NBA Friday: Warriors blitz Mavericks, Thunder blow out the 76ers

We’ve all been hangry—that ever-so specific feeling where we’re both hungry and angry at the same time. Chances are Kyle Lowry has been too.

While he wasn’t necessarily hungry during his game against the Celtics on Friday, he was very close to expressing the same emotion when he went to grab a bottle of water.

After that initial layup, Oladipo posted a 16-point first quarter and hardly looked back the rest of his night. Oladipo’s jump shot is what has held him back through the first three years of his career, but on nights like Friday, you wonder why Oladipo hasn’t figured it out. From start to finish, Oladipo’s stroke looked sharp and confident. It wasn’t just his six made three-pointers on seven attempts -- Oladipo actively looked for mid-range shots, stepping back comfortably to shoot over bigger defenders while still hitting several difficult layup attempts at the rim.

Orlando’s in a strange place as a team. They wanted to push for the playoffs this year, and for a couple months, it looked like they would. On Dec. 30, they were 19-13, looking like a prime candidate to nab one of the East’s final spots. But by the All-Star break, they had fallen all the way to 23-29, winning just four games in 2016. Now just the No. 12 seed in the East, their playoff hopes are done.

What happens when a professional athlete gets a little star struck during an interview? Well, if it’s Klay Thompson, the interview becomes irrelevant.

Klay was going about his usual business, talking about playing with Steph Curry. Then, he spotted Dallas wide receiver Dez Bryant. Bryant was on his way out and Klay wanted to say hello so he did. That’s about the same as almost anyone would react when they saw someone they were a fan of, Thompson just happened to be on live TV when it happened.

Here’s another angle.

No one else in the league would get that bank. Curry is just special.

And then in the second quarter, Curry banked in a three-pointer from the corner. He BANKED IN A THREE FROM THE CORNER.

Later on in the night, they’ll watch him play the Mavericks, making shots that actually matter in the record book. Right now, though, he’s just dribbling and taking uncontested three-pointers, something that has warranted an audience of at least several thousand. Consider this: The American Airlines Center opened 30 minutes earlier than usual so fans could get in their seat in time to watch the spectacle. When Curry finally runs onto the floor, there’s an audible cheer around the arena. Before the game, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle compared the Warriors’ popularity to the Rolling Stones on tour. Well, Curry is Mick Jagger.

Anticlimactically, Curry’s first action is tying both shoes. With cameras and media members crowding around, he progresses to dribbles on the baseline, followed by passing drills with a coach. The man best known for effortless long-range jump shots didn’t even attempt one for the first five minutes.

Russell Westbrook and the Thunder went up against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, which isn’t really noteworthy. The Thunder are one of the league’s best while Philadelphia is, well, Philadelphia.

But even considering the circumstances, Westbrook made the night noteworthy thanks to a powerhouse poster. Ouch! Throw an extra draft pick or two at the Sixers after that one.