Happy belated Martin Luther King Jr. Day to everyone. In the NBA the line-up for this special day was nothing less than intense.
In the Eastern Conference we had the Orlando Magic facing the New York Knick’s and although both teams were shorthanded, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett continued there consistent solid play to achieve a win over an athletic Magic team.
DeAngelo Russel showed up with 31 points against the Atlanta Hawks, but his Timberwolves were not capable to stop several Hawks player for having a 20+ point game and every starter with double digit points.
The Trail-Blazers came in to this game against the Spurs without CJ McCollum due to a fracture in his foot, and his absence was felt with the Spurs outscoring them by 20 points, and the Spurs showed off there depth with 2 bench players coming up with 21 a piece.
It was a battle for the point-guards down in Phoenix as Chris Paul and the Suns faced Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. It was a battle of generations which Ja coming out on top with the win for his team.
Up in Milwaukee the Bucks faced off against the Nets and for a potential conference finals match-up it did not disappoint. Both teams showed up big in the scoring column but desperately need work in the defense department. Late in the fourth quarter Giannis wouldn’t cover Kevin Durant on defense which some feel may have led to the Bucks loss by just 2 points. In other Nets news, Kyrie Irving is expected to join the team tonight against the Cavaliers.
Over in Dallas the Raptors out performed the Mavericks by 23 points with Luka having only a surprising 16 points in 30 minutes of play, let’s see if he can get back on the horse for there next match-up tonight against Indiana.
The Miami Heat were happy to finally have there veteran Goran Dragić back in the line-up and his ability to shoot the three, drive to the basket, and make perfect dimes definitely was welcome with a win over the Detroit Pistons.
The Chicago Bulls headed against the Houston Rockets and with the addition of Victor Olidipo this team looks like it has some serious fire power, because although they lost, Olidipo and Wood combined for 62 points and John Wall is out due to a minor injury.
It’s looking like LeBron James might have to step up his scoring a little after the Warriors mounted and intense come-back to take a 2 point win over the Los Angeles Lakers late in the 4th quarter.
Now on Tuesday night there were only two games, the Pelicans against the Jazz and even with Zion Dropping 32 points, the depth of the Jazz prevailed and they took the W.
And lastly the Denver Nuggets continue to show they are a championship contender against OKC displaying tremendous depth off the bench and strong presence down low on the block garnering them the win.
This has been MLK Day Edition of Briefly In-Depth
Check back in Friday for the second half of the week
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