NBA Weekly Recap 6: ‘The Stars Shine’
Recapping the biggest stories from the sixth week of the NBA regular season
It has snowed exactly twice so far and I am already over the cold of winter. I know that sounds surprising coming from a Canadian. I’ve lived here in ‘The North’ my whole life, yet I’m still not used to the colder months which has earned me no end of ridicule from my family, friends, and the moose family that visits every other Wednesday asking for maple syrup. Thankfully, nothing warms me up quite like NBA action! With that in mind, let’s take a short stroll down memory lane and relive three of the most entertaining games played in the last week of NBA regular season basketball.
Mikal Bridges Torches the Magic in Big Win for Brooklyn
Usually around this time of year people get together with loved ones and roast chestnuts on an open fire. The Brooklyn Nets, however, seem to prefer roasting something else.
In a game against the Orlando Magic on December 2nd, the Nets beat their opponent from pillar to post over the course of four quarters, ending the night in a blowout win that would put an end to a nine-game winnning streak the Magic had been enjoying. The biggest story to come out of this game was the scorching performance of Mikal Bridges. In just the first quarter, Bridges put up an astonishing 26 points, eventually ending the game with 42. Thus far in the regular season, no other player has scored more points in a single quarter aside from reigning MVP Joel Embiid who put up 29 points in the third quarter on November 6th in a game against the Washington Wizards.
Being able to not only beat one of the top ranked teams in the Eastern Conference, but to do it convincingly has to give the Nets a boost. Currently, Brooklyn is the eighth seed and sports an identical record to their in-city rival the New York Knicks. It’s been a while since a Nets-Knicks matchup has had me genuinely excited, but dammit I’m looking forward to to their meeting on December 20th. Not only that, but the Nets’ showing in this game adds yet another wrinkle to a loaded conference this year. With so many teams that can pose credible threats, the excitement for each and every game gets notched up that much more. If I could make covering the league my day job, I would have no complaints based on the games I’ve seen thus far. Maybe one day.
Mikal Bridges has continued to lead the Nets as a reliable offensive spark. Could the Nets make noise in the East this year? And which team will get to say they run New York? We can only wait and see.
Tray Young Dazzles with 45 pt Outing as Hawks Sneak by Spurs
If you love offense, this week of basketball had you spoiled.
In an inter-conference matchup, the Atlanta Hawks took on the San Antonio Spurs. Unlike the previous game we went over where one team dominated much of the night, this one went down to the wire. Just how I like it. Ultimately the game was decided by just two points as the Atlanta Hawks snuck out a win over the Spurs. While this result was in no small part due to Trae Young’s 45 point game, perhaps the most critical play made by the Atlanta point guard was on the other side of the ball. For a player who is not known for, and often times lambasted for his showing on the defensive end, all eyes were on Young as he drew a charge on Jeremy Sochan in the closing seconds of the game to seal the win. Up till that point Sochan had been having an excellent game, eventually ending the night with 33 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. In that pivotal moment, it could have gone either way in my eyes. If Sochan made that bucket or drew a foul, who knows what could have happened?
This game is neatly ironic in the sense that it featured numerous key defensive plays, yet will likely be remembered for the offensive displays by several players. Victor Wembanyama in particular continues to show he is as good as advertised, recording four blocks in this game. But aside from some good individual performances, there are not many positives San Antonio can take from the night. This game marked their 13th loss in a row, a pace that has not been seen since 1996. At the time, Bob Hill was let go by none other than Gregg Popovich. Another interesting twist of irony. 28 years later, Pop finds himself in that same position. Even though San Antonio’s future looks bright, I anticipate that questions regarding the future of the Spurs’ front office might start to emerge. Popovich is one of the greatest coaches the NBA has ever seen, but every run reaches its end eventually. We could very well witness history repeat itself sooner rather than later.
Just something to think about.
Knicks v Raptors, New York Stands Up, While Raptors Continue to Slide
It’s hard being a Raptors fan.
Time and time again, this team shows me flashes of brilliance. Time and time again it gives me hope. Time and time again it fools me into thinking that something is gonna change. Only for the brutal reality to set in and remind me of a simple fact.
The Raptors suck.
The game against the Knicks on December 1st started well, like all of the Raptors’ games. Toronto jumped out to a decent lead, and while they’d end the first quarter behind, I had hope. Sure the Knicks have been good this year, but they’re not that much better than the Raptors. At the very least this game would be a hard fought win for either side.
In reality, this game was over by the start of the third quarter. After taking the lead in the third quarter with 11:27 remaining, the Knicks would not lose the lead again for the remainder of the game. The gap would come inches away from being closed, but like a pair of parallel lines they would never intersect. It would only widen, until the end when the Knicks would walk out of Toronto with a 13 point win. Not even the excellent performance of Scottie Barnes could provide much comfort to myself and other Raptors fans.
At this point it feels like I, along with the Toronto Raptors are caught in a cruel version of Groundhog Day. Over and over it seems that we are reliving the same scenario ad nauseum. The difference here is that the Raptors could do something about it, yet choose not to. And that’s what is the most frustrating. We are now almost half a decade away from 2019 when the Raptors were crowned NBA champions. It’s obvious to any basketball fan with a working set of eyes that this team is nowhere near being a championship contender. Yet instead of making moves to rebuild, the front office steadfastly refuses to do much. Instead of trading players like Fred VanVleet in order to get something in return, he left in free agency for nothing. No one seems to be movable. Not only that, the way this team plays continues to frustrate me. We are terrible at shooting beyond the arc, yet we continue to chuck shots from 3. I know that you really can’t get away from attempting 3s in this day and age of basketball, but if that’s the case then how come no one on this team can be relied upon to do it? Why is this team unable to hold onto leads? Why can’t they be consistent throughout a game? So many questions, and instead of answers all we get is more of the same.
I wish the Raptors would just pick a direction and move forward. Even if that means taking a step back and retooling. Sadly, I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Still, I’ll do my best to root for this team. Even when they make me want to roll my eyes into my head….
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And that concludes the weekly recap for this week of NBA action. What stories and games did I miss? Do you have different viewpoints on the ones I did? Share all your thoughts in the comments. If you enjoyed this piece, follow me on Medium and subscribe to my email list so you get notified every time I post. Also if you would like to support the independent work I do here and get some extra reading material, consider becoming a patron at https://www.patreon.com/HMShaikh . Thank you, and stay blessed!
