We all know everyone will be talking about the Los Angeles Lakers’ last second win over the Denver Nuggets in last night’s very entertaining nightcap. Kyle Kuzma has ice in his veins, no doubt.
But how about the Phoenix Suns, who are averaging 120 points a game, and are the only undefeated team in the bubble.
I know, I know. Your Lakers are going to win it all. I hear it every day from true Laker fans and from those who are in denial that the Lakers still need a viable point guard (they should have traded for Jrue Holiday to rejoin Anthony Davis if they really wanted a title).
However, the Phoenix Suns are laser focused on being the best version of themselves and getting the chance to face those very same Lakers, and putting them out like they did in ‘06.
While it’s the feel good story right now, I’d say the Portland Trailblazers are the squad with the best chance of taking L.A. out. Until then, I’m going to enjoy watching the Suns try and go undefeated and steal that eighth seed in the Western Conference.
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Dallas Mavericks 122
Utah Jazz 114
Sitting Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis appears to be the best thing the Dallas Mavericks have done since arriving in the bubble, as the Mavs pulled out an eight point victory over the Utah Jazz last night without their Dynamic Duo.
The decision allowed players like Tim Hardaway Jr., Seth Curry, J.J. .Barea, Maki Kleber, Trey Burke and big man Boban Marjanovic to gel a little bit in these last few games (they face Portland tonight and Phoenix on Thursday) before they likely face the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
It also afforded the Mavericks’ stars some rest on minor injuries, Doncic his right ankle and Porzingis his left knee.
Hardaway, Curry and Marjanovic combined for 69 points while the Jazz’s top three mustered 20 less. Their star, Donovan Mitchell, was held out due to a leg injury, so it was left to Jordan Clarkson to lead the way, but he, Rayjon Tucker, and Emmanuel Mudiay ran out of gas after an impressive first half.
Utah shot 54 percent from downtown to pace an uptempo 70-54 first half, but crashed like a diabetic after a cotton candy bender in the second half, only to have Dallas pump out 68 points to Utah’s 44 and all they could do was watch helplessly.
The loss puts the Jazz dangerously close to slipping to the seventh seed, where Dallas has sat much of the season, and all of the time spent in the bubble. The Mavericks are within a game of sixth place with two games remaining. Utah has San Antonio on Thursday in a must win game for both teams.
| MAVERICKS (43-30) 7th in the West | JAZZ (43-28) 6th in the West |
| Tim Hardaway, Jr. 27 points – three rebounds – four assists | Jordan Clarkson 18 points – three rebounds |
| Seth Curry 22 points – one rebound – two assists | Rayjon Tucker 17 points – three rebounds – one assist – one block |
| Boban Marjanovic 20 points – nine rebounds – two assists – one steal – two blocks | Emmanuel Mudiay 14 points – four rebounds – four assists – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Mavericks vs. Blazers – Tonight
Jazz vs. Spurs – Thursday
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Oklahoma City Thunder 101
Phoenix Suns 128
Don’t count the Phoenix Suns out of this eighth seed consideration just yet. The only undefeated team in the bubble just chalked up another scorcher, snuffing the Oklahoma City Thunder by 27 points behind the impressive play of Devin Booker once again. Booker keeps playing like this, more athletes may pay fines to tamper and suggest he join their teams.
While the Thunder’s fifth seed was somewhat protected by Utah’s loss to Dallas, the Suns are not playing positional politics or seeding scenarios, based on who they want in the first round.
They want the Lakers. They want the playoffs. Plain and simple.
As head coach Monty Williams said, ‘We haven’t done anything yet.’ With two games remaining (versus Philadelphia tonight and Dallas on Thursday), he’s completely right in regards to their mission and overall goal.
Part VI of that mission happened behind a push that saw the Suns get outscored 37-23 in the first quarter, but flare past the Thunder 105-64 in the last three, a performance so near flawless that Booker even had the stones to pull up just inside the half court line and drain one with the fluidity and ease of a free throw.
