Daily NBA Fix 11-22-13: Thunder Roll, Nuggets Cruise
Just two games on the docket Thursday night, with a potential Western Conference Finals preview in Oklahoma City. Also out west, the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls met with Derrick Rose continuing his struggles. Let’s get into today’s Daily NBA Fix for Friday, November 22.
Thursday’s Results (home team in CAPS)
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER 105, Los Angeles Clippers
Perfect Thunder – The Thunder moved to 5-0 at home with a relatively easy win over the visiting Clippers. Kevin Durant scored 28 points with six rebounds and eight assists (although he missed three FTs?!?!). Serge Ibaka added 17 with three blocks and Russell Westbrook scored 12. The Clippers got 27 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals from Blake Griffin and Chris Paul continued his double-double streak, scoring 17 points with 12 assists.
DENVER NUGGETS 97, Chicago Bulls 87
Nuggets Defensive – These aren’t your father’s Denver Nuggets. They held the Bulls to just 38.8 percent from the field and played dominant basketball in the second half for the win. Jordan Hamilton led with 17 points off the bench, with J.J. Hickson adding 14 and nine rebounds and Kenneth Faried adding 12 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Derrick Rose struggled in the second half, ending with 19 points and four assists on 9-for-20 shooting. Three different Bulls went over 10 rebounds.
Thurday’s Top Five
One of the best in the league, every time he steps on the floor. (NBA.com photo)
| Player | Opp | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Durant | LAC | W | 38:35 | 10 | 19 | .526 | 2 | 5 | .400 | 6 | 9 | .667 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | |
| Blake Griffin | @ | OKC | L | 36:39 | 12 | 23 | .522 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 27 | |
| Chris Paul | @ | OKC | L | 35:17 | 7 | 11 | .636 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 17 | |
| Joakim Noah | @ | DEN | L | 32:49 | 4 | 10 | .400 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 | |
| Mike Dunleavy | @ | DEN | L | 31:13 | 6 | 11 | .545 | 2 | 5 | .400 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/22/2013.
Thursday’s Bottom Five
Sorry Luol, you shoot that bad, you’re going on the bad list. (Flickr.com photo/Keith Allison)
| Player | Opp | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luol Deng | @ | DEN | L | 32:34 | 3 | 18 | .167 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | |
| Marquis Teague | @ | DEN | L | 14:55 | 1 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| Nazr Mohammed | @ | DEN | L | 8:07 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Wilson Chandler | CHI | W | 27:14 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Timofey Mozgov | CHI | W | 19:00 | 2 | 6 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/22/2013.
Nightly Goose Egg Award (most minutes without scoring)
The winner of tonight’s Goose Egg award is Wilson Chandler, who played 27:14 and only took two shots (obviously making none). He added three rebounds and three assists, though.
Nightly Clean And Sober Award (most minutes without taking a shot)
Andre Roberson wins the Clean and Sober award, but it was more by default than anything else. Roberson played just 1:49 and didn’t get a shot up.
Circling The Drain
30. Utah Jazz (1-12)
29. Milwaukee Bucks (2-8)
28. Boston Celtics (4-9)
27. Brooklyn Nets (3-8)
26. New York Knicks (3-8)
Random Tidbits and News
In a world where we get excited when Dwight Howard makes 65 percent of his free throws, we get bummed out when Kevin Durant goes just 6-for-9…What’s usually a fun night of prime games turned out to be two duds…Having three different Bulls starters with 10+ rebounds is awfully impressive…Derrick Rose again only got to the line one time…I get the feeling Blake Griffin is going to steal MVP votes from Chris Paul this year.
Friday’s Schedule and Lines (courtesy of VegasInsider.com)
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| Updated: Fri, Nov 22 09:30 AM EDT |
Your Best Bets*
Bobcats -3
Wolves -6.5
Blazers -2.5
Thursday’s Best Bets
Thunder -4.5 (WIN)
Nuggets +3.5 (WIN)
Season Record: 19-15
*you know, if it’s legal and you’re responsible about it.