Giddy gives hope to the thunder

Josh Giddy lectured against the Knicks, the Nets won and the Jazz seem to be feeling the pressure again.

the Sportish presents the 7 things that caught the eye in a 9 game night in the NBA.

The game of the evening

The Knicks and Thunder gave the world the most thrilling game of the night, with Oklahoma City celebrating a 123-127 win in overtime in New York. The Knicks had the opportunity to send the game into a second overtime, but with the score at 123-126, Immanuel Quickley’s three-pointer couldn’t find a goal.

Tre Man was the winner’s top scorer with 30 points, with Josh Giddy (more on that in a moment) adding 28 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, and Darius Beasley adding 23 points (and the basket that sent the game into overtime). . For the Knicks, Julius Randle had 30 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists and Evan Fournier had 29 points.

The Appearance of the Night

DeMar DeRozan… doesn’t feel, and the cops don’t feel for him. The All Star guard/forward put in another great performance, scoring 40 points with 16/24, two points, 8/8 shots, 3 rebounds and 7 assists in the Bulls’ 120-109 win over the Spurs, leading his team to 4th place .Win in a row of.

This was DeRozan’s seventh straight +30 point game, and all in a span of 11 (!) days. With the Bulls still ranked No. 2 in the East despite injury woes, perhaps his name should rejoin the top 5 nominees for the MVP award.

Josh Giddy is something else

Those who saw Josh Giddy at the NBL (Oceania) Championship knew he had something special. The Thunder were among the teams watching him and couldn’t feel more justified in picking him 6th in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Against the Knicks, Giddy had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to hit a straight triple-double. This season, he’s averaged 12.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in 31 minutes of attendance, while in the Thunder’s last 5 games he’s averaged 15.4 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists with 40% on three Scored in 31 minutes of attendance.

Giddy is a basketball paradox. An all-round point guard, standing at 2.03m, with incredible passing skills (there aren’t many 19-year-olds – basically players – who pass equally well with both hands on the weak side) and good understanding of the game. What everyone blames him for is his mediocre shot and the fact that… he’s not selfish enough in attack. He seems to be beginning to understand that in order to move up, he needs to look at the basket more often, which he also showed against the Knicks.

Sai Gilgius-Alexander is the man chosen by the Thunder to build their future. However, the player who seems to bring some real light into their darkness at the moment is Gidi. If he finds the right chemistry with Gilgius-Alexander then the Thunder will have reason to smile as they will have two separate players in the guard positions. The rest will follow.

The networks won

Brooklyn has reached the point where there is news that it has won. Certainly some unlucky ones will say that win doesn’t count as it came against one of the most careless teams in the NBA, the Kings (109-85). Victory is victory, and that’s exactly what the Nets needed, breaking an 11-loss streak.

Seth Curry (23 points) and Bruce Brown (19 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, 3 steals!) were his protagonists – without Durant, Irving, Simmons – Brooklyn. The latter is also the most interesting case as he was one of the team’s catalysts last year but is often on the sidelines this year. But it may be the answer to several Nets questions when (if) they get all the players back.

Some believe the role Brown played last year – as a guard, acting as a central defender and playing pick and roll with the team’s guards – was the role Simmons could have played. Others, that they might co-exist, in a – at least a special – lineage of great people. Anyway, what matters for Brooklyn right now is that it won. Everything else follows.

The injuries, the depth and the overall picture of the Bucks

The Bucks saw the youngsters — and theoretically in the midst of tanking — the Blazers came to Milwaukee and easily beat them 107-122, on a night that saw John Antetokunbo (sprain) absent and Pat Conaton, George Hill and Brooke Lopez absent. Of course, the Blazers were missing Damien Lillard, Nasir Little and Dennis Smith.

The Bucks are still looking at the big picture. Serge Ibaka’s 31 minutes on his debut bodes well as he has an important role to play – whether Brooke Lopez returns this year or not. Of course, what the Bucks need most is depth in guard positions.

The absences of Conaton and Hill are significant, and made even more so after the concessions of Dode DiVincenzo, Sammy Ozelegier and Rodney Hood. You’d say the last two played a limited role, but they’re still veteran players who could provide solutions in the regular season to keep the main players more relaxed in the playoffs. Milwaukee chose to give them away to feel safe near the basket, knowing that — with Lopez’s return a mystery — the season could not have ended with John and Portis alone.

The Bucks needed a replacement point guard (ideally a player who can play in both guard positions) before the trade deadline. But they needed more than a forward/center. Now they have to fill the second “hole” in the squad, with Goran Dragic being the big target. If the Slovenian is taken over, the squad will be balanced again.

Jazz has finally woken up

The sun is shining brighter in Utah, which now has six straight wins after comfortably dominating the Rockets 135-101. After Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gomber and the Jazz are back and they can smile again as they are 4th in the west as (original) base.

The Jazz finally woke up and still claim their goal is the championship. Of course, they themselves know that, as the West is at the moment, they are a notch below the Suns and the Warriors, while it is not certain that they are better than the Grizzlies. And all without considering the possibility of Michael Porter and Jamal Murray returning for the Nuggets and strengthening the team. But the “Mormons” believe in what they have built. And they hope to shock the world. As difficult as that is.

The pelicans fight with what they have

The NBA does not give an award to the “most honest” team of the season. If he was, it should go to the Pelicans, who are within a breath of 10th place in the West after their comfortable win over the Raptors (120-90) as they have a 23-34 vs. 24- to have. 34 of blazers.

The Pelicans have been through a lot this year. They started the season with a record of 1:12. You haven’t seen Zion Williamson hit the floor yet. They lost Brandon Ingram for several games. They had a number of excuses for refueling. And yet. They fought, they took the situation to the extreme, they made a great move by taking on CJ McCollum in return. They want to go to the playoff tournament, even if it takes them a few spots in the 2022 NBA draft. You can’t dislike them.