Category: NBA Teams

NBA teams blog

Good game by Richaun Holmes in Kings loss to Blazers

 

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The Kings fell to the Trail Blazers 127-116 in Portland yesterday, but a bright spot for Sacramento was the play of big-man Richaun Holmes.

Here’s the Sacramento Bee:

The Kings (8-12) were playing without guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, who joined point guard De’Aaron Fox and forward Marvin Bagley III on the injured list. Bogdanovic was held out with a right knee contusion, but his left hamstring injury was improving, the team said. He is listed as day-to-day.

C.J. McCollum scored 33 points, Hassan Whiteside turned in a monster performance and Carmelo Anthony had another big game for the Blazers (9-13). Damian Lillard had 24 points and 10 assists. Whiteside put up 22 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots. Anthony finished with 20 points.

Richaun Holmes had a career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, who have lost 12 in a row in Portland since posting their last win there on Dec. 8, 2012. Buddy Hield scored 23 points. Nemanja Bjelica had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Holmes shot 11 of 14 as the starting center in this game.

The Kings are now 8-12 for the season. They’ve only had Marvin Bagley in action for one game, and De’Aaron Fox for nine. Neither player is ready to return just yet.

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.

Wizards center Thomas Bryant out with foot injury

The Washington Wizards will be without starting center Thomas Bryant while he recovers from a stress reaction in his right foot.

Bryant started experiencing pain in his foot after the team’s December 1 road game against the Clippers.

The team says Bryant will be re-evaluated in three weeks.

With point guard John Wall out with a long-term injury, the Wizards are 6-12 this season and don’t look like a contender to make the playoffs. They’re getting an impressive 28.0 points per game from shooting guard Bradley Beal, with Bryant second at 12.8 PPG. But what’s interesting is, as a group the team’s offense has been one of the most efficient in the NBA. The issue is defense, and the Wizards are last in the entire NBA in that department.

Losing Bryant also means the team loses their only strong rebounder. He’s first on the squad at 8.5 RPG, while no other Wizards players are even grabbing 6 RPG.

It’s possible that rookie forward Rui Hachimura, who really does belong at the forward spot, will see some minutes at center while Bryant is out.

Allen Crabbe undergoes non-surgical knee procedure

 

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Atlanta Hawks guard/forward Allen Crabbe underwent a non-surgical right knee procedure today.

He won’t play in tomorrow’s game against the Nets. But could return fairly soon, since the procedure didn’t involve surgery.

But Crabbe hasn’t played much this season: ten games, one start, averaging a modest 5.3 points in 18.9 minutes per outing.

A second round pick in 2013, Crabbe began his NBA career with the Trail Blazers, and in his third season started averaging double-digit points. He did that in his 4th season as well, then put up 13.2 points per game for the Nets in 2017-18, but injuries took their tole and it’s unclear if he ever fully recovered.

The wait continues.

The Hawks, enjoying a fine season from second-year star guard Trae Young but they’ve been playing without talented big-man John Collins (25-game suspension) and are just 5-16 this season.

Ben Simmons wants to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award

 

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Oversized Sixers point guard Ben Simmons has a respectable personal goal.

Here’s NBC Sports Philly reporting:

When asked about his goals for this season at media day, Ben Simmons would only reveal one.

He wanted to be the Defensive Player of the Year.

Saturday night against the Pacers, he acted like one, recording three steals in the final 13.9 seconds of the Sixers’ 119-116 win over the Pacers (see observations). Amid all the concern about Simmons’ offense and the question of whether he’ll ever be a willing and able jump shooter, he’s racked up some gaudy defensive numbers.

His 42 steals in 18 games are most in the NBA, while his 72 deflections and 41 loose balls recovered are second. Opponents have shot just 40.9 percent when guarded by Simmons this year.

The Sixers are 14-6 this season, placing them just 5th in the Eastern conference, but barely behind the second-place 14-4 Toronto Raptors.

Defensively, the Sixers are tied right now with the Jazz for the 5th most efficient defense in the league.

Some thoughts on the Charlotte Hornets

 

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The Hornets are 8-13 this season, their first in many years without Kemba Walker. They’re actually winning more games than many expected.

Here’s the Charlotte Observer with some opinions:

The word that sums up this Hornets roster is “fragile.” There is some talent, and certainly potential. But their poor defense, their unreliable rebounding and their tendency to commit turnovers (though that has improved lately), leaves them with a tiny margin for error.

I think they have slightly overachieved by winning eight of their first 21 games, and that’s been mostly about maximizing end-of-game opportunities against other bad teams. The bottom third of the NBA is weaker than usual, so there will be final-minute opportunities like the back-to-back victories over the Detroit Pistons last week.

But it’s telling that they haven’t beaten a good team except the Pacers when Indiana was missing its top two big men. The Hornets need someone to protect the paint and more physical complementary players.

A big bright spot for the Hornets has been the play of second-year guard Devonte’ Graham, drafted second round by the Hawks in 2019 and then traded to the Hornets, who is averaging 18.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 21 games played so far this season.