'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The NBA 2018-19 season returns for the 2nd day of game in the 9th Week of it's schedule. There were 11 games to react from yesterday and there are only 3 games to look forward to tomorrow. Let us look at the best performances from yesterday and how each game played out.
Monday's recap:
1. Detroit Pistons 102-116 Philadelphia 76ers
2. Washington Wizards 101-109 Indiana Pacers
3. New Orleans Pelicans 100-113 Boston Celtics
4. Sacramento Kings 108-89 Chicago Bulls
5. Utah Jazz 113-122 Oklahoma City Thunder
6. Cleveland Cavaliers 92-108 Milwaukee Bucks
7. Orlando Magic 76-101 Dallas Mavericks
8. Los Angeles Clippers 123-119 Phoenix Suns
9. Memphis Grizzlies 99-105 Denver Nuggets
10. Minnesota Timberwolves 108-116 Golden State Warriors
11. Miami Heat 105-108 Los Angeles Lakers
Highlights:
2. Tobias Harris (Los Angeles Clippers): 33 points, 11-19 FG, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 4 TOs.1. Steph Curry (Golden State Warriors): 38 points, 12-23 FG, 6 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block and 1 TO.
3. Marcus Morris (Boston Celtics): 31 points, 10-15 FG, 4 rebounds and 2 TOs.
4. Kyle Kuzma (Los Angeles Lakers): 33 points, 14-22 FG, 7 rebounds and 3 TOs.
Lowlights:
1. Ricky Rubio (Utah Jazz): 10 points, 5-13 FG, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and a block with 5 TOs.
2. Alec Burks (Cleveland Cavaliers): 3 points, 1-8 FG, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 TOs.
3. Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic): 8 points, 4-15 FG, 4 assists, 16 rebounds, 2 steals and a block and 3 TOs.
4. Josh Hart (Los Angeles Lakers): 9 points, 3-9 FG, 0 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 block and 1 TO.
Monday's takeaways:
1. The Philadelphia 76ers managed to beat the Detroit Pistons again, 116-102 on the back of a great 24 point Joel Embiid performance. The Indiana Pacers held off a late surge from the Washington Wizards to win 109-101. The Boston Celtics overcame a listless New Orleans Pelicans even without their main starters, 113-100, thanks to a 31 point explosion by Marcus Morris.
2. The Sacramento Kings came from behind to beat the Chicago Bulls, 108-89, thanks to a 3rd quarter performance by De'Aaron Fox. The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Utah Jazz 122-113 and The Giannis-less Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-92.
3. The Dallas Mavericks blew the Orlando Magic off the court 101-76, The Los Angeles Clippers managed to beat the Phoenix Suns in overtime 123-119 thanks to a 33 point effort by Tobias Harris. The Denver Nuggets beat a listless Memphis Grizzlies 105-99, thanks to a 27 point, 12 rebound performance by Nikola Jokic.
4. Golden State Warriors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves off of an incredible Steph Curry performance, he went off for 38 points, leading them to a 116-108 win. In the last game, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat 108-105. Kyle Kuzma had 33 points and LeBron had 28 points in an almost triple double effort. Justice Winslow scored 28 points in a losing effort.
Tomorrow's games: 1. Portland Trail Blazers @ Houston Rockets
2. Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs
3. Toronto Raptors @ Los Angeles Clippers
PG 1 - Damian Lillard (Portland Trailblazers):
The Portland Trail Blazers are finally back to winning ways. They were on a 3 game losing streak and then went on to win 2 more games in a row. They're currently 7th in Western Conference standings with a 15-11 record and have won only 4 in their last 10 matches. They won their last game in a hard fought contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-105, with clutch 3 point shots from their 2 star guards, CJ McCollum and the player in the spotlight, Damian Lillard.
Lillard has been a force to reckon with this season, achieving his highs from last season, averaging 27 points per game this season, to go along with almost 6 assists and 5 rebounds as well. In his last game against the Timberwolves, he scored a team-high 28 points, to go with 6 assists and 8 rebounds as well. He also had 1 steal and shot 50% from the floor. His next game is against a faltering Houston Rockets and their torrid defense, against whom he should come up big.
