Chris Paul not only brought basketball to Oklahoma City when the then-New Orleans Hornets utilized the Ford Center for their ‘home’ games after Hurricane Katrina, but after the turbulent competitiveness and athleticism of Russell Westbrook, CP3 is bringing the quiet cool and calm after the storm that Oklahomans revere so much.
Putting things back together in Oklahoma is an annual thing – Chris Paul is delivering intangibles that go beyond his $160 million contract.
Tobias Harris carries the Sixers against the Knicks, Indiana teaches the Blazers about teamwork and getting everyone involved, and the Lakers dressed down the Golden State Warriors. Okay, the Warriors did it to themselves.
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New York Knicks 106
Philadelphia 76ers 115
For the Philadelphia 76ers, there was no Joel Embiid. No Ben Simmons. For the New York Knicks, there will be no winning season in 2019-20. For me, that means, unless the Knicks win out, they will not win 40 games as I so optimistically predicted at the start of the season, with my faith in Julius Randle and the glut of forwards shouldering the weight of my expectation. But you can count on at least one guy from Tennessee delivering, and that guy is #VFL Tobias Harris, who carried the Sixers in Embiid’s and Simmons’ absence. Harris shot a blistering 66.7 percent and had 23 of his 34 points in the first half to power Philadelphia to the win. Julius Randle had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the team he’d hoped to help turn around. Maybe next year, boys. But we’ve been saying that about New York for over two decades now, haven’t we?
| KNICKS (17-42) 14th in the East | SIXERS (37-23) 5th in the East |
| Julius Randle 30 points – 10 rebounds – five assists | #VFL Tobias Harris 34 points – seven rebounds – seven assists – one steal – one block |
| Elfrid Payton 18 points – six rebounds – 12 assists | Shake Milton 19 points – three rebounds – four assists – one steal – two blocks |
| Moe Harkless 17 points – four rebounds – two assists | Al Horford 15 points – seven rebounds – nine assists – one steal – one block |
NEXT GAMES
Chicago at New York – Saturday
Philadelphia at Los Angeles – Sunday
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Portland Trailblazers 100
Indiana Pacers 106
It doesn’t matter if you have one, two, or three high scoring players in the game when the other team has six in double figures, including all five starters. That’s how it went down last night in Indianapolis as the Indiana Pacers spread the ball and shared the wealth to beat the Portland Trailblazers in a tight game. Portland had their shining moments, such as the 25-13 second quarter that gave them a six point halftime lead. They shot two percent better than the Pacers overall. They even had history on their side, as the Pacers hadn’t beaten Portland the last five times they’d faced the Blazers. But they flipped the script last night, sending the Blazers to their fifth loss in six games. Damian Lillard missed his fourth straight game with a groin injury, but rumors have it that he and Jusuf Nurkic may return to the lineup on Saturday night against the Atlanta Hawks. I’ll be there to see if it materializes. If so, it may be just the catalyst Portland needs to position themselves for a run at the post-season.
| TRAILBLAZERS (26-34) 9th in the West | PACERS (35-24) 6th in the East |
| C.J. McCollum 28 points – three rebounds – eight assists | Domantas Sabonis 20 points – 11 rebounds – four assists – one steal |
| Gary Trent, Jr. 20 points – five rebounds – one steal | Malcolm Brogdon 17 points – six rebounds – eight assists – one steal |
| Hassan Whiteside 18 points – 16 rebounds – one steal – four blocks | Victor Oladipo 15 points – seven rebounds – two assists – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Portland at Atlanta – Saturday
Indiana at Cleveland – Saturday
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Sacramento Kings 108
Oklahoma City Thunder 112
Can you believe it? The Oklahoma City Thunder – who no one expected to even be competitive this season – are fifth in the Western Conference playoff standings after last night’s win over the Sacramento Kings. Fifth! That’s filthy, and I love seeing it. Go Thunder!
