Every day in the NBA there is a lot to unpack, so every weekday morning throughout the season we will give you the three things you need to know from the last 24 hours in the NBA. Here’s what you missed while trying to avoid getting a DUI on horseback.
1) Kyrie Irving doesn’t like his mask, still scores 23 and leads Celtics to 13th straight win. Celtics fans were already looking ahead to Thursday, but first Boston traveled to Brooklyn Tuesday night… although you would never know it listening to the Celtics-heavy crowd at this game. It sounded like a game at the Garden.
Celtics fans are everywhere right now and they should be proud — their team has won 13 in a row after dropping the Nets 109-102. The win was a combination of their defense once again holding the opponent down — the Nets did well shooting 40 percent from three on 35 attempts, but they didn’t get a lot of shots at the rim, and from three feet to the arc they shot 8-of-29 — and getting enough offense when they needed it.
Kyrie Irving spent the night uncomfortably touching and adjusting his mask — he’ll be wearing it for a couple of weeks due to a facial fracture… at least he’s supposed to — but found his way to 23 points. The real offensive star for the Celts was Marcus Morris, who led a 10-0 fourth quarter run and finished the night with 21 points on 12 shots. Brooklyn hung around because they are a scrappy bunch, but it was not enough on a night when Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum combined for 32 points.
[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BbgDtpdl5hH/?taken-by=nba[/embed]
This sets up the measuring stick game for the Celtics: Thursday night against the Golden State Warriors. The defending champs, and the overwhelming favorites to party with Larry O’Brien again, come to the Garden. It will be the best offense in the NBA against the best defense. The Warriors have won six in a row all by double digits, they come in on a roll of their own, and it is a chance for Boston to take a measure of itself against the best.
2) James Harden: Amazing Eurostep move or travel? You decide.
The NBA rule is you get two steps after you gather the ball, so if that first step is Harden’s gather this is legal. However, if he has control as he takes that first step it’s a travel.
In practice, no call so it’s a Eurostep and a bucket.
3) Harden couldn’t Eurostep the Rockets to a win, Raptors beat them 129-113. The Rockets have been a solid, middle-of-the-pack defensive team this season — which with their offense is plenty — but they got shredded by the Raptors on Tuesday night. As a team, the Raptors had a true shooting percentage of 66.2, which will get them a win every night.
DeMar DeRozan was attacking, doing a good job being a playmaker too (especially in the first quarter) and finished with 27 points on 16 shots for the night. Kyle Lowry and C.J. Miles each added 19.
However, the real star was rookie OG Anunoby, who was thrust into the starting lineup with Norman Powell out (hip), and he shot 6-of-8 while spending much of the night guarding Harden and doing a respectable job, his energy created great defensive pressure, and he passed and shot with confidence. It may be hard for coach Dwane Casey to keep him out of the starting lineup.
