- The Grip
- Posts
- The Grip -- TUES 3.6.18
The Grip -- TUES 3.6.18
Houston, we have no problems
3.6.18
J.S.: Ciao vez!
S.E.: What are you saying?
J.S.: We have new fans in Italy. Benvenuto al The Grip! We send out email newsletters a couple times a week where we sift through all the NBA news and deliver to you all the important NBA information you need to know.
S.E.: Kobe Bryant è cresciuto in la bellissima terra d'Italia.
J.S.: That’s...relevant I guess.
Written while listening to A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory
[
] [
] [
]
LAST NIGHT'S SCORES
Pacers 92, Bucks 89Cavaliers 110, Pistons 90Heat 125, Suns 102Celtics 105, Bulls 89Spurs 100, Grizzlies 98Jazz 94, Magic 80Blazers 108, Lakers 103 [Conference Standings]
The last week in the NBA in 175 words: Anthony Davis is having a stretch that reminds us he’s a top-five talent -- New Orleans is on an eight-game winning streak and Davis is putting up 37 and 15 during the stretch; Portland is suddenly on-pace for a 50-win season. They’ve won seven in a row and are the No. 3 seed in the west; the race for last place is perhaps the tightest ever -- eight teams are within two games of each other; Lonzo Ball iced the Spurs a few days ago and the Lakers have won 17 of their last 25; Kobe Bryant won an Oscar(?); former teammates Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder got in a Twitter beef over Crowder yelling at Tom Thibodeau; JR Smith threw a damn bowl of soup at Damon Jones. Reports say it was chicken tortilla; The Spurs have lost 8 of the last 10 games and are now in the sixth seed. Unless they finish the season 13-5, they’ll break their streak of 18 straight 50-win seasons; Oh, and the Rockets, we’ll tell you all about the Rockets…starting with this:
Is this Houston’s year?
In just another typical week, the Houston Rockets flew to Denver and beat the Nuggets behind James Harden’s 41 points, seven assists, eight rebound performance, headed to Utah to play the Jazz the following night, where they ground out a win sans two starters, then, two days later went to L.A. and beat the Clippers, rested a few days, beat the Celtics (in comeback fashion) and now have a 15-game winning streak.
They’ve held the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference for the past few weeks, and, for the first time in a while, seem genuinely like the team to beat.
Mike D’Antoni’s coaching philosophy is working, and the defense that was lacking on his Phoenix teams is there. We saw the potential last year, and this year’s addition of Chris Paul coupled with Harden’s likely MVP season has made them a joy to watch.
We’re all sick of the idea of Warriors vs. Cavs Pt. 4, so let’s fill our brains with the idea that Saturday’s Boston vs. Houston matchup is a Finals preview.
Devil’s advocate: D’Antoni is a regular season wiz who gets figured out annually in the postseason and James Harden has choked in the biggest moments of his postseason career so far. That wasn’t fun. Let’s go back to the first part.
The Western Conference is a madhouse
Let’s take a look at the rest of the conference.
Both Golden State and Houston are unbeaten since the All Star break. Expect the two of them to fight over the top seed for the next two months.
Seeds three through eight are a free for all, with only
two games
separating six teams. Utah, the 10th seed, is three games over .500 and only two games behind the eighth seed (currently Denver). We haven’t seen a conference so tight since 2013-14, when Phoenix missed the playoffs with 48 wins and six of the eight first round matchups went to seven games.
Robert Sacre, a former end-of-the-bench Lakers player for a few years, headlined a dunk contest in Japan. It was bad. Real bad.
Marcus Smart, you never fail to confuse.
Last week, Dwyane Wade turned back the clock and delivered a vintage performance, scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter and hitting the game winning shot with 5.9 seconds left:
LeBron James averaged a triple-double in the month of February.
To celebrate last year’s championship victory, the Golden State Warriors forwent a White House visit and instead went to D.C.’s African-American Museum with a bunch of students.
A Philadelphia company put up three billboards throughout Cleveland in an attempt to lure Lebron to the 76ers.
Your weekly ridiculous Giannis play:
Ex President Barack Obama weighed in on all of the NCAA college basketball stuff happening.
LeBron James humorously admitted his family would have taken a bunch of money if he went to college.
This satisfying video of J.R. Smith bowling the ball perfectly to the referee.
Justise Winslow posterized two Sun players in the last play of a blowout game. Savage.
Lebron with another career highlight play.
The New York Times goes in-depth with the inner workings of the Players’ Tribune. [Tap Here]
Ever wonder what the heck Sam Hinkie is up to? Apparently he really likes The Bachelor. [Tap Here]
Bill Simmons on the greatness of Michael Jordan and what LeBron James needs to do to catch him is the good stuff. [Tap Here]
Are NBA teams utilizing 'inverse analytics' to aid tanking? [Tap Here]
Inside the world of the NBA’s barbers:
"Barbering isn’t typically thought of as part of the pregame ritual—that’s the territory of trainers, dieticians, chefs, and a team’s highly visible PR staff. But for many players, a cut is just as necessary for high performance. It’s the reason most modern facilities have a barber shop setup: a separate room or section with multiple chairs and proper lighting. Teams that don’t have a setup at least have a chair reserved for it."
To read more, [
]
A LOOK AHEAD Here are the must-see games of the week.
Tuesday 3/6
The Houston Rockets (49-13) visit the Oklahoma City Thunder (37-28)
8 PM EST - TNT
Wednesday 3/7
The Cleveland Cavaliers (37-26) visit the Denver Nuggets (35-28)
10:30 PM EST - ESPN
