Good morning, Blake Griffin can do it all
Blake Griffin goes nuts for the Clippers, before the Suns go nuts on him. That and much more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
HOLY BLAKE: Blake Griffin was incredible as the Clippers held off the Suns. He finished with 37 points on 14-16 shooting. Phoenix basically attacked him physically the entire second half, culminating with an impromptu wrestling match with P.J. Tucker.
MORE SCORES: All of them.
COLD WATER: Woj reports that Phil Jackson isn’t close to signing a deal with the Knicks and surmises (accurately, I fear) that his relationship with James Dolan can only end in spectacularly ugly fashion.
The best lines from a great column: “Dolan had become exasperated with team officials who didn’t want a second Garden act for Thomas. With overwhelming evidence to the contrary being presented to Dolan, he finally blurted out: ‘Isiah is a basketball genius!’”
Meanwhile, Chris Broussard’s Knicks sources are convinced Phil is joining them. We’ll see.
COLD WATER II: Potential No. 1 pick Joel Embiid will miss the Big 12 Tournament due to a back injury. He’s seeing a specialist in Los Angeles. If he can’t play in the NCAAs, will his stock drop?
COLD WATER III: Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck with a smart data analysis to determine that the tanking epidemic is a red scare.
SPEAKING OF WHICH: Four teams are in the mix for a top-5 pick behind the Sixers and Bucks. Sactown Royalty peers into their schedules and determines that the Lakers have the toughest sled to go.
SUGAR PLUMS: Satchel Price recaps the regular season performance of the top five NBA draft prospects in college.
SKEETER UP: Tracy McGrady received a spring training invite from the Sugar Land Skeeters. We are rooting for T-Mac so hard right now.
WELPVILLE: Anthony Bennett’s rookie season may end with a thud. He’ll miss three weeks with a knee injury. There are only four weeks left.
RETURN TO WELPVILLE: FIBA will alter its qualifying system in a way which basically bars NBA and NCAA players from participating. Makes sense ... if you want to murder international basketball.
BYNUM BACK: Andrew Bynum looks to make his Pacers debut on Friday against ... yep, the Sixers.
THUNDER U: Perry Jones III finds his way in the NBA.
TOTALLY UNSURPRISING BUT NECESSARY: Guess what? NBA players get arrested at a much lower rate than than the general population. Chew on that, Pat Garofalo.
THROW DOWN THE HEADBANDS: Marcin Gortat wants the NBA to have hockey-style fights. No, thank you.
Happy Tuesday. See you next time.
