The November 1st slate featured nine games across the league on Friday Night and we are back for another fast break recap.
Knicks Shine in Detroit
The night opened up with the Knicks and the Pistons in Detroit with the Knicks opening up as 6.5 point favorites on the road. The Knicks put together their most well-rounded offensive performance in a start-to-finish blowout of the Pistons. Jalen Brunson had acknowledged the need to get Karl-Anthony Towns more involved in the offensive and the previous two games showcased how dangerous fulfilling that need may be for New York. Coming off a 44 point performance in a win against the Miami Heat, KAT had it working again tonight as he contributed 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists to compliment Jalen Brunson’s 36 points. All five Knicks starters ended the night in double figures with OG Anunoby adding 21, Mikal Bridges adding 25, and Josh Hart scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds. The Knicks have showcased a willingness to share the ball early in this season but tonight was the first time they really seemed to put everything together and if they can continue to do that, they will be a very tough team to beat moving forward as they dominated the Pistons tonight by a final score of 128-98
Nets Edge Out Bulls
The Bulls and Nets faced off tonight in a contest of two play-in hopeful teams. Cam Thomas took over the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of his 32 in the final quarter to lead the Nets to a 120-112 victory to move both teams records to an even 3-3 to start the year. Cam Thomas has emerged as the clear leader of the Brooklyn Nets on offense, but five players in double figures is a good sign for a Brooklyn team that came in with some pedestrian expectations. The Bulls had three players score 21 or more points tonight but lacked production elsewhere and will miss the absence of Lonzo Ball who unfortunately finds himself missing time with another injury. Both teams look to push above .500 in their next game with the Nets set to take on the Pistons on Sunday and the Bulls getting ready for the Jazz on Monday.
Celtics Handle Hornets
The Celtics took on the Hornets as 11 point road favorites and unsuprisingly took care of business in Charlotte with a 124-119 victory. Jayson Tatum provided Boston with 32 points and 11 rebounds and continues to play with a chip on his shoulder after the olympic controversy surrounding his usage in their gold medal run. Lamelo Ball continues to look like a superstar on a bad team, which at this point is just the reality of the situation as he scored 31 points tonight in a 15 point loss. Boston will look to take advantage of this lopsided matchup once again tomorrow night when they face Charlotte again on Saturday night.
Cavaliers Remain Undefeated
The Cavs stayed undefeated against the Magic who unfortunately lost Paolo Banchero to a oblique injury that will sideline him 4-6 weeks. The Cavaliers continue to exceed expectations as they move to 6-0 with another win tonight lead by 25 points from Darius Garland and 22 points from Donovan Mitchell. They will look to stay undefeated in their next contest against the Bucks to close out the back end of a back-to-back tomorrow night, while the magic will look to stay afloat in the absence of their young star as they prepare to face the Mavericks on Sunday night.
Kings Outlast Hawks
The Kings topped the Hawks on Friday night on the back of a Domantis Sabonis double double accompanied by double digit scoring across the starting unit, including 31 points and 7 rebounds from De’Aaron Fox. The Kings will look to build off this win in their next game against the Raptors on Saturday night and the Hawks will look to get things back on track against the 3-3 Pelicans on Sunday Night.
Lakers Bounce Back
The Lakers got back in the win column tonight after dropping two in a row to the Suns and Cavaliers, with a 131-125 win against the Toronto Raptors. The torch passing from Lebron to Anthony Davis has seemed to pay off so far this year as Anthony Davis is putting up elite numbers through the teams first 6 games, averaging over 30 points and 12 rebounds. Lebron certainly contributed his fair share tonight with 27 ponitss, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists. D’angelo Russell also gave them 19 points tonight and Austin Reeves added 20. The Lakers have looked more competent so far this year then they did last yaer unde first year head coach JJ Reddick, and they will look to continue their good form against the Pistons on Monday night. The Raptors will look to continue to develop their young roster against the Kings tomorrow night.
Pelicans Even Record
The Pelicans got back to .500 against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, with Zion having his best game of the season, contributing 34 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists. Brandon Ingram also added 26, and Jordan Hawkins added 23 points. If Zion and Brandon Ingram can continue to produce at an all-star level, this team will be tough competition for the Western Conference this season. As for the Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton continued his slow start, shooting just 2-8 from the field and 1-6 from beyond the arc. He will need to turn things around if the Pacers want to find success this season.
Thunder Stay Unbeaten
The Thunder stayed undefeated as they dominated the Trail Blazers with a final score of 137-114. Shai lead the Thunder in scoring with 30 points and Jalen Williams added 22. They also got production from their role players, featuring six players in double figures. The Thunder look like a team that could be in the midst of taking that next step into legitmate contender territory despite them still being extremely young. They look to keep the winning ways up against the Clippers tomorrow night.
Nuggets Fall to Timberwolves
The final game of the night was the Denver Nuggets traveling to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves. This game was everything that it was advertised to be, with a playoff feel from start to finish. Denvers lack of consistency out of their role players and their second unit continued to cost them in this game. The bench unit ended the first half with just two points on 1 of 14 shooting from the field. For a team with a consistent MVP candidate and championship aspirations, they are simply not getting enough out of their bench to be any sort of threat in the Western Conference. Despite this, they led this game by ten points with just over 4 minutes left before being outscored by Minnesota 17-4 in the final four minutes. Anthony Edwards scored 29 points tonight and hit 7 three pointers. He has hit five or more three pointers in all five of the Timberwolves games this season, adding an extremely dangerous component to his game that has not been as prevelant to this point in his career. WIth this win, the Timberwolves will try and build off this momentum against Wemby and the Spurs tomorrow night in San Antonio. As for the Nuggets, they need to hope for more production out of players not named Jokic or Michael Porter Jr when they get set to take on the 0-5 Jazz on Saturday nIght.
