Good morning, the Wizards have made it
Finally, the Wizards are above .500. That plus Joakim Noah’s epic tantrum, two crucial game-winners and more in GMIB.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
ZARD UP: For the first time since Halloween 2009 -- four years and three months ago -- the Washington Wizards are above .500. That the team got there with wins over the Thunder and Blazers is par for the course. On Monday, Washington held the league’s best offense, Portland, to 90 points in 93 possessions. And after the game, the team’s Twitterer threw some shade at the Blazers’ Twitterer for a joke made two months ago. Good times in the digital age.
YOU’RE COOL: Joakim Noah dropped an epic tantrum after being booted from the Bulls’ 29-point loss in Sacramento. Seth Rosenthal places the Festival of F-Bombs in historical context.
HOT FOYE-ER: Randy Foye gives Denver a much-needed win with a game-winning missile.
BUCK YEAH: The Knicks lost to the Bucks on a nasty Brandon Knight shot. From Posting and Toasting: “It’s amazing ... how rapidly the Knicks went from ‘hey, this could be turning around!’ to ‘okay, maybe only against bad teams’ to ‘NOPE NEVER MIND ALL THAT THIS IS THE MOST DESPICABLE GROUP OF HUMAN BEINGS EVER TO CONVENE’ in a matter of days.”
MEET THE ANTETOKOUNMPOS: That family the Bucks’ telecast showed a few times in the wake of Knight’s jumper, by the way? That’s Giannis Antetokounmpo’s family. His folks saw him play in a pro game for the first time ever. It was awesome as that sounds, in part because Giannis was pretty awesome.
AS THE WORLD TURNERS: The Bobcats have discussed trading for Evan Turner.
TURMOIL: Carlos Boozer publicly questioned why he doesn’t play more in the fourth quarter. This did not please the Bulls.
STUCK IN DETROIT: Rodney Stuckey discusses his future, which probably isn’t in Detroit.
COMIC SANS EDITION: Fear The Sword presents Cleveland Cavaliers Futility Bingo.
HE’S NOT TIM RUNCAN, YOU KNOW: A GIF of Tim Duncan briefly considering joining his teammates in a jog out of the tunnel, but sticking to his instincts and walking at a brisk pace instead. Leslie Sansone approves.
NOPE, DERRICK WILLIAMS: Nope nope nope nope nope.
MONUMENTAL: Chad Ford predicts an epic trade deadline.
THE UNKINKER: How important was acquiring Courtney Lee to fixing the Grizzlies’ problems?
FEAR IN FREE AGENCY: Monday’s Hook focused on two tricky free agent situations to come: Trevor Ariza and Rudy Gay.
THE MECHANICS OF SWISH: Coach Nick chats with Chris Mullin about the fundamentals of shooting.
WHAT IN THE ...: If you predicted that the mascots for the 2014 FIBA World Cup would be creepy oversized meerkat paws with googly eyes and headbands, collect your prize. Speaking of FIBA, the World Cup groups were announced. Team USA was placed with Turkey, the Dominican Republic, Finland, Ukraine and New Zealand. Spain is on the other side of the bracket but has a pretty tough group (including France, Brazil and Serbia).
SO MANY BEARDS: What is this, Milwaukee?
SO MUCH POWER: Did the Thunder keep their top spot in the Official SBNation.com NBA Power Rankings after losing badly in Washington?
Happy Tuesday. See you next time.
