FULL NBA Review From May 15, 2021

While the NBA celebrated the HOF Class of 2020, Saturday night marked the penultimate day of the NBA regular season and 12 teams were in action. In overtime, New York defeated Charlotte to tie Atlanta for fourth place within the Eastern Conference behind 33 points from Julius Randle. LeBron James returned for the Lake show and combined for 52 points between him and Anthony Davis in a win over Indiana to keep top-six hopes alive. Brooklyn got their star trio back together for the first time in three months, and went on to defeat Chicago at home.

Jimmy Butler did not play in Miami’s crucial game against Milwaukee due to lower back tightness, and it hurt them. Their loss moved them down to sixth, which as it stands would pair them up with the Bucks for a rematch of last year’s conference semifinals. Phoenix punished San Antonio, and are now a win and a Utah loss away from being the top seed in the West. The C’s cruised to an essentially meaningless win over Minnesota, as Boston is locked in seventh and the T-Wolves have been done for a while.

Here are the best NBA highlights, facts, performers, and takeaways from May 15th, 2021:

FINAL RESULTS

GAME OF THE DAY

Charlotte Hornets (109) vs. New York Knicks (118) [OT]

[Highlights] @KNICKS (-225; $18.02) d. HORNETS (+194; $14.88) 118-109 (OT) [NYK -5.5 | o211.5]

[Highlights] LAKERS (-280; $8.79) d. @PACERS (+236; $8.70) 122-115 [PUSH -7 | o226.5]

[Highlights] @BUCKS (+141; $9.54) d. HEAT (-158; $8.97) 122-108 [MIL +4 | u232]

[Highlights] @NETS (-832; $10.96) d. BULLS (+602; $10.40) 105-91 [BKN -11.5 | u234.5]

[Highlights] CELTICS (+193; $7.68) d. @TIMBEROWLVES (-224; $8.34) 124-108 [BOS +5.5 | o230.5]

[Highlights] SUNS (-782; $14.52) d. @SPURS (+574; $12.12) 140-103 [PHX -11 | o223]

NBA Game Odds via Vigit App

NBA Stock Prices via FANDEX

INTERESTING FACTS

This is one of the greatest seasons in Knicks history

Julius Randle is the 1st Knicks player to average 20+ PPG/10+ RPG/5+ APG over 1 season in franchise history

The Hall of Fame class of 2020 will down as the greatest ever

Kevin Garnett is the only player to lead a franchise (T-Wolves) in All-time GP/PTS/REB/AST/BLK/STL
Tim Duncan is 1 of 2 players (John Salley) to win an NBA Championship in 3 different decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s)
Kobe is the LAL leader in GP, MIN, FGM, 3PM, FTM, STL, PTS, PTS in a season (2,832) and game (81)

BEST HIGHLIGHTS

Layman threw it down on Tacko Fall

Jake Layman threw it DOWN over Tacko Fall 😳 pic.twitter.com/aBskQuSqD0
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 15, 2021

D-Lo on full go at the rim vs. Boston

DLo showing off the bounce 💥 pic.twitter.com/9g5ZsEmROH
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 15, 2021

Space James not playing any games in his return

LEBRON ELEVATED 👀 pic.twitter.com/mWxj1fTs5F
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 15, 2021

TOP PERFORMERS

[Highlights] PF Julius Randle, NYK (W v.CHA): 33 PTS (12-25 FG | 4-10 3P), 13 AST, 10 REB, 0 BLK, 1 STL, 4 TO

[Highlights] PF Anthony Davis, LAL (W @IND): 28 PTS (9-18 FG | 1-4 3P), 5 AST, 10 REB, 0 BLK, 2 STL, 1 TO

[Highlights] G Caris LeVert, IND (L v.LAL): 28 PTS (11-23 FG | 2-9 3P), 12 AST, 5 REB, 1 BLK, 2 STL, 7 TO

[Highlights] G Kendrick Nunn, MIA (L @MIL): 31 PTS (13-18 FG | 4-5 3P), 3 AST, 6 REB, 1 BLK, 0 STL, 1 TO

[Highlights] F Miles Bridges, CHA (L @NYK): 30 PTS (12-21 FG | 5-12 3P), 4 AST, 5 REB, 0 BLK, 1 STL, 0 TO

NBA TOP PERFORMERS

MAIN TAKEAWAY

THIS HALL OF FAME CLASS WILL GO DOWN AS THE GREATEST EVER

The trio of Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett have accounted for 11 of the last 22 NBA championships (50%), and are the main members of the NBA HOF class of 2020. They are all legends when it comes to the game of basketball, and will collectively go down as the greatest class in the history of the sport. On top of the 11 rings, they have accumulated 48 All-Star appearances, 25 All-NBA first team awards, 26 All-NBA defensive first-team honors, five finals MVPs, and four season MVPs.

When it comes to ranking them amongst the others, their biggest competition is the class of 2009, which featured Michael Jordan, John Stockton, and David Robinson. MJ is generally considered the best basketball player ever, and they rank fifth, sixth, and 19th respectively in all-time NBA win shares. Although the advanced analytics ranks 2009 slightly higher than the class of 2020 (largely single-handedly because of MJ), Kobe/Duncan/KG have more titles, All-Star appearances, and fist team All-NBA awards.

As a whole, there is no doubt this is the greatest class ever because of how decorated each player is. KG leads the Timberwolves in all-time points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. He is the only player to lead a current franchise in all five of these categories. Duncan is widely considered the greatest Power Forward of all time as the main cog in the Spurs dominant dynasty. Kobe, by most standards, is a top-five player to ever touch a basketball court while transcending the sport and beyond with his ‘mamba mentality’.

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