Six more games last night saw load management taking another win away from the Los Angeles Clippers, the Raptors in second place in the East like this time last year, and the Jazz and Nuggets swapping second and fourth places in the West like they’re trying on each others’ cowboy boots.
Washington kept the Hornets from dropping 150+ on them, Boston handled Golden State (who hasn’t?), and the Hawks shock the Sixers.
Seven games tonight on the ticket …
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Toronto Raptors 115
Cleveland Cavaliers 109
While Pascal Siakam drew shades of Kevin Durant comparisons from Cleveland head coach John Beilein on Thursday night, the Toronto Raptors were simply taking care of business against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland. The Raptors, despite all the injuries this season and lowered expectations without Kawhi Leonard on the roster, are in second place in the Eastern Conference like they were a year ago before winning the NBA Championship. A healthy Siakam, Kyle Lowry, and Serge Ibaka ensured the Raptors their 34th win over the Cavs, though they nearly lost it when Cleveland pulled within 105-104, after an impressive 32-24 third quarter by Toronto.
| RAPTORS (34-14) 2nd in the East | CAVALIERS (13-36) 14th in the East |
| Serge Ibaka 26 points – four rebounds – one assist – one steal – one block | Kevin Love 23 points – five rebounds – four assists – one steal |
| Kyle Lowry 23 points – five rebounds – five assists – four steals | Collin Sexton 23 points – four rebounds – four assists – one steal – one block |
| Pascal Siakam 19 points – five rebounds – four assists – two steals – one block | Darius Garland 16 points – five rebounds – eight assists – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Raptors at Pistons – Friday
Warriors at Cavaliers – Saturday
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Charlotte Hornets 107
Washington Wizards 121
The Washington Wizards took a break from getting 150+ scored on them last night, came home, and beat the Charlotte Hornets by 14 points in a much needed win. Snubbed by the coaches All Star voting, Bradley Beal would go on to lead the Wizards as he’s done all season long, playing without John Wall. Beal had 34, nine and nine, continuing to play like an All Star, whether coaches think he is or not.
| HORNETS (16-32) 12th in the East | WIZARDS (16-31) 11th in the East |
| Miles Bridges 23 points – six rebounds – three assists – two steals | Bradley Beal 34 points – nine rebounds – nine assists – one block |
| Terry Rozier 21 points – seven rebounds – three assists – one steal – one block | Thomas Bryant 21 points – eight rebounds – two assists – one block |
| P.J. Washington 15 points – one rebound – one assist – one steal | Isaiah Thomas 18 points – six rebounds – one assist |
NEXT GAMES
Hornets at Spurs – Saturday
Nets at Wizards – Saturday
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Philadelphia 76ers 117
Atlanta Hawks 127
The Atlanta Hawks left their #MambaMentality at home in their locker room when they traveled to Toronto earlier this week, but found it again when they returned to State Farm Arena last night, smothering the Philadelphia 76ers with a 10 point win in a game that meant more in the standing for Philly than it did for Atlanta. Trae Young dropped 39 points on 40.9 percent shooting, was 18 of 20 from the free throw line, and had a career high 18 assists in the victory. Young is third in the NBA in scoring and second in the NBA in assists, also a first time All Star. John Collins stood tall against Joel Embiid, scoring 17 points and grabbing 20 rebounds.
| SIXERS (31-18) 6th in the East | HAWKS (13-36) 15th in the East |
| Ben Simmons 31 points – six rebounds – five assists – four steals | Trae Young 39 points – six rebounds – 18 assists – two steals |
| Shake Milton 27 points – five rebounds – six assists – one steal | John Collins 17 points – 20 rebounds |
| Joel Embiid 21 points – 14 rebounds – three assists – one block | De’Andre Hunter 15 points – two rebounds – four assists |
NEXT GAMES
Sixers at Celtics – Saturday
Hawks at Mavericks – Saturday
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Golden State Warriors 104
Boston Celtics 119
A 60 points first half followed by a 59 point second half showed the Boston Celtics played with some consistency last night against the last in the league Golden State Warriors. Jayson Tatum returned and dropped 20, but it was Gordon Hayward leading the Celtics to victory for the second straight game with 25 points and eight rebounds to lead all scorers. The Celtics, when 100 percent healthy, are a very dangerous team – an interchangeable top three on any given night.
