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

10.24.18

  Written while listening to Detroit Swindle's Cut U Loose

The dunk heard ‘round NBA Twitter

NBA stardom can be a short-lived adrenaline spike. One year, you’re the next big thing. You’re dunking all over Pau Gasol and finishing third in MVP voting.Then, you’re punching equipment managers and being traded to Detroit. You’re old and creaky. You’re Stan Van Gundy’s backup to the backup plan.Suddenly, your stand-up routine is the most promising thing about your professional career.Then, YOU DROP 50 AND DUNK ON JOEL EMBIID.Blake Griffin is (temporarily) back, people. He dropped half-a-hundred on Philadelphia last night in a 133-132 overtime win, in which Griffin’s and-one with one second left gave the 3-0 Pistons the lead for good.[WATCH: Reddit pointed out that the game-winner was identical to a play that Dwane Casey called at the end of a Raptors game last year]The NBA world is having a blast overreacting to this game today, so, we will, too: IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY, Griffin would be the second-ever consensus MVP.Here are his numbers through three games.PPG: 36.3 | RPG: 11.3 | APG: 5.7 | FG: .533 | 3PT: .611 (11-of-18) | PER: 35.7Here’s what Griffin told reporters after the game: "You know, the past two, three years, all I hear about is how bad I am, and I've been hurt, I've had bad games. But we talked about it. This summer, being able to work out for the first time in three summers is huge, you know. The last three summers I was fighting and working as hard as I could to get healthy to be able to play.”Here are the game’s full highlights.

LeBron giveth, LeBron taketh away: Four points from Spurs vs. Lakers

We implored you to watch this game in our last letter, and, if you missed it, you missed an early-season classic on Monday night. Here are a few moments from the game we wanted to discuss:

• L.A. strung together a late comeback behind some clutch shots by Kyle Kuzma, but got some help from Rudy Gay’s aura of average. With 41 seconds left, up six points, Gay bricked a wide-open three that would have sealed the game.

• Down three with 10 seconds left, LeBron called a timeout when the Lakers were all out. That should have been a technical on LeBron, but the refs didn’t notice. Instead, he got the ball and took one dribble over half court before essentially saying to the world, “I’ll take it from here.”

• But he didn’t. False advertising. He went 2-of-6 in overtime and blew two free throws with a one-point lead, allowing Gregg Popovich to draw up a beautiful play for Patty Mills, who lost Lonzo Ball and sank the shot to keep the 0-3 Lakers winless.

• For the Spurs: 33-year-old LaMarcus Aldridge, who has a ridiculous draft day photo, had 37 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.  

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are a perfect fit

SB Nation wrote a Nikola Jokic appreciation article on his fast start and him in general. And, like Jokic himself, it didn’t get enough love. Here’s a sample:

This isn’t the kind of star we’re used to. He’s not a flashy athlete, he’s not self-obsessed, and he fails to garner the same national attention as some of his peers. His performance on Saturday night was one of the single most impressive performances by a center in the history of this league. It was overshadowed on SportsCenter by a fight between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers.There’s something that’s oddly comforting about that. The spotlight, the cameras, the national audience, they’re as disinterested in Jokic as he is in them. It’s almost as if no matter how good he gets, his game, and the joy that comes from watching him play, are reserved only for Nuggets fans. They’re used to this in Denver. The significance of anything that might happen here being lost on everyone but them.

Keep reading

here

.

Rondo, who spoke with ESPN yesterday, on Chris Paul

"Everyone wants to believe Chris Paul is a good guy. They don't know he's a horrible teammate. They don't know how he treats people. Look at what he did last year when he was in L.A.; trying to get to the Clippers' locker room. They don't want to believe he's capable of taunting and igniting an incident."

Keep reading

here

.

  Quick Hits

• Hidden behind Blake Griffin’s 50-point game on Tuesday was Anthony Davis’ 34-14-2 performance against the Clippers. The Pelicans are undefeated at 3-0.

• Also, Patrick Beverley locked down Davis for an entire possession. Never change, Patrick.

• The Pelicans are getting a G League affiliate team that will play a season in “nearby” Erie, Pennsylvania before settling in Birmingham, Alabama.

• Markieff Morris, channeling his inner Ron Artest, yanked on Seth Curry’s shorts from out of bounds to try and disrupt a play Monday night.

• Like Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose is temporarily back from the dead.

• This guy nailed a half court shot and tried to celebrate with the Lakers.

 Concrete Reads

• A new option for NBA prospects: the million-dollar intern [The New York Times]

• It didn't take long for Kawhi Leonard to display his superstar pedigree [Sports Illustrated]

• The sentiment of ‘Beat L.A.’ is back in Boston, baby [The Boston Herald]

  Podcast Pick

• S.I.’s Open Floor guys discuss early returns on L.A.-Bron, the Wizards, and more [Sports Illustrated]

Four games you should watch 

Tonight, Reddit / ESPN

Tomorrow, TNT