The Suns still have their work cut out for them, even though Philadelphia is banged up. They are a half game behind the Portland Trailblazers and a full game back of the Memphis Grizzlies, who have all but a bear hug on that eighth spot. Oklahoma City also has two tough games left on their slate, sitting a game and half behind the Houston Rockets and a half game up on the Jazz.
The goal wasn’t just to come down and be a Chamber of Commerce ambassador for the City of Phoenix. It was to take the lowest seed team, who had literally nothing to lose but opportunity, and maximize said opportunity.
Have people noticed? Hell, yeah. Have they moved up the proverbial playoff ladder? Yes indeed. Will it count for anything other than publicity? That depends on their last two games. Starting strong is impressive. Finishing strong is epic.
| THUNDER (43-27) 5th in the West | SUNS (32-39) 10th in the West |
| Darius Bazley 22 points – 10 rebounds – three assists – one steal – one block | Devin Booker 35 points – five rebounds – four assists – two blocks |
| Abdel Nader 15 points – one rebound – two steals | Mikal Bridges 18 points – six rebounds – one assist – one steal |
| Chris Paul 14 points – five rebounds – seven assists – two steals | Cameron Johnson 18 points – four rebounds – three assists – two blocks |
NEXT GAMES
Suns vs. Sixers – Tonight
Thunder vs. Heat – Wednesday
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Toronto Raptors 114
Milwaukee Bucks 106
With Giannis Antetokuonmpo sitting out for ‘dental reasons,’ the Toronto Raptors took advantage and made a statement on national television – they’re not ceding anything to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The reigning NBA champs intend to defeat you with anybody and everybody they have on the floor.
That’s what happened last night as Chris Boucher and Norman Powell seized control and simply outhustled everyone not named Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton, resulting in an eight point loss for the team with the NBA’s best record.
Boucher was inside, he was outside, he was everywhere in leading all scorers with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Matt Thomas came off the bench for 22, and Powell finished with 21 and eight.
Toronto jumped out to a 67-53 advantage at the break, then held the league’s top defensive team to another 53 in the second half and rode their 14 point cushion to the win (the palindromic 31 – 22 – 22 – 31 quarter by quarter scoring was about the only thing the Bucks put together successfully).
Pascal Siakam added 14 and seven in 28 minutes, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson finished with 11, five and five.
Kyle Korver shot 83.3 percent – all from downtown – to lead the Bucks. Middleton finished with 17 and Bledsoe finished with 11, seven and eight.
Both teams have their No. 1 and No. 2 seeds planted firmly as they await the remaining games to be completed. Milwaukee will face the Orlando Magic in the first round, while the Raptors will get the Brooklyn Nets.
| RAPTORS (51-19) 2nd in the East | BUCKS (55-16) 1st in the East, NBA |
| Chris Boucher 25 points – 11 rebounds – two assists – two steals – two blocks | Kyle Korver 19 points – four rebounds – two assists – one steal |
| Matt Thomas 22 points – four rebounds – one assist | Khris Middleton 17 points – four rebounds – three assists |
| Norman Powell 21 points – eight rebounds – one assist – two steals – three blocks | George Hill 14 points – two rebounds – three assists |
NEXT GAMES
Bucks vs. Wizards – Tonight
Raptors vs. Sixers – Wednesday
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Indiana Pacers 92
Miami Heat 114
Give Jimmy Butler the advantage in the Butler vs. T.J. Warren beef as Butler showed up and outdid Warren, who’s been more like an MVP candidate in the bubble with his play through the Indiana Pacers’ first five games, leading them to a 4-1 mark going into last night’s game versus the Miami Heat.
In the first half, which was played to a 48-48 tie, Warren was shooting 45 percent to Butler’s horrid 14.3 percent. But Butler turned it up a bit in the second half, running out to a game high 19 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, four steals and a block … doing a little bit of everything to help the Heat to a win.
Derrick “I had home cooking in the Slam Dunk Contest or otherwise people wouldn’t know my name” Jones finished with 18 and Tyler Herro had 17 as the Heat took an explosive 66-44 second half run to control the outcome.
