Miami slipped to a potentially costly 118-135 defeat in Indiana on Monday, dropping them to a 39-36 record. Now in the #9 seed, Miami have the chance to make ground on the #7 seed Philadelphia on Tuesday, but they will need to show plenty of improvement. It was an 11-point fourth quarter that saw Miami lose Monday’s contest, as they completely crumbled to go a shocking 5/28 from the floor, including 0/8 from three, and that made it impossible for them to stay in the fight. Tyler Herro went scoreless in the fourth but finished with 31 points, three rebounds and four assists, while Bam Adebayo was one of the few Miami players to show a sign of life in the fourth, as he put up 15 points, 12 rebounds and one block on the night. Davion Mitchell was efficient with his 12 points, eight assists and two steals, but an ice-cold fourth cost Miami this game.
Philadelphia finally had their squad back on Sunday and they looked elite, beating Charlotte 118-114 on the road. There were some dicey moments, especially early in the third as they found themselves down 71-86, but their defence started to dominate from then on, opening up a 28-9 run for a 101-97 lead. It was back-and-forth from there, but a massive three from Paul George in the final 70 seconds, followed by a steal in the ensuing defensive possession, iced the game for Philly. George was solid with 26 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, while Tyrese Maxey also recorded 26 points, along with seven rebounds and eight dimes. Joel Embiid was strong with 29 points, six rebounds and two blocks and VJ Edgecombe did his job with 13 points.
Set to be fully healthy again on Tuesday, this Philly team are going to cause some trouble on the road and I am very happy to back them as small favourites. They are 23-12-1 ATS on the road this season and will have too many offensive weapons for Miami to contain.
San Antonio are looking more and more like title contenders as the season goes on, picking up another huge win on Sunday. Their 127-95 trouncing of Milwaukee meant that their road trip resulted in three consecutive 25+ point wins, and San Antonio were never even under threat at FiservForum. A 37-24 first quarter set the tone for the rest of the game, as the visitors’ defence dominated and their offence was almost as impressive. Milwaukee were bullied into 18 turnovers and had just six free throw attempts, as attack after attack was shut down, while on the other end, Stephon Castle took care of business. The young guard had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a dominant performance, while the likes of Devin Vassell (16 points), Keldon Johnson (16 points) and De’Aaron Fox (12 points, six assists) hit their shots. Victor Wembanyama wasn’t so efficient offensively, going 7/21 from the floor, but his 23-points, 15-rebound, six-assist stat line made for another impressive showing from the Frenchman.
After a 124-125 loss to Memphis on Sunday, Chicago are 1-5 in their last six games in what has been a miserable season for Billy Donovan’s team. With the opportunity to get up the last shot of the game and a potential game-winner, Collin Sexton got his attempt off way too late, seeing Chicago fall to another loss in a scrappy affair. Chicago had a dreadful 23 turnovers in the game, including five from Josh Giddey and four from Matas Buzelis and Tre Jones. Buzelis did redeem himself with 29 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks to be a +14, while Giddey racked up a triple-double of 18 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists and three blocks. Sexton finished with 26 points and Jones had 19 but the team’s turnovers came back to haunt them, resulting in another loss.
Guerschon Yabusele and Nick Richards are both questionable to return, which would really help Chicago’s front court stocks, and while I don’t expect the visitors to get close to San Antonio, the 17.5-point line has me on their side. Chicago are 27-20 ATS as underdogs this season and the line is simply too high going into this game.
Oklahoma City stormed away from New York in the fourth quarter to pick up a 111-100 win on Monday. Holding a narrow lead for almost the entire game, and at 92-91 with 6:30 left to play, the game was up for the taking and it was OKC who obliged, going on a 17-5 run to build a 109-96 lead and win the game. It was again a win that was built on the defensive end, pressuring New York into 18 turnovers and generating 19 points off turnovers, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander starred again with 30 points and four assists. Jalen Williams had plenty of bright moments for his 22 points and Chet Holmgren had an elite two-way night for 16 points and nine boards.
Detroit have won five of their six games since Cade Cunningham’s lung puncture, and Sunday’s 109-87 road win over Minnesota was perhaps the most impressive of the bunch. A 15-4 run into the second quarter opened up some breathing room for Detroit and they held onto that lead for the rest of the game, all but securing a #1 seed finish in the process. Tobias Harris was excellent with a clean 18 points, four assists and three blocks and Paul Reed had 12 points, seven rebounds and one block in just 17 minutes. However, it was the team’s defence that did the job, with Harris, Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland II all getting busy on that end of the floor.
In what could have been a thrilling top-of-the-table clash between the West and East, Detroit look set to rest a number of key players, with Jalen Duren, Duncan Robinson, Thompson and Harris all questionable with injury management tags. On night two of a back-to-back, OKC may also rest one or two key players, and that makes the big 12.5-point line interesting. Detroit will still play with plenty of intensity and won’t be moved past easily, as we have seen in this stretch of games without Cunningham.