Not that there was anything else much to talk about with the normal slate of games, but even on a night with a full schedule of matchups, Donovan Mitchell‘s career-high 71 points in a comeback win against the Bulls would have probably taken the lede no matter what. Unless of course someone with the name that rhymes with Buka Fonkitch did something like his normal self. But enough about Harry Potter characters, Mitchell just didn’t create a loathing from Chicago fans. Nope. His 71/8/11 night also created so much self-loathing in Minnesota and Utah that they actually might raise up, the dozen or so of them, and actually, well, I don’t know what they’d do to be honest. I guess throw bad midwestern accents and Mormons at the rest of the world. I’m sure that’s a metaphor for something. Regardless, while Mitchell will have some hype follow him, don’t forget that, while a good basketball player, he’s still just a scorer. A scorer that the T-Wolves should have traded for instead and a scorer that the Jazz should have built around, sure. But for now, the Cavaliers have the spotlight in Cleveland, and whatever takes away from the eternal dumpster fire (now with added gasoline for obvious reason) from the Browns, well, something-something goose-goose and the gander. My homies in the Midwest know what’s up. Maybe? Here’s what else I saw during last night’s games…
Chris Paul – 30 MIN, 4-11 FG, 1-3 3PT, 2-2 FT, 4 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, -38, 11 PTS. Minus 38? Nice to see Paul is already in playoff form…
Julius Randle – 40 MIN, 7-18 FG, 4-12 3PT, 10-12 FT, 16 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 1 TO, +12, 28 PTS. Dude been clearing house all year. Not literally. I guess? I mean, you could clear the house physically and still have a great NBA season, no? Just science.
LeBron James – 40 MIN, 16-26 FG, 0-5 3PT, 11-15 FT, 11 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 3 TO, +9, 43 PTS. LeAgeless strikes again. Though Lakers fans out there might wonder why it takes James dropping 43 as a senior citizen to just barely beat the Hornets. And just for some rare analysis (xd), James’ last 20 games: 31/8/6 on 54/35/78, just enough to qualify this as elder abuse by the Lakers.
Malachi Flynn – 9 MIN, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1 TO, -18, O PTS. Many would say that going -18 in just nine minutes is genuinely impressive, but put me in there and I’ll show you the meaning of what minus points are.
Fred VanVleet – 36 MIN, 3-15 FG, 3-12 3PT, 2 REB, 3 AST, 2 BLK, 1 TO, +1, 9 PTS. I did not expect this collapse so quickly, but he can’t shot, his defense has been terrible and his entire perimeter game on both ends is just missing.
Zion Williamson – 28 MIN, 10-12 FG, 6-8 FT, 6 REB, 7 AST, 5 TO, +6, 26 PTS. Zion left the game early, hamstring issues. Hopefully nothing big but we’ll probably know more later today.
Kevin Durant – 29 MIN, 10-14 FG, 0-1 3PT, 5-5 FT, 3 REB, 11 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK, 2 TO, +21, 25 PTS. Nets continue to click and are looking more and more like one of the best teams in the league. I know Brooklyn fans are still being fragile about everyone trashing on the Nets early in the season, and this isn’t taking that back at all, seeing as how it was the Nets that trashed themselves in spectacular fashion; we were all just bystanders with popcorn… This is more confirming that Nets fans are fragile.
Luka Dončić – 41 MIN, 10-26 FG, 1-9 3PT, 18-22 FT, 12 REB, 8 AST, 1 STL, 4 TO, +9, 39 PTS. Mavericks continue to eek by, but it has to be concerning that to have a chance at the win, they need at least 42 minutes from Luka.
Kyle Anderson – 31 MIN, 6-12 FG, 3-4 3PT, 4-4 FT, 4 REB, 8 AST, 3 STL, 1 TO, +6, 19 PTS. Draymond light perhaps? Underrated contributor and deserves a look.
Anthony Edwards – 36 MIN, 10-24 FG, 3-11 3PT, 6-6 FT, 10 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 3 TO, +13, 29 PTS. I haven’t said the best of things about ANT this season, but I’ll admit that he’ll be an impact player if his post-game develops.
Klay Thompson – 46 MIN, 21-39 FG, 10-21 3PT, 2-2 FT, 8 REB, 3 AST, 1 BLK, 3 TO, +13, 54 PTS. Good on Klay shutting up some of the haters, but isn’t this who he kinda is? Very much a hot-cold shooter at points and then can completely take over. It wasn’t just 54, it was 54 on just 2 FTA (and 10-21 shooting beyond the arc).
Rodney McGruder – 18 MIN, 0-3 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-2 FT, 3 REB, 1 STL, 1 TO, -17, 2 PTS. I can’t believe the Pistons lost to the Trail Blazers despite the 2 points and 3 rebounds from McGruder. Crazy!
Bam Adebayo – 37 MIN, 12-19 FG, 7-8 FT, 13 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 3 TO, +11, 31 PTS. Bam’s an All-Star this year, yeah? Dude is probably having the best season of his career.
Jay is a longtime Razzball everything who consumes an egregious amount of Makers Mark as a vehicle to gain wisdom and augment his natural glow. Living in the D.C. area, he also likes spending time visiting the local parks and feeding lettuce to any turtles he encounters, including Mitch McConnell.
