Friday, March 11, 2022

Vintage Harden — 50-point scorers — March Madness

March 11, 2022

Friday, March 11th, 2022

  The Opening Tip

  • 76ers fans booed Ben Simmons last night, then booed the 76ers

  • Who leads the league in 50-point games since 2020-21? 

  • Best March Madness moments so far

This weekend's must-watch games

 1. Name a less threatening duo than the 76ers and James Harden 

The team changes players and the player changes teams, but time and time again both the 76ers and James Harden submarine themselves in games that matter. 

  • Now that the person and the institution are together, we get spectacles like last night against the Nets, in which Philly fans packed the stadium, booed Ben Simmons, and watched their team trail the entire game and lose by 29 points. 

  • The largest lead was 36; Harden finished with 11 points on 3-of-17 shooting and was minus-30. “Tonight was good for us,” he said. Swell. 

  • It was, in fact, so bad that Dr. J checked out by the second quarter. 

But, hey! At least Joel Embiid tweets funny things and Harden can get 30 against the Knicks. (We do have one positive piece of news to share about the 76ers. We found their 1970s theme song. It is excellent.)

 2. Daily GIF: Steph’s first basket            

In honor of Steph Curry’s 20,000th point last night vs. the Nuggets, here are career points one and two from his rookie season in 2009.The current Warriors are so hilariously different from those Warriors, and it’s pretty much all because of Curry.[READ: The best locker room in the biz]

 3. Trivia time  

The NBA has seven members in the 30,000-point club.Who are they?Answers at the bottom.

4. Most 50-point games since the 2020-21 season, play-in and playoffs included   

Between the regular season, the play-in games and the playoffs, Sunday’s 54-point performance against the Nets was Jayson Tatum’s sixth 50-plus-point game over the last two seasons, easily the most in the league. 

  • Only Curry has more than two in that time, and only four others have more than one. 

  • Since 2020-21, Tatum’s played 133 NBA games, so … there’s a 4.5 percent chance he drops 50 tonight against the Pistons. 

[HIGHLIGHTS: Kyrie drops 50 on 19 shots]

5. Here’s your March Madness talking points guide  

The people are talking about college basketball again. Here are some recent March Madness moments that you can reference when the people ask you if you’ve seen any college basketball lately. 

  1. The buzzer-beater of tourney season so far came from Chattanooga’s David Jean-Baptiste, a 30-footer to clinch an NCAA Tournament spot. Enjoy. 

  2. Boston College was on an awesome Cinderella run until losing on a lay-up buzzer-beater in OT yesterday to Miami. Watch. 

  3. Bellarmine University, in its second year as a D-I school, won its conference on Tuesday but can’t play in the NCAA Tournament because of a four-year probation period. Read more. 

  4. Virginia Tech upset Notre Dame in the ACC quarter-finals last night and hit a buzzer-beater the game before. Watch. 

  5. There was a fan fight between Bryant and Wagner in the NEC championship game. Watch. 

 6.  Quick Hits 

  • We are voluntarily going to link you to highlights of Ryan Turell of Yeshiva College. He is the greatest college basketball player ever. We love him so much. 

  • Kendrick Perkins is Ballsack Sports’ latest victim. 

  • The Lakers have broken James Worthy.

  • Clyde Frazieron Luka: “He's gotta be the biggest crybaby in the league"

  • The GOAT NBA tweet turned five on Wednesday. 

  • James Harden passed Reggie Miller for third all-time on the 3-point shooting list last night.

  • Jackie Moonmade a cameo at the Warriors warm-ups on Tuesday.  

 7.  Reads 

  • The top 25 players in the NBA in 2021-22 [The Ringer]

  • Why is Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren so polarizing with NBA scouts? [ESPN]

  • After playing Magic Johnson, Quincy Isaiah is ready for the big leagues [GQ]