This Week In The NBA: Back On Road by Shayne Williamson
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Giannis Antetokounmpo soaring past his competition (Benny Sieu/USA Today Sports)
My god! We’re back! After a weeks long hiatus (picture it as me being Goku in the rejuvenation chamber on Namek) forced upon me by Finals Week at school, the show is absolutely back on the road. I’ve absolutely missed recapping the madness of the NBA every single week, and I’m sure y’all missed my brilliance as well. Self-aggrandizing jokes aside, let’s get right into the action, for we have lots to catch up on, starting with…
Ok So… What’d We Miss?
I couldn’t possibly dive into recapping this past week’s NBA craziness if I didn’t first touch on the major events of the past three weeks, so I will attempt to be concise (very difficult for me) while hitting all relevant points.
First, in the most hyped game of the season thus far between the 24–4 Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, the reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo stole the show against LeBron and AD, putting up a ridiculous 34/11/7/1/1 stat line. Usually when discussing Giannis’ dominance in a game, the focus is on his absurd efficiency in the paint, but this time around Giannis captivated everyone from beyond the arc, knocking down a career high 5 threes.
Giannis pulling up from Steph range. Seems fair!
Second, since the last time one of these articles dropped (November 26th), James Harden scored 60 (vs. Atlanta) and 50 points (vs. San Antonio) in back to back games, and then a little over a week later scored 55 (vs. Cleveland) and 54 (vs. Orlando) in back to back games. While Harden haters would have a field day with the fact that he hit 20 and 24 free throws vs Atlanta and San Antonio respectively to get to his high scoring totals (which makes zero sense and anyone who does this is a nerd), Harden’s latter back to back game scoring binge only saw him make 5 and 6 free throws respectively.
Around those absurd scoring showcases, Harden suffered through down games in which he scored 34 two times (vs. Miami and Phoenix) and 39 points (vs. San Antonio). What a bum.
Third, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George showed what a fully operational Clippers Death Star could be against the Timberwolves, as they combined for a whopping 88 points (Kawhi scored 42, PG scored 46, rest of the Clippers scored 36, quick maffs). Between load managing and natural growing pains with a restructured order of power, the Clippers haven’t reached their peak often during the young season, but if they can capture this perfect balance between their two stars, they’ll have a damn good chance to bring home the Larry OB.
I thought these two buckets were a pretty cool contrast between PG & Kawhi’s lethal games. Whereas Paul George is a smooth criminal, gliding around the floor with silky dribble moves and launching pretty jumpers, Kawhi tends to get more dirty in his approach, probing the middle of the floor, picking his spots with precision, and getting tough buckets that leave you feeling as though there’s no hope to stop him.
That last bit was autobiographical. The Raptors/Sixers ECSF matchup still haunts me to this day. Ah, well, nevertheless,
Fourth, JA MORANT DID THIS
WITH NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE! WHAT A PSYCHOPATH!
Fifth, A WEEK LATER JA TRIED TO DO THIS
I would’ve transcended to another plane of existence if he finished this.
Sixth, Ben Simmons made another three!
However, he would go onto miss one in a later game, which means he won’t be taking another until February of 2021. Hate to see it.
Seventh, Paul George returned to his original basketball home in Indiana, where he was promptly booed, during introductions, every time he touched the ball, every time he breathed. Three years later, it’s still free smoke from the Pacers faithful when he takes the court there. After the game, Paul George said that one day he’ll do a tell-all about his Indiana exit, which will prove that he isn’t the one to boo in the situation, to which I’ll say, please save it. Unless it’s the messiest story of all time, we just don’t care. It’s Indiana bro. Sorry!
Eighth, Devonte Graham accentuated his breakout sophomore campaign (he’s averaging 19/4/8 while shooting 41% from 3) with a 40 point explosion against the Brooklyn Nets, getting buckets any which way he chose to.
Catch and shoot three from 30+ feet.
Shaking free off ball then stopping on a dime for a floater (with a friendly bounce!).
