About Last Night

About Last Night: Spurs shake off ugly losses

The Spurs are back in the win column, Jimmy Butler continues his late-game heroics and Anthony Davis destroys the Hornets

Dan McCarney, NBA.com

The Spurs still find themselves mired in unfamiliar territory after Sunday’s 131-118 victory over the Blazers, tied for 12th near the bottom of the Western Conference playoffs.

The good news: The playoffs don’t start for more than four months.

The better news: The Spurs, who haven’t missed the postseason since 1996-97, are still only 4 1/2 games out of first place.

Not that many expect them to seriously threaten for that spot, even with the Warriors plagued by injuries and inconsistency and preseason favorites like the Rockets and the Jazz also floundering.

But after losing their previous two games by a combined 70 points, the Spurs were just happy to celebrate a win.

DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 36 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 29 for the Spurs, who blew an early 16-point lead, fell behind in the third quarter and ultimately beat the Blazers going away despite a 37-point onslaught from Damian Lillard.

“We just told the guys, go out there and play relaxed,” DeRozan said. “Don’t think too much and have fun with it. We had a few minutes in the third quarter where we got away from that, but we pulled it back quick. As long as we play with confidence, everything will take care of itself.”

Captain Late

Jimmy Butler continued to impress with his clutch heroics, scoring 13 of his 21 points over the final 8:54 as the Sixers held off the Grizzlies 103-95 for their eighth win in nine games. That bumped his fourth-quarter scoring average up to 8.1 points per game, trailing only LeBron James (8.5) and Kemba Walker (8.2).

Line of the night

Despite failing to maintain his triple-double pace in the second half, Pelicans center Anthony Davis was an absolute monster against the Hornets with 36 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists.

According to the Pelicans, Davis is only the 14th player in NBA history to amass those numbers, and just the third since 1997. (For good measure, he also added two steals and two blocks.)

He racked up plenty of highlight plays along the way, but none better than this sick crossover and slam over poor Frank Kaminsky. (Remember, Davis is a 6-foot-10 center.)

Sleight of hand

You know you’ve made a great fake when even the camera man can’t keep up.

Beverley claims his latest victim

Clippers guard/irritant Patrick Beverley is notorious for a playing style that could be generously described as aggressive. Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. became the latest to pay the price for that no-holds barred attitude, losing a tooth as he and Beverley battled for a loose ball in the second half.

It didn’t appear as if Beverley purposely struck Smith, and he reportedly tried to apologize to the Mavs’ bench as Smith received treatment in the locker room.

But Beverley being Beverley, the olive branch quickly withered as the Mavericks were less than interested in his concession, he responded in kind, and was soon ejected after bouncing the ball at a Mavs fan in the front row. (For his part, Beverley later accused the fan of using a pretty ugly epithet involving his mother.)

https://twitter.com/TheRenderNBA/status/1069411913157746688

Smith had the last word, returning — with tooth reportedly intact, no less — to block Tobias Harris in the final seconds as the Mavs clung to a two-point lead, and then hitting a pair of free throws to seal a 114-110 victory.

Righting the ship

The Suns were pretty much doomed at Staples Center once Devin Booker was forced to leave the game with a hamstring injury. That makes the Lakers’ turnaround only slightly less impressive. From down 17 midway through the first quarter to up 33 late in the fourth, they outscored the Suns by a whopping 50 points en route to a 120-96 win.

Get your wallet, Rudy

Jazz center Rudy Gobert can expect to sacrifice some bread after his heated reaction to a shooting foul (as reported by Andy Larsen) that allowed Heat legend Dwyane Wade to hit the winning free throws with 3.2 seconds left at AmericanAirlines Arena.

“Every night is the same (expletive),” said Gobert, who was called for the foul while attempting to block Wade’s layup attempt. “I’m just tired of it. We’re a small market and we know it. It’s not even personal; they’re just doing their job. We all make mistakes.

“(But) they can’t be deciding … a game just like that. If you call a foul on D-Wade, Donovan (Mitchell) got pushed harder right before. And he’s not Dwyane Wade, it’s fine. But just respect us, as competitors. I sacrifice everything to do this job, and I would like to be respected as a basketball player.”

As for teammate Ricky Rubio? He clearly has no intention of parting with his money.

Despite the controversial finish, Wade and Mitchell swapped jerseys in an affectionate postgame moment.

“You can’t really think about it in the game but to look back at it, you’re playing against your idol essentially,” Mitchell said. “I hit him up (before the game) to make sure I could snag it from him. He’s an all-time great. To be able to play against him in that setting is special.”

Kicks of the night

Somebody watched a LOT of Nickelodeon growing up…

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