NBA wRap: Johnson makes 10 triples, Lillard hits 3 game winners
HOTSHOTS. Joe Johnson (L) hit 10 three-pointers while Damian Lillard (R) hit 3 game-winners. Photos from EPA
MANILA, Philippines – Miami got back at Indiana, San Antonio got a road win in Oakland, and a slew of new old (how’s that for an oxymoron?) injuries crept up on everyone this past week in the NBA.
The Best Games
Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers
Indiana squandered a double-digit first half lead in their latest visit to South Beach, losing their second match-up to the infernal Heat this month, 97-94. Unlike these teams’ first encounter, this time Dwyane Wade was on-target. Wade shot 15/25 from the field, scoring 32 points on top of 3 rebounds and 3 assists. It was vintage Wade and it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to say that anytime Miami can have vintage Wade, they will be plenty tough to beat. LeBron James also did really well, dropping 24 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals while also shooting 8/14 from the floor and 7/7 from the line. Vintage LBJ, too. With his top two guys playing so well, coach Spo shouldn’t have had anything to worry, right? Oh but riddle me this – how come they won by just three? Credit the Pacers, who were very aggressive. Coach Frank Vogel’s wards were rewarded with 28 free throws, and they made good on 22. Also, Paul George and David West paired up for 48 points on 16/31 FG shooting. The big difference, quite literally, was Roy Hibbert, who ended up with a paltry 6 points and 2 rebounds. He had just 3 field goal attempts and rode 5 fouls. Miami found a way to take the big fella out of the equation, and they prevailed.
San Antonio Spurs vs Golden State Warriors
A couple of days ago, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich chose to rest the big three – Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili – since this was the Spurs’ seventh game in ten days. Can’t really blame him, right? Right, and, well, his reserves still did well enough to pull a huge victory over a projected West contender. In particular, Kawhi Leonard (who’s not really a reserve), Patty Mills, Danny Green, and Marco Belinelli all stepped up for the Spurs. Leonard played like the All-Star many feel he is destined to be – dropping 21 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal, while Mills, Green, and Belinelli combined for 9 triples on their way to 20, 11, and 28 points respectively. The Warriors were led by David Lee and Steph Curry, who registered 32 and 30 markers respectively. For a while there, it seemed like the Warriors actually had this game wrapped up in the fourth, but big guys Tiago Splitter and Boris Diaw made huge plays that pushed San Antonio over the proverbial hump. If the Spurs can beat a team like GSW without their best guys, then, man, the rest of the league is probably trembling already.
The Best Performers
Anytime a player torches the strings for 10 triples in a single game, that’s got to be something to talk about, right? Definitely, especially if that player is Brooklyn’s Joe Johnson, who has been struggling so far this season. JJ shot a superb 10/14 from beyond the arc, helping the Nets dump the upstart Sixers, 130-94.
This was a huge win for Jason Kidd and his enigmatic crew, but, alas, it didn’t exactly turn out to be the season-changer they continue to hope for. Still, what Johnson did here was really really worthy of jaws hitting the floor. He scored a total of 37 points while also grabbing 7 rebounds, handing out 5 assists, and getting 1 steal plus 1 block. Prior to this superb shooting performance, Johnson made a total of ten treys in BKN’s first six games in December. He then proceeded to equal that total in a single contest. This is compounded by the fact he played just 30 minutes here. A three every three minutes!
Damian Lillard has been playing like an all-world point guard of late. He hit the game-winner against Detroit, hit another against Cleveland two days after, and then another go-ahead basket against the Pelicans. Phew. Whattaguy, huh? The former Weber State standout has been having an excellent sophomore season so far, scoring around 22 points, dishing out around 6 assists, and collaring around 4 boards per game.
He’s been hitting 89% of his free throws and 43% of his threes, including 3.1 per game, while playing about two minutes fewer per game than last season. In short, he has actually become better than he already was. And coupled with LaMarcus Aldridge having his best season yet, Portland is looking like a good bet for a playoff lock in the West.
Key Developments
Kobe Bryant returned to action December 9 and the Lakers lost all their games. This week, they finally won one with the Mamba in tow, only to see him get injured AGAIN. Now the prognosis is KB24 will be out for around 6 weeks. I’m sure there’s something ironically funny about this situation, but I just cannot find it. And, no, I am not a Laker fan.
In other news, Brooklyn probably just kissed its prospects of turning things around this season goodbye when their most productive player to date, Brook Lopez, broke his foot. Now the latest on him is he’s out for the ENTIRE SEASON. It’s a devastating development for a team that was supposed to contend for the East crown. Now, the Nets are without their leading scorer and the only member of their starting five who hasn’t grown any white hair. Why, yes, that is the stat that really matters here. - Rappler.com
