Good morning. Geez, Stephen Curry. Save it for the playoffs.
That and more in Friday’s NBA newsletter.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
THE CHEF HAS ZERO CHILL: The Warriors have no real urgent reason to keep going hard this regular season. But whatever, Stephen Curry sprung for 45 points on 17-23 shooting as Golden State beat the Blazers, who somehow continue to lose players to injuries. This time, Arron Afflalo busted his shoulder. He said he felt a pop. He’s the third critical wing (after Wes Matthews and Dorell Wright) to go down for Portland in the past month.
Chef Curry wasn’t just scoring, of course. He’s had many of the best passes of the season.
In other action, the Bulls beat the Heat despite a 19-point halftime deficit. Derrick Rose looks pretty good and Miami is kinda doomed in the playoff picture.
WHAT THE ACTUAL: So when Thabo Sefolosha was arrested by the NYPD in that club incident early Wednesday -- the one in which Chris Copeland got stabbed -- his fibula ended up broken. He’s done for the season and postseason. There’s some video from TMZ, too. This is one of the craziest and most unfortunate things to strike a legit title contender this late in a season in memory.
REGRETS: Chris Copeland issued a statement apologizing for being out at 4 a.m. His coach Frank Vogel later agreed that he shouldn’t have been out so late, and said the Pacers don’t “condone” being out that late. As someone who grew up in a cow town, and even in his heyday preferred to be inside a house by the witching hour, I sympathize with the sentiment. Little good can happen in a public place after 2 a.m.
That said, now is not really the time for Vogel to be commenting about Copeland’s choices. The dude is in a hospital recovering from surgery after being attacked by a man since arrested for felony assault with a deadly weapon. There will be a time to talk about decision-making. Maybe when, you know, Copeland is back home and not laid up in a hospital gown. But this is a quibble. A lesson have obviously been learned here, both by the Pacers and the Hawks.
WELPVILLE: The NBA announced this week it will hold a development camp and send a goodwill tour to Cuba. Apparently the league did not check with the Miami Heat, who would seem to be the team most affected by a public attempt to reach out to the island nation. The Heat won’t participate and are concerned about anti-Castro Cuban-American fans abandoning the NBA. Since many, many Cuban-Americans live in South Florida, that disproportionately affects the Heat.
SURPRISE: The top seven scorers on the Kentucky Wildcats have declared for the draft. At least one, and possibly three, will end up as second-rounders, and a couple of those have destinies in Europe or China. (Which pay better than the NCAA, which pays zero, I should note.)
BEST ROOKIES: The Raptors’ two young Brazilians are incredible fun.
OF COURSE! Rodger Sherman has discovered that Shawn Bradley -- Shawn Bradley! -- is the NBA’s all-time leader in Kanye triple-doubles. That would be, as Kanye lays out on “Monster,” earning a triple-double with no assists, which Mr. West compares to both producing and performing on a track. Given the comparison, I’ve always felt that Yeezy should have specified that the equivalent triple-double doesn’t necessarily lack assists to other players -- Kanye produces tracks for a lot of other performers -- but that the points scored in the triple-double were all unassisted. In which, I think he’s talking about Russell Westbrook!
UNBELIEVABLE: Skal Labissiere, a top Haitian prospect headed to Kentucky, has an incredible life story. The devastating 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince nearly killed him -- his house collapsed on him, and it took hours for his father to dig him out of the rubble. The recovery effort then made it easier for Labissiere to move to the United States, where his basketball career has taken off. Beautifully written story by Marc Spears.
AND ONE: Spears also writes up Ben Simmons, the Aussie many are expecting to go No. 1 in the 2016 NBA Draft.
MARK CUBAN HAS OPINIONS, TAKE 38: Cubes says college basketball is awful and is hurting the NBA by failing to prepare its players.
Happy Friday. Last weekend of the regular season! See you next time.
