With no NBA on TNT last night, I chose my own adventure. What I got was a Texas two-step of big performances!
Hello and welcome to another edition of Thursday Night Thoughts (TNT) on Friday! Normally in this space I would give my takes on both games of the NBA’s premiere weekly broadcast. However, there was no NBA on TNT last night! So I simply picked two games from the six-game slate that intrigued me the most. Do you have any thoughts about the games I selected, or any of last night’s action? Hit me up on Twitter and let me know!
Dallas Mavericks 115, Detroit Pistons 105
The Mavericks really needed this win, considering how much they apparently loathe the concept of the Play-In Tournament. They entered the game without the services of Luka Doncic (bruised left elbow) and Dorian Finney-Smith (lower left leg contusion), and lost Kristaps Porzingis in the third quarter due to right knee soreness. It was up to the rest of the rotation to get the road win over the young, scrappy Pistons and stay above water in the Race to Avoid the Play-In.
Well, Dallas got the job done, thanks in large part to Tim Hardaway, Jr. He dropped 42 points in the win, using his electric shooting touch to attain a new career high. 10 of his 13 made field goals came off of jump shots, including a 6-of-10 night from 3-point range, and he was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line. He even accomplished this feat with his father, Tim Hardaway Sr., and fellow Michigan alum Jalen Rose in attendance.
It’s only natural that when the top two scorers on the team are unavailable, the third-leading scorer has to step up, and THJ stepped up big time on Thursday night. However, I also have to give props to the guard tandem of Trey Burke (15 points off the bench) and Jalen Brunson (13 points), who really came through in Luka’s stead.
Despite the loss, I really dug watching this young Pistons squad. The roster is full of young, hungry players displaying flashes of potential throughout the game. Isaiah Stewart (10 rebounds, three blocks) and Frank Jackson paced Detroit with 20 points each.
Stewart was especially exciting to watch. He showed high energy, rim protection, inside scoring ability, and even a little outside touch in the fourth quarter. This was his first career 20-point game, and I’m looking forward to watching him grow as a player.
Killian Hayes looks the part of a saavy, big playmaking guard, which was the reason I predicted way back in the preseason that he would be Rookie of the Year. Oops! Nevertheless, he dished out a career-high 11 assists in this game. However, he went just 1-of-6 from the field, so he still has a long way to go before he’s comfortable with his jumper.
Other notables from the Pistons’ cast of characters: Saddiq Bey continued to be a marksman, knocking down four triples in this game. Josh Jackson (13 points, four assists) has come such a long way as an individual, and I like the smoothness of his offensive game. He and Frank Jackson are the only two guys on this team I feel I can trust to create their own shot. I was also impressed with Saben Lee in the limited minutes he played, as he gave out four assists of his own in 18 minutes.
Houston Rockets 143, Milwaukee Bucks 136
Honestly, this was the game that motivated me to do the column this week. Once I saw via Twitter that Kevin Porter Jr. had unleashed a 50-point game in a win against the third-best team in the East, I knew I had to check it out.
Now I realized as I watched this game that there were several parallels between this game and Mavs/Pistons:
- Both games were matchups between a Central Division team and a Texas team
- Both games had a star unicorn big man leave mid-game due to injury and not return. In this game, Giannis Antetokounmpo went down 36 seconds into the game with a sprained right ankle.
- Both games featured a NBA legend watching their son play. In this game, it was Kenyon Martin at Toyota Center watching his Junior play for the Rockets.
Despite Giannis’ early exit, the Bucks managed to break out to a 69-52 lead with 3:17 left in the second quarter. However, Houston surged back with a 33-10 run of their own, flipping it into a 85-79 lead with 7:10 left in the third. From there, it was a back-and-forth shootout until the final buzzer. Both teams had a quick trigger, combining to attempt 85 3-pointers. The Bucks shot a hot 16-of-39 (41.0 percent), but the Rockets were hotter, going 25-of-46 (54.3 percent!) from beyond the arc.
Kevin Porter was the Man of the Hour, finishing with a career-high 50 points and doling out 11 assists. Nine of his 16 field goals were 3-pointers, but he also got a fair amount of points taking his defenders off the dribble for either a nice finish or drawn foul. It was a methodical dissection. Almost every time he got the ball, Porter would sizeup his opponent and decide whether to end them with a drive or a jumper.
Porter’s night was also impressive because it’s following a terrible game. He finished Houston’s Apr. 27 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves with just 10 points on 2-of-12 shooting. The following day, the NBA fined him $50,000 for violating health and safety protocols by attending a club in Miami nine days prior. After a couple of setbacks like that, it’s good to see him bounce back with such an epic performance.
However, this win wasn’t a one-man show. Christian Wood added 31 points, nine rebounds, and four assists to the winning cause. Wood has really developed into a near-All-Star-calliber player. It’s so cool watching him be so tall and lanky, yet handle the ball so fluidly and effortlessly score from all three levels.
Not to be outdone, Kelly Olynyk came away with 24 points, 13 boards, four assists, and two steals. Olynyk has really leaned into his expanded role in Houston. He has scored double-figures in all 19 games he has played with the team. This includes 10 games with at least 20 points, with an active streak of four games. He also has six double-doubles to his name as a Rocket.
With all that offense, it’s not surprising that Milwaukee struggled to keep up without Giannis. A loss like this, to a team the Bucks entered the night having won 23 more games than, can seem head-scratching from afar. But when a team is as hot as Houston was Thursday, even when your own team is already scoring at a fairly above average rate, there’s only so much that can be done.
Khris Middleton paced Milwaukee with 33 points and eight assists. Bryn Forbes hit a new career high with 30 points. Jrue Holiday did his best to hold down the fort, logging 29 points (including 14 consecutive in the fourth quarter), 10 assists, and four blocks! The Bucks bench even blitzed Houston’s 55-20! They could only do so much!
Giannis’ injury certainly threw the Bucks for a loop, but they absolutely tried their hardest to step up in his absence. In the end, though, the Milwaukee Bucks were unable to disrupt this historic night for Kevin Porter Jr. and the Houston Rockets.
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