Welcome to The Rundown! Today we talk about the top stories, pick our Player of the Night, and make predictions for tonight’s action.
Celtics win despite Horford not playing, losing Tatum early:
Nick Billion: The Celtics continue their winning ways after beating the Lakers last night. During the win, Jason Tatum left the game with an ankle injury. Having played well in the starting lineup in Gordon Hayward’s absence, if Tatum misses time will it hurt this team’s streak? Personally, I think it’s the next man up mentality. Take for example Aaron Baynes, who got the start for Al Horford who set out due to concussion protocol. Baynes had himself a game against the Lakers and nearly walked away with a double-double. Just like when Hayward went down, we thought that was it for Boston, Tatum stepped up. I think this team will be fine.
Craig Brallier: Jason Tatum left the game in a boot, so I would imagine he’ll at least miss a game or two, but this team has been able to bounce back from adversity so far, so why not now? Tatum has been awesome but like Nick said, it’s just up to the reserves to step up and play at a high level. Baynes did it last night, tomorrow it could be someone else.
Lonzo continues his poor shooting:
NB: Shooting struggles continue for second overall pick Lonzo Ball. To be effective and a good leader, he has to be able to score going forward. I believe there’s an easy fix to his scoring drought; As simple as it may seem, he just needs to relax and not let the media and others get into his head. Coming into the season a lot was expected from him and that can get to someone. If he just relaxes he will be fine.
CB: I think Lonzo just needs to be aggressive. In college, he was at the rim, dunking, throwing behind the back passes, playing his unique brand of basketball that got Magic Johnson and Lakers’ fans so excited, and got him compared to guys like Jason Kidd. Everyone was so focused on his passing ability, that it seems like he just wants to show that off, and prove haters wrong about his (dreadful) shooting form. I think if he switches his focus from jump shots to attacking the rim, the rest will come naturally. We know he has the potential, and we’ve seen him it threes, he just needs to be comfortable with himself and play the game that got him so much attention coming out of UCLA.
Warriors are back to normal:
CB: It was a slow first few games for the Golden State Warriors, but their finally back to their dominating ways. In their last five straight wins they have been winning by huge margins: Clippers by 28, Spurs by 20, Nuggets by 19, Heat by 17 and Wolves by 24, outscoring their opponents by a total of 108 points. That’s insane right? That last victory over the Timberwolves came with Kevin Durant sitting out. They are finally in the groove that made them the winningest team over a three year span in history. And if we know anything about the Warriors, they’re not going to slow down any time soon.
Player of the Night:
Unanimous: Aaron Baynes – 21 PTS, 8 REB, 5 OREB, 8/12 from the field in win VS Lakers.
Predictions:
Lakers-Wizards
NB: Wizards
CB: Wizards
Raptors-Pelicans
NB: Raptors
CB: Pelicans
Cavs-Rockets
NB: Rockets
CB: Rockets
76ers-Kings
NB: 76ers
CB: 76ers
Thunder-Nuggets
NB: Thunder
CB: Thunder
That’ll do it for today’s Rundown! Come back tomorrow for takes on the tomorrow’s news from around The Association.