Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Drake almost won a game for the Raptors
Good morning. We have that and more in Tuesday’s NBA newsletter.
SERVING NO ONE: The NBA age minimum has been in effect for 10 years. I review Jonathan Abrams’ excellent new book Boys Among Men, which tells the story of the players of the prep-to-pro era, and argue that the age minimum isn’t actually serving its purpose for anyone involved.
DAILY STEPH: It was Stephen Curry’s birthday on Monday. Happy birthday, Steph! Keep doing ridiculous things.
SIDELINE BLING: Drake may or may not have distracted the Bulls’ Justin Holiday into a critical five-second violation late in Chicago’s win over Toronto.
BE LIKE AI: It’d be nice if more basketball legends took Allen Iverson’s lead and just marveled at Steph.
SCORES GALORE ...
DAL 107, CHA 96
DEN 119, MIA 124
CHI 109, TOR 107
DET 81, WAS 104
MEM 81, HOU 103
POR 94, OKC 128
MIN 104, PHX 107
CLE 85, UTA 94
NOP 107, GSW 125
STANDINGS CHECK: There hasn’t been much change in the East: Cleveland still has a steady but not insurmountable lead over Toronto for No. 1, and the four teams chasing No. 3 (Boston, Miami, Atlanta and Charlotte) remain within two games of each other. Indiana has opened up a 1.5-game lead in No. 7 with Chicago and Detroit tied in the standings and Washington a further 2.5 games back.
In the West, the Warriors have a four-game lead over the Spurs for No. 1. That race is over. The Thunder are suddenly only up two games on the Clippers for No. 3, and the Memphis M.A.S.H. unit maintains a 4.5-game lead in No. 5. Portland has a half-game on Dallas and Houston, with Utah two games out in No. 9.
ANTSY: Ramona Shelburne writes that Phil Jackson feels increased urgency to fix the Knicks. There’s a suggestion Jackson might coach the team for home games next season while Kurt Rambis handles road games. Sounds like a weird plan!
THE TERRY TEAGLE AWARD: Finally, an award to celebrate selfishness. This is something that speaks to me.
LUCKIEST MAN ALIVE: Great piece at The Sports Fan Journal following Bill Walton around at the Pac-12 Tournament.
YEAH MAN: The Warriors picked up Win No. 60 on Monday. There are 16 games left in the season.
ON THE AIR TONIGHT: Oh boy: Clippers-Spurs on NBA TV at 8:30 p.m. ET. Celtics-Pacers is the only other game of note unless you’re into Sixers-Nets.
Happy Tuesday. See you next time.
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