Good morning. Let’s basketball.
The Warriors found a new way to crush the Clippers’ spirit
Good morning. Of course the Warriors came back! That and more in Friday’s NBA newsletter.
THAT’S GONNA LEAVE A MARK: The Clippers started out their challenge of the Warriors perfectly, and opened up a 23-point first quarter lead as Stephen Curry and Draymond Green struggled with foul trouble. No one thought it was over, though. And sure enough, the Warriors stormed back, played a flawless fourth and won 124-117. A completely demoralizing loss for the Clippers. Again. And there’s your boy Reigning Finals MVP Andre Iguodala pouring salt in the wound.
Golden State is 13-0. The toughest test standing between the Warriors and a record 16-0 start is the Bulls at Oracle tonight. How ya feelin’ Steph?
THE KING STAYS THE KING: LeBron led the Cavaliers past the Bucks easily. (Giannis, though!) His old team, the Heat, were able to handle the Kings without DeMarcus Cousins (suspended for an elbow to Al Horford’s head).
HORSE SHOT! Harrison Barnes either tried to flop or got pulled down by CP3, but he made the backwards lob shot anyways.
THE ELEPHANT GRAVEYARD: Zito Madu and I discuss the ethics of ducking away from an incoming dunk and downplaying a monster jam as an NBA announcer.
DAILY ZINGER: Kristaps Porzingis talks about getting booed on draft night and talking trash with VICE.
J.B.‘S SHOT: Woj on J.B. Bickerstaff’s shot of a lifetime.
NOTED: The Culinary Institute of America has a basketball team. (Tangent! Back in high school, parents or the like often bought ads in the back of the yearbook to congratulate their seniors on a job well done and wish them luck in the future. It was like the Anti-Humblebrag section and it was glorious. Like the NYT wedding announcements for suburban public school kids. Anyway, there was this girl graduating a year ahead of me who was known as really nice, smart and fairly introverted. Her parents took out a yearbook ad congratulating her on being accepted to the CIA. Not knowing the Culinary Institute of America was a thing, I was particularly impressed! It was about five years before I realized there probably was not a prep-to-spy program at the Central Intelligence Agency. Alas.)
PROMOTE HIM TO EVAN FIVENIER: Jesus Gomez with a really good breakdown on Evan Fournier’s spectacular ascent.
OH GOD: Adam Silver admits he has a stealth Twitter account. $10 says his only follows are @netw3rk, @WojYahooNBA and like a thousand Duke fans.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL: Super high quality three-minute Jason Williams mixtape straight from the NBA.
DIVIDED: Is Philadelphia experiencing a generational divide in opinions surrounding the Hinkie gambit?
WHY THE WARRIORS ARE TRYING SO HARD: Stephen Curry talks to Sam Amick about the drive keeping Golden State going so hard.
TONIGHT TONIGHT: ESPN’s warmup before Bulls-Warriors (10:30 p.m. ET) is Spurs-Pelicans (8 p.m. ET). Jazz-Mavericks (8:30 p.m. ET) and Pistons-Wolves (8 p.m. ET) should be doozies.
THIS WEEKEND: Saturday’s marquee game is Hawks-Cavaliers, though NBA TV has Wizards-Pistons. No national TV games on Sunday, but the Warriors can potentially tie the record for best start vs. the Nuggets while the Raptors visit the Clippers and the Mavericks battle the Thunder.
Happy Friday. See you next time.
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