Alternative pick: Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors)
PG 2 - Chris Paul (Houston Rockets):
The Houston Rockets have been in terrible form to start the season. The last year runner ups in the Western Conference have a 11-14 record and are currently 14th in the Western Conference. They've won only 3 games in their last 10 and really need a course correction before their season is doomed. A player that really needs to get back to his best is their point guard, Chris Paul.
Paul has averaged only 16 points per game this season, down from almost 19 points per game last season. His assists numbers are still the same as compared to last season, at 8 assists per game and his rebound numbers have fallen too. He has been having a below par season and it shows as the Rockets are faltering. In his last game though, Chris Paul scored 23 points and grabbed 8 assists as well. He also had 2 rebounds and 1 steal as well. He seems to be getting better now and will look to continue this against the Portland Trailblazers.
Alternative pick: De'Anthony Melton (Phoenix Suns)
SG 1 - James Harden (Houston Rockets):
As we read in one of the previous slides, The Houston Rockets are not having a good time to start the season. They're currently 11-14, and have gone 3-7 in their last 10 games. Their defense seems to have fallen off a cliff and they are not able to figure out what the problem is. In all this, one man has continued performing at the highest level and that is James Harden.
Harden to start the season has averaged 30 points per game, to go with 8 assists and also a healthy 5 rebounds too. He has continued to lead the league in scoring and shows no signs of stopping. In his last match, Harden scored a huge 35 points, dishing out 8 assists and grabbing 4 rebounds too. He ended up getting a steal and a block too, showing his upside. They go up against the Trail Blazers tomorrow and need Harden to come up with the goods again to grab a win.
Alternative pick: C J McCollum (Portland Trail Blazers)
SG 2 - DeMar DeRozan (San Antonio Spurs):
The San Antonio Spurs are finally doing better now, they're 12th in the Western Conference and are 13-14 in the league as of now and are currently 5-5 in the their last 10 games. In their previous game, the San Antonio Spurs overcame the Utah Jazz 110-97 with contributions from their 3 stars, Rudy Gay, LaMarcus Aldridge and the player we will talk about, DeMar DeRozan.
In his last 3 games, DeRozan has managed to score more than 25 points in each of them and has gone beyond 30 points in 2. He has also become an elite playmaker as well, averaging 6 assists and 7 rebounds too. In his last game against the Utah Jazz itself, he scored 26 points, dished out 8 assists and also grabbed 6 rebounds. The Spurs go up against the Utah Jazz again tomorrow and DeRozan is the prime candidate to benefit from this matchup again.
Alternative pick: Eric Gordon (Houston Rockets)
SF 1 - Kawhi Leonard (Toronto Raptors):
The Toronto Raptors have been on a 2 game losing streak and are currently 21-7 and in the first position of the Eastern Conference. They're currently 7-3 in the last 10 games and will look to break out of this rut. They lost their last game to the Milwaukee Bucks 104-99 and a game before that to the Brooklyn Nets, which was a shock 106-105 loss. One of their star guards, Kyle Lowry, has been in abysmal form, scoring just 4 points per game on an average in his last 4 outings. The player in form for the Raptors is still Kawhi Leonard.
Kawhi has still been his elite self to start the season, averaging an awesome 26 points per game and a huge 8 rebounds as well. He has been dishing out 3 assists too and an elite 2 steals as well a block per game, showing his defensive prowess. In his last game against the Milwaukee Bucks, he had 20 points and 8 rebounds as well as 4 assists. He was defending really well too, grabbing 2 steals and blocks well. His next game is against the Los Angeles Clippers and will be looking to continue his great form.