| WARRIORS (10-39) 15th in the West | CELTICS (32-15) 3rd in the East |
| D’Angelo Russell 22 points – three rebounds – five assists – three steals | Gordon Hayward 25 points – eight rebounds – three assists – one steal – one block |
| Alec Burks 18 points – four rebounds – one steal | Marcus Smart 21 points – three rebounds – six assists – one steal – one block |
| Damion Lee 11 points – seven rebounds – two assists – one steal | Jayson Tatum 20 points – six rebounds – two assists – one steal – one block |
NEXT GAMES
Warriors at Cavaliers – Saturday
Sixers at Celtics – Saturday
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Utah Jazz 100
Denver Nuggets 106
The Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets keep dos-i-do’ing around the third place Los Angeles Clippers for those second and fourth place positions in the Western Conference. One week it’s Utah in second, the next it’s Denver. And if this continues for the remainder of the season, I’m going to have to tip my hat to Denver, though I think Utah has the right personnel to fare better in the playoffs, even though the Nuggets came back from 11 down last night to preserve the win.
| JAZZ (32-16) 4th in the West | NUGGETS (33-15) 2nd in the West |
| Jordan Clarkson 37 points – two rebounds – two assists – one steal | Nikola Jokic 28 points – four rebounds – 10 assists – three steals |
| Rudy Gobert 21 points – 11 rebounds – one assist – one steal – three blocks | Will Barton 18 points – five rebounds – one assist – one block |
| Bojan Bogdanovic 18 points – six rebounds – one assist | Jerami Grant 15 points – five rebounds – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Nuggets at Bucks – Tonight
Jazz at Blazers – Saturday
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Sacramento Kings 124
Los Angeles Clippers 103
Me predicting that Kawhi Leonard was going to sit out last night’s contest against the Sacramento Kings was as easy as me predicting that today is the last day of January. I’m no sage. Just watching patterns … and wishing I could follow them. I just wonder how many games out of 15 the Los Angeles Clippers could have won had Kawhi Leonard played instead of taking a ‘load’ off with load management. They’re in third place behind the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers, but could they be neck and neck? Meanwhile, the Kings are becoming De’Aaron Fox’s team with Buddy Hield as the occasional special guest star. Fox led all scorers with a career 34 points last night in the Kings’ 21 point win. The Kings also hit a franchise record 21 three pointers.
| KINGS (18-30) 13th in the West | CLIPPERS (33-15) 3rd in the West |
| De’Aaron Fox 34 points – three rebounds – eight assists – four steals – two blocks | Lou Williams 22 points – six assists – one steal |
| Buddy Hield 19 points – seven rebounds – one assist – one steal | Montrezl Harrell 21 points – seven rebounds – three assists – three blocks |
| Cory Joseph 16 points – two rebounds – seven assists – one steal – one block | Landry Shamet 15 points – two rebounds – three assists |
NEXT GAMES
Lakers at Kings – Saturday
Timberwolves at Clippers – Saturday
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FRIDAY’S LINEUP
(All Times Eastern Standard Time)
| 7 p.m. Toronto Raptors Detroit Pistons Fox Sports Detroit | 7:30 p.m. Chicago Bulls Brooklyn Nets YES | 7:30 p.m. Dallas Mavericks Houston Rockets ESPN |
| 8 p.m. Memphis Grizzlies New Orleans Pelicans Fox Sports Southeast | 9 p.m. Denver Nuggets MIlwaukee Bucks Altitude | 9 p.m. Oklahoma City Thunder Phoenix Suns Fox Sports Arizona |
| 10:30 p.m. Portland Trailblazers Los Angeles Lakers ESPN |
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Tracy Graven is a Senior NBA Analyst for BackSportsPage.com.
He has written the NBA, and done NBA radio, for the last two decades for HoopsWorld, Swish Magazine, and HoopsHype, the Coach Scott Fields Show and NBARadioShow.com, and is also tackling the NFL, NCAA, and will be pinch-hitting on some Major League Baseball coverage for BackSportsPage.
He’s spent 20 years in locker rooms in Orlando, Boise (G League), San Antonio, Phoenix, and Oklahoma City.
A corporate trainer by day, he currently resides in Tennessee.
Reach him on Twitter at @RealTMoneyMedia
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