Good morning. Happy Thanksgiving. Let’s basketball.
The Sixers really botched that one
Good morning. That and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
ANOTHER LOSS: The Sixers were so close to winning! Again! It's bound to happen soon. They led the Celtics by 11 with six minutes to go, and were up three with a minute and change. Then Philly had three straight possessions end in turnover. Ball game. 0-16. Two off tying the NBA record for most losses to start a season. The Sixers visit the Rockets on Friday and the Grizzlies on Sunday. If they lose those and can't beat the Lakers (!) at home on Tuesday, they'll earn the worst start ever. Yikes.
SPEAKING OF THE ROCKETS ... They lost again, albeit to the (fine) Grizzlies. Houston is 5-10 and just 1-3 since Kevin McHale was fired. Worst fired coach bounce ever.
ANOTHER DOOMED CONTENDER: The Clippers got marvelous performances out of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and still got beaten handily by the Jazz. THAT LOSS TO THE WARRIORS RUINED THEM! At least CP3 has this MJ-on-Bryon Russell type highlight on Rudy Gobert to keep him warm at night. (And like MJ-on-Bryon, we can debate the push-off to high heaven.)
MEANWHILE, THE PELS: ... are on fire! New Orleans won its third straight, is suddenly 4-11 and kinda feels dangerous!
DAILY ZINGER: A volleyball block from Kristaps Porzingis!
BIG WIN FOR DRIZZY: The Raptors beat the Cavaliers on Drake Night! They also took the court a little too early, which led to the Raptors dancers performing a routine around them, which led to this amusing GIF of a stonefaced J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson actually in the middle of an elaborate choreography, just chillin’. Also, the Raptor danced with a politician in a “Hotline Bling” inspired box.
THAT SEEMS BAD: The Hornets outscored the Wizards 27-6 in the fourth quarter and won by 14. Charlotte is 9-6!
ALL BALL: Jason Kidd was ejected for slapping the ball out of ref Zach Zarba’s hands during a stoppage. Looked like a clean strip to me.
THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE LEAGUE: Nice piece from the Sac Bee’s Jason Jones on Rajon Rondo’s renaissance.
SIT KOBE: The only way to stop Kobe from ruining the Lakers and sullying his legacy is to play him way less. Or don’t, because I want to keep seeing clips like this of Kobe acknowledging that the Lakers aren’t winning no matter what he does.
NO NBA TODAY. That means it’s a good day to destroy family members in the driveway or wherever you shoot hoops. Tape those ankles up!
We’ll see you briefly on Friday. Enjoy the holiday.
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