Good morning. Let’s basketball.
The Knicks are .500. Why hasn’t the rapture begun?
Good morning. We have that and more in Wednesday’s NBA newsletter.
COLOR ME SURPRISED: The Mavericks lost an overtime heartbreaker to the Cavaliers. Guess who passive-aggressively questioned whether Cleveland might have been the beneficiary of a no-call on potential basketball interference late? That’s right, it’s Mark Cuban.
GIVING: LeBron passed up the most wide-open 14-footer he’ll ever see for a contested 25-foot Kyrie bomb in crunch time. I’m pretty sure it’s because LeBron had picked up his dribble and his feet were in poor position for a set shot -- still, most guys who take that shot. LeBron is one of a kind.
SADDEST GLOBETROTTERS GAME EVER: Tyreke Evans accidentally dropped a sick around-the-head-while-spinning dime.
SCORES GALORE ...
PHX 97, IND 116
SAS 109, DET 99
BOS 114, NYK 120
HOU 107, MEM 91
CHI 101, MIL 106
OKC 101, MIN 96
CLE 110, DAL 107 (OT)
NOP 91, LAL 95
ALERT: The Knicks are .500! In January!
“YOU CAN’T JUST GO UP THERE AND PLAY RECKLESS”: Scott Cacciola has the most important story told in the NBA this season: a winding tale about the Atlanta Hawks’ modified UNO game. I’ve never felt so alive as I have reading Kent Bazemore talking about bringing the heat in a vicious round of UNO. This is the way the game was meant to be played! (I don’t, however, buy Al Horford’s claim that they are only playing for pride.)
WELPVILLE: As it turns out, Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel appear to be horrible together on the court.
NEXT FOR THE NETS? Paul Flannery and I discuss what Brooklyn should do next in the latest FLANNS & ZILLZ.
THE PERFECT RECRUIT: Ricky O’Donnell on Brice Johnson, the North Carolina senior who has done everything Roy Williams ever asked, which has led to him becoming perhaps the best player in the country.
MODERNIZING THE CBA: Interesting thoughts from Nate Duncan and the execs he spoke to in Santa Cruz last weekend, especially on the lack of need for separate max contract levels for younger players. Why shouldn’t the max for a fifth-year player be the same as for a 10th-year player? It’d be a nice damper on the teams’ advantage in restricted free agency.
CRISIS AVERTED (FOR NOW): Ken Berger on the state of the Kings.
ROSE SPEAKS: Via REDEF, Derrick Rose discusses his future in Chicago.
TONIGHT TONIGHT: Your ESPN doubleheader features Indiana-Boston and Heat-Clippers. Mavs-Thunder also figures to be delightful.
Happy Wednesday. See you next time.
See More:
