The Daily Fix: Featuring Damian Lillard As The 17th-Best Point Guard In The League
On the second-to-last night of preseason basketball, the games have heated up. More coaches have elected to mimic their actual rotations and although the teams are still not preparing for each other like they would in a regular season game, the competition has heated up.
Charlotte Bobcats 105, Cleveland Cavaliers 92
Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 20 points on just 13 shots, but I’m starting to lean against Cleveland being a playoff team (team-by-team win predictions will be out this weekend on The Daily Fix) … Jeffery Taylor led the Bobcats with 29 points on 7-for-11 shooting. If Charlotte wants to be competitive, they’ll need production from second-unit guys like Taylor … Gerald Henderson scored 19 points and added five assists. It’ll be interesting to see if Henderson mimics his output from the last two seasons, or if he takes the next step … Cody Zeller scored 13 points and grabbed eight boards off the bench. It’s interesting to note that Charlotte elected to start Josh McRoberts in place of the injured Al Jefferson, not Cody Zeller.
Detroit Pistons 99, Minnesota Timberwolves 98
Kevin Love led the Wolves with 19 points and 10 rebounds and his entire preseason has been a great sign for a team that’s itching for a playoff berth … Josh Smith made a game-winning 3 and finished with 20 points and six boards in 34 minutes … Andre Drummond scored 11 points and grabbed 20 rebounds (yeah, 20) in 38 minutes. Does he have a shot to lead the league in boards? It wouldn’t shock me, although Monroe and Smith might steal a few too many from him … Will Bynum scored 17 and dropped nine assists in just 26 minutes; can he please get shipped to a contender? You can’t tell me this guy isn’t a Nate Robinson/Patrick Beverley hybrid … Ricky Rubio scored 15 points and, more importantly, went 3-for-6 from distance. So far this preseason, Rubio has looked like an improved jump shooter; Let’s see if he can keep it up when the games matter.
Houston Rockets 109, San Antonio Spurs 92
Patrick Beverley started over Jeremy Lin Thursday night, which should become a trend. Beverley works better next to Harden than Lin and Lin is best when controlling the ball. I think it’s a no-brainer … James Harden led the Rockets with 22 points and 11 assists in 30 minutes. I called him the best shooting guard in basketball in August and caught an amazing amount of crap from Laker fans. ESPN just called Harden the fourth-best player in the league and the best shooting guard in basketball, so I guess it’s true now (but it obviously wasn’t true then) … Omri Casspi is going to be the Rockets backup stretch 4 and he proved why Thursday night. Casspi scored 16 points in 23 minutes (4-for-8 from distance), playing mostly alongside Dwight Howard. Daryl Morey, you’ve outdone yourself … Aron Baynes led the Spurs with 16 points and looked really solid in the process. Can Baynes be a fourth big man in the NBA? Maybe … Terrence Jones, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard sat out Thursday night.
Portland Trail Blazers 90, Golden State Warriors 74
The Warriors had an absolutely atrocious shooting night, shooting 32-for-97 in all, good for just 33 percent … Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined to go 15-for-42 in 31 minutes apiece, combining for 33 points on 1-of-8 from distance. It’s been reported that they don’t want to waste their makes in the preseason and I totally understand why … Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 21 points. I read an article that said that Lillard was the 17th-best point guard in the league and when I commented on it, the writer compared Lillard’s rookie season to Darren Collison’s. It’s kind of weird; I don’t remember Collison playing nearly 40 minutes a night and keeping his team in the highly-contested Western Conference playoff conversation until March despite not having a single definite NBA player coming off the bench (until they traded for Eric Maynor). Chris Reichert probably agrees with him, though … LaMarcus Aldridge scored 16 points and grabbed 12 boards. Maybe Aldridge will actually get the credit he deserves this season. Probably not.
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