Here’s a quick swing through the NBA for a Tuesday night, or you missed while seeing how far you could launch a pumpkin...
John Wall, Washington Wizards. No Bradley Beal so they need big games from him and they got it Tuesday in a win over a Lakers team that had been playing good defense — Wall had 31 points on 18 shots, plus 9 assists. More importantly, he had 13 points in final 4:30 of game, including seven straight at one point. However, Wall really gets the high grade because this is three straight games with 30 or more points (the last two are Washington wins).
Pelicans offense not getting Anthony Davis the ball more. Do the other Pelicans players realize how good Anthony Davis is? Because you don’t see the Clippers ignore Blake Griffin for extended periods, or Portland forget LeMarcus Aldridge exists. As seems to happen at times, for stretches on Tuesday night the Pelicans forgot about Davis. Why? In 30 minutes Davis had 9 shots (and had just 2 free throws) while Jason Smith had 14 shots, Eric Gordon had 12, Jrue Holiday 16, Ryan Anderson 17 and Tyreke Evans 11. At one point in the fourth quarter guard Nemanja Nedovic had been switched onto Davis on a pick, Davis went to the block with a clear mismatch, and nobody got him the rock. It was sad. On the season Davis leads the team in shot attempts per game, but at times they just seem to forget him and you can’t do that with your best player.
Arron Afflalo, Orlando Magic. He had 26 points on the night including 10 in the third quarter when the Magic went on a run to pull away. Afflalo is having a career year — 21.6 points per game with a true shooting percentage of 62%. Plus he plays solid defense. All he’s really doing is improving his trade value for Orlando (he’s one of the veterans on the block).
Toronto Raptors’ final shot. Down 2 with 11 seconds left to Brooklyn at home, Toronto got the ball to Rudy Gay and ran a 1-4 flat (Gay has the ball out top, everyone else basically stands on the baseline and stays out of the way, then slides into position for a kick out or to get a rebound). You see that play a lot at the end of games but it is a pet peeve of mine, I am not a fan of that play unless you have LeBron/Durant, Gay doesn’t qualify. Run a damn play. But that’s not really the biggest problem with Toronto’s last shot — Gay makes his move, the defense collapses and he kicks it out in the corner to a wide-open... Amir Johnson. A power forward who shouldn’t be in the prime kick-out spot on the floor. That is the real problem — with DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry on the floor, why is Johnson the one with the corner three shot? He is a 27.8 percent shooter from three. Just not a well designed play. And with that Brooklyn gets the win.