Good morning. Let’s basketball!
Nick Young must really love making open 3-pointers
That and more in Wednesday’s NBA newsletter.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
PAWWWWWLLL: There are some new developments on the Paul Millsap trade rumors front. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested in a True Hoop podcast that the Hawks actually had a deal on the table with the Raptors this summer, but pulled back once Al Horford left for Boston. That’s the second Millsap deal they supposedly stepped away from at the last minute, with Denver being the other team. It’s clear there’s mutual interest between Toronto and Atlanta, so let’s just make this happen already. Millsap, a free-agent-to-be, expressed his desire to remain in Atlanta, but I’m not convinced.
SCORES! Interesting night in the league.
Timberwolves 91 Sixers 93
Jazz 104 Celtics 115
Pacers 121 Pistons 116
Wizards 105 Mavericks 113
Raptors 82 Spurs 110
Kings 120 Nuggets 113
Heat 90 Suns 99
Grizzlies 102 Lakers 116
TRUST THE ATO: The Sixers ran a beautiful play to get Robert Covington a game-winning lob. Be careful, Joel Embiid!
MIGHTY MOUSE: Every time we think Isaiah Thomas has hit his ceiling, he takes it to another level. What a player.
THE HEADLINE SAYS IT ALL: Nick Young celebrated a made three with pelvic thrusts.
HE IS TALL, AFTER ALL: Kristian Winfield celebrates Kevin Durant’s defense, particularly his rim protection. We all knew KD had this in him after watching him dominate in last year’s Western Conference Finals, but it’s fun to watch him commit to being a two-way force for an entire season.
INTERESTING: Your man Tom argues that we actually need those referee last-two minute reports because they should help us understand and accept that refs, like all humans, aren’t perfect. That hasn’t been the effect yet, but perhaps over time a new collective consciousness will develop and people will stop using these as a means to bash referees for being wrong. That may be asking a lot, though. (Side note: It’s ironic that after years of pleading for referee transparency, there’s so much backlash when we get a slice of it and find out that refs aren’t robots and there is disagreement about certain judgment calls. My sense is that releasing full 48-minute reports, as some have suggested, won’t be the panacea that many intend.)
A TREND WORTH WATCHING: LeBron James shot more than 40 percent on three-pointers in December.
THIS’LL PAY OFF LATER: Joel Embiid remembers feeling isolated from the Sixers when he was rehabbing his many injuries, so he’s making sure Ben Simmons doesn’t feel the same thing.
CHEERING A YEAR EARLY: Jae Crowder is mad online (and in person) that Celtics fans cheered for Gordon Hayward during pregame introductions. Hayward is a free agent and adores Brad Stevens. I think I catch the fans’ drift.
ALSO MAD: Nuggets coach Mike Malone, who is still winless against the Kings since they fired him in 2014.
ALSO MAD: A bunch of pickup basketball players at a local YMCA, because Wizards forward Kelly Oubre booked a court to shoot around with his trainer and interrupted their game.
LINE OF THE DAY: Nikola Jokic on his brothers, via ESPN’s Zach Lowe: “They look like serial killers, but they are actually really nice people when you meet them.”
Until tomorrow.
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