Saturday Night Is All Right For Cavaliers, Wizards, Knicks and Mavericks
Taking Care Of Business On A Saturday
CAVALIERS-76ERS
The Cavaliers have struggled since LeBron James left them for the second time but they have done decently against the Sixers, getting their fourth win in nine games over Philadelphia and third in a row since a horrific 10-game skid.
Last month the Nets discovered how good Collin Sexton is when he scored 42 on them. In Philadelphia, his 28 points were his 20th time with at least 28 and second against Philadelphia (also 28 on Feb. 26, 2020.
In terms of Cleveland guards getting 28 in Philadelphia, Sextonās performance was the 13th instance. The last four Cavs to do it before Saturday were Kyrie Irving on Nov. 27, 2016, Larry Hughes on Nov. 19, 2005, Ricky Davis on Nov. 8, 2002 and Wesley Person on Feb. 17, 1998.
Not to get lost in the mix was the stellar performance of Darius Garlandās 25 and nine assists marked Clevelandās 20th instance of 25 and nine against Philadelphia. It was the first by someone not named LeBron James or Kyrie Irving since Derek Anderson on Feb. 22, 1999 and the first in Philadelphia since Bingo Smith at the Spectrum on Feb. 12, 1975.
Joel Embiid did his thing with 42 points, 13 rebounds and six assists and that was the first time in eight games the Sixers lost when he gets at least 42 points.
WIZARDS-TIMBERWOLVES
Washington continued to thrive and strive towards .500 when it dropped 128 on the league-worst 128 points.
There are numerous notes to examine here such as the fact that the Wizards scored at least 128 points on Minnesota for sixth time and not surprising is the fact that each instance is since 2016.
The Wizards are 7-1 in their last eight and the latest win was highlighted by a 44-point third quarter, which is tied for the third most in the third quarter during their history. Perhaps notable is the fact it is their best third quarter in Washington DC as the last 44-point third in a home game was in suburban Landover when Bernard King scored 30 and the Wizards scored 45 in the third of a 135-129 win over Golden State on Feb. 5, 1990.
Russell Westbrookās triple-double of 19 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists was his seventh against Minnesota. Until Saturday each one was with Oklahoma City.
KNICKS-PACERS
Clyde Frazierās suit was on point tonight and the Knicks rallied from 16 points down thanks to a number of positive things.
Among them a big game from Julius Randle, whose 28 points, 10 rebounds, six assist, four steals was his first such stat line of his career. The four steals were the most by a Knick forward since David Lee on Jan. 2, 2009 and Randle joins Louis Orr and Renaldo Balkman as the fourth Knick to get at least four steals against the Pacers.
Derrick Rose also had four steals and his 11 assists marked only the sixth instance since the 2011-12 season he handed out at least 11 assists.
MAVERICKS-NETS
The Nets were flat offensively, getting held under 100 points for the third time this season, so moving to the Mavericks.
Dallas was spectacular throughout this one, shooting 52.3 percent. It was the 15th time Dallas shot 52.3 percent or highest against the Nets and they are unbeaten in those games. It was the third time in Brooklyn and in the last times they shot 52.3 percent or better on the Nets, they have made 40 3-pointers.
Luka Doncic scored a very business like 27 points, marking his second-most points against Brooklyn. Iām sure as time goes on, heāll have more games with at least 27 points on the Nets.
JAZZ-MAGIC
The Jazz couldnāt get it done in Miami, so they found another part of Florida to get business done (winning a game).
Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points and hit five 3-pointers, the 15th time he hit both marks in the same game and the third time this season. The only other time anyone on Utah hit those figures against Orlando was Rodney Hood on Nov. 18, 2018.
Overall, 31 points and five 3-pointers has taken place 79 times on Orlando, including eight times this season. Long before 3-pointers became a major thing, Reggie Miller did it in 1990 when he hit seven and Michael Adams did it twice in a span of two months in 1992 for Washington.
SPURS-PELICANS
DeMar DeRozan was back for the first time in over two weeks and his 32 points and 11 assists, marked only the third time he got that many in those categories.
The other instances were Feb. 1, 2014 in Portland (36 points, 12 assists) and Oct. 22, 2018 at the Lakers (32 points, 14 rebounds).
In terms of a Spur doing it, this marked the eighth instance in team history. Tony Parker has five of those games from 2005 to 2012 and Patty Mills did it in 2012.
It also was the 19th time someone did that against the Pelicans, fifth time this season. All of these games against New Orleans are since 2004 starting with Gilbert Arenas on March 1, 2004.
NUGGETS-THUNDER
When we last saw the Nuggets, they fell short to the Wizards. The best was to recover from a tough loss is a 30-point road win with big games from your stars Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic.
We can talk about Jokicās eighth triple-double or we can discuss the 55.1 percent shooting that was Denverās best against Oklahoma City since shooting 56.5 percent on March 29, 2019. The other nine times Denver shot 55.1 percent or higher against Oklahoma City were when they were in Seattle, but letās not go there.