Every night the NBA can be a cold hard reality — there are winners, there are losers. It’s the nature of the game. We know you are busy and can’t keep up with every game, so we’re here to bring you the best and worst of the NBA each week night. Here’s what you missed while flipping out over those extra $4 the Chinese restaurant charged you…
Golden State Warriors. And the train kept a rollin’… that is 14 in a row. If you were trying to knock the Warriors during this run you’d say that they haven’t played a lot of the West’s best in this stretch, but they got a quality win over the Rockets 105-93. Quality because the Rockets have still been rolling teams this season without Dwight Howard and they could have done it again with the way James Harden was playing. Harden had 35 points and he was getting into the paint and knocking down contested threes. Basically he was the full Harden but the Warriors absorbed that and won anyway. Second, the Warriors did it without Andrew Bogut — they missed his defense in the paint, they missed his passing, how he moved the ball from strong to weak. But they got 20 points on 9 shots from Harrison Barnes and a balanced scoring night (despite a rough start where they couldn’t buy a three in the first half).
Andre Miller, Bradley Beal. It was the shot of the night, the game-winning tip in as the clock expired that gave Washington a big win on the road in Orlando. Beal rightfully gets a lot of credit for an athletic play at the rim (and he got a nice pick from Paul Pierce to create that space). But to me what makes this play is a perfect lob from Andre Miller — the professor threw the perfect pass.
Derrick Rose. That was the attacking, aggressive Rose we have been waiting to see again. The one Tom Thibodeau has been asking to see. Rose was 5-of-6 in the paint, but also 3-of-7 from beyond the arc on his way to a a team best 23 in a Bulls win over Brooklyn. Rose was getting into the lane when he wanted, and he was putting pressure on the Nets defense, which is what he does best. It’s been a process with Rose getting back to being his old self, but when he plays like this the Bulls are so much more dangerous.
Cory Jefferson’s jump shot. That was not the Bulls’ defense. Jefferson in his limited minutes as a rookie had taken just four three pointers this season. He might want to work on that a little before he breaks it out in a game again.
Al Jefferson. The Hornets need some wins and Jefferson got them one against the Celtics Wednesday, putting up 23 points overall and getting 11 of them in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. What Jefferson — and Lance Stephenson and Kemba Walker — seemed to do more was attack the rim. Jefferson was getting the ball on the left block where he likes it and is nearly impossible to stop. That and stretches of good defense from the starters were what Charlotte needs more of to turn this thing around.
Portland Trail Blazers. What. Was. That. The Timberwolves were the more physical team. The Blazers seemed disinterested early and never were able to get out of that funk. And when you shoot 10-of-35 from three (28.6 percent) you can’t just shoot your way out of it. Minnesota picked up the win 9--82. The Blazers had won five in a row coming in, we’ll consider this a one-off. But in the brutal West you can’t have many of these nights without hurting your seeding.