Basketball is more of a star-driven spectacle compared to football, and a superstar guard or forward can easily affect how a game flows. The star-centric nature of the game plays well to the NBA as it saw countless stars lead their teams to win the season.
However, even the best baller on the planet has the occasional off day where no shots fall in. Moreover, injuries to star players can cripple a team so much that they cannot play good basketball without him. Finally, the rest of the team might not just step up to the star player’s standards and leave him to his own devices.
One of these scenarios happened to the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors as they saw their teams lose. While NBA 2019 results such as these don’t necessarily shock everyone at this point, it is still curious how these teams pegged to dominate the East just tumbled down.
Portland Trail Blazers 118-108 Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets’ performance emphasised just how badly the Hornets need pieces to surround Kemba Walker with the necessary pieces to make a deep playoff run. The Blazers locked him down, forcing him to finish with 18 points on 5-for-21 shooting while the rest of the team failed to step up.
Meanwhile, CJ McCollum‘s poor shooting night was covered by an incredible Rodney Hood. The former Cleveland Cavalier scored 27 points in only 24 minutes of action. Damian Lillard was his usual self with his 23 points.
Houston Rockets 115-104 Boston Celtics
It’s already the end of the season, but the questionable fit of the talented players Danny Ainge has gathered under the Celtics banner is still one of biggest mysteries of the season. Once favoured by NBA 2019 odds to make the playoffs, they failed to make a mark against tough competition in the East. they also fell short to a strong Western Conference opponent in the Houston Rockets.
Kyrie Irving was his usual self, almost notching a double-double with his 24 points, 9 boards, and 6 assists. The rest of the starters also played relatively well, and Boston’s bench played relatively better than Houston’s. However, they weren’t able to clamp James Harden as he exploded for an incredible 42 points, 76 rebounds, and 4 assists.
The Celtics are already desperate to end their slump, but an end doesn’t seem to be in sight.
Atlanta Hawks 123-118 Chicago Bulls
The Trae Young Party is in full swing in the Gate City of the South, and the rookie they traded Luka Doncic for is continuously showing with his most recent games why the Hawks jumped the gun and let the Slovenian wonderkid go.
While he had a relatively quiet night with his 18 points and 2 boards, his five assists ensured his team cruise past the Chicago Bulls. He also made all of his three-point attempts.
There’s no question why Young suddenly jumped Doncic in the rookie power rankings after such a fantastic week.
New York Knicks 107-128 Los Angeles Clippers
The Knicks are still a terrible franchise to watch in the NBA, but they will be hoping that the SBOBET tips will be proven right when they finally get the rights to draft Zion Williamson in the summer.
Given the way Landry Shamet and Danilo Gallinari obliterated this New York team in under 30 minutes of game time each, there’s no wonder as to why no one’s even bothering to show up to their games.
Orlando Magic 93-107 Cleveland Cavaliers
The Orlando Magic had a stretch in the third quarter where everything was going right for them. However, the lack of a proper closer still plagues this rebuilding franchise as they went down to the Cleveland Cavaliers in such a disappointing fashion.
Kevin Love was a solid player for the Cavs with his 16 points and 14 rebounds. Colin Sexton and Cedi Osman also carried the burden on the offensive end with their efficient shooting nights. Meanwhile, Nikola Vucevic was once again the only bright spot in an Atlanta team that struggles to shoot threes.
Toronto Raptors 107-112 (OT) Detroit Pistons
To be fair, the Toronto Raptors played well enough without Kawhi Leonard to be able to make it to overtime against a Detroit team with Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, and Reggie Jackson firing in all cylinders. Compared to their poor outing against Orlando, this was a better team performance for Nick Nurse’s team.
Kyle Lowry played some hero ball, bagging 35 points, 7 boards, and 5 dishes in 42 minutes of play, and Pascal Siakam backed him up with a 21-9-5 stat line. However, the absence of the claw was clearly felt, and his production during clutch-time situations was sorely missed.
Minnesota Timberwolves 121-135 Washington Wizards
Washington’s inconsistent season continues, and they finally reversed their terrible loss to Boston with a dominant display against the young Timberwolves. Bobby Portis managed to stand toe-to-toe with Karl-Anthony Towns, and the two bigs led their teams in points and rebounds alike.
What edged this game out in Washington’s favour was the quality of play from the rest of the team. The rest of the Washington starters scored in double digits, and strong bench play from Jabari Parker and Sam Dekker sealed the W.
Memphis Grizzlies 95-99 Oklahoma City Thunder
This is a result a lot of Memphis fans can be more than proud about.
While they did lead by as much as 13 points in the third quarter due to Paul George‘s absence, it’s almost hard to stop Russell Westbrook when he takes over for a 22-6-5 stat line. Dennis Schroder and Steven Adams were also invaluable in helping the Thunder complete the comeback.
If there was any consolation, the team at least played competitive basketball despite the absence of Mike Conley and Jaren Jackson Jr. Avery Bradley led the team with his 27 points, and former Raptors Jonas Valanciunas and Delon Wright also stepped up.
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