NBA Game Notes: Crazy Sunday!

The NBA is on a heater with close games lately. Sunday featured five more games that came right down to the final buzzer, with three of them finishing in overtime.

Here’s what I saw on Sunday!

Orlando Magic - 113 at Houston Rockets - 117 OT

• Houston’s two best players made huge plays to get the game to overtime. First, Kevin Durant hit this step-back three to tie the game at 100 all:

• Alperen Sengun then made the first of two huge plays at the end of regulation. Sengun had this block on a Desmond Bane drive to keep the game tied:

  Then after Orlando took the lead off an inbounds turnover (Durant fell down and Sengun threw it away.), Sengun sent the game to overtime:

• Reed Sheppard is giving Houston great minutes off the bench. He’s consistently scoring in double-figures, while holding up find on defense.

• This shot is there for Jabari Smith Jr. on a lot of Rockets possessions. With Tari Eason out for several weeks, this is a shot that Smith needs to stick regularly for Houston:

• Anthony Black came up with some big plays down the stretch for the Magic. He had a steal off an inbounds for a runout dunk near the end of regulation. Black also had this and-1 off a floater in overtime. The Rockets were daring him to shoot, but Black did a good job of not taking the bait:

• The Magic need more of this from Desmond Bane, especially with Paolo Banchero sidelined:

• Franz Wagner has to carry a heavy load for the Magic. They rely on him for scoring, but he also has to function as the primary playmaker when other guys are out. This was a nice drive-and-dish to Goga Bitadze here:

Chicago Bulls - 147 at Utah Jazz - 150 OT2

• Keyonte George has leveled way up this season. This wasn’t one of his better shooting nights, but George was still really effective. And this is the kind of confidence he’s playing with. He went right into this shot for the double-overtime game-winner:

• Brice Sensabaugh has become a good scoring weapon off the Jazz bench. He hit some big shots late in the game. This step-back corner three earlier in the game was a good move to create a little extra space:

• Isaiah Collier is playing with a lot of poise. All nine of his assists came after halftime. He’s done a really good job since returning from injury of getting Utah into their stuff and getting them good looks.

• Broken record time: Jusuf Nurkic is giving the Jazz good minutes. He’s going to be an interesting trade chip for a team that needs a center at the deadline.

• Welcome back, Coby White! Chicago needed some extra scoring punch, and White gave it to them. He’s gotten very good at drawing fouls (14-for-14 from the stripe in this one) and he’s a threat to pullup or shoot. This drive tied it late and probably should have been an and-1:

• We’re a few years into the Bulls trying to figure out if Julian Phillips or Dalen Terry can be that extra forward/big wing that they can use in the rotation. Phillips has had some productive moments this season. This was a really nice dime from Nikola Vucevic against a broken coverage and Phillips delivered with a dunk. Good game for Phillips in this one, as he hit a couple of threes to go with a couple of dunks.

• Matas Buzelis fouled out, but that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Lauri Markkanen is a tough cover. The good thing is that even when he’s in some foul trouble, Buzelis doesn’t lose his aggressiveness. This was a nice play to get over the screen for the recovery block at the rim:

LA Clippers - 118 at Boston Celtics - 121

• Jaylen Brown has been outstanding for Boston this season. He’s carrying the biggest scoring/playmaking load of his career, and Brown is delivering. He’s been especially deadly on midrange jumpers. This was a nice job to use the screen in transition to get to the easy one:

• Payton Pritchard’s early season slump is over. He had a monster game against the Clippers. Pritchard excels on pullup jumpers off screens, especially in small-small two-man actions like this. A second small defender isn’t used to picking up a ballhandler and Pritchard caught the Clippers here:

• Derrick White is showing signs of breaking out of his slump too. White is having to do more than ever with the Celtics retooled roster without Jayson Tatum. That’s led to some tougher looks. But it’s also got White playing with confidence to make late-game pulls like this:

• The Celtics are getting solid production from the Neemias Queta-Luka Garza center pairing. The two combined for 27 points and 13 rebounds (9 offensive) in this win.

• Jordan Walsh is also giving Boston good minutes too. He’s been the best perimeter defender on the team so far this season. That earned him minutes, making some shots is helping Walsh keep those minutes.

• James Harden being this good at his age is ridiculous. He’s still an offensive machine. It’s more jumpers and not as much downhill driving now, but Harden is still a killer.

• Yes, this shot missed for Harden and the Clippers, but there’s context needed. LA had no timeouts left, so this was drawn up on the fly while Boston shot free throws. To get a shot this good, with so little time remaining, is incredible work by everyone involved:

• Keep an eye on two-way player Kobe Sanders for the Clippers. The do-everything wing has played well the last couple of times out. This was a sneaky little crash for the putback here: