As the first half of the season ends and we welcome in the All-Star Weekend, we can see which direction the momentum is shifting for certain teams. Let’s see how teams finished off.
On Wednesday night the Toronto Raptors faced the worst team in the league, the Detroit Pistons. Although Norman Powell dropped 36 points, the absence of Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet led to Toronto getting out rebounded and out assisted by Detroit. The Pistons blew out the Raptors 129-105.
The Toronto Raptors picked up another L on Thursday night as they took on the Boston Celtics. The Celtics showed depth with 8 of their players scoring double digits, including 4 bench players. While the Raptors did have 11 more assists than the Celtics, they lost to Boston 132-125.
After a shocking win against the Raptors the Detroit Piston fell right right back into the losing column on Thursday as they faced the New York Knicks. The Knicks who are coming off of a loss, were able to taker the lead with Julius Randle having 26 points and 16 rebounds, to help New York close out strong as they won 114-104.
The Indiana Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers went head to head in an exciting matchup that went down to the wire. With 6 of Indiana’s players in double digit scoring and Colin Sexton scoring 32 points and 10 assists, the Pacers won by 3 points, 114-111.
The Indiana Pacers went on to play the Denver Nuggets the following night, and let’s just say the game did not go their way. With Demantas Sabonis having a triple double with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, it was not enough to stop 3 of the Nuggets players from scoring over 20 points to help their team seal the win. 113-103.
The best team in the West faced the best team in the East with the Utah Jazz playing the Philadelphia 76er’s. This game finished in dramatic fashion in overtime. Both teams have 2 All-Stars and its clear that neither team wanted to lose. Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, but Joel Embiid beat him out making 40 points and 19 rebounds, the Jazz lost in OT, 131-123.
Kyrie Irving was back in the line up for the Brooklyn Nets as they took on the Houston Rockets. The Rockets who have been playing small ball due to the fact that they do not have any big men healthy right now, have been struggling. Although John Wall scored 36 points and Victor Oladipo scored 33 points, 7 players on the Nets had double digit scoring, and Brooklyn won 132-114.
The Atlanta Hawks have fired their head coach after struggling for most of the season. They played the Orlando Magic on Wednesday and even though 3 of the Magic players had 20+ points, the Hawks were able to scrape together a win, 115-112.
The Charolette Hornets took on the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Timberwolves who are still missing D’Angelo Russel, got absolutely smoked by the Hornets in a game that was not even close. The Hornets won 135-102.
Zach Levine, who will be an All-Star this year, made a point in his final game before the All-Star break. As the Chicago Bulls took on the New Orleans Pelicans, Levine dropped 36 points to overshadow Zion Williamson’s 28 points, and he helped the Bulls take the W, 128-124.
Zion Williamson sat out on Thursday as the Pelicans took on the Miami Heat. With his absence, the other players on his team struggled to get into a rhythm and with Jimmy Butler dropping 29 points and 9 assists the Heat won 103-93.
It was a low scoring game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was probably low scoring due to the fact that Luka Donćdic sat out this game in preparation of All-Star weekend. Despite the absence of Luka, the Mavericks won the game 87-78.
The Oklahoma City Thunder bounced right back the following night against the San Antonio Spurs. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 33 points and 8 assists the Spurs were not able to take the lead, as they lost 107-102.
It was a battle of the point guards between Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard, as the Golden State Warriors faced the Portland Trail Blazers. While Curry out scored Lillard 35 points to 22 points, the Blazers outscored the Warriors 108-106 handed Golden State the lose.
Stephen Curry sat out as the Warriors took on the red hot Phoenix Suns on Thursday. With his absence the Suns just had fun getting all of their payers involved as they blew out the shorthanded Warriors, 120-98.
LeBron James sat out the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night game against the Sacremento Kings. Even with the absence of LeBron the Lakers were able to stay in it, but ultimately they lost to the Kings, 123-120.
The Sacramento Kings went on to play the Portland Trail Blazers the following night, and with Damian Lillard scoring 44 points and Enes Kanter having 22 points and 21 rebounds, the Blazers took the lead on the Kings, and De’Aaron Fox who had 32 points and 12 assists, to win the game, 123-119.
Paul George was sitting out as the Los Angeles Clippers played the Washington Wizards, and boy did they need him. Kawhi Leonard had a quiet scoring night only dropping 22 points. Bradley Bela came out and scored 33 points and Russel Westbrook had 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 11 assists to help the Wizards win, 119-117.
Ja Morant had a big game as the Memphis Grizzlies took on the Milwaukee Bucks. He scored 35 points on 44% shooting from the field, but despite his fantastic play, the Bucks were able to snag the win by 1 point, 112-111.
This has been The Weeks Conclusion to Briefly In Depth.
Check back in Sunday for the All-Star Break Edition.
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