Portland defeated Indiana, 103-93
Portland’s bench was the story of the game, as Dame and CJ (combined 3-12 from three) put up pedestrian numbers.
Bench standouts: Zach Collins (career high 17 points), Caleb Swanigan (11 & 10), Evan Turner (13 & 8)
Victor Oladipo flirted with a triple double as he totaled 21, 9, and 7.
Pacers lost their first home game of the season and drop to 4-3 overall.
Philadelphia defeated Atlanta, 113-92
76ers fans booed their team off the floor in the first half for their lackluster performance. Philly turned it around in the 3rd, outscoring Atlanta 31-13 fueled by 15 points from Simmons. He finished with 21, 12, and 9.
Markelle Fultz looked really comfortable out on the floor as his confidence continues to improve week by week. With a combination of floaters, dimes, and posters, he continues to take advantage of his starting role and his willingness to form a big three with Simmons and Embiid. He dropped 16 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds.
Kent Bazemore led the Hawks with 18 points, as Trae Young struggled with 11 total points (8 assists), going 1-5 from three.
Sacramento defeated Miami, 123-113
The Kings finally decided to properly harness their biggest assets; youth and speed. They got big numbers out of their starting lineup: De’Aaron Fox had 24 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds, Buddy Hield totaled 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists, Willie Cauley-Stein dropped 26 and 13, and Bjelica added another 19 points.
This contest was neck and neck at the half, but Sacramento pulled away in the third scoring 43 points as a team. This quarter proved crucial, as Sacramento ended up winning by 10 points. Sacramento has won their last three games in a row.
Josh Richardson notched a career-high, 31 points while Hassan Whiteside added 16 points, 24 rebounds, and 5 blocks.
New York defeated Brooklyn, 115-96
The Knicks got the best of this crosstown matchup with the Nets, carried by the bloodied Tim Hardaway, Jr who took an elbow to the mouth, got it stitched up, and still managed to lead with 25 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds.
Frank Ntilikina did a masterful job at the PG position, Mitchell Robinson showed a little more aggression after the Rasheed Wallace crash course ordered up by David Fizdale, and Noah Vonleh threw down a vicious jam on Jarrett Allen, (although Allen caught Robinson with a nasty slam in the first quarter as well).
Brooklyn shot 11-38 from 3-point range (29%), was out-rebounded by 21, and recorded 0 fast-break points.
Golden State defeated Chicago, 149-124
This one got out of hand pretty quickly, with a dominant onslaught top-to-bottom by Golden State. Chicago looked severely overmatched and pretty much rolled over after the first quarter.
Headband-Klay captured the NBA record for total individual three-pointers in single game with 14 (record was previously held by Steph with 13.) He also dropped a casual 52 points in 27 minutes of playing time. Klay had only made 5 total threes this season, and broke out of his slump in grandiose fashion with cheerleader-like support from teammate Curry who constantly fed him to ultimately break the record.
Wendell Carter, Jr amassed a career-high 18 points, along with 7 rebounds and 4 assists, while Lavine finally had a “low” scoring night with 21 points during the blowout.
Milwaukee defeated Toronto, 124-109
With no Giannis and no Kawhi, the Bucks came out victorious and extended their undefeated start to the 2018-19 season.
Serge Ibaka of all people led the Raptors with 30 points and 9 rebounds, but the Bucks got a strong collective effort that was able to silence anything the Raptors tried tonight. Ilyasova led the way with 19 points, but the Bucks got a plethora of double-digit scorers punched in on the box score.
Threes and spacing was the name of the game for the Bucks tonight, as they hit 19 threes at 43% coming from a multitude of guys.
The Bucks remain the only undefeated team and proved their legitimacy by getting a huge win in a huge way, without their franchise cornerstone in uniform.
Minnesota defeated Los Angeles, 124-120
Brandon Ingram returned to the lineup tonight, but it wasn’t enough as Jimmy Butler went off with 8 three-pointers en route to a 32 point night. This also looked like one of the best games from a synergy standpoint between Towns and Butler, as Towns dropped 25 and 16 with a sense of urgency.
LeBron had a casual 29, 10, and 7.
Josh Okogie stepped in for Andrew Wiggins in the starting lineup and added 17 points. Butler nailed huge game-clinching three in the fourth to put his stamp on the game.
The Lakers still aren’t playing good team defense and LeBron seemed pretty fed up with it in his postgame interview; he’s still playing it cool for the media but you can sense the tension rising in term of waning patience.
San Antonio defeated Dallas, 113-108
DeMar DeRozan keeps it rolling with the next phase of his career in Texas as he led San Antonio in overtime over the Mavs with 34 points and 9 assists. This was his third 30-point game of the season.
DeRozan seems to be thriving in Pop’s system, getting to his spots with ease and showing a supreme confidence in his overall game.
Luka Doncic had his coming out party, scoring a career high 31 points w/ 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Denver defeated New Orleans, 116-111
Denver played a very up and down game, almost managing to give up an 18-point lead, but managed to pull it together when it counted under the guidance of Gary Harris who scored 9 of his 23 points in the 4th quarter.
Nikola Mirotic (17 and 10) had to play lead dog, as Anthony Davis sat out with a sprained right elbow.
The Nuggets sit 2nd in the western conference with a 5-1 overall record.