Wednesday night was a busy night in the NBA. In one of the games for the evening, the Portland Trailblazers lost their first game of the season. They fell to the Miami Heat, a team that had been struggling through the first week.
Damian Lillard's minor injury
Damian Lillard exited the game with a right calf strain. It seems that the injury is not that serious. Lillard commented that he would have kept playing if the game had been a playoff game.
"It wasn't nothing that I was overly concerned with," he told reporters. "I just know that it wouldn't make sense to try and push through it in the fifth game of the season."
The Trailblazers are now 4-1 on the season while the Heat improved to 2-3. With the result, the Milwaukee Bucks remain the only defeated team on the season. They defeated the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles Lakers stay winless
In other results, the LA Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets. With the loss, the Lakers stay winless on the season. Russell Westbrook did not play in the game and Denver handled the contest pretty easily. The final score in the game was 110-99.
The Lakers have seen their preseason expectations flip-flop with the betting public and oddsmakers. LA is now considered a favorite to miss the playoffs. Prior to the start of the season, they were favored to make the playoffs this year. Clearly, no one has really liked what they have seen with the club so far.
Philadelphia falls to 1-4 on the season
The Philadelphia 76ers continued their struggling start. They lost to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, 119-109. The result sees the 76ers start their season with a 1-4 record.
The 76ers have an incredibly lean bench. Only three bench players logged more than five minutes in the contest. In 29 combined minutes, George Niang and Danuel House Jr. combined for just 1 rebound and 6 points off of the bench. Something has to change in Philadelphia or else they will be heading toward an awful season.
Steve Nash tossed from a game
Steve Nash was ejected from a game on Wednesday night for the first time in his coaching career. Nash has been the target of some online trolling over the incident (see Tweet below).
"I was just standing up for our guys," Nash said. "I thought Patty took a forearm in the throat from Giannis right in front of the ref. I didn't think that was fair. I don't think I was overly demonstrative. I was upset that I got a tech."
