Monday, December 9th, 2019

• Chris Paul is the most aware man in the NBA 

• Anthony Davis is in basketball nirvana 

• Luka Dončić is 20 and tearing the league apart

• The basketball world is so happy for David Fizdale

• T-Mac’s legendary 13-point half-minute happened 15 years ago today

Tonight's must-watch games

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The lead: Three things from this weekend  

1. Long live Chris Paul, basketball genius 

If you didn’t catch Friday night’s miracle win for the Thunder -- and a miracle it was -- here’s a present tense breakdown: 

• The Timberwolves are up, 121-119, on the road against OKC with 1.1 seconds left, with one more free throw by Karl-Anthony Towns upcoming. 

• Minnesota’s Jordan Bell checks in before Towns takes his second free throw, with his jersey fully untucked. 

• Chris Paul, standing near the referee under the basket, immediately notices the unkempt apparel and starts yelling, “His jersey’s untucked! That’s a delay of game!”

• The ref obliges and makes the call, which is the second delay of game on Minnesota of the night, which means a technical for the Thunder.

• Danilo Gallinari makes the tech to pull OKC within one point. Next, Towns accidentally sinks his second free throw, making the score 122-120, which leads to the beautiful play, GIFed above, a game-tying Hail Mary on the money from Steven Adams to Dennis Schröder, who bumps into a security guard, then says sorry with a hug. 

In OT, the Thunder dominated and won, 139-127, wrapping up a victory thanks entirely to the Point God.

2. Ah shit, the Lakers are amazing

Last night, Anthony Davis poured in 50 points in a 142-125 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves.His final stat line: 50 PTS | 20-29 FG | 7 REB | 6 AST | 4 STLThe Lakers own the best record in the league, at 21-3, and are everything Rob Lowe Pelinka imagined when he was busy lying about Kobe Bryant and Heath Ledger trading the entire time for Davis.  LeBron seems reenergized, averaging 26 points, 6.8 rebounds, and a league-leading 10.8 assists per game.Need more proof? Here’s LBJ throwing it down over Gorgui Dieng last night.

3. Luka Dončić is doing MJ things

Last night, the 16-7 Mavericks lost to the Kings, snapping a five-game winning streak that has since propelled them to third in the West.Still, the loss was notable because Luka Dončić recorded a 20-5-5 (points, rebounds, assists) for the 19th game in a row, passing Michael Jordan on that interesting but obscure list. The only player with more such games in a row is Oscar Robertson.PS: It seems hard to believe that Russell Westbrook isn’t first or second on that list.PPS: Dončić’s quote after the game touches on what we wrote about on Friday: 

“There’s a lot of stats going on. I think it’s a little bit too much stats, you know. You can’t compare nobody to Michael Jordan.”

The crazy thing is, Dončić is doing this at age 20. When Mike was 20, he was a junior at North Carolina.

2. The entire league is unironically happy for David Fizdale

Fizdale laughing with upper management hours before being fired. Source: NY Post.

The idiots running the Knicks fired David Fizdale on Friday, after a 129-92 loss to the Nuggets the night before, and it was absolutely refreshing to see how everyone else across the league reacted to the news. Here’s a roundup of Fizdale’s well-wishers, who were unanimously thrilled to see a friend get out of such a toxic relationship:

Rick Carlisle,

:

“I’m happy for Fizdale to be out of that terrible mess that he had nothing to do with.”

Reggie Miller,

:

“I’m actually happy for Coach Dave Fizdale, he’s a good man who’s was dealt a terrible hand with the Knicks.. But he’s not the only one who should be shown the door.. #KnicksStink”

Kendrick Perkins, on The Jump: 

“I’m so happy for Coach Fizdale! Yes! He gets to go to bed at night, no more stress.

Stan Van Gundy,

via NBATV

:

“I’m happy for David Fizdale, I really am. I mean to be out of that cesspool is good for him, I think. And his mental health and everything else.” 

Also Van Gundy, on new interim coach Mike Miller:

“I’d like to pass on my condolences to Mike Miller.”

Steve Kerr,

via press conference

:

"If I had gone to New York that would have been me like three years ago.”

[

READ:

There's a common denominator in the Knicks mess, and it isn't another failed coach

]

 3. 12/09/2004: T-Mac’s marquee moment  

On this day 15 years ago, Tracy McGrady turned a late eight-point deficit into the most improbable win in NBA history.Down 76-68 with 36 seconds left (a score that perfectly sums up the mid-2000s), McGrady scored 13 points over the next 33 seconds -- four 3-pointers with one and-one -- to beat the Spurs. The game-winner, in front of a half-empty Toyota Center, is GIFed above; you can watch the whole sequence here.The game also serves as a great summary of McGrady’s career -- a player capable of unbelievable basketball feats, whose best moments came when there wasn’t a whole lot hanging in the balance.

• The Bucks’ winning streak is up to 14 after a blowout win over the Clippers on Friday. They’ve won their last five by an average of 31.6 points per game. 

• CW: Ball family. LeMelo Ball, who might be the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, will miss the next four weeks of the Austrailian NBL season with a foot injury. 

• Papa Vince Carter is still crossin’ these fools up. 

• Spencer Dinwiddie hit the game-winning bucket last night, then proceeded to leave Durant hanging.

• The Nets’ record without Kyrie: 10-3

• The Knicks think they’re going to get Masai Ujiri to run their broken franchise.

• Marc Stein has reported that we probably won’t see Zion Williamson until the new year.

• Boston’s Gordon Hayward made a speedy recovery and is expected to start playing again this week.

• Miami rookie Tyler Herro hit a game-tying 3 to force overtime, then the go-ahead 3 in OT in a 110-105 victory over the Bulls yesterday. He scored 16 of the Heat’s final 18 points and ended the game with 27 points. Watch his highlights here.

• The story of Hank Smith, former Emerson College basketball coach who built an unlikely pipeline to the NBA [The Boston Globe]

• What the schedule tells us about who’s real and who’s not [The Ringer]

• Fixing the Knicks shouldn’t be this difficult [FiveThirtyEight]