Last night, the NBA produced a slew of upsets. The Clippers, Cavaliers, and Spurs, all perennial playoff contenders, lost to teams who all missed the playoffs the last couple of years.
The Los Angles Clippers were defeated 127-122 in a double overtime thriller by the Brooklyn Nets, who are having an abysmal season thus far. The first overtime featured a livid Doc Rivers being ejected after being called for two technical fouls. Rivers had to be restrained by assistant coach Sam Cassell and center DeAndre Jordan.
Nets’ guard Sean Kilpatrick scored 38 points in 47 minutes of action and Brook Lopez added 27 points of his own. Chris Paul had a 28-point, 10-rebound, 13-assist triple double in a losing effort.
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost quite handily to the upstart Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo tied his previous career high of 34 points and added 12 rebounds on a night where the star tandem of King James and Uncle Drew looked human. In a lopsided 118-101 victory for the Bucks, LeBron and Kyrie dropped 22 and 20 points respectively. Kevin Love added 13 points.
Lastly, the San Antonio Spurs were upset on their home court by the Orlando Magic. Riding a nine-game winning streak, the coach Pop led Spurs were expected to easily dismantle the Magic, who are effectively in the process of rebuilding.
The Spurs turned the ball over a season high 19 times that resulted in 19 points for the Magic. San Antonio veteran Tony Parker was 0-6 from the field and scored only 2 points in the losing effort. This was the fourth loss at home for the Spurs this season.
