Fri, Jan 4th, 2019

An NBA-obsessed newsletter for the info-craved basketball mind.

Written while listening to The Roots' Ain't Sayin' Nothin' New

A beard grows in Oakland

You’ve heard about last night’s Game of the Year candidate, where the Rockets came back from 17 at halftime to beat the Warriors, 135-134, in overtime in Oakland. But have you seen the shot over Draymond Green and Klay Thompson to win it?James Harden dropped 44 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists and 10 3-pointers -- his fifth straight game with 40 points -- and that shot was his magnum opus in a game filled with step-back 3 after step-back 3. Clint Capela was big as well, scoring 29 points and grabbing 21 boards.And, for what it’s worth, here were the lineups on the floor for that game-winner: Rockets: Harden, Austin Rivers, Gerald Green, PJ Tucker, Danuel House.Warriors: Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, Kevon Looney.And people think James Harden is overrated.Also, there was this abhorrent level of missed-callery on the second-to-last play of the game, an out-of-bounds save from Durant which eventually put the Warriors up two points on a Steph Curry jumper.With the 44-point game, Harden’s average on the season is now up to 33.6 points per game, which would be the highest if it holds since Kobe Bryant’s 35.4 in 2005-06.The Rockets are also 11-1 in their last 12, and currently sit at fourth in the Western Conference standings, only 3.5 games behind first-place Denver.Just. Like. That.

A fanbase is classy until it stops winning

Kawhi Leonard returned to San Antonio last night for the first time since his awkward departure this offseason. The fans, still salty from the breakup, let out boos during his lineup announcement and chanted “traitor” as he shot his first free throws of the night.Spurs fans, who have existed on a moral high ground since the 1990s, booed their homegrown two-time All Star and 2014 Finals MVP, who rose from potential defensive specialist to top-five player.The Spurs ended up beating the Kyle Lowry-less Raptors, 125-107, with DeMar DeRozan leading the charge -- he got his first career triple-double against his former team.Gregg Popovich gave Leonard a nice hug after the final buzzer and, after three minutes of fielding banal questions during the postgame interview, said he felt badly about the boos for Kawhi, who is “a high character guy” and has the “same right to make life decisions as any of us.”[READ: A complete timeline of how the relationship between Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs fell apart]

LeBron’s been talking a lot

There is a series on ESPN+ produced alongside LeBron called More Than An Athlete, and on a recent episode of that series, LeBron said this, about beating the Warriors in 2016: 

“The first wave of emotion was when everyone saw me crying, like, that was all for 52 years of everything in sports that's gone on in Cleveland. And then after I stopped, I was like -- that one right there made you the greatest player of all time.”

LeBron, in a clip revealed on the same show, also said this, after beating the Warriors in Game 6 in 2016:

“(They’re) fucked up. Mentally and physically. I’m telling you, (they’re) fucked up.”

, and note how offhandedly LeBron dismisses Ty Lue.

The GOAT talk has garnered some interesting responses,

including one from Chris Webber

: "I never heard one of the greatest said they are the greatest of all-time."

But the most tongue-in-cheek response

came from Danny Ainge

, who compared LeBron to LeBron’s greatest non-basketball enemy: "Maybe he thinks that sells. Maybe he's taking the Donald Trump approach and trying to sell himself.”

  Quick Hits

• Anthony Davis is as great as ever, and New Orleans is as uninspiring as ever. Here’s a good big picture look at the mess from NBC Sports.

• Here’s a fan’s view of Harden’s game-winner.

• Steph Curry hit a 3 last night and did this in front of Houston’s bench. We are surprised that Curry remains un-punched-in-the-face.

• Joel Embiid enjoyed last night’s game.

• Derrick Rose has the third-most All-Star votes in the West. Here’s the whole list.

• A Redditor pointed out that, prior to last night’s game, Brook Lopez had hit the same amount of 3s this season as Klay Thompson.

• Bill Walton wants Barack Obama to be the next coach of UCLA.

• The NBA will televise the All-Star draft this year.

• Damian Lillard thinks it’s a shame the Warriors are leaving Oakland.

 Concrete Reads

• A mighty tree grows in Georgetown. It belongs to Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning. [New York Times]

• Woj: Saying goodbye to Tyler Trent [ESPN]

• Athletes don’t own their tattoos. That’s a problem for video game developers. [New York Times]

  Podcast Pick

Adidas v. Puma: A Sibling Rivalry [Stuff You Should Know]Hosts Josh and Chuck recount the strange rivalry of two German brothers who brought Puma and adidas to the world ...during the height of the Nazi regime. Can’t miss this.

Best weekend matchups

Tonight, 1/4

Tomorrow, 1/5