Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images
Plus: Dame Lillard, Kevin Durant, and Jimmy Butler shine in their teams’ wins
Between some low-scoring war-of-attrition type affairs, some unhinged blowouts, and some S-tier matchups, Monday in the NBA had it all.
While the top 10 in the West is starting to separate itself, the regular season can bring weird moments like the 14th team in the West topping the 3rd team in the East, like in the Spurs’ victory over the Cavs.
Or there’s the premiere matchup from Monday between the Mavs and Thunder where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s big night was nearly enough for the 13th team in the West to get a win of their own.
We start the reactions with an upset that definitely is still weird to think of as an upset:
Heat win ugly over Pacers, 87-82
Neither team shot 40% from the field or 30% from deep, but Miami’s stars showed up where Indy’s didn’t. Jimmy Butler extended the Heat’s lead from 77-75 to 84-75 with a 7-0 run by himself with just a couple minutes remaining, which was enough to seal it.
Supplemented by 22 points and 17 rebounds from Bam Adebayo, the two combined for 42 points and 24 rebounds, roughly half of the team’s total in both categories (87 and 48, respectively).
Meanwhile, each Pacers starter finished in double-figures except for their most promising, Tyrese Haliburton, who finished with one point on 0-6 shooting. It’s the first time this season that he’s been shut out from the floor; the previous low on field goals made was 3-14 on Nov. 12 against Toronto.
Durant’s well-rounded night pushes Nets past shorthanded Wizards, 112-100
Brooklyn turned a 6-point halftime lead into a 16-point lead in a matter of nine third quarter minutes, and Washington could never make it close from there. With 30 points on 10-17 shooting, Kevin Durant was the game’s leading scorer while grabbing nine boards and dishing six assists.
Without the starting backcourt of Monte Morris and Brad Beal, the Wizards didn’t have the first unit firepower to compete with Brooklyn’s star duo of Durant and Kyrie Irving, who added 24 points of his own, more than any Wizard scored.
Three All-Star guards M.I.A. as Grizzlies blow out Hawks, 128-103
Injuries abound for this one as Trae Young deals with lower back tightness, Dejounte Murray nurses a left ankle sprain, and Ja Morant recovers from right thigh soreness. And that’s all before we get to key role player absences like John Collins (left ankle sprain) and Desmond Bane (right big toe sprain).
Nevertheless, Memphis is gonna Memphis, meaning their next men up will step up, coming off a season of 20-5 ball when Morant didn’t play in 2021-22. Six Grizzlies reached double digits, led by 22 points from Tyus Jones, while shooting better than 60% from the floor as a team.
Luka Doncic out duels SGA as Mavs beat OKC, 121-114
Dallas caught absolute fire in the second quarter, hitting on 10 of 16 three-point attempts with three Mavs hitting double-digit points in the lone frame with 12 from Tim Hardaway Jr., 11 from Luka Doncic (who finished with 38 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists), and 10 from Reggie Bullock.
The 14-point halftime deficit proved to be too much for OKC, even after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander responded with 17 of his 42 points on the night in the third. Per StatMuse, SGA now has two 40-point games on the season after coming into the season with just one over his first four seasons.
Cavs’ road struggles continue with 112-111 loss to Spurs
Over a 4:30 span in the second quarter, San Antonio went on a 16-0 run, creating enough cushion for a -15 second half as five different Cavs scored 9+ in the second half where their rally came up short. Cleveland moves to 5-9 on the road compared with a near league-best mark of 12-2 at home.
Dame with all-time shooting performance as Blazers smack Wolves, 133-112
In the National Basketball Association, you’ll win a lot of games shooting 46-93 (49.5%) from the floor with a 25-10 assist-to-turnover ratio. However, you will not win a lot of games when you lose the rebounding battle by 17, lose the made three-point battle 21-10, and lose the Dame Lillard battle 1-0.
In just 29 minutes, Lillard shot 11-17 from distance, tying his own franchise record for made threes, to finish with 38 points and a game-best +24 in a 21-point win. When faced with a question about stat padding at the end of the blowout in order to set a new record, Dame had the perfect response:
Damian Lillard on coming back in: “That would have been the thirsty thing to do so I knew Chauncey wouldn’t even consider it.”
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) December 13, 2022
Clippers hand Celtics worst loss of season, 113-93
Kawhi Leonard showed up in vintage style, needing only 12 shots to score 25 points, adding nine rebounds and six assists to just two turnovers in his 29 minutes. His big night was too much to overcome for Boston on a night where they shot 9-39 (23.1%) from deep. Boston drops to an NBA-leading 21-7 after their first 20-point loss.
