straight up baller and proved it tonight, leading Dallas with 19 points. Power Forward Dwight Powell, who may be quite good, continues to impress off the bench, adding 15 and 7 as well as a +/- of +20. But then again, Raymond Felton had a +/- of +17 last night for the Mavs, so that stat might not count for anything.
Milwaukee Bucks- 94 Brooklyn Nets-86
Chase and BLOCK by @jerrydbayless!! #OwnTheFuture pic.twitter.com/7dOBKPV62x — Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 8, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
So remember when I said the Pelican’s probably won’t go 0-82? I think the Nets probably will. They are straight up terrible. After a solid start in the first quarter and hopping out to a 24-18 lead, Brooklyn was outscored in each remaining quarter. Supposed Superstar Brook Lopez went 9-17 before aggravating his foot, the same foot that seems to always be aggravated, and left the game early. X-Rays came back positive but knowing Lopez and his feet, we’ll likely see him back around Christmas.
Milwuakee continues to be the least impressive winning team since Florida State’s football squad a few years back. With wins against the Nets, Knicks, 76ers, and then the Nets again, the much hyped Bucks have done little to impress thus far. With that being said, many players are claiming they’ve turned the corner and are beginning to gel together. That isn’t saying much though, considering the okay YMCA rec-league champions would be feeling pretty good about themselves after taking a trip to the Barclays Center.
San Antonio Spurts-114 Charlotte Hornets-94
The Hornets affair with the 3-pointer may be coming to an end. Although Charlotte was amongst the league leaders in 3PA through their first 5 games, their obsession with the deep ball was dialed back, as they took a season low 19 shots from behind the arc Saturday night, making 6 of them. Kemba Walker, who I refuse to give any credit for anything and continue to claim his is only in the league because of his run at UCONN, added a season high 27 points for the Hornets, who fell to 2-4.
The Spurs, meanwhile, seem like a team more than willing to buck the trend of teams running to the 3 point line this year. Greg Popovic seems to be thumbing his nose at the rest of the league, with almost half of the Spurs total shots coming from the mid-range and about 80% coming from within the 3 point line. Luckily, it seems to be working out alright thanks to the ability of Lamarcus Aldridge, who went 6-10 for 16 points, and Kawhi Leonard, who dropped 10-16 for 23. Oh, and that old fella Tim Duncan had 11 points and 8 boards. May he never retire.
Utah Jazz- 89 Memphis Grizzlies-79
Remember when the Grizz were gritty and fighters and had guys like Marc Gasol and Zack Randolph to beat you up down low? Oh wait they still have those guys and it just isn’t working anymore? Huh. Gasol and ZBO combined for just 9-24 and 23 points last night. You obviously don’t want to hit the panic button, but is David Joerger’s booty getting hot after Memphis fell to 3-4? The
Jazz, meanwhile, continue to be a fun story. Their defense continues to be ferocious, with Rudy Gobert leading the charge with 4 blocks. Trey Burke added a team high 24 points off the bench as Utah finally appears to be interesting again, moving to 4-2. Not the state, just the team. Utah the state continues to be the in the top 5 most boring states, behind only Montana and the Dakota’s, while just ahead of Minnesota.
Golden State Warrios-103 Sacramento Kings-94
That bench reaction (CSNBA) https://t.co/B5uSexY3Bn
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) November 8, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsHey! Rajon Rondo had a triple double with 14 points, 10 boards, and 15 assists! Cool! That’s about all you can say about the Kings from last night, as DeMarcus Cousins sat out and the much hyped Curry vs Curry war between Seth and Steph didn’t pan out after everyone realized that Seth is terrible and didn’t play because George Karl hates fun.
Oh and yeah, the Warrios still won by 9 despite their worst shooting performance of the season and Steph Curry shooting just 2-10 from behind the arc. As far as Golden State’s wins go this season, this one might be the scariest. If they aren’t hitting their outside jumpers (they shot just 20% on 3PA), it’s not problem. They’ll casually force 21 turnovers. No big deal. The Warriors are going 82-0, I’m convinced.
Houston Rockets- 109 Los Angeles Clippers- 105
This was a really fun game that saw Blake Griffin continue his quest to prove he’s secretly better than Chris Paul with 36-11-5 and James Harden scoring 46 because let’s face it, you are really dumb if you were panicking after his early struggles.
But the real story is what was happening outside. While the game was being played, a mysterious and spooky light was hanging over the west coast and people were freaking out.
Holy $#!%, it’s an alien.
Not surprisingly, the U.S Government tried to calm down the American people by claiming the light was from a Military exercise or from a meteor. Mhm, I’m sure it was. OR, it was a UFO. I can only help feed you people so much before you have to wake up and realize for yourselves the basic biggest point in this article.
They’re among us.
Have a good day.
Nah bruh https://t.co/holrjrae7C
— Basketball Forever (@Bballforeverfb) November 8, 2015
