Monday, November 25th, 2019

- A recap of this weekend in the NBA- The Washington Wizards are wonderfully perplexing- Fred Van Vleet is a workhorse

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- Jesse & Sam

Tonight's must-watch games

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The lead: Four things from this weekend 

1.

Zach Lavine

dropped 49 points on Saturday night against the Hornets and came within one 3-pointer of an NBA record, with 13, the most important of which was a ridiculous buzzer-beater to win the game, which we GIF’d below. 

2.

Kemba Walker

was stretchered off the court on Friday in Denver after colliding with teammate Semi Ojeleye. Walker was unresponsive on the ground for several minutes,

though the injury turned out to be a “sprained neck,”

which Brad Stevens called a “minor miracle.” He’s “questionable” for the Celtics’ game against the Kings Monday night.

3. After a beginning-to-end 137-124 win against Houston last night,

the Mavs

are on a five-game winning streak with a net rating of plus-34 and a points average of 140.6 over their last three games. Plus, Luka’s been

4. The nightmare start for the

Trail Blazers

reached a low point on Saturday with a 110-104 loss to the Cavaliers (5-11), who now have a better record than Portland (5-12). The Blazers have dropped to 22nd in the league in defensive rating.

2. Zach LaVine's game-winning 3

This buzzer-beater was his 13th 3 of the night and third in the last minute of the game. Watch the wild last minute

 3. The Washington Wizards are extreme in every way 

The 5-9 Washington Wizards this season have been a strange team, and, even stranger, a strangely fun team.

• They have a 30-point scorer and a top-15 guy in Bradley Beal, who has the eighth-highest offensive rating in the league among players who have played at least 10 games.

• They have two of the shortest, craftiest guys in the league in Isaiah Thomas and Ish Smith.

• They have some interesting rookies and young players, like Rui Hachimura and Mo Wagner, who is leading the NBA in shooting efficiency.

• They’re paying an injured point guard $37,800,000 this year.

• In a game earlier this season, they scored 158 points in a non-overtime game ... and lost.

There’s not much to love about teams like, say, Charlotte, but there’s a lot to love about a team capable of scoring 158 points and losing.Washington is the most extreme team in the NBA. And we can prove it:

• The Wizards score the second-most points per game in the league, at 119.1. The Wizards also allow the second-most points, at 120.1 

• The Wizards offensive rating (113.6) is second in the league. Their defensive rating (114.6) is second-to-last in the league. 

You should catch one of their games (on NBA4free.com) sometime.

4. QUIZ

LaVine’s 13 3-pointers were one off from the NBA record for 3s in a game. Who owns the regular season (and playoff) record?Answer at the bottom. 

 5. By the numbers 📊 

121.5 offensive rating

Among five-man lineups which have played at least 90 minutes together, Phoenix’s combination of Ricky Rubio, Aron Baynes, Dario Saric, Devin Booker and Kelly Oubre

have the highest offensive rating

in the league, at 121.5. That group is also outscoring opponents by 12.8 points per 100 possessions, which means the rest of the 8-8 Suns’ combinations must suck.

  37 percent; 51 percent

New York’s Marcus Morris is shooting

37 percent on 2-point shots

this season and 51 percent on 3-point shots.

  39 percent

In the first year of coach’s challenges,

39 percent of them

have been overturned. There have been 143 overall, 56 of which have been successful.

  101.5 touches

Luka Dončić leads all NBA players

with 101.5 touches per game

, five more than second-place LeBron James.

  2.82 miles

No one in the league runs more, distance-wise, per game than Toronto’s Fred Van Vleet,

who logs 2.82 miles per game

.

• Richard Jefferson, on why he retired: "Knicks? No, I'll retire. That's why I retired, they were the one team that offered me a job."

• Before Zach LaVine scored his 49 points, his coach chewed him out for (what were 100 percent) “three egregious defensive mistakes.”

• Donovan Mitchell with a huge throwdown over Pelicans forward Nicolò Melli.

• "Last year we had Dirk on defense, so it was tough."Luka Dončić on why the Mavs are better defensively this year.

• NBA is “in serious discussions” to shorten the length of the season, implement an in-season tournament, and create a playoff play-in game. Read more here.

• Tony Allen exults over the rise of Marcus Smart [The Boston Herald]

• Mitchell Robinson is the Knicks’ best player, if only he could stay on the court [FiveThirtyEight]