Attacking the rim around a pick, going at a shot blocker, and finishing with his off hand.
Going around the screen and knocking down a mid range jumper.
Curling around the screen off the dribble to knock down a 3.
ISOing his man with under a minute left in a tie game and nailing an ice cold, contested step back for the lead.
Lastly, another ISO, size up his man, in and out dribble, pull up for a contested deeeeeep three. Cash, to ice the game. Way to show out Devonte.
Ninth, Markelle Fultz is in Orlando showing signs of life!
In a crucial lesson of you reach, I teach, Markelle Fultz makes fellow former Sixer Jrue Holiday look silly with a slick behind the back and soars over former teammate JJ Redick for the slam.
It became clear Fultz needed a change of scenery from the frankly ridiculous over-analyzing in Philly, so I’m glad he’s found a stable home and role in Orlando. He’s at 12/3/5 on 48% from the field in his age-21 season and first real opportunity to get consistent playing time on the ball in his career. Can’t wait to see him progress in the future.
Tenth, sorry, I just wanted a frosty.
On one fine Saturday, the Washington Wizards paid the Philadelphia 76ers a visit for a good ol game of shooty hoops. The game was never particularly close, as Philly spread the wealth between their starting five, all scoring in double digits paced by Joel Embiid and Josh Richardson’s 21 points.
However, this game proved to be memorable due to some extracurriculars between Isaiah Thomas and a totally sane, not at all idiotic fan in the stands. Here’s the background, the Wells Fargo Center, home of the 76ers, run a promotion where if a player misses two straight free throws in the second half, everyone gets a free Frosty. So, as you would imagine, the arena gets pretty rowdy whenever anyone is at the line in the second half.
In this situation, Isaiah Thomas was at the free throw line late in the 4th quarter and missed his first free throw. Craziness ensues. He makes his second free throw. Bummer. But wait! There’s the one dummy that’s always in the crowd taking it too far, so he rained a couple expletives of the f, k, y, c, u, o, u variety (use your scrambling powers on this one!) upon Thomas, which prompted him to do this:
Honestly a super calm and measured response from IT given the situation. When asked to recount the situation in the post game press conference, here’s what IT had to say:
I spent 20 minutes laughing at “I’m sorry I just wanted a frosty” when I first heard it and just spent another 20 laughing while listening to the clip before I embedded it in this article. The delivery kills me every time.
Now that that is out of the way, let’s jump into this past week in the association.
Christmas Day Incarceration
In the 2nd most anticipated game of the Christmas Day slate, the Bucks walked into Philadelphia looking to establish their dominance over the Eastern conference and the rest of the NBA. Instead, somebody’s MVP got put in maximum security jail by Joel Embiid.
There aren’t many players in the league that you can feel comfortable with leaving on island to deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, one of those precious few happen to play for their biggest rival for Eastern conference supremacy. Embiid’s ability to endure Giannis’ bruising drives while staying vertical and keeping his balance forces the MVP into uncomfortable situations, pulling up short of the rim and shooting awkward fadeaways. Never being able to settle into a groove vs Embiid (or Al Horford manning the second units!), Giannis shot a filthy 8–27 from the floor (0–7 from 3), the most shots he’d ever missed in a game in his career. To add insult to injury, the Sixers also did this to the reigning MVP:
Life comes fast.
Little Brother Takes Round 2
Later on Christmas Day, the main event of the day took place as the Lakers and Clippers locked horns for the second time of the season. This time with the court graced in the purple and gold of the big brother in Staples, the game followed a very similar script to the first. Lakers started strong (went into halftime up 12), the Clippers survived the storm and punched back behind an amazing effort from Kawhi Leonard (35/12/5 on 11/19 shooting, 5/7 from 3) to set up an exciting 4th quarter.
There, the Lakers were presented with the opportunity to bear down and pull away from the Clippers off the strength of two big shots from a struggling LeBron (23/9/10/2/1 on 9/24 shooting, 2/12 (!) from three) to put his squad up 7.
