Without being a precedent, today we put together several games from last night in a single post, because they all share a common pattern: the dance that one side gave to the other. Up to three victories materialized by more than forty points of difference. The craftsmen? From oldest (beating) to minor: Blazers (+48), Jazz (+46), Knicks (+44).
Portland Trail Blazers 133, OKC 85
Against intuition, that is, Dame and McCollum steamroller mode, it was team night. And bench night. Lillard and MccCollum ‘only’ combined for a total of 36 points (16 and 20 respectively), being the key to those 133 points in the rotation, which had six other players above ten points, and not even being one of them the pivot Jusuf Nurkic, who stayed at nine.
Carmelo, Giles III, Little, Kanter, Simmons and Powell; all of them contributed and had their role. And all of them confirmed that Terry Stotts’ staff (dangerous and dangerous technician thibodeauanas trends, given the very short rotations…) it is long and competitive; something that can be extremely important in the final stretch of RS so that the Blazers aspire to finish well at the top in the West without sacrificing too much the freshness of their stars in this task.
“I am happy to have resolved the evening soon to rest and give some prominence to our younger players,” said McCollum when he saw that none of the starters had needed to reach half an hour of time on the court.
For Oklahoma (without time to recover from the ditto against Phoenix), where Al Horford is no longer dressed, Shai Gilgeus and Luguentz ‘Bisonte’ Dort (new alias) were missing, so feast served and little more to add. That he undrafted Kenrich Williams and backup center Tony Bradley were his top scorers with 18 and 14 points, sums up the rest.
Utah Jazz 137, Orlando Magic 91
Loz Jazz are a clipper (in lowercase and singular) that the powerful tail wind never stops blowing. Outstanding leaders of the entire NBA (four games over the second, the 76ers), they had no rival either last night against the Magic with good pieces but that on the night of tradeline they accepted its reconstruction. Without Gordon and Vucevic, the losses will be more than the victories between now and the end of the course. This is guaranteed. That they are losing, in addition, the honor along the way, as happened last night, is another story.
But at halftime those of Salt Lake City were already imposing comfortably by 38 (and 18 triples at halftime, an NBA historical record), so, like Stotts, Quin Snyder opened the substitute box and gave minutes for everyone, being Miye Oni (an escort that may not sound familiar to many because he is a regular of the garbage time) who accumulated the most minutes of his own on the track, with 26.
Donovan Mitchell was the best attacker (22 points), Bojan Bogdanovic recovered some of the missed aim (17 points with 4 of 6 on 3s), and Jordan Clarkson continues to notch for the Sixth Man of the Year (15 points and 9 assists in 21 minutes).
Let’s talk about the @utahjazz:
22 wins in a row at home
They have a 9-win streak
26 triples last night
18 triples in the first half
38-11, West leaders#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/L3160bY2Sw— NBA Spain (@NBAspain) April 4, 2021
On the front side, the best were Chuma Okeke (of the rookies more attractive to follow in the remainder of the year), with 16 points, and Wendell Carter Jr, with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds; the interior is looser and more aggressive since his transfer to the Chicago Bulls.
“Look, they’re playing better than anyone in the NBA right now,” assumed Steve Clifford, coach Orlando, after the defeat. “We weren’t ready for them tonight. They came very strong and we had no response ”.
New York Knicks 125, Detroit Pistons 85
When Saddiq Bey scored his first basket last night from the personnel line, the score was 1-14. The sweep did not take them by surprise, but it was seen coming from the first ball in the air. The Detroit Pistons (with fewer weapons and therefore less to criticize) are the Timberwolves of the East, and barring isolated surprises like the surpassos last week against the Wizards or the Raptors, his fate in this regular season is to routinely kneel down.
Along the way, a handful of rookies who will come to their course as hardened sophomore. And the best news they could get: Killian Hayes (his 7th pick in the 2020 Draft) was back in action after 41 games of absence due to injury.
But yesterday the defense of the Knicks, in its tonic of the season, worked like a Gordian knot, which combined with the little feeling with the core of the rim of the Dwane Casey boys, left the marker that you see. Ni Jerami Grant managed to live up to his contract yesterday, despite being the top scorer of his team with 16 points, but 5 of 13 on his launching car.
For the knickerbockers, Julius Randle (29 points, 8 rebounds) and a Reggie Bullock who has been unleashed lately (how nice to see him like this, with confidence and freedom in the boat, and not corseted in the mere catch and shot player we saw, for example, in his year at Lakers) with 22 points and six made 3-pointers.
Another great game for Julius Randle in the victory of @nyknicks
29 PTS, 8 REB, 5 TRIPLES#NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/KjYhVFcXMV
— NBA Spain (@NBAspain) April 4, 2021
The prominence on the outside line marked the future of the Knicks: RJ Barret added 14 points and Quickley 12, while Elfrid Payton added 11 points and 9 assists from the starting five for the seven of a Derrick Rose not anxious from the bench.
As a curious note, Nerlens Noel did not shoot a single basket in the entire match (21 minutes on the track) so he stayed at zero points but nevertheless managed to make himself felt with his four hake skewers, his sign of identity from his Kentucky years.
This victory allows the Big Apple to maintain their seventh place in the East ahead of the Boston Celtics (I still can’t get used to writing this). “I think we were generous and we looked after and distributed the ball well, which allowed us to start the evening very well,” Thibs proudly said. “I just love this togetherness and the team spirit.”
(Cover photo by Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
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