There wasn’t much NBA action around today as only six teams were tapped to play. However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything to talk about!
The landscape of the Eastern Conference has significantly changed, and pundits who made their NBA 2019 betting tips on which side will make it out of the Eastern Conference would have made their choices after today.
The Toronto Raptors have easily established themselves as the top dogs of the East after dismantling a deflated Boston Celtics squad at the Air Canada Centre. If their dominance here is indicative of their performance in the playoffs, they might pull off the impossible and keep Kawhi Leonard.
Nikola Jokic hasn’t rubbed off any of the All-Star pixie dust as he came up big to help the Denver Nuggets dominate over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The fact that he did this in spite of Paul George and Russell Westbrook playing well is a testament to the big Serbian.
However, the NBA 2019 highlights don’t stop there: the New York Knicks also took a few people by surprise as they eked past the Orlando Magic for a surprising triumph.
Orlando Magic 103-108 New York Knicks
There isn’t much reason for joy at the Mecca of basketball, but the resilient Knicks fans who still came to the Madison Square Garden to watch their team play was treated to a rather surprising victory against the visiting Magic.
They saw the visitors — led by All-Star big man Nikola Vucevic — lead for most of the game. Vucevic himself finished with 26 points, 11 boards, and 6 assists. However, the Knicks mounted an improbable comeback that helped them overturn a 14-point deficit into a narrow five-point win at the end of regulation.
Kevin Knox, who has a mixed bag of results in his rookie season, was ineffective for much of the game. However, it was the bench that brought the win. Emmanuel Mudiay led the Knicks from the bench with his 19 points, and Allonzo Trier was deadly efficient after scoring 18 points in only 21 minutes of action.
Ever since letting Kristaps Porzingis go to Dallas, the franchise and its fans have decided to cling onto the hopes of the offseason. If they were to get Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in free agency and draft Zion Williamson, the Big Apple will once again become the rightful destination for all things basketball.
The quality of the role players they have may convince the two superstars to set up camp here and re-establish the Knicks.
Boston Celtics 95-118 Toronto Raptors
Kyrie may have a little bit more incentive to leave Boston after the utter humiliation the side experienced against Kawhi Leonard’s Raptors.
The Magic pulled off one incredible upset against Toronto in their own backyard, so I’m pretty sure that the Raptors were more than hungry to get one back in the win column. It just so happened that their next opponents were the C’s, setting them up for a great evening of hoops.
The game initially started as a back-and-forth between the two sides as neither team wasn’t able to figure out how to win against their opponents. However, Nick Nurse made the proper adjustments after the first quarter and launched the Raptors to dominate, outscoring their guests 36-13 in the quarter. Toronto didn’t look back since.
The more impressive part of this entire game was the fact that Kawhi wasn’t even the top scorer in the game. Pascal Siakam is coming into his own as a legitimate scoring threat from the wing, ending the night with 25 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block on a 62.5% shooting clip.
On the other end of the court, it’s hard to understand why the Celtics are playing this way. Al Horford, the ever-reliable presence in the middle, admitted that they lost their fire at some point of the season.
Whether they get that fighting spirit back is up to them.
Oklahoma City Thunder 112-121 Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets continue to be the most surprising story in the SBOBET basketball team. While everyone agrees that Jokic is one heck of a center, many thought that the team is still a few pieces away from playoff contention. Maybe they would wait to see how Michael Porter pans out.
However, the team is simply balling their socks off under Jokic and Jamal Murray‘s leadership. And the Joker is probably inspired by the sights and sounds of the All-Star game that he began putting up a clinic to ensure his return next year. He almost had a triple-double with his 36 points, 9 rebounds, and 10 dishes in almost 35 minutes of game time. Murray and Will Barton chipped in with 20 and 23, respectively.
However, it wasn’t like the Thunder were having a bad night. Westbrook had another near triple-double with his 22 points, 14 boards, and 9 assists. Paul George had a 25-8-7 stat line, and his 6 steals proved just how much of a ball hawk he was on the court. Jerami Grant and Steven Adams also had superb outings for OKC.
It was just Jokic was simply unstoppable throughout the game. It was his day to shine, and he didn’t let PG or the Brodie steal all of the spotlight.
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