The Blazers were a minus-9 in less than five minutes with neither Damian Lillard or C.J. McCollum on the floor in Friday's four-point loss in
Sacramento. Otherwise, their bench has been a positive, and Terry
Michael Jordan Authentic Jersey Stotts went back to having one of Lillard and McCollum always on the
floor as they got their win back on Saturday. Shabazz Napier seems to
have a permanent spot in the rotation, has shot 58 percent, and was on
the floor (with Lillard and McCollum) down the stretch of both of the
Blazers' close games last week, hitting a big three in Wednesday's win
over Orlando. They played 11 of their last 13 games at the Moda Center,
but ranked 24th offensively over that
Michal Rozsival Authentic Jersey stretch and will now play 18 of their next 27 on the road.
Late-game issues are why the Thunder are 7-8 with a plus-81 point
differential (that of a team that's 11-4). But before they get to the
last five minutes, their offense needs to be better. They rank 20th
offensively (102.7 points scored per 100 possessions) through the first
three quarters of games and 22nd in November (102.3), with Russell
Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony combining to shoot 36 percent this month.
Paul George also cooled off (9-for-31 in two games last week) after his
two big games against the Clippers and Mavs, and their third-ranked
defense couldn't get stops as
Nick Schmaltz Authentic Jersey they blew a 23-point lead in San Antonio on Friday.
The Sixers' evolution from bad team to fun team, and eventually to good
team and then to great team, is fascinating to watch. As they were
running up a 22-point, halftime lead on the Warriors on Saturday (and
before they lost the 3rd quarter by 32 points), the elements of a top-10
team on both ends of the floor could be seen pretty clearly. On
offense, they have two serious matchup problems and complementary
shooting. On defense, they have size, switchability and rim protection,
with J.J. Redick being the only guy in the starting lineup (the league's
best lineup among those that have played 75 minutes) under 6-foot-9.
Before Saturday's roller-coaster game, last week saw career highs for
Joel Embiid in playing time and rebounds (35:48 and 16 against the
Clippers),
Patrick Kane Authentic Jersey points, assists and blocks (46, seven and seven against the Lakers),
all at Staples Center. The Golden State loss began a stretch where
they're playing nine of 10 games at home.
The Nuggets are 6-1 at home in November, with the only loss coming at
the hands of the Warriors. But, spending most of the next five weeks
away from the Pepsi Center, they need to figure out how to win on the
road. They figured out how to lose on the road a couple of times last
week, scoring just 33 second-half points in Portland on Monday and
allowing 70 first-half points in L.A. on Sunday. That game included
ejections for Mike Malone and Nikola Jokic, a return to earth for Jamal
Murray (after scoring 30-plus points in two of his previous three
games), and most importantly, a wrist injury to Paul Millsap.
