Tuesday, Feb 2, 2021

20-point scorers — Booker’s game-winner — Stephen A. anniversary

Tuesday, Feb 2nd, 2021

  The Opening Tip

  • Devin Booker hit a 3-pointer to beat the Mavs last night. 

  • Remembering a great moment in NBA media history. 

  • We're back with another betting guarantee. 

Tonight's national TV schedule

 1. Averaging 20 a game has never been more en vogue   

Jerami Grant, Julius Randle and Collin Sexton are doing this season what Hall of Famers like John Stockton and Jason Kidd never managed to do: average 20 or more points per game.Grant (23.6), Randle (22.4) and Sexton (24.1) are among a group of 36 players -- from Bradley Beal (34.9) to Bam Adebayo (20.1) -- who are currently eclipsing the 20-point average mark. If that number holds, it’ll be the most in NBA history.Here’s the 10-year breakdown, which has risen steadily since 2010:

In the span of nine seasons, the number has gone from nine in 2012-13 to 36 so far this year.Why? We can theorize two reasons, one macro and the second micro:

  1. Macro: The 3-point explosion has created more scoring. Houston and New York led the league in 3s attempted per game in ‘12-13 with 28.9. Utah leads the league this season with 42.5, and dead last this year (Cleveland, 26.9) would be third in ‘12-13. In general, teams are scoring 13.4 more points in 2021 (111.5 to 98.1) than they were in '12-13.

  2. Micro: This season followed the shortest offseason in North American team sports history. For the bubble teams, there might be some fatigue, which would manifest itself on the defensive end. The average defensive rating this season (110.9) is five points worse than it was in ‘12-13 (105.9).  

Maybe the defense will improve later in the season and the individual scoring will go down. In the meantime, keep getting those points, Jerami Grant.

 2. Daily GIF: Devin Booker sinks the Mavs deeper into their slump   

Devin Booker’s 3-pointer last night with 1.5 seconds left gave the Suns a one-point win over Dallas, which has now lost six in a row.The Mavericks, a trendy Finals pick with a trendy MVP pick in Luka Doncic, are now 8-13 and third-to-last in the Western Conference playoff picture.(Dallas also owes the Knicks its 2021 unprotected first-rounder, which is why every Knicks fan in the world is actively going by the cheesy Red Sox fan line from the early 2000s: We’re rooting for New York, and whoever’s playing Dallas!)

 3. Trivia time  

Two brothers have started in the same All-Star Game one time in NBA history.Who were the two?Answers at the bottom.

 4. A complete transcript of Stephen A. Smith’s iconic Kwame Brown rant  

Yesterday was the 13th anniversary of Pau Gasol’s trade from Memphis to L.A. for a package that included Kwame Brown.* The swap propelled the Lakers to three straight NBA Finals and two championships, but those droning accolades are far dwarfed by the iconic reaction from Stephen A. Smith once the trade was announced.On an ESPN panel, SAS’s co-host asked him if the trade package -- “highlighted” by Brown -- was too much for Gasol.Here’s the full transcript of Stephen A.’s response (we put it in caps-lock for, you know, emphasis): 

HOST: “Did L.A. give up too much?” SAS: “IS THAT A TRICK QUESTION?” HOST: “You tell me.”SAS: “THEY GAVE UP KWAME BROWN! WHO CARES!” HOST: “And two first-rounders.”SAS: “I COULD CARE LESS. FIRST OF ALL, UNDERSTAND SOMETHING. WHEN YOU’RE GIVING UP FIRST ROUND PICKS, IF YOU ARE A QUALITY TEAM IN PLAYOFF CONTENTION, IT REALLY DOESN’T MEAN THAT MUCH. THAT’S NO. 1. NO. 2 AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, KWAME BROWN IS GONE! THE CITY OF ANGELS, HOLLYWOOD, YA SHOULD BE CELEBRATING. THROW A PARADE ALREADY, WHETHER YOU WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP OR NOT. THIS MAN WAS A BONAFIDE SCRUB. HE CAN’T PLAY! NO DISRESPECT WHATSOEVER BUT I’M SORRY, THE COURT’S GOTTA TELL EVERYBODY THE TRUTH -- THE MAN CANNOT PLAY THE GAME OF BASKETBALL. HE HAS SMALL HANDS. HE CAN’T CATCH THE BASKETBALL. HE’S GOT BAD FEET. HE CAN’T REALLY MOVE EVEN THOUGH HE’S MOBILE … DOESN’T REALLY KNOW WHAT HE’S DOING, DOESN’T HAVE A POST MOVE THAT HE PUTS TO MEMORY THAT HE CAN DO TWO TIMES IN A ROW. HE HAS NO GAME WHATSOEVER, PLAYS NO DEFENSE, DOESN’T HAVE THE HEART, THE PASSION, OR ANYTHING THAT COMES WITH IT, AND YOU’RE ASKING ME WHETHER THEY GAVE UP TOO MUCH? PLEASE! THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING. THEY SHOULD BE CELEBRATING RIGHT NOW.” 

You can watch the segment here.*The package also included Pau’s brother, Marc.

 5. 🎲 Grip vs. the house: Vegas keeps upping the over/under on Nets games. It doesn’t matter. 

An interesting duo of correlated stats has made the rounds on NBA Twitter over the last few days.Since acquiring James Harden, the Nets:

  • Have an offensive rating of 120.5, which would be the best in NBA history. 

  • Have a defensive rating of 118, which would be the worst in NBA history.

From a betting standpoint, that means every game they play has a surplus of scoring on either side. The fellas (and lady fellas) in Vegas have tried to adjust accordingly, which led on Sunday to an over/under for the Nets-Wizards game set at an astronomical 245.5, the highest of this NBA season.That number led to this text exchange between The Grip’s two employees: 

  • JS: “Over under on nets wizards is 245.5 lmao”

  • JS, cont.: “Dude I’d hammer under on that” 

  • SE: “yup”

The final score: Wizards 149, Nets 146* in regulation, which adds up to 295 points, which cleared the over/under by 49 points; the two teams eclipsed the 245.5 with six minutes left in the fourth.In their 22 games, Brooklyn has cleared the over 16 times (72.7 percent), second in the league.What we’re saying: The Nets play the Clippers tonight on TNT at 7:30 p.m. Sell your $GME and put your revolution money on the game to go over 242.5. It’s our guarantee.***ICYM the insane ending to this game, click here.**Our guarantees are not guaranteed to be guaranteed.

 6.  Quick hits 

  • Four Hawks fans, including one particularly vocal lady, got ejected last night for heckling LeBron. LeBron responded on Twitter by calling the one angry ejectee “Courtside Karen.” Apparently, LeBron called one guy 'Ol' steroid ass.'

  • The Rockets are now 7-3 since trading James Harden and are above .500 at 10-9. In their win last night over OKC, they tied an NBA record for 3s in a quarter with 11. 

  • Bradley Beal “feels frustrated” by his portrayal in the media. 

  • De’Aaron Fox had 38 points last night in a win over the Pelicans, including this spin-euro step combo for a layup.

  • Chris Paul had a vintage performance last night, putting up 34-9-9 and shooting 14-of-20 from the field. Watch the highlights.

  • Russell Westbrookgifted his game shoes to a rather perplexed security guard after Sunday night’s win.

 7.  Off the press