It was about as flat as we’ve seen the Pacers play, despite the fact that all who were healthy played, and all who played scored at least a deuce (Goga Bitadze). Problem was, too many scored in the single digit column and seemed more happy just to have gotten some playing time than to try and steal Miami’s No. 4 spot.
They’ll have one more chance to do that on Friday. If Indiana can beat Houston on Wednesday, it may set up a showdown with the Heat (who have the Thunder in between these two games) on Friday night for all the marbles when it comes to the fourth seed.
T.J. Warren had better bring it that night.
| PACERS (43-28) 5th in the East | HEAT (44-27) 4th in the East |
| Victor Oladipo 14 points – five rebounds – one assist – one steal | Jimmy Butler 19 points – 11 rebounds – five assists – four steals – one block |
| Malcolm Brogdon 12 points – eight rebounds – six assists | Derrick Jones, Jr. 18 points – five rebounds – one steal – one block |
| T.J. Warren 12 points – five rebounds | Tyler Herro 17 points – five rebounds – two assists – one block |
NEXT GAMES
Pacers vs. Rockets – Wednesday
Heat vs. Thunder – Wednesday
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Denver Nuggets 121
Los Angeles Lakers 124
This game was a classic for the ages and Kyle Kuzma – no matter who likes him and who doesn’t – stepped up big when it counted for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Not wanting the combined 56 from LeBron James and Anthony Davis to go to waste, Kuzma took the ball with .4 seconds remaining and calmly drained a game winning three pointer much like he used to do at his and my alma mater, the University of Utah.
Lakers win. Lakers win. Lakers win. Unlike the last three games prior, where Lakers lost, Lakers lost, Lakers lost.
Denver had the Lakers where they wanted them, down only five at the half and with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter, Jr. playing well against the vaunted L.A. lineup. They were shooting better, both from the field and from the line. Their bench is stronger and deeper than the Lakers’ – so what went wrong? How did this not get into an overtime?
Kuzma, that’s how.
P.J. Dozier, who quietly had 12 against San Antonio and 13 against Portland earlier this week, finished with a team high 18 points to lead the Nuggets off the bench. Porter and Murray combined for a quiet 39 and eight, while eight Denver players hit double digit scoring. Only five Lakers could say the same, but their scoring was magnanimous compared to Denver.
About the only thing that the Nuggets did right was clinch the Northwest Division title … oh, wait. That was only because the Oklahoma City Thunder lost their game to the undefeated Phoenix Suns.
Denver holds the third seed, but the Houston Rockets lurk one game behind with the Spurs, Pacers, and Sixers on tap. Denver has tough opponents in the Clippers and Raptors remaining, so misfortune like last night could drop them from No. 3 as the wild, wild west shootouts continue.
| NUGGETS (46-25) 3rd in the West | LAKERS (52-18) 1st in the West |
| P.J. Dozier 18 points – four rebounds – four assists – one block | LeBron James 29 points – one rebound – 12 assists – two blocks |
| Michael Porter, Jr. 15 points – four rebounds – one assist – one steal | Anthony Davis 27 points – six rebounds – five assists – three steals – two blocks |
| Jamal Murray 14 points – four rebounds – three assists – two steals | Kyle Kuzma 25 points – six rebounds – three assists – two steals |
NEXT GAMES
Nuggets vs. Clippers – Wednesday
Lakers vs. Kings – Wednesday
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TUESDAY’S LINEUP
(All Times Eastern)
| 1 p.m. Brooklyn Nets Orlando Magic Fox Sports Florida | 2 p.m. Houston Rockets San Antonio Spurs NBATV | 4:30 p.m. Phoenix Suns Philadelphia 76ers Fox Sports Arizona |
| 5 p.m. Boston Celtics Memphis Grizzlies TNT | 6:30 p.m. Portland Trailblazers Dallas Mavericks Fox Sports Southwest | 9 p.m. New Orleans Pelicans Sacramento Kings TNT |
| 9 p.m. Milwaukee Bucks Washington Wizards Fox Sports North Wisconsin |
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