Philadelphia did just enough to hold on to beat Brooklyn on Sunday, surviving what would have been the biggest comeback of the season from the visitors. After leading by 28 points early in the third quarter, Philly let their feet off the gas to see Brooklyn take an 86-87 lead with three minutes to play. However, the hosts upped the aggression from there, getting to the rim and to the free throw line in many of their possessions to win. With Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid out with injuries, it was Quentin Grimes who again led the team, finishing with 28 points, eight rebounds and four assists. VJ Edgecombe got plenty of reps too, to middling effect, with 16 points, seven assists, two steals and four turnovers. Justin Edwards had 19 points, three steals and two blocks and Adem Bona provided good rim protection with nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocks to help get Philly home.
Portland put a terrible first quarter behind them to beat Utah 124-114 on Saturday. A horror start had the hosts trailing 15-33 late in the opening quarter, but they rapidly got back on track, courtesy of a 42-13 run to build a double-digit lead and they stayed in front for the rest of the way. It was an impressive night from a couple of Portland’s young guns, with Donovan Clingan and Scoot Henderson putting up big numbers. The big man recorded 21 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and six blocks to dominate his minutes, while Henderson had 25 points on 79.3% TS% for a stellar scoring night. Jrue Holiday also had 25 points and eight assists and Deni Avdija had 17/6/8 in his third game back from injury.
With Portland’s team now almost back to full-health, they will be far too good for this beaten-up Philadelphia team. With both Embiid and Maxey off the court this season, Philly have a miserable -5.6 net rating and they will be blown out on the road.
New York picked up a 101-92 victory over their Indiana foes on Saturday to stay in touch with the top-two in the East. Just 1.5 games behind the #2 seed Boston, every game matters for NY down the stretch and while they weren’t all that convincing in Indianapolis, they got the job done thanks to another strong defensive night. Their 94.8 defensive rating saw them lock down Indiana, who had just 15 FGAs at the rim and shot just a 44.9% eFG%, with Mitchell Robinson making his presence felt and Landry Shamet showing plenty of energy on the wings. Brunson starred offensively with 29 points and nine assists, while Robinson collected 22 rebounds and had two steals and two blocks to dominate and OG Anunoby added 25 points and eight rebounds.
Golden State have lost four games on the trot after a heavy loss to Minnesota on Saturday. The 117-127 final scoreline was probably generous to GS, who trailed by as many as 25 points in the third quarter, and while they were able to trim the margin in the fourth quarter, they never truly threatened the visitors. It was a terrible defensive night for Golden State, with a 128.3 defensive rating, as they got cooked by Anthony Edwards and co, with De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II looking particularly vulnerable. Brandin Podziemski had a solid offensive night, with 25 points, 10 rebounds and two assists and Gui Santos provided 17 points and eight assists, but there were few memorable performances from this GS squad.
Golden State are essentially throwing this game, listing Melton and Kristaps Porziņģis as out, along with the newly-injured Al Horford and all of the rest of their currently-injured stars. Against a good New York defence, the visitors are going to have little chance of excelling offensively, and New York will use this as an opportunity to give their stars reduced minutes too. That sets us up for the under in this contest.