The Miami Heat blew up the Houston Rockets

The Heat may just be one of the teams to fear from the East, after they dismantled the Rockets 129-100.

They followed a balanced attack, led by Duncan Robinson’s 23 points. Meyers Leonard also dropped 21, and their top signing of the offseason Jimmy Butler dropped in a cool 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists. Butler’s intolerance for hard work has become the stuff of legend, but now that he’s been paired with Pat Riley, he shouldn’t have to worry about teammates that don’t give their all every single game.

James Harden had 29 points in 26 minutes for the Rockets. Russell Westbrook had one of the worst games of his career, and in NBA history, with a -46 differential. This was also done in 26 minutes. It will be interesting to see how the Rockets try to come back from this embarrassment. They may have set the NBA talking last week with their 159-158 victory, but this week tongues are wagging for a completely different season.

The Utah Jazz are like kids who got in trouble when their dad finally came home

The Jazz made handy work of the Kawhi-less Clippers last week, but the Klaw wasn’t going to let that happen again while he was on the floor.Kawhi set the pace for the Clippers with 30 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and a block. No one else on his team scored over 20, but the supporting casts were effective and did their jobs while letting Kawhi focus on what he does best.

The visiting team did not go away quietly, though. Donovan Mitchell had himself an excellent game, scoring 30 points on 11 of 21 shooting (4 of 6 from beyond the arc). He also made 10 of 14 free throws. Rudy Gobert had an uncharacteristically quiet performance on defense today, not registering a single block.

A focused LeBron James is a hell of a thing

Doubts about LeBron James’ focus and dedication toward bringing a title to LA should now be dead in the water. He is clearly locked in and prepared to do what it takes to bring one more chip to the Lakers franchise, and he put up a consecutive triple-double against a difficult opponent in the San Antonio Spurs. 

James put up 21 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block in the win. Anthony Davis followed with a solid double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds. 

As for the Spurs, they didn’t have any breakout performances from any players, but they did play pretty well-balanced overall. They didn’t lose by that large a margin, 103-96, so Greg Popovich probably isn’t losing any sleep after the L.

Other results

Kings def. Knicks 113-92

Mavs def. Cavs 131-111 (Luka Doncic triple-double 27 PTS, 14 REB, 15 AST)

Pacers def. Bulls 108-95