Get excited! The new NBA labor deal is here

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

PEACE IN: There will be no 2017 NBA lockout. The league and players’ union announced a deal Wednesday night. Details are still filtering out, but Tim Cato has a strong rundown of the major points here. I offered up seven reasons the NBA was able to avoid a labor crisis for the first time in more than two decades. And here’s a rundown of all those labor crises.

NASTY NANCE: Larry Nance Jr. dunked on another tall man’s head, putting it on Brook Lopez this time. Watch the Brooklyn bench’s reaction. They want to remain stonefaced, but it is fully impossible. Nasty Nance is overshadowing this A+ dunk from DeMar DeRozan, which deserves some oohs, too.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOW: Sweet animated video elucidating the Denver Nuggets’ exceptional injury problems.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT KEVIN LOVE: Kristian Winfield writes that Kevin Love finally looks like the perfect fit in Cleveland.

JAZZ HANDS: Zach Lowe on how the Jazz can leap from good to great.

MIKE D’ANTOTALLY FASCINATING: Nathaniel Friedman in Victory Journal on the ballad of Mike D’Antoni. Meanwhile, I wrote in this week’s Reality Index that the Rockets are not totally like the old D’Antoni Suns primarily because James Harden is so ball-dominant.

SCORES GALORE ...

Raptors 123, Raptors 114
Hornets 106, Wizards 109
Clippers 113, Magic 108
Pacers 89, Heat 95
Lakers 97, Nets 107
Cavaliers 85, Grizzlies 93
Kings 98, Rockets 132
Pistons 95, Mavericks 85
Thunder 89, Jazz 109
Celtics 101, Spurs 108

AWESOME: Kevin Arnovitz on how various coaches and players have reacted to Billy Kennedy in the year since he came out as gay.

OH COME ON: Now that he’s had two straight games without a triple-double, Russell Westbrook is sick of triple-double talk.

THE PROBLEM WITH BEING A LEAGUE OF STARS: Geoff Calkins on the real pain some basketball fans felt when LeBron took a rest day on Wednesday in lieu of playing in Memphis. On the bright side, those fans got to watch their surprisingly awesome team take down the reigning NBA champs!

OOH, MORE MEETINGS: Tom Haberstroh reports the league and players will form a new committee on wearables and biometrics. It appears this committee will guide policy decisions around the use of such devices and data. Seems smart.

UGH: Darius Miles is not doing so hot.

WOW: Inside the Nets’ $6,000 premium game experience.

PUSH HIM OUT OF THE PROFESSION: Morehead State coach Sean Woods has been charged with battery after shoving players in practice. This is not a first offense. This stuff has no place in coaching at any level these days.

AWKWARD: Kevin Johnson is no longer the mayor of Sacramento. He received an awkward send-off from the team he helped keep in town.

YOUR DAILY EMBIID: Here’s Joel Embiid roasting his friends Ben Simmons and Chandler Parsons on Instagram.

ON THE LOW: Here’s OZY on the rise of the low fade in the NBA. Via REDEF.

NEXT UP: TNT’s double-header has Bulls-Bucks at 8 p.m. ET (in Milwaukee, so the Bucks have a shot!) and Knicks-Warriors at 10:30. League Pass options ... are not optimal. I would suggest it’s time for a night off from the league, but Golden State has a way of making one regret that.

AND FINALLY: SB Nation’s best sportsthings of the year. Tremendous fun, even if 2016 didn’t always meet that standard.

Be excellent to each other.