NBA
FULL NBA Review From February 8, 2021
See the NBA Game Reviews from Monday, February 8, 2021 with entertaining highlights, key facts, valuable takeaways, and more!
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While sports fans might have been dealing with a Super Bowl hangover, NBA action was in full force with LeBron James once again leading the way. Inspired from Tom Brady‘s unprecedented seventh championship at an old age, Year 18 King James set a couple of age-based triple-double records while leading the Lakers over the Thunder in OT without Anthony Davis‘ services.
LaMelo Ball joined LeBron in the spotlight but on the other end of the spectrum as he became the youngest ever to make history with his seven 3PM and 10 assists. Washington and Chicago had one of the best games of the day until Zach LaVine‘s missed game-tying layup led to a DC dub while Golden St. took the Spurs to the distance until Dejounte Murray‘s dagger and Draymond Green‘s quick trigger.
Josh Richardson and Cam Johnson stepped up for the Mavs and Suns in their respective wins to heat up the race in the Western Conference. A career-high amount of assists from Khris Middleton led Milwaukee over Denver in the only contest featuring two title contenders while the most recent NBA Champion out of the East dominated Memphis thanks to 30-point performances from Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet.
Here are the best NBA highlights, facts, performers, and takeaways from February 8th, 2021:
Oklahoma City Thunder (112) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (119) [OT]
[Highlights] @LAKERS (-488; $11.59) d. THUNDER (+488; $8.84) 119-112 (OT) [OKC +10.5 | o218]
[Highlights] WIZARDS (+128; $7.09) d. @BULLS (-128; $10.31) 105-101 [WSH +2.5 | u238]
[Highlights] @SPURS (-112; $13.76) d. WARRIORS (+112; $8.73) 105-100 [SAS -1.5 | u232.5]
[Highlights] @MAVERICKS (-416; $8.07) d. TIMBERWOLVES (+416; $7.15) 127-122 [MIN +9.5 | o225.5]
[Highlights] @SUNS (-275; $12.48) d. CAVALIERS (+275; $11.78) 119-113 [CLE -7.5 | o215]
[Highlights] RAPTORS (-116; $7.87) d. @GRIZZLIES (+116; $11.44) 128-113 [TOR -2 | o222]
[Highlights] BUCKS (-157; $9.95) d. @NUGGETS (+157; $9.56) 125-112 [MIL -4 | o233.5]
[Highlights] @HORNETS (+148; $14.39) d. ROCKETS (-148; $9.13) 119-94 [CHA +3.5 | u223.5]
LaMelo Ball facts:
Steph is a cheat code 🤧 pic.twitter.com/HdDwtTFco7
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 9, 2021
Ja SOMEHOW gets it to go. 🤯
— NBA (@NBA) February 9, 2021
📲💻: NBA LP pic.twitter.com/xnOzz3pEXp
https://twitter.com/RTNBA/status/1358987742869397504
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 9, 2021
Caleb Martin hits this crazy bucket to end the 1st QTR! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/O75Cf5FuDS
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 9, 2021
[Highlights] SF LeBron James, LAL (W v.OKC): 28 PTS (11-22 FG | 2-10 3PT), 12 AST, 14 REB, 2 BLK, 2 STL, 5 TO
[Highlights] SF Khris Middleton, MIL (W @DEN): 29 PTS (9-16 FG | 0-5 3PT), 12 AST, 8 REB, 0 BLK, 0 STL, 3 TO
[Highlights] C Jonas Valanciunas, MEM (L v.TOR): 27 PTS (8-12 FG | 0-0 3PT), 3 AST, 20 REB, 1 BLK, 1 STL, 3 TO
[Highlights] C Nikola Jokic, DEN (L v.MIL): 35 PTS (13-26 FG | 3-6 3PT), 6 AST, 12 REB, 0 BLK, 0 STL, 3 TO
[Highlights] C Kristaps Porzingis, DAL (W v.MIN): 27 PTS (10-19 FG | 4-7 3PT), 4 AST, 13 REB, 6 BLK, 0 STL, 2 TO
1. LaMelo Ball is already showing his MVP potential now that he’s in the starting lineup
Among a tightly contested Rookie of the Year race, LaMelo Ball is starting to emerge as the clear favorite. Charlotte has finally started to insert the young rook into the starting lineup in each of the last five games and he’s rewarded them with the best five-game stretch of his career thus far, averaging 22.6 PPG, 6.6 APG, and 6.0 RPG on an astonishing 51.4% 3P. It seems the confidence Ball has as a starter has directly led to more success from behind the arc and being more aggressive.
It’s unknown whether Ball will maintain a spot in the starting five considering PG Devonte’ Graham, SG Terry Rozier, or PF PJ Washington have missed each of those games, so LaMelo naturally moved up from 6th man to starter. There’s no telling whether that will continue if all six are healthy but if Charlotte was smart, they’d hand the keys to the youngest Ball brother right now. He’s already shown glimpses of greatness with a skillset similar to some of the best players in the game.
He can shoot 3’s at a high level already, has natural passing abilities, and owns a finishing package at the rim that’ll lead to an abundance of highlights. PSO pointed out he has a MVP-caliber ceiling in his NBA Draft scouting report because of his ability to impact the game in a variety of ways and is already showing his sky-high potential as the youngest player ever to to drain seven 3PM in a game while also racking up double-digit assists. Who knows when Ball will reach that lofty ceiling but until then, enjoy the show.
COLORS KEY | FULL HORNETS FUTURE OUTLOOK
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