Day: December 4, 2019

In battle of East contenders, Celtics beat Heat 112-93

In a must-watch game of upper Eastern conference teams Wednesday, the Boston Celtics handed the Miami Heat a loss.

The Boston Herald had this to say:

Miami came in with a homewrecking reputation. The Heat was the first road team to win in Milwaukee and Toronto this year — the latter on Tuesday night.

And when the Celtics fell behind by 11 points in the second quarter last night, the locals appeared headed down a familiar path. Ultimately, they remain undefeated at home.

By the time Jaylen Brown had hit his sixth 3-pointer with just under six minutes left last night, though, the threat was cleared away. The Celtics beat Miami, 112-93, with the wing forward scoring a season-high 31 points — one shy of tying his career high. Brown also spent most of his night chasing and being chased by Miami’s Jimmy Butler.

The latter, who has led the Heat’s hot start, led both sides with 37 points and six 3-pointers.

The best East teams early this season have been the Bucks, followed in no particular order by the Raptors, Celtics, Sixers and Heat. Anytime any of these teams play each other is must-watch. And once the Pacers have Victor Oladipo back in action, they’ll be in that mix as well. They’re almost there right now.

Pacers awaiting the return of Victor Oladipo

 

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The Pacers these days always do better than many people predict. Right now they are 13-7, good for sixth best in the Eastern conference standings and are enjoying big-time seasons from Malcolm Brogdon, Domantas Sabonis and T.J. Warren, plus Jeremy Lamb – though injury put a stop to that.

All while waiting for the eventual return of star shooting guard Victor Oladipo.

Here’s the Indianapolis Star with more:

Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo doesn’t stand out in his gray Fort Wayne Mad Ants practice jersey.

It’s his third practice in five days with the Pacers’ G League affiliate, and the All-Star guard looks like just another guy. He’s not displaying his elite start-stop ability, lateral quickness and athleticism during Wednesday’s 5-on-5 portion of practice, but that’s by design.

The former Most Improved Player is working to regain his feel for the game. He’s been playing 5-on-5 since early November, and getting up and down the court in a scrimmage situation is an encouraging sign of progress more than 10 months removed from rupturing his right quad tendon.

Brogdon has been a fantastic addition to the team. He’s having an excellent season and we look forward to seeing him play alongside Oladipo. Hopefully that happens in the very near future.

A must-watch NBA game tonight: Heat vs Celtics

The Miami Heat (15-5) visit the Boston Celtics (14-5) tonight in a game that definitely has our interest. Each team’s most recent game results are below.

THE MOST RECENT HEAT GAME

MIAMI HEAT 121, TORONTO RAPTORS 110 [OT] (12/3/19)

The Miami HEAT became the first team to get a win in Toronto this season after defeating the Raptors, 121-110, in overtime. Miami shot 54.2 percent from the field in the first as they took a nine-point, 32-23, lead after one. Toronto was able to cut the HEAT lead by four in the second as Miami held a five-point, 58-53, lead at the half. The Raptors shot 58.8 percent from the field in the third, again cutting the HEAT lead, this time to two, 83-81, entering the fourth quarter. Miami held their lead throughout the fourth until Toronto took a one-point, 108-107, lead with 43.2 seconds remaining. Jimmy Butler would hit 1-of-2 free throws on the HEAT’s next possession as each team missed their final shots, sending the game into overtime. Butler began overtime quickly scoring the first eight points as Miami went on to outscore the Raptors 13-2 in the quarter to take the, 121-100, victory. Butler finished with a 22-point, 13-rebound, 12-assist triple-double as Duncan Robinson scored 22 and Justise Winslow added 17 off the bench. Norman Powell led Toronto with 23.

THE MOST RECENT CELTICS GAME

BOSTON 113, NEW YORK 104 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (12/1/19)

The Celtics turned up the defense in the fourth quarter as they came from behind to beat the Knicks 113-104 at MSG…Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 30 points to go along with a career-high seven assists while Jaylen Brown added 28 points and five boards…Kemba Walker picked up his first double-double with 16 points and 10 assists while Enes Kanter also added a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds…The Knicks were led by Julius Randle and his 26 points and five rebounds while Dennis Smith Jr. added 17 points and seven assists off the bench.

Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke out with sore oblique muscle

 

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The Memphis Grizzlies will be without forward Brandon Clarke on a week-to-week basis, the team announced yesterday.

In the first half of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Clarke aggravated a sore left oblique muscle, and was out for the remainder of the game.

Already playing without star rookie guard Ja Morant (back spasms), the Grizzlies, who have a 6-14 record through Tuesday’s games, will miss Clarke while he’s out.

Coming off the bench for 16 out of 18 games played, the 6-foot-8, 215-pounder is averaging 11.8 points and 5.9 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per outing. He’s currently leading all rookies in boards per game.