NBA
FULL NBA Review From April 28, 2021
See the full NBA Game Reviews from Wednesday, April 28, 2021 with entertaining highlights, interesting facts, valuable takeaways, and more!
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A lot of teams across the league were without some of their star players on Wednesday night, and they were missed dearly. LAC played in Kawhi Leonard’s absence yet again and fell to Phoenix, who clinched their first playoff spot in 11 years. LAL is still without LeBron James, losing another game to Washington with the Lake Show now looking like they’ll be without home-court advantage in the first round. Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball are still inactive, and another loss is pushing them further from the top six.
Nikola Jokic had a clutch block on Zion Williamson that would’ve tied the game late, leading to a two-point Denver dub. Miami pulled out the win in a close one with San Antonio, marking Erik Spoelstra’s 600th career victory. Orlando nearly choked their 23-point lead but held on to defeat Cleveland.
New York got back to their winning ways over Chicago, and look to host a playoff series in the first round. Portland got revenge on Memphis after losing to them twice earlier in the week, where CJ McCollum led all scorers with 26. In a pair of 40+ point blowouts, Atlanta lost to Philly without Trae Young, and Sacramento was easily defeated by Utah without De’Aaron Fox.
Here are the best NBA highlights, facts, performers, and takeaways from April 28th, 2021:
Denver Nuggets (114) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (112)
[Highlights] @NUGGETS (-164; $10.74) d. PELICANS (+142; $8.77) 114-112 [NOP +4 | u230]
[Highlights] @HEAT (-190; $8.39) d. SPURS (+165; $12.43) 116-111 [PUSH -5 | o213]
[Highlights] MAGIC (+142; $6.53) d. @CAVALIERS (-162; $10.79) 109-104 [ORL +3.5 | o210.5]
[Highlights] @SUNS (-190; $14.54) d. CLIPPERS (+165; $10.82) 109-101 [PHX -4.5 | u220]
[Highlights] @CELTICS (-267; $8.26) d. HORNETS (+226; $15.59) 120-111 [BOS -6.5 | o215]
[Highlights] @WIZARDS (-105; $10.63) d. LAKERS (-115; $8.96) 116-107 [WSH +1 | u230]
[Highlights] @KNICKS (-175; $17.62) d. BULLS (+155; $10.16) 113-94 [NYK -4 | u210.5]
[Highlights] BLAZERS (+105; $10.32) d. @GRIZZLIES (-125; $12.22) 130-109 [POR +1.5 | u239.5]
[Highlights] @76ERS (-494; $11.05) d. HAWKS (+403; $13.27) 127-83 [PHI -9.5 | u213]
[Highlights] JAZZ (-377; $13.12) d. @KINGS (+306; $10.14) 154-105 [UTA -8.5 | o221]
Russell Westbrook continues to make unprecedented triple-double history
RUI HACHIMURA PUT ‘EM ON A POSTER 😤 pic.twitter.com/DKzF52qmVU
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 29, 2021
Chandler Hutchison, MY GOODNESS 😱 pic.twitter.com/NT4RgoBQDh
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 29, 2021
DANIEL GAFFORD 😳 pic.twitter.com/KZTy7tfvIN
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 29, 2021
BAM SLAM 💥 pic.twitter.com/A8le1XuCu1
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 29, 2021
Nikola Jokic comes up with CLUTCH SWAT to seal it for the @nuggets! pic.twitter.com/BRsYepkeMk
— NBA (@NBA) April 29, 2021
That's some finish, Devonte'! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/4pohMmWOZh
— NBA (@NBA) April 29, 2021
[Highlights] PG Russell Westbrook, WSH (W v.LAL): 18 PTS (7-16 FG | 1-3 3P), 14 AST, 18 REB, 0 BLK, 2 STL, 2 TO
[Highlights] C Nikola Jokic, DEN (W v.NOP): 32 PTS (12-20 FG | 2-4 3P), 8 AST, 7 REB, 3 BLK, 3 STL, 6 TO
[Highlights] F Jayson Tatum, BOS (W v.CHA): 35 PTS (12-23 FG | 4-10 3P), 8 AST, 8 REB, 0 BLK, 1 STL, 3 TO
[Highlights] G/F Jaylen Brown, BOS (W v.CHA): 38 PTS (13-23 FG | 7-13 3P), 4 AST, 7 REB, 1 BLK, 0 STL, 1 TO
[Highlights] PG Chris Paul, PHX (W v.LAC): 28 PTS (10-15 FG | 4-8 3P), 10 AST, 3 REB, 0 BLK, 3 STL, 3 TO
STAR PLAYER INJURIES ARE PILING UP AND SIGNIFICANTLY ALTERING PLAYOFF SEEDING
In a 10-game slate of NBA games on Wednesday night, stars like LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Trae Young, Gordon Hayward, LaMelo Ball, and De’Aaron Fox were all inactive, and each of their teams lost. Some of these games were blowouts, so it is hard to say that their teams would’ve won with them on the court, but these are all difference-making players and their absences were truly felt. With playoff implications on the line, surely the games wouldn’t have gone the same way if they were able to lace them up.
All of these injuries piling up recently clearly affected the games tonight, and are altering the playoff seeding as well. Pretty much all of these teams who played without stars Wednesday night are in playoff or play-in position. Obviously, these teams were missing their key players for only one night in some examples, but it can hurt them in the coming weeks too. It can very well lead to the teams falling down the standings, allowing for healthier teams to catch them and give them a shot at playoff contention or higher seed.
Players like LeBron James who are more seriously injured have it worse than ones who are more just hurt and have been in and out of lineups without missing too many games in a row. James will likely head almost right into playoff basketball, which is far more exhausting than the regular season and to go into that after a long absence is a tough thing to do. The severity and duration of these injuries to star players are going to be very impactful on the final seeds and are going to play a major factor in this year’s postseason matchups.
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