However, the Lakers’ elite defense couldn’t quite keep the Clips down, giving up a quick 7–0 run immediately after the Clippers timeout spearheaded by two major plays:
A major offensive rebound from Patrick Beverley (more from him later) over Danny Green, then finding PG, who also struggled in his first Battle for LA (17/5/3 on 5/18 shooting, 1–6 from 3), for a wide open jumper
And an ill-timed mismatch for the reigning Finals MVP, who gets straight to the chicken in isolation and knocks down a contested three. Tie game.
A couple of buckets and free throws later, the Lakers found themselves down 3 with a chance to tie. Naturally, you place the ball in the hands of the best player in the world with the expectation that he’ll take you to overtime at home.
In actuality, LeBron got a switch on the world’s biggest pest, who immediately makes himself at home inside Bron’s jersey and manages to knock loose the ball while he tried to get a shot up.
You would think it would be a simple inbound after this, with the Lakers getting another shot to tie. But no, actually, super duper slo mo showed that after Bev knocked the ball loose, it grazed on LeBron’s hand as it was leaving, giving the Clippers the ball and effectively ending the game. The ultimate pest and the supposed LA little brother win the day.
WTF Stat of the Week
On November 14th, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Twitter account tweeted this:
On the day of this tweet, the TWolves stood at a solid 7–4 behind yet another strong start from Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins looking like he was ready to shake his bust label.
Since that point, the Wolves have been, dare I say it, bad. Just awful. Putrid! 5–15 since that tweet was sent, including a truly unbecoming record of 2–11 in the month of December. Moral of the story here is, never tweet.
Pandemonium in South Beach
This section is perhaps where the concept of this very piece comes in handy the most. The Sixers and Heat played at the same exact time as the instant classic Clemson vs Ohio State, so I’m guessing not too many eyes were on this one, but it was every bit as insane as Clemson-OSU, if not more so.
This game was actually just a normal, knockdown drag out heavyweight battle between two juggernauts in the East, with the Sixers up 2 with just over a minute left to play when Joel Embiid got an ISO on the perimeter against Jimmy Butler (lol) with the shot clock running down. From there, pure madness ensured.
The absurdly talented Cameroonian, who was already highlighted earlier for his elite defense, hits Jimmy Butler with his patented side step (a move that Butler used to hit two game winners for Philly last year, funny enough) and nails a 3 to go up 5 with 1:15 left. The hay is certainly not in the barn for the Sixers at this juncture in the game, but it’s a healthy enough lead to where they should expect to win if they execute down the stretch. Right?
Yeah. About the Sixers and “executing down the stretch.” I don’t believe that’s actually a thing in this team’s DNA. After this possession, the Heat get a bucket from Bam Adebayo to cut the lead to 3. Next Sixers possession, they don’t score (duh). Next Heat possession, Jimmy Butler draws a foul and marches to the line with a chance to cut the lead to 1. He misses the first, makes the second. That’s where we’ll pick back up.
Please note the time left in this game. One second separates the game and shot clock. It’s a two point game. The Heat practically have to foul at *some* point.
That being said, I don’t hate pushing the ball up the floor here. It breaks the press and avoids any potential 8 second violations. Great. What happens next is the baffling part in this situation. I don’t really even necessarily hate Tobias Harris going for the score here. Certainly I’d prefer a dribble out to waste time, draw a foul, and make your free throws, but as a great defensive team you’ll take a guaranteed 4 point lead with about 19 seconds left. However, if you go to score, MAKE SURE YOU DON’T MISS! Tobias goes up for a dunk and lets loose a very aggressive brick.
Don’t fret though, Ben Simmons bails out his fellow max contract Sixer by knocking the loose ball to his other max contract teammate Joel Embiid. From here, the ball is certainly going to be held until a foul comes… right?
Hm.
Ah! Sick. Executing down the stretch! Shouts to Tyler Herro, a rookie who had no fear or doubt in his mind that he was gonna pull this three in transition down 2 and give his team the lead. We’re due a Sam Cassell celly from this kid at some point soon.
