There’s never a dull night in the NBA

Good (late) morning. Let’s basketball.

THE NBA ... IT’S FAAAANTASTIC: Tuesday was shaping up to be a dull night in the league, with several of the league’s best playing sub-.500 opponents. And then the Nets stunned the Clippers in double overtime, the Bucks blew out the Cavs, and the Magic somehow won in San Antonio. There’s never an off night in the NBA, and it’s why we love it.

BUT REALLY: That Nets-Clippers game was bonkers.

SCORES! For posterity’s sake.

Pistons 112 Hornets 89

Clippers 122 Nets 127

Cavaliers 101 Bucks 118

Lakers 88 Pelicans 105

Magic 95 Spurs 83

Rockets 101 Jazz 120

THE MOMENT OF THE SEASON goes to J.R. Smith leaving the court of play to dap Jason Terry and letting his man score a wide-open layup. JET finally has his revenge for this.

THIS IS BAD: Mike Conley will miss at least six weeks with a serious back injury, which is a killer for a Grizzlies team that relies so heavily on him. Memphis has a +6.5 net rating with Conley in and a whopping -13.8 net rating with him on the bench this season. Even lineups featuring Marc Gasol and no Conley have a -3.8 net rating, per NBAWowy. It’s a good thing the Grizzlies banked some early wins because they’re going to need all of them to stay in the playoffs.

OH, SAM: I have two thoughts after reading Sports Illustrated’s profile of the new Sam Hinkie. One, Chris Ballard is an incredible writer. Two, it sure feels like Hinkie would be happier not working in the NBA again.

IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE HE’S OLD: Chris Paul pretended to give Paul Pierce CPR after Pierce missed a dunk.

UH-OH: Nick Young had to be carried off with an Achilles injury. Thankfully, the injury does not appear to be as serious as feared.

BIRDMAN NO LONGER HAS WINGS: Thon Maker stole them.

LIVE FOR THE APPLAUSE: Andre Drummond reacted to his own ejection with a wide smile and clapping. The Pistons went on to blow out the Hornets in his absence. Maybe Drummond was just giving the referee credit for helping his team win.

AN AMAZING RACE: Paul and John G. discuss the crowded MVP ballot on this week’s Drive & Kick podcast.

TIRED OF BEING NO. 2: Draymond Green badly wants that Defensive Player of the Year award. Problem is, if the Warriors continue to coast on defense to save energy for later, it’ll hurt Green’s case by association.

GOOD QUESTION: Paul and Tom question the merits of teams packing it in early to shoot for a high pick in a loaded draft class. In theory, more teams absolutely should tank. In practice, the question is a little harder to answer. This is a great examination of a difficult topic.

HE’S JUST BEING POLITE: Stephen Curry admits he once thought about playing in Charlotte, but it’s not on his mind now.

UGH: Some Boston TV loudmouth criticized Al Horford for missing the Celtics’ last game to witness the birth of his child. (I’m not going to dignify this person with a link because this is a ridiculous point of view.) That forced Horford (and Brad Stevens) to explain and justify why Horford correctly identified a seminal life moment as a more important duty than participating in one of the Celtics’ 82 games. It’s ridiculous that they had to do that, but sadly one idiot with a megaphone can turn a terrible take into a larger controversy. Celtics Blog had a good reaction to this nonsense.

Tom will return tomorrow. Talk to y’all then.