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Come Fan with UsTuesday, August 18, 2026

Good morning, LeBron can’t do it every night apparently

Where is your Basketball God now?

Bob Levey

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Good morning. Let’s basketball.

WHERE’S YOUR GOD NOW?: LeBron James did not score 61 points on Tuesday. In fact, Michael Beasley was the Heat’s leading scorer as the Rockets edged Miami 106-103. The Heat’s streak is over. Basketball Utopia is dead. The MVP race is now meaningless.

SPEAKING OF HOUSTON: Drew Garrison with a great look into how Dwight Howard and James Harden are melding into some sort of magical two-headed basketball god.

DANG: Klay Thompson, sticking a game-winning turnaround jumper in George Hill’s eye is really, really not a very nice thing to do.

MORE SCORES: Including Russell Westbrook’s scintillating triple-double against, oh, the Sixers.

DON'T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE: Beckley Mason with a strong look at how the NBA hurts itself by guaranteeing its players are sleep-deprived. My own #HotZzzTake from 4:15 local time: [stares off into distance, remembers what a full night of sleep was like, mourns his youth]

OH: Former Knick Chris Smith waived by his D-League team. He actually bailed a few days ago.

SPEAKING OF WHICH: “The 2013-14 Knicks are the worst Knicks team I have ever experienced because of the totality with which the franchise, at every level of engagement, has destroyed even the illusion of hope.”

NEVER NO SHRUGS: Howard Beck talked with John Amaechi about why Jason Collins’ significance cannot be overstated.

ERADICATION: David Stern attended Collins’ home debut in Brooklyn on Monday. Quoted by the Bergen Record’s Tara Sullivan: “Hopefully it brings on the eradication of cases like this being noteworthy.”

COOL STORY, BRO: Dominique Wilkins, a scorer who never dropped 60 in an NBA game, diminishes LeBron’s 61 by claiming he could, at age 54, put up 40 on these Bobcats. Who have the No. 7 defense in the NBA.

MARC GASOL ALL-STARS: Zach Lowe’s most watchable players in the NBA.

MEET ROPEY: The story of George Hill’s childhood horse Ropey.

Happy Wednesday. See you next time.

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