Week 2 in the NBA saw the end of several unbeaten streaks, the perpetuation of several winless streaks, injuries and game-winning 3s. Let’s take a look back.
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Last week, the injury bug bit Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose. This week, it’s Ricky Rubio and Marcus Smart. Both the young guards suffered ankle sprains of varying degrees of severity.
Smart injured his when the Boston Celtics took on the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. The injury looked pretty bad at the time, with Smart being removed from the court on a stretcher.
The rookie was also photographed in a wheelchair in the concourse during the game, but an MRI turned up a moderate ankle sprain and a bone bruise. Smart is expected to sit out two-to-three weeks.
The injury is a particularly bitter pill to swallow for Celtics fans, given Smart’s role in the team’s near-comeback against the Dallas Mavericks earlier in the week.
Rubio was injured the same night on a similar play, but the injury was more severe for the Spaniard. Rubio was initially listed by the team as out indefinitely but he is expected to miss seven-to-eight weeks with a severe ankle sprain.
The news is a big setback for a young Timberwolves team that was starting to gel around their international point guard. Rubio was third in the league in assists per game upon his departure, and rookies Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine along with the rest of the squad will surely miss the open looks Rubio provided.
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The Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets entered Saturday night as the only remaining unbeaten teams. With the Rockets and Warriors facing off in Houston’s home opener, it was certain that at least one undefeated team would fall.
With Dwight Howard sitting this one out with the flu, the paint opened up for the Warriors. Andrew Bogut ripped 18 boards and Stephen Curry found room to penetrate and dish in addition to his usual bombardment from beyond the arc.
Curry finished with 34 points and six treys to go along with 10 rebounds and five assists. Curry dominated while James Harden did his best to keep pace. In the end, the Warriors were able to pull away for the 98-87 win.
However on Sunday, the Phoenix Suns were able to hand the Warriors their first loss of the 2014-2015 campaign. Gerald Green and Isaiah Thomas both exploded in the fourth quarter, combining for 31 of their team’s 36 points in the period driving Phoenix to the 107-95 victory.
The Warriors couldn’t hold on to the ball, committing 27 turnovers for the game, which brings their turnover total in the last two games to an astounding 53. Golden State was without Klay Thompson, who was sitting due to a sprained hand.
The Grizzlies put their undefeated record on the line against the plucky Milwaukee Bucks in Memphis. The Bucks used a balanced offensive attack to stay even with the Grizzlies through most of the game. Memphis weathered an off night from Mike Conley mostly thanks to Zach Randolph’s 24-point, 18-rebound performance.
Things were tight down to the very end with Randolph hitting a layup with 1:30 remaining to give Memphis a 91-90 lead. After missing the front end of a pair of free throws, Conley hit the second to give the Grizzlies a two-point lead with eight seconds left. The Bucks' last chance came with Brandon Knight’s drive to the basket as the clock ticked under three seconds.
Knight hit the layup and was fouled. The young guard approached the charity stripe and calmly sank the free throw to give the Bucks the lead with 1.1 seconds remaining. From there, the game was sealed and the Bucks had handed the Grizzlies their first loss of the season.
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Late on Sunday, the Lakers, led by the league’s leading scorer in Kobe Bryant, were finally able to get one in the win column by defeating the Charlotte Hornets 107-92.
Perhaps the lone bright spot for Lakers fans so far has to be the performance by their aging superstar. Kobe is tied with Steph Curry for the league lead in scoring, averaging 27.6 points per game despite the Lakers opening the season 1-5.
