NBA Week 8 Rewind: Don’t overlook the Spurs and Cavaliers

The Key Games and Results of Week 8

What did this game show us? For a start, the Jazz’s defense fell apart without Rudy Gobert (left knee sprain) against the swift ball movement and balance of the Spurs’ offense, and they struggled to even shoot 40 percent from the floor. Derrick Favors made little defensive impact in his 24 minutes with just 3 rebounds and 1 block, and the Jazz were dominated on the glass all game as they were out-rebounded 32-48.

For a team who are meant to rely on stellar defense to get by, those rebounding numbers are poor. It does show the value that Gobert has, of course, but it also reveals the level of their struggles when he’s not on the floor. In fact, they trail by an average of 4.4 points per 100 possessions without him, and lead by an average of 5.3 points with him.

The Jazz have an incredibly hard time scoring anyway, and against the Spurs’ league-best defense, that challenge was even more difficult. Utah’s top scorer, Favors, only scored 16 points and shot just 6-of-14 against San Antonio’s elite frontcourt.

The Jazz aren’t the only team the Spurs have been shutting down, as their 1st place ranking in defensive rating (92.8) is the sign of just how dominant they have been, especially when protecting the perimeter. If you’ve been sleeping on how much of a threat they are, it’s about time you stop.

Kevin Durant kicked the scoring off with a three, and guess who answered? Of course, it was LeBron James with a three pointer of his own. That quickly set the tone for their night as two of the top few players in the NBA, and even though neither had particularly hot hands, they still racked up the points.

Ultimately, though, it was LeBron’s Cavaliers who came out on top. Despite Durant’s 25 points and his Dr. J behind the backboard layup impression, the Cavs came back strong in the second quarter and quickly started changing the momentum of the game. The Thunder started well and established a 12-point lead half way through the second quarter, but once the Cavs went on a 7-0 run in 45 seconds, they soon answered back.

The game was closely fought all night, though. The Thunder entered the fourth quarter with a 78-74 lead, yet as they failed to hit 8 consecutive shots and failed to make a field goal for nearly 7 minutes, the Cavs came storming back and won the final period 30-22.

An effortless double-double from Russell Westbrook (27 points, 10 assists), a big game from Serge Ibaka (23 points, 9 rebounds, 2 threes) and 25 points from Durant wasn’t enough. While this matchup is always going to be closely contested, it at least gave us an indication on this occasion of just how good the Cavaliers can be even when they’re without Kyrie Irving.

Well, it’s not often you get to say this, but on Friday night we saw a quadruple overtime in Chicago. The Pistons and Bulls fought through four overtime periods in the longest and most gruelling contest of the NBA this season. After they were tied at 105 at the end of regulation, they proceeded to the first of what must have felt like an endless amount of overtime.

Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson always seemed to have the last shot when it came to each period of overtime, but as fatigue played a part and took the energy out of his legs, his range suffered and they came up short. Over the final two periods of overtime, it was Jimmy Butler time. He had a career-high 43 points in his 55 minutes of action and hit a huge three with just 4 seconds left in the final period to cut the Pistons’ lead to 145-144.

Jackson was sent to the line and hit both, and as Butler got another three point attempt off a desperate inbounds play, he missed and the marathon game was over.

With so much playing time, the stars of both teams put together some big stat lines:

• Pau Gasol: 30 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists.
• Derrick Rose: 34 points, 8 assist.
• Jimmy Butler: 43 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks.
• Reggie Jackson: 31 points, 13 assists, 6 rebounds.
• Andre Drummond: 33 points, 21 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks.

You need to see it for yourself, so here’s a look at the ridiculous spectacle these teams put together:

It seems unfair to call a game like this “great,” as that descriptor is casually thrown around so much during the week. “Epic” seems a little more appropriate.

Next: Who's Heating Up?