NBA in Threes: Fighting in Philly; Arcade-style basketball in Washington

Trae Young injured; Fisticuffs in Philadelphia; Terrible news for GSW; Arcade style basketball in Washington

Welcome to NBA in Threes where we rundown some notable happenings in the league and recent games three days at a time

NBA in Threes has been designed to be flexible in its delivery of NBA news.

•  NBA Box Scores
  • Think of the box scores like free throws. They’re quick, easy and they give you a little sumpin’ sumpin’.
• NBA Tidbits
  • Tidbits are your field goals inside the arc. You’re going to get a little more info and some Tweets relevant to the day. It’ll have a little more substance than the box scores.
• NBA Game AnalysesGame analyses are like shots from range.
  • It’s still a quick read individually but it will be a better value.

*October 28 NBA Box Scores

NBA Game Analyses

Toronto Raptors vs Orlando Magic

New Orleans Pelicans vs Golden State Warriors

NBA Tidbits

•Canadian RJ Barrett continued to show the kind of tough, tenacious player he’s going to be in this league. The New York Knicks outrebounded the Chicago Bulls  63-38 on their way to a 105-98 win. Barrett, the 19-year old, 6′ 6″ shooting guard personally took down 15 of those rebounds.

Just to put it into perspective…

•In tracking the game between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers a certain combination of stats jumped out at me. 19 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench. Every team needs a guy like that. For the Pistons, that guy was Christian Wood. Never heard of him? Neither had I.

Wood only made the Pistons roster because the organization waived Joe Johnson. Ironically, if not for the advice Johnson was willing to offer Wood, that decision by the Pistons could easily have gone the other way.

Wood said of Johnson’s mentorship:

"Aw, man, there were some things I didn’t know how to defend in the post. Offensively, I was misplaced on the perimeter and stuff like that, so he helped me out. He knows were to be and he knows all the plays and it was his first year being here."

Wood is on a non-guaranteed contract which becomes guaranteed if he stays on the roster through January 10, 2020. A few more performances like last night and he can be sure of his spot. It almost goes without saying that Pistons fans are already on board.

•It was the first of six ’95 Rewind games for the Toronto Raptors who rocked throwback white and purple jerseys and a sick old meets new court design.

*October 29 NBA Box Scores

NBA Game Analyses

Denver Nuggets vs Dallas Mavericks

NBA Tidbits

•The Atlanta Hawks picked up their second loss of the season against the Miami Heat. This doesn’t come as a huge surprise after with only 11:04 played, Trae Young had to leave the game with a sprained ankle. According to reports, x-rays came back negative and Young could miss the next two weeks of the early season.

https://twitter.com/TheTraeYoung/status/1189381060829818881

•I have to admit that historically, during the NBA regular season, I’ve been a very my-team-centric basketball fan. And even up until last season, I usually only watched possible elimination games during the playoffs if the Raptors weren’t playing.

So when I was talking to a fellow writer about basketball during the offseason and was asked what I thought about Anthony Davis I had to say that I didn’t know enough about his game to comment and maybe I’d have to write a piece after the season on what I’d learned about him.

I’m learning a lot, very quickly.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1189407366980218880

*October 30 NBA Box Scores

NBA Game Analyses

Toronto Raptors vs Detroit Pistons

Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Clippers

NBA Tidbits

•Things got heated between Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns in the matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Minnesota Timberwolves.  I only saw the aftermath but according to some reports I saw on twitter Embiid was yapping at Towns all night before this happened:

There are also angles on this where you can see Ben Simmons with KAT in a chokehold and what looks to me like KAT tapping out. And then there was this after Embiid celebrated the fight with his teammates.

https://twitter.com/auxiliarythings/status/1189705992113655808

I hope in the light of day Embiid and the 76ers have taken the time to process just what this could mean before the league drops the hammer because there are most certainly suspensions coming for Embiid and likely Simmons based on the footage.

This whole situation has told me more about Philadelphia’s chances this season than any work or interview Simmons and Embiid have done since last season’s Eastern Conference Semifinals. I’m a Raptors fan but I’m the first to admit that last season, Philadelphia looked like the better team on paper. But they lacked the maturity and experience to handle the big stage. Wednesday night’s falderal tells me that a lack of maturity is still a glaring issue for this team.

Taking a look at Philly’s upcoming schedule, if Simmons and Embiid are out… who am I kidding, if even just Embiid is out it’s going to be a great opportunity for teams like the Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz, and Denver Nuggets to take home an easy win against a team that most certainly was expected to be a challenge.

For the T-Wolves, who were not expected to be in playoff contention I like finally seeing a little fight from Towns, pun intended. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in any way condoning the way he chose to vent his frustrations with Embiid. What I am saying that KAT has been missing a fight and fire to his game that has held him back. If this new-found grit can be channeled into his game and maybe be shared with Anthony Wiggins, they might have something out there in Minnesota.

•Steph Curry reportedly has a broken his left hand after a fall in Wednesday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns. He’ll be out indefinitely and I wish him a speedy recovery.

I’ve been hoping that the Warriors would find a way to find a cohesive style of play with all of the new faces on the roster. Now, it’s safe to say that the Warriors’ season will be a wash.

https://twitter.com/usatodaynba/status/1189756064264265728

•Wednesday night’s score from the game between the Houston Rockets and Washington Wizards looked like something out of NBA 2K arcade mode. In regulation, the Rockets bested the Wizards with a score of 159 to 158. James Harden went off for 59 points and Bradley Beal had 46. Beal’s shooting percentages were off the charts. He shot 70 percent from the field including 58 percent from 3-point range and went 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.

And no defense was played.