Alternative pick: N/A
SF 2 - Danilo Gallinari (Los Angeles Clippers):
The Los Angeles Clippers have had a superb start to their 2018-19 NBA season. The Clippers were top of the Western conference for a while but are currently 4th, with a 17-9 record and 6-4 in the last 10 games. In their last game, against the Phoenix Suns, they overcame a tough fight and won in overtime 123-119. In all these games, Danilo Gallinari has been a consistent performer for the Clippers this season.
Gallinari has been playing at an elite level this season, scoring at least 19 points per game on an average, pulling down 6 rebounds and 2 assists as well. In the last match against the Suns, he scored a big 25 points, shooting 50% from the field as well. He is playing defense at a really high level as well and it showed as he had 2 steals as well against the Suns. His next game is against the Toronto Raptors and they'll look to do well.
Alternative pick: Rudy Gay (San Antonio Spurs)
PF 1 - Tobias Harris (Los Angeles Clippers):
As we read in one of the earlier slides, the Clippers are doing really well to start the season, currently in the 4th position in the Western Conference with a 17-9 record. They're currently on a 6-4 streak in the last 10 matches. One man who has been leading this charge for the Clippers has been Tobias Harris, who is having an excellent 2018-19 season, his first full one for the Clippers.
Harris has been really amazing this season, averaging a career high 21 points per game this season, along with more than 8 rebounds per game. He has been menace of the defensive end too and manages to get either a block or a steal each game. In the overtime win over the Suns, Harris scored a team high 33 points and managed to grab 8 rebounds as well. He even dished out 3 assists as the Clippers won 123-119.
Alternative pick: Montrezl Harrell (Los Angeles Clippers)
PF 2 - LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs):
The San Antonio Spurs, as we read in one of the previous slides, has had a bit of an upturn in their fortunes of late. They are currently 13-14 for the season and on a 2 game winning streak. They're on a 5-5 record in their last games and the season may still hold some hope for Pop and his roster. Their star player, LaMarcus Aldridge, had a huge season last year, since he was the only star on the whole team which was dealing with injuries.
The Spurs are doing well with Aldridge, he's averaging a great 18 points per game as well as a huge 10 rebounds per match as well. In the last game against the Utah Jazz, Aldridge had a great time, scoring 20 points and pulling down 6 rebounds as well. He was an elite rim protector and managed to get 3 blocks also. He goes up against the Utah Jazz again and he'll have another Chance to have a great game.
Alternative pick: Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors)
C 1 - Clint Capela (Houston Rockets):
The Houston Rockets have been performing below par this season, a losing record of 11-14 and they are currently 14th in the Western Conference. They're on a 3-7 run as well and almost nothing is working for them. James Harden is performing at his best and Paul has had a lopsided start to his season. The player who seems to have become the second best on the Houston Rockets is Clint Capela.
Capela has been quietly having a great season, taking another leap to become an even better player for the Houston Rockets. He's averaged a career high 17.6 points and almost 12 rebounds per game as well. He is blocking the rim at an elite level, averaging 2 blocks per game. In his last game against the Dallas Mavericks, Capela scored 12 points and managed 13 rebounds too. He was very restricted by the physical play of DeAndre Jordan and will look to bounce back this game against the Trail Blazers.
Alternative pick: DeAndre Ayton (Phoenix Suns)
C 2 - Serge Ibaka (Toronto Raptors):
The Toronto Raptors are enjoying a really good start to their 2018-19 season and are currently at the top of the Eastern Conference with a 21-7 record. They lost their last 2 games, the most recent to the Milwaukee Bucks, 104-99 and will most certainly look to get their season back on track against the Houston Rockets. One player who has been exceeding expectations this season is Serge Ibaka.
Ibaka has been amazing for the Toronto Raptors this season, he's having a career year, averaging almost 17 points and 7 rebounds per game this season. He's also shooting almost 3 three pointers per match this season and that has improved his effectiveness on the court. In his last game against the Bucks, he scored a crisp 22 points while getting 6 rebounds as well. He's been a great rim protector for the Raptors, and he showed that last game, getting 2 blocks as well as 2 steals.
Alternative pick: Jusuf Nurkic (Portland Trailblazers)
