NBA Headlines From Last Week

Booker Goes for 46

On Monday, Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker scored 46 points in a 115-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Booker joined All-Star Lebron James as the only other player to have 10 games with 30 plus points this season. At 21 years old, Booker looks like he will become the face of the franchise for the Suns in later years.

 

Booker Out Two to Three Weeks

Later in the week, on Tuesday, Booker went down with a groin injury and had to be carted off of the court. The injury occurred late in the fourth quarter, when Booker was attempting to defend Toronto Raptors’ guard Fred VanVleet. What made the injury scary was that it was non-contact, making it look like Booker would miss an extended amount of time. On Wednesday, the news came out that Booker would only miss 2-3 weeks as he had sustained a left adductor strain.

 

Durant vs. Cousins

On Monday night, with a minute left in what had been a close game between the Golden State Warriors and the New Orleans Pelicans, Warriors star Kevin Durant and Pelicans star Demarcus Cousins exchanged words. Throughout the entire game, there was noticeably a ton of talking going on between Cousins, Durant and, of course, the one and only Draymond Green. While Green was not involved, he seemed to encourage Durant into a “fight” with Cousins. While no punches were thrown, both players were ejected and both were able to get their points across.

 

Cousins Drops 40 On the Nuggets

Two nights after the Durant altercation, Cousins exploded for 40 points and 22 rebounds in a Pelicans 123-114 win over the Denver Nuggets. The win moved the Pelicans into the eighth seed in the Western Conference. Cousins is doing this almost single handedly, plus the help of guard of Jrue Holiday, as forward Anthony Davis is out with a Groin Injury.  

 

Cavaliers Win Streak Snapped

It was bound to happen, the Cavaliers lackluster streak coming to an end against an okay team, the Indiana Pacers. I mean, look at the streak, the best team they beat were the Pistons, who the Celtics beat by 10 on Sunday. The next best team they beat were the New York Knicks, who are currently eighth in the Eastern Conference. Despite all of this, Lebron James continues to tweet or post on instagram after every win, drawing more unnecessary attention to the Cavaliers . No matter what the streak says, the Celtics 16 game win streak was more impressive by a mile.

 

Oladipo Leading the Pacers

Shooting guard, Victor Oladipo, has single handedly led the Indiana Pacers on a four game win streak and into the five seed in the Eastern Conference. He is averaging 30.8 points per game throughout the win streak and has led the team in scoring three out of the four games. One of those wins came against the Cavaliers, in which the Pacers pulled away in the third quarter on an outscoring the Cavaliers by nine. Despite a late run by the Cavaliers, Oladipo was able to stay hot and come away with the win. Oladipo is looking like an All-Star, and belongs in Los Angeles in February.