Boston bounced back from a disappointing offensive night against Minnesota to turn it on against Oklahoma City and pick up a 119-109 victory on Thursday. It was an impressive offensive night against the league’s best defence, recording a 122.9 offensive rating, and it was a 12-2 fourth quarter run that dealt the killer blow to the defending champions, as Jaylen Brown enjoyed plenty of scoring success. The forward ended with 31 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals, and got to the line for 14 free throw attempts, as his combination of shooting and power gave the visitors all sorts of headaches. Jayson Tatum had 19 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, although his shooting remained a little shaky from the field, while the likes of Neemias Queta (13 points, two blocks) and Baylor Scheierman (11 points) gave plenty of value.
Atlanta left Detroit with an important 130-129 overtime win on Thursday to make it 14 wins from their last 15 games. It wasn’t pretty basketball in the the clutch minutes of regulation or in overtime, but on both occasions Atlanta did just enough to hold onto their buffers and, with that, leave Little Caesars Arena with the win. Jalen Johnson steered the ship to finish with 27 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker continued his good form with 21 points and three steals. CJ McCollum had 27 points and five assists but his four turnovers and often-flaky defence was costly at times.
Brown, Queta and Derrick White are all questionable on Saturday and that may well see at least one of them miss the game. Even then, this Boston team is going to be too well-organised and too strong offensively for Atlanta to get close.
Cleveland were comprehensively outclassed against Miami on Thursday, in a 103-120 loss. They get their chance to avenge the defeat on Saturday, but they have plenty of work to do to reverse the result after a dull effort on both ends of the floor. The writing was on the wall early on, as a 19-28 first quarter deficit turned into a 36-57 deficit shortly before halftime. However, Cleveland used a 37-20 third quarter to get back into the game and take the lead early in the fourth, but they let their foot off the gas completely, as Miami ran riot in the final nine minutes to win the game with ease. Donovan Mitchell impressed on offence, with 28 points, six rebounds and four assists, but some poor offensive efforts from the likes of Evan Mobley and Dennis Schröder really hurt as a slew of rotation players, including Jarrett Allen, Jaylon Tyson and Dean Wade sat out.
Miami will be feeling great heading into Saturday’s rematch, with their 17-point victory on Thursday giving them the blueprint for another win at Rocket Arena. Their hot shooting certainly helped their case, recording a 63.7% eFG% thanks to 18/45 shooting from three and 23/36 shooting from two, as they ran riot in transition. Tyler Herro enjoyed his time on the floor, with 18 points, four assists and three steals on 75.8% TS%, but it was Kel’el Ware who had the most efficient night, going 5/5, including 3/3 from deep, to record a 119.5% TS% and log 13 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and one block in 20 minutes. Bam Adebayo notched up 17 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals and Norman Powell had a tidy 19 points to see Miami prevail.
Allen has been upgraded to questionable on the injury report, which indicates that the big man will be returning, and that could make a world of difference for the hosts. We can’t expect Cleveland, one of the best shooting teams in the league, to misfire so often and that will even things out much more. However, as considerable favourites, it’s hard to get behind Kenny Atkinson’s team here. They’re just 13-24 ATS at home this season and Miami are 22-13-1 ATS on the road.
Portland have started this home stand with a couple of massive wins, first beating Brooklyn 134-99 on Tuesday before recording a 130-99 beatdown of Milwaukee on Thursday. It was all Portland from the beginning, as they scored 42 points in the opening quarter for a 15-point lead and it surpassed the 20-point mark in the second quarter, making for an easy win at Moda Center. The pair of Donovan Clingan and Jrue Holiday continued to produce winning performances, with the big man posting 14 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks and Holiday posting 13 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Scoot Henderson was aggressive once more with 23 points and four assists in just 24 minutes and Deni Avdija had 18 points and seven assists.
Dallas’s losing streak continued to five games on Thursday, falling to Denver 135-142. It was another hard-fought game from Jason Kidd’s side and they gave the hosts a real scare, with the scores at 126-127 with less than five minutes to play. However, their defence disappeared from then on, struggling to contain the league’s best offence and finishing the night with a 136.5 defensive rating. They had much more success on the offensive side of the court, with Cooper Flagg leading the way with 26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Naji Marshall had 22 points and PJ Washington had a big 19-point, 15-rebound double-double, but there were few pluses on the defensive end which resulted in a loss for the visitors.
Dallas have hardly humiliated themselves in this losing run lately, with narrow losses to the Clippers, Golden State and Denver, and I am surprised to see them as double-digit underdogs here. Portland have not been world-beaters and this is a solid-enough Dallas team that will keep the margin relatively tight.