And that’s just what they did. The fact that they were down 19 to the Kings and they came back to win this game by four shows their grit, determination, and will to win. Some of that has to be coming from the mentorship and leadership of their $160 million man, Chris Paul. A lot of people decried the acquisition of Paul – one of Oklahoma City’s favorite sons and one of the main reasons that the NBA’s eyes were opened to Oklahoma City as an NBA market – but his teachings and locker room and on court persona is invaluable. He has taught this young team how to win, which didn’t translate in Los Angeles or Houston. Many said Paul was a locker room cancer. That hasn’t proven itself to be true at all in Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder have been his biggest beneficiaries, but the whole team has gone from the swagger of Russell Westbrook to the quiet calm of Chris Paul. And though Oklahomans love them some turbulence, the quiet calm is where the beauty is – after the storm. Paul h originally brought NBA basketball to OKC after Hurricane Katrina relocated the then New Orleans Hornets there … now he’s brought winning back to OKC.
| KINGS (24-34) 12th in the West | THUNDER (37-22) 5th in the West |
| Harrison Barnes 21 points – three rebounds – five assists | Danilo Gallinari 24 points – six rebounds – one steal |
| Harry Giles III 19 points – eight rebounds – one assist | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 20 points – three rebounds – three assists – one block |
| Nemanja Bjelica 18 points – nine rebounds – two assists | Chris Paul 17 points – four rebounds – seven asssists – two steals |
NEXT GAMES
Sacramento at Memphis – Tonight
Oklahoma City at Milwaukee – Tonight
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Los Angeles Lakers 116
Golden State Warriors 86
In all honesty, this game was over before it began. Lakers. Warriors. Competitive and fairly even through the first half, the Warriors didn’t help themselves in the second half after stretching the Lakers to just a two point L.A. lead going into the locker rooms at halftime. Golden State only scored 17 points in each of the third and fourth quarters to hand the Lakers their 45th game this season. We’ll call that the ‘A.C. Green win,’ since these Lakers are playing like the Lakers of yesteryear. LeBron James sat this one out after taking a (literal) kiss to the groin from former teammate Josh Hart in the game against the Pelicans the other night, but Anthony Davis led the Lakers and tied Eric Paschall’s point output with 23 points. The rest of the top three for each team was a virtual wash. The difference was (1) it was L.A., and (2) the Lakers had six in double digits and they got more from their bench, despite the fact that Paschall’s 23 came from the bench. Only Danny Green goose egg’d on the night as an L.A. starter. The Lakers’ bench had 57 points, while Golden State’s had 45, including Paschall’s 23. Starters Marquese Chriss, Dragan Bender, and Draymond Green totaled 10 points for the Warriors. The win was L.A.’s seventh straight.
| LAKERS (45-12) 1st in the West | WARRIORS (12-47) 15th in the West |
| Anthony Davis 23 points – six rebounds – one assist – two steals – two blocks | Eric Paschall 23 points – three rebounds – two assists |
| Kyle Kuzma 18 points – three rebounds – three assists – one steal | Jordan Poole 16 points – one rebound – eight assists |
| Dwight Howard 13 points – nine rebounds – three assists – one steal – two blocks | Damion Lee 15 points – six rebounds – four assists |
NEXT GAMES
Los Angeles at Memphis – Saturday
Golden State at Phoenix – Saturday
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FRIDAY’S LINEUP
(All Times Eastern)
| 7 p.m. Minnesota Timberwolves Orlando Magic Fox Sports North | 7:30 p.m. Brooklyn Nets Atlanta Hawks YES | 7:30 p.m. Charlotte Hornets Toronto Raptors Fox Sports Southeast |
| 8 p.m. Cleveland Cavaliers New Orleans Pelicans Fox Sports Ohio | 8 p.m. Dallas Mavericks Miami Heat Fox Sports Southwest | 8 p.m. Oklahoma City Thunder Milwaukee Bucks ESPN |
| 8 p.m. Sacramento Kings Memphis Grizzlies Fox Sports Southeast | 9 p.m. Detroit Pistons Phoenix Suns Fox Sports Detroit | 9 p.m. Washington Wizards Utah Jazz AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain |
| 10:30 p.m. Denver Nuggets Los Angeles Clippers 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
- Denver
- Oklahoma City
- Atlanta
A corporate trainer by day, he currently resides in SEC Country near Knoxville, Tennessee.
Reach him on Twitter at @RealTMoneyMedia
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