Daily NBA Fix 11-25-13: Bearish Bulls, Nets Booed, Thunder Strike
After a busy weekend that saw Derrick Rose go down with a meniscal tear, we had five games on the schedule for Sunday night. The NBA is like a snow globe right now that people keep shaking. We see all the pieces, but they’re floating around and aren’t where we expect them to be. Let’s do the Daily NBA Fix for Monday, November 25.
Sunday’s Results (home team in CAPS)
Detroit Pistons 109, BROOKLYN NETS 97
Sixth Man Stuckey – The Pistons wanted some energy and scoring off the bench. Rodney Stuckey has done just that, with 27 points, six assists and two steals against the Nets. Brandon Jennings scored 14 with 10 assists, Greg Monroe added 18 with 11 rebounds and Andre Drummond pulled down 10 rebounds. The Nets got 34 from Joe Johnson but turned it over 17 times as a team.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 121, Chicago Bulls 82
Open Jumpers – J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley were brought in to knock down jumpers. They did just that against the Bulls, making 16-of-21 for a combined 40 points. Chris Paul scored 16 with 17 assists and Blake Griffin added 15, 12 rebounds and three blocks. They shot 58.5 percent as a team. The Bulls got 22 from Luol Deng, but it was ugly for most of the night.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS 100, Sacramento Kings 86
Za-Vee-Eh – Xavier Henry scored 21 off the bench to get the Lakers back to .500 (still short of that 49-win pace, Shane Young). Pau Gasol scored 20 with 10 rebounds, Jordan Hill added 10 with 13 rebounds and Steve Blake dished out 12 assists. I’m not buying them as contenders, but these Lakers play the underdog role pretty well…that is, until Kobe Bryant returns. DeMarcus Cousins scored 17 with eight rebounds and seven assists for the Kings.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER 95, Utah Jazz 73
Easy Does It – Russell Westbrook rested and the rest of the starters had a short night, with Kevin Durant scoring 19 in just 26:21. Serge Ibaka added 17 with 11 rebounds and three blocks, with Jeremy Lamb adding 15 off the bench. The Jazz got 10 from Rudy Gobert and Enes Kanter off the bench. This team is bad, whether intentionally or not.
Phoenix Suns 104, ORLANDO MAGIC 96
The Dragon – Goran Dragic scored 23 with 13 assists and the Suns made a little bit of history in the victory over the Magic. They made just ONE free throw all night long (1-for-3). Per Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, it was the first time since 1977 that it happened. Gerald Green added 20 points with eight rebounds and two steals. Nikola Vucevic scored 20 points with 10 rebounds.
Sunday’s Top Five
Great game, but in a big loss. (NBA.com photo)
| Player | Opp | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Johnson | DET | L | 43:47 | 12 | 18 | .667 | 8 | 10 | .800 | 2 | 3 | .667 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 34 | |
| Rodney Stuckey | @ | BRK | W | 30:44 | 10 | 16 | .625 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 7 | 8 | .875 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 27 |
| Chris Paul | CHI | W | 27:12 | 6 | 10 | .600 | 1 | 4 | .250 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | |
| Goran Dragic | @ | ORL | W | 33:30 | 10 | 17 | .588 | 2 | 5 | .400 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 |
| Andrew Nicholson | PHO | L | 25:47 | 5 | 8 | .625 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 6 | 6 | 1.000 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/25/2013.
Sunday’s Bottom Five
Ick. Bad. Gross. At least last night. (NBA.com photo)
| Player | Opp | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marquis Teague | @ | LAC | L | 20:12 | 0 | 7 | .000 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Gordon Hayward | @ | OKC | L | 25:16 | 2 | 9 | .222 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 5 | |
| Steven Adams | UTA | W | 26:38 | 1 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | @ | BRK | W | 23:59 | 2 | 10 | .200 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
| Ryan Gomes | UTA | W | 10:21 | 1 | 4 | .250 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/25/2013.
Nightly Goose Egg Award
The Goose Egg award goes to Marquis Teague, who played 20:12 and did not score a single point. He went 0-for-7 from the field and added three rebounds and an assist.
Nightly Clean and Sober Award
The Clean and Sober award goes to Nick Collison, who played 6:24 and did not take a shot. Good for you, Nick!
Circling The Drain
30. Utah Jazz (1-14)
29. Milwaukee Bucks (2-10)
28. Brooklyn Nets (3-10)
27. New York Knicks (3-9)
26. Sacramento Kings (4-9)
Random Tidbits and News
It’s still unbelievable that the Suns made just one free throw and still won the game…The Bulls bench shot a horrific 7-for-35 (16.7 percent) last night…Isn’t it just like Joe Johnson to have a huge game in a loss…Rudy Gobert went to the free-throw line nine times in 9:45…Gordon Hayward has been remarkably inconsistent, including his six turnovers and just five points last night.
Monday’s Schedule and Lines (courtesy of VegasInsider.com)
| NBA SPREAD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Your Best Bets*
Bucks at Pistons OVER 192
Mavericks -5
Friday’s Best Bets
Bobcats -3 (LOSS)
Wolves -6.5 (WIN)
Blazers -2.5 (WIN)
Season Record: 21-16
*you know, if it’s legal and you’re responsible about it.