Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Good morning. Bow down to the Warriors.
That and more in Monday’s NBA newsletter. SUBSCRIBE!
PRAYERS FOR SAGER: Our thoughts are with Craig Sager and his family as he continues his fight with cancer.
NO ONE CAN STOP THE WARRIORS: In Sunday Shootaround, Paul Flannery paid homage to the Golden State Warriors, who hit the 60-win threshold over the weekend and slaughtered the closest challenger on Friday. There are really just too much. Plus, Shootaround has all of the other features you love. Check it out.
THE SADNESS OF DURANT: Since we’ve last met, Kevin Durant has been ruled out for the season. What an awful turn of events.
BLAST OFF: The Rockets took the No. 2 seed by force on Sunday, edging Memphis by a half-game. It’s likely going to be tight the rest of the way, and the Clippers are right there as well. If it comes down to tiebreakers, the Grizzlies have an edge due to a better division record as of now. Also, the Clips can only be No. 2 seed if they have a better record than both the Rockets and Grizz.
THERE GOES THE SUNS: Phoenix lost a crucial game against the Thunder, essentially eliminating the Suns from the race. So long, my friends.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE BROOKLYN NETS: The Nets, who are 8-7 in March and a whopping two games over .500 since February 1, have surged into the No. 8 seed in the East. Catch the fever!
IT’S OFFICIAL: This is the worst Knicks team. Ever. On Saturday the Bulls were beating the Knicks so bad the Bulls (like the actual Chicago Bulls) joined in The Wave.
SPEAKING OF TANKS ... This is LeBron James throwing down some massive dunks on a Sunday.
SPEAKING OF HUGE LEBRON DUNKS: This is his best friend Kevin Love tossing him an alley to oop on Friday.
THE MIROTIC PROBLEM: Nikola Mirotic was too good to fit into the Bulls plans as they wanted. He’s too good to not play a bunch.
MORE LIKE [REDACTED] KANTER: Enes Kanter was being a real doofleschnurp to the Jazz in his return to Utah. The Jazz triumphed, so Trevor Booker presented His Unified Theory Of Enes Kanter. That was great.
THE MAGIC OF CAULEY-STEIN: In crunch time against Notre Dame, Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein showed why he’s a lottery pick. Feet should not be so quick when attached to such a large human.
PLAYING IT SAFE: I wrote about how the Wizards screwed themselves by playing it safe and keeping Randy Wittman after the most modest of successes.
AND A MAGICAL NICKNAME IS BORN: This is how Nik Stauskas became Sauce Castillo.
DO THEY GIVE AWARDS FOR THE BEST LOCAL TV ADS? If so, just send them to Timofey Mozgov and Brew Garden tout f’n suite.
STUPID HUMAN TRICKS: Jeff Van Gundy gives us his version of the James Harden pot-stirring celebration, gets a nice roux going.
HARDEN IN FLUX: Philip Barnett on the constantly changing identity of The Beard.
WELL, OF COURSE: It makes perfect sense that Ty Lawson would celebrate a teammate’s dunk by laying down and pretending to swim.
THE MUDIAY GAMBIT: Evan Daniels with an excellent Q&A with Emmanuel Mudiay, who is back from China. This is the first truly successful overseas NCAA-avoidance scheme in the era of the NBA age minimum.
FINALLY: After years of denials and lies, we know the truth: the infamous “Who Wants To Sex Mutombo?” story is definitely real, as confirmed by Alonzo Mourning at the behest of the fellas on Highly Questionable. We can sleep easy now.
Happy Monday. See you next time.
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