NBA Game Notes: Getting the week started right!

Notes from: Rockets-Celtics, Suns-Clippers, Heat-Magic, Lakers-Hornets, Bulls-Nuggets

That’s how you start off a week of NBA! Multiple close games, including a buzzer-beater in Boston, double overtime in Miami and near-rally in Phoenix.

Here’s what I saw on a busy Monday around the league!

Houston Rockets - 114 at Boston Celtics - 112

• Amen Thompson was awesome. With Boston going with a double-big lineup, Thompson was on the attack all game long. When asked postgame about the strategy, the Rockets youngster said, “I like going against bigs. They’re slow.”

  The first two clips are sort of examples of that. First, Luke Kornet is laying back, so Thompson nails the pullup. The second clip is Thompson spotting up wide-open in the corner. Those are both shots he has to take and make. The last clip is Thompson’s game-winner. Strong drive, but he didn’t overdo it. Instead, he got to the easy floater for the win:

• Dillon Brooks matched Amen Thompson for heroics. Nothing flashy from Brooks, but he was on fire. The Rockets wing went 10-of-15 from three, which was a career-high for most triples. Brooks was one off his career-high, as he finished with 36 points. Incredible game from him.

• Outside of Thompson and Brooks, the Rockets struggled to get much going. They won the game in part because they turned over Boston (which is fairly rare) and they got on the offensive glass. That led to a 12-shot margin and that was a huge difference in the game.

• Luke Kornet got the surprise start, as Al Horford was a late scratch. Kornet delivered another solid game with 18 points, seven rebounds and some solid defense. Kornet isn’t perfect, but he’s a perfectly solid backup center.

• Kristaps Porzingis played one of his better games since coming back from ankle surgery, but he got into foul trouble. That limited him to 25 minutes. The Celtics needed him, but the Rockets did a good job of putting Porzingis in difficult spots defensively.

• Still, this loss falls on the team’s best players. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown simply weren’t good enough. They both played the entire fourth quarter. Tatum took only two shots, while Brown went 1-for-6. That’s not enough to beat a good team.

LA Clippers - 109 at Phoenix Suns - 111

• The Suns went up 103-90 with 5:08 to play in the game. It felt like things were wrapped up. The Clippers staged a furious rally to cut the Suns lead down to one possession several times.

  The wonkiness of this game kind of showed what both teams are capable of. Phoenix can be very good, especially with this new rotation (more on that in a bit!). LA is scrappy and never really out of games.

• Mike Budenholzer has very publicly reworked his center rotation. Nick Richards is starting, and Mason Plumlee is getting the backup minutes. But Budenholzer has also scaled back the rest of his rotation. Only eight players saw minutes in this one, as Ryan Dunn was out. But even before Dunn’s absence, Budenholzer had cut back to just nine players. That seems to have some players in a better rhythm.

• This shot from Kevin Durant came just before things got really sideways for the Suns down the stretch. This is outstanding defense from Amir Coffey, but this is what Durant goes. Great offense beats great defense nearly every time.

• The Clippers bench was a letdown in this one. The five reserves who saw action combined for eight points on 3-for-14 shooting. That was hard for LA to overcome against a nice performance from the Phoenix reserves.

• James Harden and Ivica Zubac have become one of the NBA’s best pick-and-roll combination. Here’s a quick compilation of some of Zubac’s scores of Harden’s dimes in this game:

• Kawhi Leonard is starting to round into form. You can tell he’s feeling good when he makes this kind of quick attack in transition to get downhill:

Orlando Magic - 119 at Miami Heat - 125 OT2

• The Heat are doing their best to block out the Jimmy Butler noise. Erik Spoelstra continues to say his team is focused on who is there and doing what they can to win. This wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but Miami did what they had to get it, especially late in the second overtime.

• The Bam Adebayo-Kel’el Ware frontcourt combo is really working for the Heat. Ware’s willingness to step outside is helping to open up the floor for Adebayo to work in the midrange and the paint. This is a good example of Adebayo drawing the defense’s attention before kicking out to Ware. If you stray even a half-step too far from Ware, he’s letting it fly.

• Tyler Herro has always been a good passer for a non-primary playmaker. Now, Herro has become a good passer, period. This is Herro’s best season by far, because he’s scoring and setting guys up on a nightly basis. Herro’s willingness to accept the extra defender and make the simple play has made all the difference:

• Orlando is getting there. This was a frustrating loss, because it felt like the Magic had the game won a couple of different times, including in the first overtime. But it’s going to take them a handful more games to figure out their late-game strategy and execution.

• All the minutes and reps when other guys were out helped Tristan da Silva level up faster than expected. He’s a good connector, but da Silva can do more too. This late-clock, off-the-dribble step-back was a really nice shot:

• They’ll be better, but a combined 17-of-46 overall and 4-for-18 from behind the arc isn’t going to cut it for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. The Magic can’t win with them struggling to make shots like that.