Fri, Feb 7th, 2020

• Russell Westbrook is finally playing to his strengths

• The Rockets are taking small ball to the extreme

• A list of trade deadline deals

• Giannis made Joel Embiid look silly last night

 1. The Lead: Houston’s tiny lineup is fun. Russell Westbrook’s recent play is more important.  

Last night, the Rockets, after trading away their only viable big man for Robert Covington, trotted out this lineup:

• 6-foot-3 Russell Westbrook

• 6-foot-5 James Harden

• 6-foot-4 Eric Gordon

• 6-foot-7 Danuel House

• 6-foot-5 P.J. Tucker 

Harden took the opening tip, for Muggsy Bogues’ sake.It was the shortest starting lineup in the NBA in more than 50 years. It was the fully mutated final form of Mike D’Antoni’s now-modest-seeming reinvention of the Suns 13 years ago.Most importantly, it worked: The Rockets beat the Lakers, who started two seven-footers and LeBron James, 121-111.How sustainable this is is anyone’s guess; the ultra-small lineup is uncharted NBA territory.What stuck out most last night, though, was Russell Westbrook’s play.(Full disclosure: The Grip has had Stockholm Syndrome for Westbrook for years.)In a game with Harden, Anthony Davis and LeBron, he was the best player.His line: 

• 41 points (he eclipsed 20,000 career points), 17 of 28 shooting, 1 of 2 from deep, eight rebounds, five assists

In recent weeks, he’s completely ditched his broken 3-point shot and attacked the hell out of the rim, like with this hesi move on Davis and this back down destruction of Rajon Rondo.

There’s been a direct correlation between his rising efficiency and impact and his decrease in attempted outside shots. By month, his overall shooting percentage has gone from: 

• 42.6 in Oct. and Nov.

• 42.8 in Dec.

• 51.8 in Jan. and Feb. 

He’s also averaging 33.4 points over the last 30 days and the most drives per game in that span, as well. It’s like he’s the first person in history to decide on a New Year’s resolution and actually stick with it.2020 Russ, so far, is what we’ve always wanted him to be. And that could be a glorious sign for the Rockets going forward, tiny lineup or not.

2. Giannis’s Dream Shake  

Giannis destroyed Joel Embiid last night, and the Bucks beat the 76ers, 112-101.

Philadelphia is now 9-19 on the road. Al Horford admits the locker room is combusting. Tobias Harris has a max contract. Jimmy Butler is tearing up the league in Miami.

You. Hate. To. See. It.

3. (Almost) every trade deadline trade, summed up in one sentence 

1. Andre Drummond from the Pistons to the Cavs for a 2023 second-rounder and John Henson and Brandon KnightAndre Drummond is pissed.2. Marcus Morris and Isaiah Thomas to the Clippers; Jerome Robinson to the Wizards; Moe Harkless and a 2020 first-rounder to the KnicksThomas is going to be waived by the Clippers, which really, really, really sucks.3. James Ennis from the 76ers to the Magic for a second-rounderThat’ll fix the 76ers.4. Jordan McRae from the Wizards to the Nuggets for Shabazz NapierYou and we may know nothing about McRae, but he seems like a nice human.5. D’Angelo Russell from the Warriors to the Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins, other spare partsThe Wolves finally did something that would make Karl Anthony-Towns happy, and happy he is.6. Justice Winslow, Dion Waiters and James Johnson from Miami to Memphis for Andre Iguodala, Solomon Hill and Jae CrowderFascinating trade, for sure, made even more fascinating by the fact that Miami extended Iguodala two years beyond this season, plus, Crowder has been traded for the fifth time since 2015, and, lastly, this run-on grammatical nightmare of a sentence exists only because our headline promised every summary would be in this format.READ: The biggest winners and losers from the 2020 NBA trade deadline

4. Lou x AI x XXXL Hillary Clinton pantsuits, circa 2006 

This picture from 2006 popped up on our Twitter timeline (follow us on Twitter), and it was simply too 2006 not to post.Also: Lou Williams’ outfit is ridiculous, obviously. Allen Iverson’s on the other hand … is kinda fly. Leave it to him to pull off a XXXL beige Hillary Clinton brand pant-suit.

5.  Quick Hits 

• LeBron and Giannis picked their All-Star teams yesterday on TNT. Here’s the draft.

• Chuck, on the 76ers: “I think they are the softest, mentally weakest team that has a bunch of talent. They are the Cleveland Browns of the NBA. They got a lot of talent, and they talk the talk, and that’s it.”

• The Knicks have their new team president: Player agent Leon Rose, who represents some of the best players in the NBA. It’s a move that mirrors the hiring of former agents Bob Myers in Golden State and Rob Pelinka in Los Angeles.

• Enes Kantercelebrated when the clock struck 3 yesterday.

6.  Off the press

• Evan Turner, a South Boston kid, and the meaning of outreach [The Boston Herald]

• The Rockets are done with half-measures [The Ringer]

• Did the Heat and Rockets trade their way into a title chase? [ESPN]