NBA
FULL NBA Review From March 21, 2021
See the full NBA Game Reviews from Sunday, March 21, 2021 with entertaining highlights, interesting facts, valuable takeaways, and more!
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There was plenty of action Sunday night around the league, with some new developing stories and headlines. The Lakers played their first game without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, which resulted in a 17-point loss in Phoenix against the Suns as Chris Paul joined the exclusive 10-K assist club. Blake Griffin made his Nets debut and had his first dunk in over a year during a win over the Wizards. The Pistons lost again at home to the Bulls and the Rockets lost their 20th in a row to the Thunder in a close one that was capped off with Lu Dort’s game-saving rejection.
To round up the less competitive games, the Celtics beat the Magic behind 34 points and a career-high 10 3PM from Jaylen Brown, the Cavs beat the Raptors at home with a 36-point effort from Collin Sexton, and the Mavericks dismantled Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers by a whopping 40 points, with the help of 37 points (8-9 3PM) from Luka Doncic.
There were a few competitive games on Sunday night. The Pacers outlasted the Heat in overtime despite 29 points from Bam Adebayo. Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram each had 30 points in a good matchup with the Denver Nuggets, who had a triple-double from MVP candidate Nikola Jokic.
Controversially, Tobias Harris was sent to the free-throw line with 5.3 seconds left in overtime, where he converted 2/2 free throws, leading to a 1-point victory over the Knicks as Julius Randle missed the GW-FGA but sank the game-tying 3PM that forced the extra period in Madison Square Garden.
Here are the best NBA highlights, facts, performers, and takeaways from March 21st, 2021:
Philadelphia 76ers (101) [GW-FT in OT] vs. New York Knicks (100)
[Highlights] 76ERS (-115; $10.99) d. @KNICKS (+115; $15.43) 101-100 (GW-FT in OT) [PUSH -1 | u213.5]
[Highlights] PACERS (+155; $8.66) d. @HEAT (-175; $8.98) 109-106 (OT) [IND +4 | u217.5]
[Highlights] THUNDER (+160; $9.25) d. @ROCKETS (-179; $4.79) 114-112 [OKC +4 | o218]
[Highlights] PELCIANS (+202; $8.69) d. @NUGGETS (-240; $10.50) 113-108 [NOP +6 | u231]
[Highlights] @NETS (-345; $11.02) d. WIZARDS (+285; $8.77) 113-106 [WAS +8.5 | u247.5]
[Highlights] @CAVALIERS (+245; $11.14) d. RAPTORS (-292; $7.62) 116-105 [CLE +7.5 | o213.5]
[Highlights] @CELTICS (-370; $8.12) d. MAGIC (+298; $7.00) 112-96 [BOS -8.5 | u216]
[Highlights] BULLS (-155; $12.17) d. @PISTONS (+135; $10.15) 100-86 [CHI -3 | u217.5]
[Highlights] @SUNS (-500; $13.87) d. LAKERS (+381; $10.15) 111-94 [PHX -10 | u213]
[Highlights] MAVERICKS (-130; $9.74) d. @BLAZERS (+110; $10.40) 132-92 [DAL -2 | u228.5]
Chris Paul facts:
BAM DROPPED THE HAMMER 😤 pic.twitter.com/Gl0dQagn8T
— NBA TV (@NBATV) March 21, 2021
AIR BAM ✈️ pic.twitter.com/CzFPQtLcVJ
— NBA TV (@NBATV) March 21, 2021
JAXSON. HAYES. 😳 pic.twitter.com/tR32ndj3Dn
— NBA TV (@NBATV) March 21, 2021
Julius Randle sends it to OT in NY! 👀 pic.twitter.com/bC2B7RhZpS
— NBA TV (@NBATV) March 22, 2021
Lu Dort came up BIG 💪 pic.twitter.com/OE9mn6ZRhz
— NBA TV (@NBATV) March 21, 2021
Woah calm down Jamal...(via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/tsJJPkCLow
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 21, 2021
Brown & Theis making today’s @JetBlue Play of the Game possible! pic.twitter.com/uhIl9W9Luq
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 21, 2021
Chris Paul becomes the 6th player in NBA history with 10,000 CAREER ASSISTS! pic.twitter.com/pavbc9t6OY
— NBA (@NBA) March 22, 2021
CP3 ➡️ Jae Crowder for 👌 pic.twitter.com/kjcKE8tWHZ
— NBA TV (@NBATV) March 22, 2021
BLAKE GRIFFIN SLAMS IT HOME 💪 pic.twitter.com/A2IcxWauvU
— NBA TV (@NBATV) March 22, 2021
[Highlights] G Luka Doncic, DAL (W @POR): 37 PTS (13-19 FG | 8-9 3PT), 4 AST, 7 REB, 0 BLK, 0 STL, 5 TO
[Highlights] C Nikola Jokic, DEN (L v.NO): 29 PTS (13-19 FG | 3-4 3PT), 10 AST, 10 REB, 1 BLK, 1 STL, 5 TO
[Highlights] PG Russell Westbrook, WAS (L @BKN): 29 PTS (10-20 FG | 2-7 3PT), 13 REB, 13 AST, 0 BLK, 2 STL, 8 TO
[Highlights] F/G Jaylen Brown, BOS (W v.ORL): 34 PTS (12-24 FG | 10-18 3PT), 3 AST, 4 REB, 0 BLK, 1 STL, 0 TO
[Highlights] PG Chris Paul, PHX (W v.LAL): 11 PTS (3-11 FG | 0-3 3PT), 13 AST, 10 REB, 1 BLK, 3 STL, 2 TO
LEBRON & AD’S INJURIES WILL FORCE THE CHAMPS TO GO THROUGH THE GAUNTLET
The Lakers got their first taste of life without their star players on Sunday night in a matchup against the Suns. LeBron James missed the game due to a recent ankle injury, and Anthony Davis, who has been out for weeks already, missed another game due to a calf strain. The Suns, currently second place in the Western Conference, handled business against the depleted Lakers, as they went on to win by 17.
These injuries have the potential to drop the Lakers down the Western Conference standings (currently in third). The Lakers are only 1 game ahead of the Clippers in fourth, and 2.5 games ahead of the fifth place Nuggets and sixth place Trail Blazers, and after tonight’s performance, it is not hard to see them falling down the standings in the near future.
This will limit the Lakers chances of postseason success this year even if both of their star players are healthy by the time May comes around, as falling out of the top four would pin them against one of the Western Conference powerhouses this season in just the first round of the playoffs. They could potentially match up with impressive teams like the Jazz, Blazers, Clippers, or Nuggets, which would make for an extremely competitive first round series, given Lebron and AD are healthy.
A first-round series like this would really put LeBron’s greatness to the test and force the team to go through the gauntlet in the West in all three rounds. LA was able to land the No.1 seed last year and benefitted from facing an injured Blazers team in Round 1 and a Rockets team in Round 2 that lacked continuity. This year will be much tougher with the Suns being the only top-5 team in the West that has no recent track record of playoff success.
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