Friday night in the NBA, there was one common theme among three guys who have broken out over the last several years and look to be among the top finishers in the game. And that something is instant offense and the ability to score at will. And we’ll take you through each performance in the space below.
It happened first in New Orleans, where the Toronto Raptors paid the Pelicans a visit. While the Raptors lost both Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka to injuries, Pascal Siakam opted to have the game of his life to carry his guys to the victory.
Without having a second star on the floor with him for practically the whole second half, it was his time to shine. The reigning Most Improved Player is continuing to get better now that he is the true top option for Toronto and will be all season. Pascal finished with 44 points and 10 rebounds, shooting an impressive 17-of-28 from the floor.
It is not clear how long Lowry and Serge will be out for, but what is clear is that Siakam can continue to play at a high level, and we may be discussing his next 40-point game before we know it.
Tight Games
Over in Salt Lake City, Utah, it’s worth noting that Bojan Bogdanovic went off and helped the Jazz escape disaster against the Bucks. The Jazz blew a six-point lead in the final minute despite Giannis Antetokounmpo fouling out. Bogdanovic stepped up and knocked down a corner three as time expired to lift his team to a win, finishing with 33 points on the night.
And in Denver, the Ben Simmons-less Sixers blew a 21-point fourth-quarter lead to the Nuggets, as Nikola Jokic hit a one-footed step-back jumper to win the game.
In a game in Minnesota against his best friend, Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell decided that in his return from his ankle injury, he was going to carry his injury-plagued team and try to lead them to a win in a game in which they were 12.5-point underdogs. He would go on to finish the game 19-of-37 from the floor for 52 points, and though the Warriors took the loss, he did more than enough to keep his team in it, getting the game to overtime.
Most of his starters are still trying to get their feet under them in the NBA, and this kind of performance could happen again soon as the Warriors try and figure things out.
Scoring Effort
Lastly, we go to Portland, where the Blazers took a fourth loss in a row. They are missing Zach Collins and may also be regretting their decision to let both Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless go.
But though they took the defeat, we saw another major performance from Damian Lillard, as he posted 60 points, doing all he could to lead his team to keep the game close. He is a one-man wrecking crew this season, but unless he can get some more help early in games, we will see this line constantly.
