By Luka Doncic In the NBA playoff race, three of the clubs that fell on Tuesday night are currently playing catch-up. Brooklyn, the Los Angeles Clippers, and Miami are all now having a poor season. Yes, it’s only been ten days, but we should pay attention when the eight ball speaks:
Additionally, the three teams that lost in regulation all scored precisely 110 points, which is a strange coincidence. Not the best defense-related night for the association.
Mavericks need overtime to pull away from KD and Kyrie after losing 129-125.
There is a lot of spunk in this game thanks to Christian Wood’s stretch, David Duke Jr.’s efficient use of some spot bench time, Royce O’Neale’s greater-than-Royce-O’Neale moments, and some Luka Magic:
In a game that had been closely contested for the bulk of the third and fourth quarters, Dallas established a double-digit lead early in the fourth, and that was enough to hold onto even through overtime of the time. Luka finished the game with 41 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists, and 3 steals to help the Mavs improve to 2-2 on the season.
The Nets, who now have a dismal record of 1-4 (their lone victory came by a score of 66-56), struggled to gain any support from Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, while four points versus Toronto at home). The two combined for 76 points, 9 assists, 5 steals, and 5 blocks, including the final 30 of 32 points for Brooklyn during a span of over 14 minutes.
Again, OKC defeats the Clippers, 118-110
OKC won on Tuesday, and they win again on Thursday. LA led 60-53 at halftime behind to John Wall’s 12 points in 11 minutes of first-half action off the bench. Thunder, however, had other ideas, as they won the final 24 minutes 65-50.
In contrast, the tanking Thunder are also 2-3, but they are in a very different frame of mind than the Clippers. Once more surpassing himself, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points in 34 minutes while also giving out 6 assists and 3 steals.
Late in the 3-point shootout, the Warriors pull away from the Heat, 123-110.
In this game, these two combined for a 32-89 field goal percentage, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the team that shot somewhat better—the Warriors (3-2) shot 39.1% and the Heat (2-4) shot 32.6%—came out slightly ahead. With 10 points in the final 5:32 seconds, Steph Curry helped seal the victory. He finished with 33 points (11-22 FG), which is his fourth 30-point game in five tries.