Every day in the NBA there is a lot to unpack, so every weekday during the NBA regular season we are here to help you break it all down. Here are three things you need to know from yesterday in the NBA.
1) Trae Young has seen the future and it’s dropping 50 on Heat. Way back on Dec. 10, when Trae Young and the Hawks were in Miami, Young slid a pass to Alex Led for a bucket that put the Hawks up six inside a minute. That should have been the dagger and Young reacted that way, waving his arms to say the game was over.
It wasn’t. Miami came back to win in OT.
Jimmy Butler took to Instagram to taunt Young about it postgame.
Fast forward to Thursday night, the return of basketball after the All-Star break, when the Hawks and Heat met up again. Young looked rested after a few days off, he looked motivated, and he dropped a 50 spot on the Heat on 12-of-25 shooting, 8-of-15 from three, to spark an Atlanta win.
This time it was Young who took to social media.
…and FYI @JimmyButler was right, I can see the future… I saw tonight happening awhile ago🤷🏽♂️ #AndIDontEvenLikeTwitterBeefsBuuut
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) February 21, 2020
You can talk all the smack you want Trae, you earned it.
Miami is 4-6 in its last 10, going back to before the break, which is an issue for a team now up just one game in the loss column over Philadelphia, and with that the right to be home for the first round of the playoff. Indiana is only three back. Jae Crowder moved into the starting lineup, Bam Adebayo had 28 points and 19 boards in a monster night for him, but it wasn’t enough. There was too much Trae on Thursday night.
The Heat have the league’s sixth toughest schedule the rest of the way, they need to find some wins down the stretch or risk fading in the East playoff picture.
2) Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson officially out for the season. Neither of these players being out the rest of the way is a surprise. Nor is it much of a blow to their team in either case, both teams were looking past this season. Still, on Thursday we learned two NBA stars had been sidelined for good.
Kyrie Irving had tried to play through shoulder bursitis — that’s what he called it, while other reports called it “a deterioration” — earlier this season, opting for a cortisone shot over surgery. That worked for nine games, but he sprained his knee and needed time off, then when the shot started to wear off the realization hit.
Thursday, Nets GM Sean Marks made it official, Irving would have a “shoulder procedure” and is done for the season. As our own Keith Smith pointed out, with Kevin Durant sidelined the entire season coming off a torn Achilles, it was never about this season in Brooklyn. More time on the court for Irving gaining chemistry with his new teammates would have been nice, but it was not a requirement.
How good the Nets are going to be next season will be debated. They have good role players — Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Joe Harris (if they re-sign him) — to go around Irving and Durant, but how much will they get out of their stars? They will need vintage KD to have a shot against teams such as the Bucks, and that’s a lot to ask a 32-year-old coming off a torn Achilles. Durant looks good shooting the rock in an empty gym, but that is a long way from doing it in a game.
KD's lab work 🧪
(via __devonte__/IG) pic.twitter.com/BbPOFz9soK
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 19, 2020
Klay Thompson never set foot on the court for the Warriors this season, nor was he expected to as he worked to recover from a torn ACL suffered in last year’s Finals. Still, the Warriors shut the door on his return on Thursday, ending any speculation.
The Warriors come back next season with Thompson, Stephen Curry (who will return to the court next month), Draymond Green, a healthy Kevon Looney, whatever they can get out of Andrew Wiggins, and a high draft pick (or, whoever they trade that pick for). The Warriors will be rested and be threats in the West again.
3) Joel Embiid: “I’m here, I belong, and being the best player in the world.” Joel Embiid saved Philadelphia on Thursday night. The Sixers came out of the All-Star break flat, going down by 15 to the shorthanded Nets in the first half.
Embiid, who finished the game with 39 points and 16 rebounds, changed the dynamic in the second half and brought the Sixers back for a 112-104 win. He shot 4-of-4 from the line in the final 35 seconds of regulation, then blocked Wilson Chandler‘s shot to force OT.
It’s the kind of win the Sixers need down the stretch, they remain just half a game back of Miami for the four seed and home court in the first round.
Embiid played like a guy inspired by his All-Star experience. What did Embiid get out of his time in Chicago? Via NBC Sports Philadelphia:
“The All-Star Game is just proving that I’m here, I belong, and being the best player in the world,” Embiid said. “I just intend to keep coming out every single night, just play hard and try to get wins. Go hard and try to win a championship.”
Embiid is playing like his dominant self again, and Sixers fans want him thinking like he’s the best player in the world. Even though he is not. However, he might be the best center in the world right now, and that might be enough to make the Sixers a serious threat in the playoffs (if the rest of the team can step up).
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