Mon, Feb 24th, 2020

Gods will — Celtics-Lakers — New Orleans is coming — Pistons quiz

Monday, Feb 24th, 2020

  

  The Opening Tip

  • There’s some weird symmetry between two games that happened 19 years part

  • LeBron is still having fun 

  • Can you name three Pistons? 

  • The Pelicans of late look scary 

Tonight's must-watch games

1. The Lead: Jayson Tatum’s Sunday was a lot like a moment Paul Pierce had 19 years ago

On March 13, 2001, this footnote in Celtics history happened: 

  • Third-year player Paul Pierce and the Celtics went to Staples Center to play a favored Lakers team.

  • The Celtics kept up with L.A. but lost, 112-107.

  • Still, Pierce was the story, scoring 42 points on 13 of 19 shooting, a notable performance in a breakout season. 

  • After the game, Shaq beckoned to Boston Herald reporter Steve Bulpitt, and said, “Take this down. My name is Shaquille O’Neal, and Paul Pierce is the motherfucking truth.”

  • From there, with one of the league’s best players endorsing him, Pierce became The Truth and a perennial All-Star. 

Yesterday, this footnote in Celtics history happened: 

  • Third-year player Jayson Tatum and the Celtics went to Staples Center to play a favored Lakers team. (!)

  • The Celtics kept up with L.A. but lost, 114-112. (!!)

  • Still, Tatum was the story, scoring 41 points on 12 of 20 shooting, a notable performance in a breakout season. (!!!) 

  • After the game, LeBron James -- who doesn’t need a print reporter to get his word out in 2020 -- posted a fawning message under a picture of him and Tatum on Instagram, saying, “That boi to the left of me is an ABSOLUTE PROBLEM!! Keep going #YoungKing” (!!!!) 

2. LeBron’s fadeaway for the lead  

Year No. 17 and he’s just having fun with it. This bucket gave the Lakers a 111-110 lead with 30 seconds left in yesterday’s insta-classic.(Nevermind that it came after an over-the-back by Anthony Davis, who also probably tipped it out of bounds.)Honorable mention: Rajon Rondo’s behind-the-back pass to Anthony Davis

3. The Pelicans are coming

Zion Williamson destroying Are these people current NBA players, or prime ministers of the former Yugoslavia? contestant Alen Smailagić last night.

Over the last two-plus weeks, the Pelicans have hit the coming of age montage in the cheesy sports film: The weird collection of semi-fitting talent has finally figured it out.They beat the Warriors last night, 115-101, for their fifth win in six games (and eighth win in 11 games), and now stand 3.5 games out of the eighth seed in the West.Plus:

  • Jaren Jackson Jr. is out for the Grizzlies for at least two weeks.

  • Damian Lillard it out for the next few games for the ninth-place Trail Blazers, who also don’t have the young and spry roster of Memphis or New Orleans.

Also, here are Zion’s point totals in all 12 of his games played this season: 

  • 22, 15, 21, 14, 24, 21, 20, 21, 31, 32, 25, 28 

He’s already great.

4. Our newest game show: Can you name three Pistons?

With Andre Drummond in Cleveland, Reggie Jackson with the Clips and Markieff Morris with the Lakers, the question needs to be asked:Can you name three Pistons?!Once you fail, scroll to the bottom for a complete list of Detroit’s current roster.

5. 2/24/1978: Kevin Porter’s 29 dimes

On this day 42 years ago, New Jersey Nets guard Kevin Porter set a then-record with 29 assists in one game in a 126-112 win over the Houston Rockets. The 1977-78 season was Porter's only for the Nets, but he led the league in assists (10.2) while also scoring 15 points per game.Porter isn't well-known among the league's great passers, but: 

  • He's the first player to record 1,000 assists in one season, with Detroit in 1978-79. 

  • He led the league in assists four times with three different teams. 

  • He was the starting point guard on an NBA Finals team, the 1974-75 Washington Bullets. 

Porter's record of 29 assists stood for more than 22 years, until Scott Skiles reached 30 for the Magic on Dec. 30, 1990.

 6.  Quick hits 

 7.  Off the press 

  • The longest flight in Los Angeles Lakers history: When the team learned of Kobe Bryant's death [ESPN]

  • Russell Westbrook is bending -- and opposing defenses are breaking [The Ringer]

  • The stories the people closest to Kobe Bryant keep remembering [ESPN]

  • Enes Kanter blends politics with his basketball [The Boston Herald]