Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Apparently Phil Collins wasn’t available for NBA All-Star halftime
Good morning. We have that and more in Thursday’s NBA newsletter.
WAIT, WHAT? Sting will be headlining the halftime show for the NBA All-Star Game. I mean, alright! I had money on The Weeknd (too on-the-nose to have Drake do it and Justin Bieber remains persona non grata for wide swaths of America). In more exciting news, Nelly Furtado will climb out of her sarcophagus to do the Canadian anthem and Cirque de Soleil will be performing during what is sure to be some crazy-as-hell player intros. Two weeks and change, y’all.
Sting’s gotta bring Puff Daddy out and sing “I’ll Be Missing You” over a Kobe montage.
ALL-STAR RESERVES COMING: The league will announce the reserves (as selected by coaches) for the All-Star Game beginning at 7 p.m. ET on TNT. Keep in mind that, assuming Blake Griffin is selected, Adam Silver will be able to make at least one injury addition to the West.
SCORES GALORE ...
PHX 93, CLE 115
DEN 103, BOS 111
PHI 97, DET 110
LAC 85, ATL 83
OKC 126, MIN 123
HOU 99, SAS 130
CHA 73, UTA 102
DAL 107, GSW 127
STANDINGS CHECK: Boston’s won four straight and is climbing up the East bracket. There are five teams still in the mix for the No. 3 seed, and Indiana could make it six with a win streak. Utah’s big win puts the Jazz in a three-way tie with the Blazers and Kings for No. 8 in the West. (Man, Rodney Hood is good.) All the races are starting to come into view ...
COSTANZA WITH THE HEADBAND: Oh my God, Vince Staples reviewing NBA fashion choices had me dying laughing. More, please.
AN OUTRAGE: The Rising Stars Challenge is going to be dope with Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis each leading their teams, but no Justise Winslow?! No Boban?! Outrageous.
MORE SPECTACULAR INTENTIONAL FOULS: This is Nerlens Noel forcing Andre Drummond to give him a piggyback ride. What a sight to behold!
J.R. SMITH FOR PRESIDENT: A very slick off-the-backboard alley-oop to LeBron in transition.
JEFF TEAGUE TRADE RUMORS! The Jazz do seem like a perfect fit if Utah’s willing to part with a young piece. You wonder if Jerry Colangelo is ready to upgrade Philly’s point guard spot even further, too ...
MAKES YOU THINK: Kobe says, “I think the city of L.A. didn’t really appreciate what he did and what we had, and so as a consequence, everybody kind of fell in line with the Mike D’Antoni rhetoric of small ball and all this other bullshit. For a guy that has two championships to be treated that way, you don’t do that, man.” I agree. Andrew Bynum gets a bad rap. Oh, he was talking about Pau Gasol? Oh. OK then.
LOCK YOUR DOORS: It’s almost Mardi Gras, so King Cake Baby is back.
YOUR TNT DOUBLEHEADER: We have Knicks-Raptors followed by Bulls-Lakers. So, tuck in early and catch the adorable Pau-Kobe moments in GMIB tomorrow morning, yeah?
Happy Thursday. See you next time.
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