Tues, March 10th, 2020

MVP race — Lance loves Indy — CBB check-in

Tuesday, March 10th, 2020

  

  The Opening Tip

  • LeBron is playing great and weaponizing the MVP narrative

  • Jamal Murray brought the house down last night

  • Lance and Indy have an unlikely love affair

  • Some college basketball nuggets

Tonight's must-watch games

1. The Lead: With stellar play and help from the narrative gods, LeBron has closed the MVP gap

Since Friday’s mega matchup between the Bucks and the Lakers, both LeBron and Giannis have made very compelling cases for their respective right to the 2019-20 MVP award.For LeBron: 

  • He beat the Bucks, then the Clippers, on Friday and Sunday, thwarting away the two teams the Lakers will likely have to beat to win a title. 

  • In those two games, he averaged a 32.5-8-8.5 on 50 percent shooting. 

  • Since, a nice little why CAN’T LeBron win MVP? narrative has formed.

For Giannis: 

  • He sustained “a minor joint capsule sprain of the left knee” during Friday’s loss to the Lakers, and has missed Milwaukee’s two games since. 

  • In those two games, Giannis-less Milwaukee has lost to the Suns and Nuggets by nine and 14, respectively, ending their quest for a 70-win season and proving how unremarkable this team would be without their savior. 

What does Vegas say?

What do we think will happen?

  • Oh! We have no idea. Just like every other person raking in bucks in the speculation business. (We’ll sell out and join the speculation business for the right price. Email us at [email protected]) 

What should people not do?Count the way LeBron handled the China thing (very poorly) and Kobe Bryant’s passing (that’s uncomfortable and shouldn’t be factored into anything the Lakers do this season) as brownie points for his MVP candidacy.

2. Jamal Murray’s poster … that didn’t count

This dunk, which happened during last night’s defeat of the Giannis-less Bucks and was actually called an offensive foul, was what we all tried to do to our friends on the seven-foot rim at the park.PS: Look at the yellow shirt guy to the right's reaction. Where's he going?

3. The unlikely love affair between Indiana and Lance Stephenson  

Lance Stephenson, who has been playing this season in China for the Liaoning Flying Leopards, appears to be closing in on a rest-of-the-season deal with Indiana, which would mean a third stint with the Pacers.That makes a lot of sense, because Indianapolis, of all places, is the only city in which Brooklyn-born Lance has ever done anything productive.Lance’s career totals in Indy:

  • 298 games, 9.1 points per game, 45.4 percent shooting, 32.5 percent from 3, 53 playoff games

Lance’s 2013-14 season in Indy: 

  • Regular: 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 49.1 percent shooting, 35.2 from 3, this pass, a league-leading five triple-doubles 

  • Postseason: 19 games, 13.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 35.8 from 3

After the 2013-14 season, Lance chased some money to Charlotte, which led to a terrible 2014-15 and a seven-team-in-five-years stretch.His numbers with every team not named the Pacers:

  • 210 games, 7.8 points, 42 percent shooting, 30 percent from 3, four playoff games

After signing last year with the Lakers, Lance was asked about the possibility of a third reunion with Indiana: 

“Oh, of course. This is home. Of course. I would always want to come back here."

Lance loves Indy. Indy loves Lance.

 4. By the numbers, college basketball edition

139-0

The UConn women’s basketball team won its seventh American Athletic Conference tournament last night in seven tries. Because the Huskies are leaving for the Big East next season, that puts their all-time AAC record at 139-0.

  28-3

Remember that completely insane shot that that player from Stephen F. Austin hit to beat Duke in November? Since that miracle, the Lumberjacks have gone 23-2 and 19-1 in the Southland Conference for a 28-3 record.They’re a virtual shoe-in for the NCAA Tournament, whether they win their conference tournament or not, and a great bandwagoning candidate.

  11-9

After escaping Purdue in overtime on Saturday, Rutgers finished the regular season Big 10 schedule 11-9.The Scarlet Knights entered the Big 10 in 2014; their previous Big 10 win-high was seven. In general, they hadn’t won 11 conference games in a season since 1991, when they won 14 in the Atlantic-10.Between Rutgers, Seton Hall and the Princeton women, it’s been an unusually relevant college basketball season in Jersey.

  23-7

Yale’s basketball team finished the regular season 23-7, and won’t play in the Ivy League conference tournament, because it was canceled over coronavirus concerns. The Bulldogs will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. On the women’s side, 26-1 Princeton will also forgo its conference tournament and quality for the NCAA Tournament.

5. 03/10/2011: Kemba’s iconic stepback

Nine years ago today, Kemba Walker won UConn the Big East with this devastating stepback that crumpled Pitt’s Gary McGhee and sent Jim Calhoun into one of the stranger coach celebrations of the 2010s.Now, if only Walker could have displayed those handles in the final seconds of Sunday’s Celtics loss to the Thunder.

 6.  Quick hits 

  • Mike Conley and Pau Gasolstill love each other.

  • We all used to rip on Kyle Lowry and now he’s a future Hall of Famer who makes clutch shots like this one.

  • Last night’s double-overtime Hawks-Hornets game has already been lost to history, but it produced some insane stat lines.

  • Charles Barkley vs. Draymond Green is heating up. 

 7.  Off the press 

  • The Rockets live or die by James Harden, and right now they’re dying [The Ringer]

  • Bobbleheads have become the NBA's biggest little status symbol [ESPN]

  • The Nets will regret firing Kenny Atkinson [SB Nation]