NBA wRap: Cavs, Lakers lose again in day of blowouts

MANILA, Philippines – The NBA’s games on Saturday, November 22, mostly consisted of blowout games. In Washington, the Cavaliers suffered another loss while the Lakers didn’t even bother playing defense in Dallas. All that and more in Saturday’s NBA wRap:

Orlando Magic (6-8) 105 – 100 Charlotte Hornets (4-9)
ORL: Tobias Harris: 17 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks
CHA: Al Jefferson: 24 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist

The Hornets were ahead 70-47 following a basket from Lance Stephenson. Everything went downhill for Charlotte from there as the Magic closed out the game by outscoring their opponents, 58-30. Former Charlotte guard Ben Gordon scored 11 points during that run, while rookie Elfrid Payton Jr. put up 13.

Phoenix Suns (8-5) 122 – 96 Philadelphia 76ers (0-12)
PHX: Isaiah Thomas: 23 points, 8 assists, 3 steals
PHI: Michael Carter-Williams: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists

Fight no. one of the day:

Atlanta Hawks (6-5) 99 – 89 Detroit Pistons (3-10)
ATL: Jeff Teague: 28 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds
DET: Josh Smith: 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists

Toronto Raptors (10-2) 124 – 83 Milwaukee Bucks (7-6)
TOR: Kyle Lowry: 20 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists
MIL: Jabari Parker: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists

The Milwaukee Bucks aren’t going to win a lot of games when they let their opponents shoot 52% from the field, which was what the Raptors did in this game.

Milwaukee will also want to improve on making mistakes such as this:

Memphis Grizzlies (11-2) 117 – 100 Boston Celtics (4-7)
MEM: Marc Gasol: 32 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
BOS: Kelly Olynyk: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist

San Antonio Spurs (8-4) 121 – 92 Minnesota Timberwolves (3-8)
SAS: Tony Parker: 28 points, 5 assists, 1 steal
MIN: Anthony Bennett: 20 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals

Brooklyn Nets (5-7) 94 – 92 Oklahoma City Thunder (3-11)
BKN: Jarrett Jack: 23 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds
OKC: Reggie Jackson: 21 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds

The Thunder’s loss dropped their record to 3-8, which means Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant will have their work cut out for them when they return just for their team to contend for a playoff seed.

They will have some help from Reggie Jackson, who did fill up the stat sheet and had a pretty nice jam:

Washington Wizards (8-3) 91 – 78 Cleveland Cavaliers (5-6)
WAS: John Wall: 28 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds
CLE: Kyrie Irving: 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists

Kyrie threw arguably the worst lob pass in Cleveland sports history, but LeBron James caught it like stealing candy from a baby:

James, however, struggled against the Wizards with just 22 points on 8-of-21 shooting.

Tweet of the Day:

So LeBron James’s shooting percentage inside the arc has been pretty bad this year: pic.twitter.com/TWrUP5nUSu

— devin kharpertian (@uuords) November 22, 2014

Dallas Mavericks (10-3) 140 – 106 Los Angeles Lakers (3-10)
DAL: Monta Ellis: 20 points, 10 assists, 3 rebounds
LAL: Jordan Hill: 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists

The Mavericks shot 62% from the field, hit 51% of their 3-balls, and won by 34 points. The Lakers struggled immensely, especially Kobe Bryant, who missed his first eight shots and finished with 17 points on 6-of-22 shooting.

He also took this 3-pointer, which has been the worst attempt so far this NBA season:

Denver Nuggets (5-7) 117 – 97 New Orleans Pelicans (6-5)
DEN: Kenneth Faried: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
NOP: Anthony Davis: 18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists

Golden State Warriors (9-2) 101 – 88 Utah Jazz (5-8)
GSW: Draymond Green: 11 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists
UTA: Enes Kanter: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

The Warriors continue to roll to start this NBA season, and it’s plays like this why that is:

Portland Trail Blazers (9-3) 105 – 87 Chicago Bulls (8-5)
POR: Damian Lillard: 21 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds
CHI: Nikola Mirotic: 24 points, 11 rebounds, 4 3-pointers

Fight no. two of the day:

Highlight of the Day: Maybe next time Tony Snell just shouldn’t jump anymore:

– Rappler.com