Last week: Lost to Lakers 118-112, won at Atlanta 113-93, lost to Houston 117-94
This week: Tuesday vs. New York, Thursday at Milwaukee, Saturday vs. Brooklyn
The Chicago Bulls continue to confound fans, going 1-2 last week and falling to just 1-4 at United Center with a pair of home losses, including getting run out of their own building by the Rockets on Saturday.
A bright spot was the breakout Tomas Satoransky had in Chicago’s lone win of the week, a 20-point pasting of the Hawks in Atlanta. For the week, the free-agent acquisition from Washington averaged 14.7 points. 6.0 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 26.8 minutes per game, shooting 58.6 percent overall and dropping in 5-of-8 from deep.
Satoransky entered play against the Hawks having averaged 6.5 points per game on 39.1 percent shooting, but exploded for 27 points to go with eight assists and seven boards in 30 minutes, hitting 10-of-13 overall and knocking down four of his five 3-point attempts.
Chicago gets a chance to get well at home against the Knicks on Monday before a tough road game at Milwaukee.
Last week: Lost at Clippers 107-101, lost to Brooklyn 119-115, beat Atlanta 124-113 (OT)
This week: Tuesday at Sacramento, Wednesday vs. Toronto, Saturday at San Antonio
The Portland Trail Blazers halted a four-game losing streak Sunday night by outlasting the Hawks in overtime, but they are desperate for some healthy bodies up front. Hassan Whiteside played 35 minutes despite a sprained foot and Skal Labissiere got 17 minutes off the bench while playing on a balky ankle.
The Blazers came into the season knowing Jusuf Nurkic would be unavailable for much of the season, but veteran addition Pau Gasol has yet to debut because of a foot and Zach Collins will miss four months at a minimum after shoulder surgery. So the cupboard is nearly bare for Portland’s frontcourt.
Damian Lillard continues to star amid the turmoil, averaging 37.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 40.9 minutes per game last week, shooting 49.3 percent overall and knocking down 37.1 percent on 11.7 3-point attempts per game,
Lillard set a franchise record on Friday, scoring 60 points in Portland’s loss to the Nets, breaking his own mark of 59 points set on April 8, 2017, against Utah. Against Brooklyn, Lillard was 19-for-33 overall, 7-for-16 from 3-point range and made all 15 of his free throw attempts … and it still wasn’t enough to get the Blazers the win.
Last week: Lost at Washington 115-99, beat New York 122-102, lost to Indiana 112-106
This week: Monday vs. Minnesota, Tuesday at Miami, Friday at Charlotte
The Detroit Pistons are still banged up and sandwiched a blowout win over the Knicks between a pair of road losses last week. But help is on the way. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported Saturday that Blake Griffin is expected to make his season debut on Monday against the Timberwolves.
Detroit is still without Reggie Jackson for another three weeks at a minimum with a stress reaction in his lower back, while Derrick Rose has missed the Pistons’ last four games with a hamstring injury. Andre Drummond is carrying the load in the interim, averaging 19.0 points, 16.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 35.8 minutes per game last week.
Drummond even shot 9-for-11 at the foul line (81.8 percent!).
He went off in the win over New York with 27 points and 12 rebounds and has started the season with 10 consecutive double-doubles, including four 20-point, 20-rebound performances, giving him 36 in his career. Drummond posted 12 20/20 games last season. That is the second-most in the 21st century behind Dwight Howard‘s 51.
Drummond is averaging 21.2 points and 18.0 rebounds this season and is on pace to become the first player to average at least 21 points and 18 boards since Elvin Hayes put up 21.4 points and 18.1 rebounds for the Capital Bullets in 1973-74. The combination has only been done 20 times in NBA history, 10 of those by Wilt Chamberlain. Not bad company.
The others are Jerry Lucas (three times), Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettit (twice each), with Walt Bellamy, Hayes and Nate Thurmond each turning the trick once. And yes, every one of those guys is a Hall of Famer, for the record.