We know Sunday you may have been focused on some other sporting event, and you may have started the party early, but there were NBA Games on Sunday. Here’s what you should take away from those contests.
1) Paul Pierce played one last game in the Boston Garden (and the Celtics won). Paul Pierce looked up to the rafters in the Boston Garden Sunday and saw the 2008 championship banner that he helped put there. Soon enough, he will look up there and see his No. 34.
Pierce will go down as a legendary Celtic, and he returned for one last game at the Garden, where he kissed the logo at center court.
He felt the love from the Boston crowd, then drained a three on the final shot of the game.
Boston set a franchise record with 52 three-point attempts in the game, Isaiah Thomas had 28 points (10 in the fourth) as Boston hung on for the 107-102 win against the shorthanded Clippers. It was their seventh win in a row. But that all took a backseat to nostalgia and showing love for Pierce one more time in Boston.
2) Russell Westbrook drops 42 — 19 in the fourth quarter — lifting Thunder past Trail Blazers. This was the most entertaining game of the day... well, NBA game anyway. This was close most of the way but was the kind of need Oklahoma City needed — they had dropped three in a row after he went down injured, but on Sunday they found ways to score without him. That was a step forward.
Of course, it helps when Russell Westbrook is doing his thing, particularly with the game on the line in the fourth quarter and him scoring 19 of his 42 and nailing the dagger three.
3) Kyle Lowry found his groove, Toronto guard has triple-double against Brooklyn. The Raptors beating the Nets is the least surprising thing on Sunday, but if you’re a Raptors fan you have to like seeing a strong all-around game of 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists from their All-Star point guard. It was his first triple-double of the season.