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FOMO: Fear of missing out
Seen this term on social media? Probably. Experienced it? More likely. Love NBA basketball and want to keep pace with all the latest scoop? Give me a read each week and you will never experience FOMO on the NBA!
Cavs win streak snapped by Pacers; Oladipo steps up with clutch performance
Starting the season with a 5-7 record, the Cleveland Cavaliers won 13 straight to get back up to 2nd place in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs juggernaut was stopped by the Indiana Pacers led by Victor Oladipo on Friday.
It was a well-contested game, but Indiana seemed to be always a step ahead of the Cavs. With the score at 97-100, Oladipo came up big to hit the dagger from three. He finished the game with 33 pts, 8 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl on 11-24 shooting from the field and went 6-13 from the three-point line.
Oladipo is a solid candidate for the Most Improved Player this season. Coming off a mediocre season at OKC, where the shooting guard averaged 15.9 points on 44% shooting, he's been electric for the Pacers. The alpha role was vacant after Paul George's departure to OKC, and Oladipo grabbed it with both hands. He's averaging 24.5 pts, 5.3 reb, 4.0 ast, 48.5% FG, 44.4% 3P FG through 26 games. He has 3 game winners and 4 30-pt games this season.
LeBron James averaged 27.2 points, 8.9 reb, 8.2 ast during the 13-game win streak and shot the ball lights out. His shooting numbers: 57.3% FG and 47.3% 3P FG. The narrative of the LeBron and Kyrie saga has taken a different turn and it is clear now that the King is just fine without Uncle Drew.
Rockets on a 10-game win streak since CP3's return
Houston Rockets have been on a roll with Chris Paul back in the lineup after his injury. In the games, they have played since they have won 10 straight. In that stretch, the Rockets have ranked top three in the league in both - offensive and defensive rating. They have a net rating of 17.7. The next best mark is 12.2 of the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets are a serious contender this season, and this is the best team they have had in years.
Paul played the season opener and injured himself in the 2nd match of the season. Including the season opener, Rockets have won all the games he has played in with a 11-0 record.
The James Harden-Chris Paul experiment has worked brilliantly under Mike D'Antoni's system. All doubts about playing the two ball dominant guards on the same team have been quelled for now.
Can the Rockets beat the Cavs and Celtics win streaks this season?
Curry and Booker out with injuries; Durant impressive in Steph's absence
Steph Curry badly twisted his right ankle in the final minute against the Pelicans. The Warriors won that game 125-115 but the injury to Curry was the major talking point after the game. The replay didn't look good but it's been deemed to be a sprain with no structural damage. He is set to be evaluated again in two weeks. There is no other timeline on his return as of now.
Devin Booker suffered a left adductor strain in the final quarter at Toronto on Tuesday. He is expected to be out 2-3 weeks with the injury. The previous night against the Sixers he scored 46 points to lead the Suns to a 115-101 win. The struggling team will be hit hard by the injury, devoid of their main attacking piece.
With Steph Curry out, Kevin Durant stepped up big in the next two games for the Warriors recording 35 pts, 11 reb, 10 ast and 36 pts, 10 reb, 7 ast. He got his 9th career triple-double in the win against the Hornets (1st as a Warrior). Steve Kerr feels that the Warriors will get better in Curry's absence because 'they will have to'.
Jahlil Okafor traded to the Brooklyn Nets
The Sixers will send Okafor, guard Nik Stauskas and a 2019 second-round pick to the Nets for 30-year-old forward Trevor Booker.
The Nets got the better of this trade as they get to pair the promising big man with their recently acquired point guard D'Angelo Russell. They are both from the 2015 draft class, where Russell was picked second by the Los Angeles Lakers and Okafor went to the Sixers, who had the third pick.
If Russell and Okafor click, the future will be bright for Brooklyn.
Okafor averaged 17.5 points and 7 rebounds in his rookie year. He's been in and out of the team's rotation since then due to injuries and other issues. The Sixers were trying to ship him off somewhere rather than letting him go for free at the season’s end after he didn't pick up his 4th year player option. Unable to reach any trade agreement and Okafor warming the bench, #FreeJah came to his aid. He received support from NBA players like Devin Booker and Jayson Tatum tweeting for him to be traded.
Nik Stauskas can be a useful player for the Brooklyn Nets, and provide the team with some valuable minutes off the bench.
Power forward Trevor Booker is averaging a career-high 10.1 points and 6.6 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per game so far this season. He is shooting 51.3% from the field.
Warriors on ejection run, referee suspended for a week
Kevin Durant got ejected for the third time this season, after he got into a verbal confrontation with the Pelicans' DeMarcus Cousins late in the fourth quarter.on Monday. The Warriors won that game 125-115. The two had been going at each other throughout the game, and it got heated when they came close to almost headbutting each other. They had to be pulled apart by their teammates and were thrown out of the game. Even after the ejection, the two continued to jaw at each other and took some time to exit the court.
Shaun Livingston got into it with referee Courtney Kirkland on Sunday at Miami. The two bumped heads over a no-call, prompting Kirkland to assess a technical and send Livingston out of the game. Later, the NBA suspended Livingston for a game, and the referee from officiating for a week. They deemed the manner in which he turned and faced Livingston as not apt for an official.
The Warriors and Durant lead the league with six and three technicals, respectively. The other warriors ejected this season are Livingston, Steph Curry and Draymond Green. This Warriors team is unlike Warriors teams from the recent past where only Green was finding himself ejected every now and then, while the others were quiet.
Guess the Lakers players!
