Basketball Daily Dose: Dose: Stan's bump & trash talk
Wednesday night brought with it more blowouts, as many of the games in these playoffs have not exactly been riveting. The favorites all won last night and the outcomes of each game were never really in doubt. The news of the night was Nicolas Batum suffering a sprained left ankle, which didn’t look good. He might be done for the series. And Detroit rookie Stanley Johnson poked a not-so-sleeping giant with some trash talk aimed at LeBron James, along with all of his teammates. Follow me on Twitter!
Heat 115, Hornets 103 – The Hornets hung pretty tough in this one and were making a bit of a comeback late, but two careless turnovers to Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng ended their run and the Heat easily pulled away for a 2-0 lead in the series. Game 3 is at Charlotte on Saturday at 5:30 on TNT. Al Jefferson was great, and scored 16 in the second quarter.
Editor’s Note: This is your chance to try FanDuel risk free! Sign up today and if you lose your first contest, you’ll be refunded the entry fee up to $10. Play now!
Heat
Joe Johnson – 8 points, very quiet, basically a fifth option on offense.
Luol Deng – 16 points, six boards, two 3-pointers, steal, block – Playing very well.
Hassan Whiteside – 17 points, 13 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 8-of-8 shooting. Baller.
Goran Dragic – 18 points, 4 assists, three 3-pointers. Solid outing, as usual.
Dwyane Wade – 28 points, 8 dimes, nice line. So nice to see him fully healthy.
Josh Richardson – 15 points, a couple threes, not much else in 31 minutes. As usual.
Justise Winslow – 32 minutes, 9 points, 4 rebounds…Didn’t do a lot with his minutes.
Hornets
Marvin Williams – 0-for-10, zero points. Scored 2 points in Game 1. Good vibes gone.
Cody Zeller – Started and played just 14 minutes. 8 & 5, but Al Jefferson coming on.
Kemba Walker – 29 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, full line, but shot left him in 2nd half.
Nicolas Batum – Suffered left ankle injury and didn’t return. Very iffy for Game 3.
Courtney Lee – 42 minutes, 12 points, 4 rebounds, no threes. Eh.
Al Jefferson – 27 minutes off bench, 12-of-17 shooting, 25 & 7, no blocks. Value play.
Jeremy Lin – 26 minutes, 11 points on 2-of-7 shooting. Sees a boost if Batum is out.
Cavaliers 107, Pistons 90 – The Cavaliers pulled away in the second half after leading by just two points at the break and the series heads to Detroit for Game 3 on Friday at 7 with the Cavs leading 2-0. Reggie Jackson’s wrist appears to be bothering him and Marcus Morris went to the locker room in order to stop a bloody nose, but returned. LeBron James went off and the Cavs looked really good in the second half, despite a no-show from starter Tristan Thompson. They also got a franchise record and tied the NBA playoff record with 20 3-pointers in the win, as J.R. Smith connected on seven treys. And LeBron had some choice words for Morris during the game, while 19-year-old rookie Stanley Johnson talked serious trash about LeBron and the Cavs afterwards, according to TNT. “I’m definitely in his head,” said Johnson, who took this bump from LeBron. “He jabbers. I wish he would just talk when the game is 0-0, not when he’s up 16. He moves his mouth sometimes. Their whole team does, kind of like their little cheerleaders on the bench.” Wow! Something tells me SJ might regret those comments at some point. And it looks like the Cavs are going to be highly motivated on Friday night.
Cavs
Kevin Love – Double-doubled with 16 & 10 and three 3-pointers, 5-of-14 shooting.
LeBron James – 12-of-18 shooting, 27 points, fun line, and is mad at Marcus Morris.
Tristan Thompson – 13 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 assist, nothing else. No thanks.
Kyrie Irving – 22 points, 4 assists, four 3-pointers, 34 minutes.
J.R. Smith – 7-of-13 shooting, seven treys, 21 points and five rebounds. Nice.
Matthew Dellavedova – Came off bench for 9 points, 8 assists and a 3-pointer.
Pistons
Marcus Morris – 2-of-10 shooting, 11 points and 7 boards, got under LeBron’s skin.
Tobias Harris – 3-of-11 shooting, 13 points, 8 boards, 1 block.
Andre Drummond – 20 points, 7 boards, a steal and block. Cavs have no one to stop him. And he missed 12 free throws, as usual.
Reggie Jackson – 14 points, 4 boards, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 block. Good game.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – 13 points, 8 boards, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 3-pointers. Solid.
Stanley Johnson – 22 minutes off bench, 9 points, 2 rebounds, and a 3-pointer.
Clippers 102, Blazers 81 – Despite a big night from Chris Paul and a disappearing act from Damian Lillard, the Blazers were surprisingly still in this game late in the third quarter. The Clippers ended up putting the Blazers away, as a CP3 3-pointer extended a fourth-quarter lead to 86-69, but things should get interesting with the series heading to Portland. The Clippers hold a 2-0 lead and Game 3 is Saturday at 10:30 in PDX. The Blazers shot just 34 percent on the night, thanks to some stifling Clippers D.
Clippers
Blake Griffin – 4-of-12, 12 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block. They didn’t need more.
DeAndre Jordan – 1-of-4, 3 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and 3 blocks.
Chris Paul – 10-of-22, 2 3-pointers, 25 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, a steal.
J.J. Redick – 17 points, 3 3-pointers, nothing else.
Jamal Crawford – 27 minutes off bench, 11 points, 2 rebounds, 4 dimes, a 3-pointer.
Jeff Green – 17 minutes off bench, 10 points and 2 blocks.
Blazers
Al-Farouq Aminu – 35 minutes, 4-of-13 shooting, 9 points, 10 boards, 2 steals, 1 3-pointer.
Moe Harkless – 34 minutes, 5-of-13, 2 3-pointers, 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal.
Mason Plumlee – 31 minutes, 17 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. Wow.
Damian Lillard – 6-of-22, 0-for-6 3-pointers, 17 points, 6 boards, 3 assists. Yuck.
C.J. McCollum – 6-of-17 shooting, 2 3-pointers, 16 points, 5 assists.
Ed Davis – 13 minutes, 2 points, 6 rebounds.
Allen Crabbe – 18 minutes, 0-for-3, zero points. Dud!
Gerald Henderson – 18 minutes, 2-of-6 shooting, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 0 3-pointers.
Thursday’s Games
OKC @ DAL 7 – OKC is mad, Dirk Nowitzki and Deron Williams are iffy and the Thunder should be out for blood in this one.
TOR @ IND 7:30 – The Pacers want to desperately win two straight at home to take a 3-1 lead in the series, but it won’t be easy. Patrick Patterson looks like a must-play in DFS.
GSW @ HOU 9:30 – My guess is Stephen Curry sits, which puts Shaun Livingston into play in DFS, while Draymond Green and Klay Thompson should be in all lineups if possible.
