Knicks, Spurs, and Celtics all lose, and OKC brings the Thunder to San Antonio.
***
Boston at Detroit
***If it’s ridiculous to bury an NFL team after the first two weeks of the season, it is even more ridiculous to think you know what an NBA team is before Christmas.
*** The Celtics have more offensive skill, but they look a bit old to me.
I don’t think they’ll hold up.
***Detroit still in need of scorers.
***I like Mitchell Robinson…in small amounts—Boston should know this.
***Robinson paid homage to Anthony Davis by going down with a season-ending injury in the first quarter, then getting up and remaining on the floor after the commercial break.
***Paul George poured in 38 and looked great. But in the last seven seasons, George has only played 70 games once. How many more games like this will he give Boston?
***The Celtics led by as much as 21 points, 74-53, in the third, and were up 99-89 in the fourth when Detroit went on a 23-0 run.
*** The Pistons, behind Cade Cunningham’s 22 points and 8 assists, sealed the 121-113 win.
***Detroit’s Jalen Duren and Duncan Robinson added 22 & 21 points, respectively. Veteran Javonte Green scored 19 with 5 3-pointers.
***Boston’s Jayson Tatum struggled from the field, shooting 6-of-23 for 13 points. He went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc.
***
Philadelphia at New York:
*** You’re the world champion New York Knicks. You have one of the most iconic uniforms in sports…but you decided to come out in that gold-lettering garbage. It’s bad mojo, and probably why you shot 37% from the floor.
***Think how great basketball would be with these talented players if the NBA was actually about basketball.
***The 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey is a very bad man. He finished with 28 points. The man has no brakes, and he always seems to be going downhill.
***Props to Philly for wearing their traditional garb.
***KCP is still playing…14 seasons…so long ago, but once upon a time he was the 8th overall pick of the Detroit Pistons out of Georgia.
***Knicks led at half, 58-54.
***Note to the Knicks: free throws are free. If you don’t understand the concept meet with Mayor Zohran Mamdani… He’ll explain to you how free works in the city of New York.
***As the broadcast team waxed about LeBron James playing 24 seasons, Reggie Miller should have spoken up—he played 18 seasons in the Association…and without roids.
***Philly closes out third with an 11-0 run to take an 83-76 lead into the fourth.
***I know Andre Drummond had a great first half…but at a certain point the Knicks guards needed to remember that he’s Andre Drummond for a reason…Do not pass him the ball like he’s a legitimate option on offense. The dude’s got more clank in his game than a dropped toolbox.
***Philly gets the win, 106-100.
*** Beyond an excellent 76ers defensive effort, the Knicks had 8 missed free throws, and Jalen Brunson & OG Anunoby shot a combined 9-of-31 from the field.
***If health holds—and nothing comes of the rumors about LeBron using steroids—Philly fans should be excited.
***
Oklahoma City at San Antonio:
***You have to love chippy, but the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren is still softer than Baby John in West Side Story.
***The evolution of the white bald guy in the NBA: from Bob Weiss to Alex Caruso. Playing in the backyard, park, schoolyard when we were kids…I couldn’t pull off Connie Hawkins…so I emulated Paul Westphal…my brother would be Brian Winters or Scott Wedman…but no one ever, or would ever—even with a gun to their back—declare, “I’m Bob Weiss.”
These days, I’d be Alex Caruso in a heartbeat.
***Spurs center Victor Wembanyama—in full support of the protestors in France—went 0-for-7 in the first half.
***Thunder led, 65-44, at half.
*** “Spain defeats France!”—Noah Eagle when Andy Mara blocks Wemby at the rim…
***Wemby misses first 12 shots before converting a dunk at the end of the third.
***After three quarters, OKC leads, 93-80.
*** The Spurs make a run, but the Thunder play like a team that has been in a close game before and pull away for a 116-104 win.
***San Antonio didn’t look like the team that advanced to the NBA Finals a year ago. Instead, they looked like a young team that was often out of sync and out of control on offense.
***For OKC, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 32 points. Jared McCain added 20 points on 7 threes off the bench.
***Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 24 points, but the team shot only 39% from the field, including 10-of-37 from beyond the arc.
