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NBA's Top Stats, Best Highlights, Updated Playoff Picture from July 31 Results
August 1, 2020
After LeBron James and Zion Williamson kicked off the NBA's restart Thursday, Giannis Antetokounmpo and other top stars kept the momentum going over a six-game slate Friday night.
The Eastern Conference resumed play, and one of the day's opening contests from the bubble in Orlando, Florida, went to overtime as the Portland Trail Blazers slipped past the Memphis Grizzlies.
Antetokounmpo later sent a message to the rest of the bubble participants with a monster show, while the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks closed out proceedings with a nail-biting overtime classic with big implications on the playoff race.
Here's a look at some of the best stats, highlights and playoff fallout from Friday night.
July 31 Results, Top Stats
Magic 128, Nets 118
Nikola Vucevic (ORL): 22 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST
Evan Fournier (ORL): 24 PTS, 5 AST
Jonathan Isaac (ORL): 16 PTS, 6 REB
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (BKN): 24 PTS, 4 REB
Caris LeVert (BKN): 17 PTS, 7 AST
Trailblazers 140, Grizzlies 135
Jaren Jackson Jr. (MEM): 33 PTS, 3 REB
Ja Morant (MEM): 22 PTS, 5 REB, 11 AST
CJ McCollum (POR): 33 PTS, 3 REB, 6 AST
Damian Lillard (POR): 29 PTS, 5 REB, 9 AST
Carmelo Anthony (POR): 21 PTS, 7 REB
Suns 125, Wizards 112
Devin Booker (PHX): 27 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST
DeAndre Ayton (PHX): 24 PTS, 12 REB
Rui Hachimura (WAS): 21 PTS, 8 REB
Jerome Robinson (WAS): 20 PTS
Bucks 119, Celtics 112
Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL): 36 PTS, 15 REB, 7 AST
Khris Middleton (MIL): 18 PTS, 5 REB, 8 AST
Jaylen Brown (BOS): 22 PTS, 4 REB
Marcus Smart (BOS): 23 PTS, 4 REB
Spurs 129, Kings 120
De'Aaron Fox (SAC): 39 PTS, 3 REB, 6 AST
Bogdan Bogdanovic (SAC): 24 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST
Derrick White (SA): 26 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST
DeMar DeRozan (SA): 27 PTS, 5 REB, 10 AST
Rockets 153, Mavericks 149
James Harden (HOU): 49 PTS, 9 REB, 8 AST
Russell Westbrook (HOU): 31 PTS, 11 REB, 8 AST
Kristaps Porzingis (DAL): 39 PTS, 16 REB
Luka Doncic (DAL): 28 PTS, 13 REB, 10 AST
Recap, Takeaways
Orlando at Brooklyn
The Orlando Magic looked right at home Friday night, blowing away the Brooklyn Nets in a game wherein the latter took the lead into the second quarter, only for things to get ugly from there.
Ugly, as in a 75-43 differential over the second and third quarters as Evan Fournier went an efficient 10-of-15 from the floor, tying for the game high at 24 points. Jonathan Isaac came off the bench to add 16.
Brooklyn entered at a disadvantage besides technically being the away team. The Nets obviously didn't have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but they were also missing Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan and Taurean Prince. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot tried to do it all himself via 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
The win makes it four in a row for the Magic, and they leapfrog the Nets for seventh place in the Eastern Conference before playing the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.
Memphis at Portland
A high-scoring game with plenty of pauses for free throws, it isn't a shocker to hear CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard teamed up in overtime to score 11 of Portland's 16 points to put away Memphis.
McCollum ended up putting up 33 points alongside Lillard's 29, yet 36 fouls meant 50 free-throw attempts for a Grizzlies team that stormed back from a 13-point deficit to go up by 11.
The give-and-take nature of the contest flipped plenty of times, though it was a late three-pointer from Carmelo Anthony that sent things to overtime before Portland's dynamic duo ran away with it. Somewhat expectedly, McCollum was a highlight reel:
Despite the win, Portland is still on the outside looking in at the Western Conference, where Memphis holds the eighth seed. The Trailblazers next get the Eastern Conference powerhouse Boston Celtics, while the Grizzlies look to rebound against the San Antonio Spurs.
Phoenix at Washington
Long-shot ambitions were furthered for the Phoenix Suns as Devin Booker poured in 27 points against a struggling Washington Wizards team to get the win Friday night.
Deandre Ayton added 24 to Booker's output for good measure in a game that saw the Suns take the lead 38-31 after one frame and never look back, largely because they shot 52.5 percent from the floor.
With the win, Phoenix sits within five games of eighth-seeded Memphis and next has to overcome Dallas—seventh in the Western Conference—to keep the dream alive. Washington, the only unseeded team not yet eliminated, is six games out of eighth place behind 30-win Brooklyn in the Eastern Conference.
Boston at Milwaukee
Antetokounmpo didn't just stuff the stat sheet Friday—he converted a three-point play on an overturned call to push his Bucks to a 54-12 record to move to within one win of clinching the Eastern Conference's top seed.
Tied at 107 late, Antetokounmpo got called for a foul that was then reversed upon review. He hit a free throw and capped off a 36-point performance by adding 15 rebounds and seven assists for good measure, never mind all the highlights:
The Celtics just didn't have an answer, as only two players breached the 20-point mark. Jayson Tatum struggled to just five points on 2-of-18 shooting, dipping Boston's record to 3-8 against the Bucks over the past two seasons. They are still sitting third in the standings three games behind the Toronto Raptors and get Portland next.
One game from clinching the No. 1 seed, Milwaukee next gets the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
Sacramento at San Antonio
The Spurs jumped out to a commanding 43-30 lead after one frame, only for the Sacramento Kings to yo-yo it back the other direction to make it a one-point game by halftime.
But San Antonio taking the second-to-last game of the night was seemingly inevitable with the team shooting 53.3 percent from the floor and 44 percent from deep. DeMar DeRozan led the way with 27 points, while Derrick White added 26.
Impressive as the Spurs were team-wise, the spotlight belonged to Sacramento's De'Aaron Fox and his game-high 39 points and six assists:
With the win, the Spurs sit four games off the eighth seed, which belongs to Memphis, and next up is a critical game with conference-wide implications against those Grizzlies on Sunday.
Sacramento is also technically four games out, and next up is a game against the streaking Magic from the East.
Houston at Dallas
James Harden always seemed destined to put on one of the best shows of the opening weekend in Orlando.
He made good on the expectations early, sprinting to a 5-of-5 shooting mark with 20 points in the opening quarter of a track meet that had an 85-75 total at halftime favoring Dallas.
The fireworks show didn't slow in the second half, and Harden played a pivotal role in pushing things to overtime. He did whatever he wanted and finished his night's shooting with 49 points on just 20 shots from the floor. Russell Westbrook, meanwhile, added 31 of his own.
Both teams continue to jockey for position around the sixth seed. Houston moves to the fifth seed at 41 wins, while Dallas dips to seventh while boasting 40 wins, as many as sixth-seeded Oklahoma City.
Things don't exactly get easier for Harden and the Rockets exiting Friday, not with Sunday standing as a date against Giannis and the Bucks. Dallas has it a little easier that same day against Phoenix.