From there, the Sixers call time out and then run a play to get Joel Embiid the ball in the post. He gets it and quite immediately fumbles it, recovered by Jimmy Butler. Butler is subsequently fouled and goes to the line with an opportunity to push the lead to 3, essentially a death kneel to a team without a timeout.
He goes to the line. Misses the first. Makes the second. Ben Simmons quickly inbounds the ball to Josh Richardson, who swerves his way through the Heat defense to try and get a last ditch shot up. But! On the way there, he’s fouled by Goran Dragic. He’ll go to the line for a chance to tie!
He misses the first, because Sixers. That’s what they do. However, Ben Simmons came to the rescue on the intentionally missed free throw:
The ref initially waved it off but after review they decided that the basket counted and the Sixers forced overtime!
If only it mattered. The Heat beat the Sixers in overtime, after Tobias Harris missed a *wide* open three in the corner for the win. The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.
I Miss Steph Curry Watch
I really miss watching Steph Curry play basketball.
I Miss Zion Williamson Watch
I really miss watching Zion Williamson play basketball.
My Team Of The Decade
It’s been a helluva decade for the NBA, becoming even more ubiquitous around the world through the star power of the Bron-era Heatles in the first half of the decade and the iconic Golden State dynasty vs Cavaliers rivalry in the second half of the decade. Along the way, we’ve been graced with some absolutely fantastic hoopers, so I’ve taken it upon myself to give my team of the decade in All-NBA style (Guard/Guard/Forward/Forward/Forward or Center). You can @ me about em too!
All-Decade Team
Steph Curry, G, Golden State Warriors: 3x NBA Champ (2015, 2017, 2018), 6x All-Star (2014–2019), 3x 1st Team All-NBA (2015, 2016, 2019), 2x 2nd Team (2014, 2017), 1x 3rd Team (2018), 2x MVP (2015, 2016), Scoring Champ (2016), Steals Champ (2016), 1st Team All-Rookie (2010)
James Harden, G, Houston Rockets & Oklahoma City Thunder
7x All-Star (2013–2019), 5x 1st Team All-NBA (2014, 2015, 2017–2019), 1x 3rd Team All-NBA (2013), MVP (2018), 6th Man of the Year (2012), 2x Scoring Champ (2018, 2019), Assists Leader (2017), 2nd Team All-Rookie (2010)
LeBron James, F, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, & Los Angeles Lakers
10x All-Star (2010–2019), 9x 1st Team All-NBA (2010–2018), 1x 3rd Team All-NBA (2019), 4x 1st Team All-Defense (2010–2013), 1x 2nd Team All-Defense (2014), 3x NBA Champ (2012, 2013, 2016), 3x Finals MVP (2012, 2013, 2016), 3x AP Male Athlete of the Year (2013, 2016, 2018), USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (2012), AP Male Athlete of the Decade
Kevin Durant, F, Oklahoma City Thunder & Golden State Warriors
10x All-Star (2010–2019), 6x 1st Team All-NBA (2010–2014, 2018), 3x 2nd Team All-NBA (2016, 2017, 2019), 2x NBA Champ (2017, 2018), 2x Finals MVP (2017, 2018), 4x Scoring Champ (2010–2012, 2014), 2x USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (2010, 2016)
Kawhi Leonard, F, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, & Los Angeles Clippers
3x All-Star (2016, 2017, 2019), 2x 1st Team All-NBA (2016, 2017), 1x 2nd Team All-NBA (2019), 3x 1st Team All-Defense (2015–2017), 2x 2nd Team All-Defense (2014, 2019), 2x NBA Champ (2014, 2019), 2x Finals MVP (2014, 2019), 2x Defensive Player of the Year (2015, 2016), 1st Team All-Rookie (2012), 1x Steals Champ (2015)
Quick Hitters
This has run long so I don’t have anything to say here other than have an absolutely wonderful New Years. Make sure you have fun, however that comes for you, and be safe along the way. And let’s go into 2020 with the mindset to dominate the year.