Best- The NBA started back up on Thursday night, and the league could not have scripted a better start. Both games came down to the wire for some classic finishes. Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers star shined brightest in Thursday’s game. The Clippers had no answer for Davis (34PTS 8REB 4AST 35MIN), but they did shut down the rest of the Lakers, including LeBron James, who scored 16PTS. The Clippers were missing two of their starting players, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrel, in adherence to the bubble quarantine rules. This gave Davis a severe edge against the Clippers. Davis went to the line 17 times and made 16 of his free throws for the game. Davis also played the most minutes of any player on either team. With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George tag-teaming LeBron James, the Lakers needed Davis on the court. With this Victory, the Lakers are now 2-2 against their rivals, the Clippers. In both victories, Davis scored 30+ points, and in both losses, Davis was under 30. The Clippers have a great game plan to shut down LeBron James, but Davis was too much to handle.
Other Notable: Kawhi Leonard, Clippers (SF) – 28PTS 2BLK 2STL 4AST 3REB; Paul George, Clippers (SG) – 30PTS 3STL 3AST 5REB; Rudy Gobert, Jazz (C) – 14PTS 3BLK 12REB.
Worst-The New Orleans Pelicans entered the bubble as one of the most exciting teams to watch, but their playoff hopes will go down the drain if they cannot get the best out of point guard Lonzo Ball. Ball’s numbers from Thursday’s game (4PTS 3TO 7AST 2STL 6REB) do not look great, but when you take a look at his shot selection, Ball’s stats look even worse. Ball shot 2-13 overall and went 0-4 from behind the arc and 0-2 from the charity stripe. Shooting has always been Ball’s biggest weakness, but that did not stop the Pelicans from letting him shoot. The Pelicans cannot afford to let any games slip away. They are desperately trying to catch the Memphis Grizzlies for the 8th spot or at least stay within four games and force the play in the tourney. Aside from his shooting, Ball had a low assist to turnover ratio. Ball has to step it up and be the floor general. This exciting young team needs to make this offense flow. The Pelicans have seven games left to try to make up ground and sneak into the playoffs, but if Ball starts badly in the next game, it may just make more sense for him to stay on the bench.
Extra Trash: Georges Niang, Jazz (SF) – 0PTS 2REB 0-6FG 0-3 3PT; Landry Shamet, Clippers (SG) -1-8FG 0-5 3PT 2PTS 3REB 2TO; Alex Caruso, Lakers (SG) – 2-7FG 0-2 3PT 3-6FT 1STL 2AST 4REB 7PTS.