Friday, March 6th, 2020

  The Opening Tip

• Are the Clippers finally turning into the title favorite?

• Steph Curry and his bag of trick shots returned last night

• Some loose leaf stats to gander 

• The Lakers filled their final roster spot on Thursday

Tonight's must-watch games

1. The Lead: Here come the Clippers

The media does this thing, with every team, where every three-game losing streak and every three-game winning streak over the course of an 82-game season has to mean something. It can get pretty annoying.That said: HERE COME THE CLIPPERS.They:

• Have won six in a row, including wins over the Thunder, 76ers, Nuggets and the Rockets, last night. 

• Have a net rating over that span of plus-16, best in the league by five points. 

• Are a plus-41 in 95 minutes with their new starting lineup of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Patrick Beverley, Marcus Morris and Ivica Zubac, according to Zach Lowe. 

And, now, we aren’t asking, are we sure they should have traded Shai Gilgeeous-Alexander?; we’re digging up the one stat that proves the Clippers are title favorites.This whole season for them -- the many injuries, the fact that they’re punting on the schedule like a returning champ, and not like a team that’s never made a conference finals -- has been weird, but the fact they can boast the starting lineup above, then bring guys like Montrezl Harrell, Lou Williams and Landry Shamet off the bench, is ridiculous.From Lowe’s column: 

“Chameleons thrive in the playoffs. The Clippers can play at almost any size, and in varying styles. They look like a contender rounding into form. I picked them to win the title before the season, and I'm (gulp) sticking with it.”

What he said!They’re playing like the switchable and deep team we were all blown away by to start the season. And we are so in.**Until the next three-game losing streak.

2. Steph Curry is back

Steph Curry played in a game for the first time since Oct. last night, scoring 23 points in a 121-113 loss, including the ridiculous 3-pointer GIF’d above.In all, it was a perfect night for Golden State: They sold out their new spaceship; entertained the corporate bros; and still lost, preserving their league-worst record.

3. By the numbers  

16,588

The paid attendance at the Knicks’ loss to the Jazz on Wednesday was 16,588, the lowest number at Madison Square Garden since Dec. 2006. (Keep in mind that number really means tickets sold, not the actual amount of people who came to the game.)

  19.1 points

Since taking over for the injured Ben Simmons, Philadelphia’s Shake Milton is averaging 19.1 points per game over the last seven, including the 39-point outburst against the Clippers on Sunday.

  11.8; 7.2

Tonight's mega matchup between the Bucks and the Lakers features the two best teams in the NBA by net rating; plus-11.8 for the Bucks -- the highest ever -- and plus-7.2 for the Lakers.Sports books have the road Bucks as the 1.5-point favorite as of Friday afternoon.

  24 points per game

Small sample size be damned, Zion Williamson’s 24 points per game average is the highest by a teenager in NBA history.

  7 of 42

We now know what happens when the Rockets’ mini lineup doesn’t make 3s against a good team: they lose by 15.Against the Clippers last night, Houston shot 7 of 42 from deep. 

4. 03/06/2000: Shaq gets 61

On this day 20 years ago, on his 28th birthday, Shaq scored 61 points against the Clippers, a career-high.The 123-103 win improved the Lakers’ record to 50-11 and dropped the Clippers to 12-48.His final line: 

• 24 of 35 from the floor, 13 of 22 from the line, 23 rebounds, 45 minutes played.

He told a funny story about that day on NBA Open Court: 

“I’m like, give me the ball. Give me the ball. I’m scoring. I got 61. I’m catching lobs. I’m actually kinda upset at Phil (Jackson) because I think we had like five minutes left and he took me out. I think he did that because he didn’t want me to score more than Mike. That’s what I think.” 

(MJ’s career-high was 69.)Shaq averaged 29.7-13.6-3.8 that season, winning his only MVP and his first title.

5. Terence Davis’s throwdown

Also from last night’s Warriors-Raptors game, Toronto’s Terence Davis had a mean slam on Marquese Chriss and

the Steph Curry of Mexico

.

 6.  Quick hits 

• In the end, the Lakers went with the weed gummy abuser over the soup thrower, signing Dion Waiters for the remainder of the season. 

• Steph Curry also had a nice behind-the-back pass to Andrew Wiggins for a bucket last night.

• Oregon State’s new all-time leading scorer’s name is Tres Tinkle.

• Here’s a video of some hero chugging her entire wine glass at last night’s Warriors game.

 7.  Off the press 

• Wizards star Bradley Beal: ‘If I can control it, I will finish in D.C.’ [The Undefeated]

• Lonzo Ball is crafting a quiet resurgence next to Zion Williamson [The Ringer]