NBA wRap: Heat, Warriors remain unbeaten at 3-0

MANILA, Philippines – Monday’s NBA schedule was limited to four games, but each game was tightly-contested and decided in the closing moments of the game. For the rundown of everything that happened in the league, check the November 3 edition of Rappler’s NBA wrap.

 

Sacramento Kings (2-1) 98 – 92 Los Angeles Clippers (2-1)
SAC: DeMarcus Cousins 34 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks
LAC: Chris Paul 16 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals

Shooting bricks: JJ Reddick had another miserable night from 3-point range (2-of-10), and is now 4-of-23 this NBA season from downtown. He has, however, promised to keep on shooting.

On a role: A few days after scoring 40 in his team’s win against Portland, Rudy Gay put up another huge performance by registering 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists against the Clippers.

Driving and dishing: Outside of having big-time statistics, Cousins further showed how much talent he has by delivering this sweet bounce pass in the first half, and eventually finished with 5 assists. Fantasy owners must be pleased.

Dominant Cousins: The Sacramento center continued his stellar play this season. Check out his highlights here: 

Trouble in Lob City: Their loss to the Kings might have been just the Clippers’ first of the season, but they’ve struggled so far to open their 2014-2015 NBA campaign. LAC barely scraped by a Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook-less Thunder on Friday, October 31, 93-90, and just survived the now 0-4 Los Angeles Lakers, 118-111, on Saturday, November 1.

“The lob, the jam!”: It’s the Clippers, so this is pretty much self-explanatory:

Miami Heat (3-0) 107 – 102 Toronto Raptors (2-1)
MIA: Dwyane Wade 19 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists
TOR: DeMar DeRozan 30 points, 3 assists, 4 steals

Even without LeBron: The Heat, who also received 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists from Chris Bosh, starts their season at 3-0 for just the fifth time in their 27-year franchise history. Miami is now also the only team left in the Eastern Conference that’s undefeated. Through their first three games this season, Miami has scored a total of 328 points – more than any first three games in any year during the Big 3 era from 2011-2014.

Sweet 16: 16 was a significant number in the Heat-Raptors game. Miami led by 16 in the third quarter before seeing their lead cut to five in the game’s final minutes, but Bosh, Wade and company held on to beat Toronto for the 16^th straight time.

The Shrug: It wasn’t quite as epic as Michael Jordan against the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2 of the 1991 NBA Finals, but Dwyane Wade, who’s not a good 3-point shooter, just couldn’t help but give a shrug after seeing his 3-ball bank in from the top of the key:

Angry McBob: During the third quarter of the game, Josh McRoberts wasn’t so pleased with a call and took his frustrations out on his Heat jersey in what was a hilarious scene. Maybe McBob just finally figured out LeBron was no longer with Miami and wanted out, or maybe he thought he was Superman: 

Spoelstra insists that McRoberts is “normal” when not on the court, regardless of him ripping jerseys on it

— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) November 3, 2014

New York Knicks (2-1) 96 – 93 Charlotte Hornets (1-2)
NYK: Carmelo Anthony 28 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
CHA: Lance Stephenson 14 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists

Making milestones: During the first quarter of the game, Carmelo Anthony hit a contested 3-pointer that made him the sixth youngest player in NBA history (30 years and 157 days old) to hit 20,000 total scoring points in his career:

Razzling and dazzling: The Hornets starting backcourt duo of Lance Stephenson and Kemba Walker might be constant candidates for guys who “take more shots than score points” on a nightly basis, but what they’re both really good at is fooling defenders and putting them on the wrong end of highlight reels. 

Hurting Ribs: Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist left the game earlier and was taken to a hospital for an x-ray, which later on revealed that he suffered a rib contusion. He’s listed as day-to-day.

Questionable decision making: With under 37 seconds left, down two, and with ball possession, the Hornets were unable to set up a play because of a five-second inbound violation called by one of the game’s referees. Upon further review, it looked like the official made a mistake.  

Golden State Warriors (3-0) 95 – 90 Portland Trail Blazers (1-2)
GSW: Klay Thompson 29 points, 1 rebound, 3 steals
POR: LaMarcus Aldridge 26 points, 13 rebounds

Klay Thompson is not nice: A day after destroying the Los Angeles Lakers’ defense with 41 points, Thompson torched the Trail Blazers for 29, including hitting the game-sealing basket that put Golden State up one with under 10 seconds to go:

Highlight of the Day: Moments prior, Thompson also posterized Blazers center Robin Lopez, adding to his impressive performance: 

The other Splash Brother: Steph Curry didn’t have an effective night shooting the ball, going just 6-of-18 from the field, but still finished with 21 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds

Fantasy Line of the Night: DeMarcus Cousins was a beast against the Clippers, recording 34 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. He shot 15-of-23 from the field, went 4-of-5 from the free throw line, and had 4 turnovers as well. 

Fantasy Stud of the Week: Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans)

Despite his team playing just two games so far this NBA season, New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis was tremendous this past week, averaging 28.5 PPG, 16 RPG, 6 BPG, 2.5 SPG, 1.5 APG, and 0.5 TOPG.

He shot an impressive 76% from the free throw line and did well from the field, making 44% of his attempts. 

– Rappler.com