Good morning. It’s raining flaming basketballs here in Northern California, so mind your step through the newsletter. Wouldn’t want to get nailed by one of these Warriors shots. Alright, you good? OK. Let’s basketball.
[scratches every Spurs player off the list of potential Stephen Curry defenders]
Gooooood morning, Planet Earth. We have reaction from the Beatdown of the Century, Boogie’s explosion and more in Tuesday’s newsletter. Enjoy.
DAYUM: As predicted by everyone (right?), the Warriors pulverized the Spurs. Like, destroyed them, 120-90, which included a full 12 minutes of garbage time. In the span of a week, the Warriors beat the Cavaliers, Bulls and Spurs by 30 each. These dudes are nasty as hell. Stephen Curry scored 37, cooking every single Spur who dared try to stop him. Yep, that’s right, EVEN KAWHI LEONARD. He singed those braids.
LaMarcus Aldridge looked suspiciously like Kevin Love, Tony Parker was a rag doll and Draymond Green carved up the Spurs defense much like the Spurs carved up opponents from 2012-15. Tim Duncan stayed home, but that plus the Warriors’ home-court advantage aren’t a 30-point swing. San Antonio, like everyone else, now must prove they can even compete with Golden State. Despite the Spurs’ 38-7 record. Unreal.
MEANWHILE, 90 MINUTES EAST ... While the Warriors were surgically removing the Spurs’ asses and placing them on platters then served back to the Spurs, the Kings and Hornets had a double-overtime barn burner over in Sacramento. DeMarcus Cousins scored 56 points on 70 percent shooting, but fouled out at a very inopportune time. Charlotte won on a magnificent Troy Daniels three. Troy Daniels, man!
Boogie dropped 104 points over the last two games. He did it for Mike Prada, Bill Simmons and every other analyst who left him off their All-Star rosters. He did it for you, guys.
TY-WIN LUE: The Cavs won! Ty Lue is off the hot seat. Shout out to Kyrie Irving for spinning Tayshaun Prince off the face of the planet.
SCORES GALORE ...
MIN 107, CLE 114
BOS 116, WAS 91
MIA 89, CHI 84
ORL 102, MEM 108 (OT)
HOU 112, NOP 111
ATL 119, DEN 105
DET 95, UTA 92
CHA 129, SAC 128 (2OT)
SAS 90, GSW 120 (Like, really!)
STANDINGS CHECK: There’s a modicum of order in the East with Cleveland, Toronto, Atlanta and Chicago in the top four spots, and Boston, Detroit, sliding Miami and Indiana following. Charlotte, New York, Washington and Orlando remain in the mix, but it’s getting tighter at the low end.
In the West, the status quo towards the top is holding, though Dallas is in danger of getting passed by Houston for No. 6. Sacramento maintains a one-game lead on both Portland and Utah for No. 8. (The Blazers and Kings meet Tuesday night in Rip City. Playoff ramifications, yo!) Denver and New Orleans are slipping out of the race, and Minnesota is toast.
YIKESVILLE: Anthony Davis is concussed by a Tyreke Evans elbow on a rebound. He might not be able to play for a little while. Let’s hope he’s OK.
RETURN TO YIKESVILLE: While rehabbing his torn quad for the last month, Blake Griffin apparently broke his hand, reports Stein and Shelburne. Not great, Bob.
Happy Tuesday. See you next time.
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