Good morning, someone point the A/C at the Spurs
Because the Spurs are on fire, you see? That, some despicable monsters and more in Wednesday’s NBA newsletter.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
TOO HOT TO HANDLE: The Spurs shot ridiculously well early on, built a massive lead and held on to win 111-92 and take a 2-1 series lead. San Antonio hit 19 of its first 21 shots, and was at 90 percent shooting four minutes into the second quarter. Things came back down toward Earth, but what a sight to see.
Kawhi Leonard had a marvelous night. Pop celebrated by boxing Kawhi during a timeout.
Rowdy Dancing Heat Fan really pulled for a comeback. So did Jimmy Buffett. Alas.
Game 4 is Thursday in Miami.
DESPICABLE HIM: Donald Sterling calls the NBA “a band of hypocrities and liars” and calls Adam Silver and friends “despicable monsters.” He also says that the NBA has faced accusations of discriminatory practices, and would rather fight Sterling than change its own culture.
RUDY STAY: The Kings are legitimately trying to convince Rudy Gay to opt in to his $19 million contract for next season. They even recruited the governor of California to help!
LAKERLAND: Byron Scott got another interview. I guess everyone’s giving him a pass for those Cleveland years?
FISH: Howard Beck makes the case for Derek Fisher as the proper steward of the Knicks. Also, I wrote about Fisher getting overpaid as a coach is tied to Fisher’s union getting rolled in the lockout. Dolan’s gotta burn cash somewhere!
WOW: Kudos to Greg Howard, who somehow made 10,000 words on Jason Whitlock a really interesting read.
WOO: Adam Figman profiles Darius Miles for SLAM. Man, those Clippers teams were something.
LINEAGE: Jason Kidd. Derek Fisher. Chauncey Billups?
LANCE: No one does this type of investigation/analysis/speculative piece better than Zach Lowe. Here, he explains why Lance Stephenson is valuable, why he’s a risk and who will be able to chase him.
HEY! Jon Bois and Ryan Nanni have a new podcast, the Punt Brothers. Paul Flannery was their first guest. Sports!
Happy Wednesday. See you next time.
