About Last Night

About Last Night: Wild 4OT thriller in Atlanta

Young and LaVine trade 40-plus, Kawhi wins one and Milwaukee's first to clinch

Khari Arnold, NBA.com

Bulls vs. Hawks.

Easily the most anticipated game on Friday’s schedule.

Somehow, the Chicago Bulls’ 168-161 quadruple-overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks turned out to be the most entertaining game of the night and the third-highest scoring affair in NBA history.

Trae Young had the best game of his nascent career, pouring in 49 points and 16 assists. Zach LaVine countered Young’s dominance with a 47-point, nine-rebound and nine-assist performance of his own.

There was a ton to take away from this game, but what better way to summarize it than by putting both Young and LaVine in the same breath as all-time great Michael Jordan… isn’t that how this works?

Young became the first NBA rookie with 45 points and 10 assists in a game since Jordan in 1984. And LaVine’s line of 47 points, nine rebounds and nine assists hadn’t been achieved by any Bulls player since Jordan in 1989.

Seriously, the future’s bright for these two up-and-comers.

Kawhi. Still. Clutch.

Raptors star Kawhi Leonard reminded everyone why he’s one of the best closers in the game.

The All-Star forward leads the NBA with 5.0 ppg in clutch situations (score within five points in final five minutes) and lived up to his reputation on Friday, drilling a game-winning jumper over Damian Lillard to lift Toronto past Portland, 119-117.

The win snapped Portland’s five-game winning streak.

Leonard, who finished with 38 points on 63.6 percent shooting, scored 15 in the fourth on an efficient 75 percent shooting. Eleven of his 15 points came during clutch time.

That type of production against above-average teams will bode well for the Raptors in the playoffs, especially when all of this is just considered practice for the former Finals MVP.

Bucks first to clinch

Eric Bledsoe started his day by reportedly agreeing to a four-year, $70-million extension with Milwaukee. The ninth-year point guard ended the day by dropping a season-high 31 points against the Lakers, including the dagger 3-pointer that punched the Bucks’ ticket to the playoffs.

https://twitter.com/Bucks/status/1101723358343954432%20

The Bucks won their seventh game in a row and 10th straight on the road.

With the Sacramento Kings losing to the LA Clippers, the Lakers had a shot to tie the Kings for ninth in the Western Conference standings. Instead, LeBron James & Co. continue to reside in the 10th spot, with the Minnesota Timberwolves trailing by one game.

Playoff Picture

If the playoffs began today, here’s how things would look:

Slew of amazing slams

Brandon Ingram’s remarkable spin move and reverse dunk…

…was not to be outdone by LeBron James’ incredible reverse putback…

…until Ingram came back with this vicious slam over former teammate Brook Lopez.

Sidenote: This is the latest in a series of Lakers showing no mercy to their former teammates. Ingram just bodied Lopez, Kuzma recently threw down on Julius Randle and Ingram obliterated Corey Brewer for one of the most disrespectful dunks of the year. Someone warn Ivica Zubac before Monday’s contest, please.

Back to your regularly scheduled dunk session.

One word: Giannis.

Meanwhile, just south of L.A., Devin Booker laid the hammer on Anthony Davis for some Wildcat-on-Wildcat crime.

Currys showing off bunnies

The Curry brothers have apparently been trying to live above the rim as of late as well.

Steph recorded his first dunk of the season last Friday, and younger brother Seth followed that up a week later with a throwdown of his own.

It was the first time Seth dunked in his career, which certainly caught the eye of big bro.

Kanter stays home

Enes Kanter didn’t travel for Friday’s nationally-televised game in Toronto because of immigration issues. The Turkish big man provided the pre-game report on Twitter.

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