Matt Barnes made a rash decision? Well that’s a first

Good morning. It’s Friday! Let’s basketball.

SELF-IMMOLATION: As has been well-documented, the Grizzlies are broken. Half their eight- to nine-man active roster consists of D-League call-ups due to injuries. So of course professional loose cannon Matt Barnes put himself in position to get suspended for at least a game due to his actions on Thursday. Here’s an explanation of what happened with a video. Basically, John Henson got hit with a second technical and ejected with 5 seconds left for staring down Barnes after a block. Henson had a hero’s exit to the locker room. About 15 seconds later, Barnes decides to jog down toward the Bucks’ locker room. Reporters disagree on whether Barnes made it in there, but there was no physical confrontation.

The Grizzlies have lost four straight. Their next game is Friday against the Clippers (oh, boy), so if Barnes is suspended it shouldn’t exactly affect the outcome. Meanwhile, Henson talks about the incident after the game.

MADNESS UPDATE: See what happened in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. You’ll be shocked to learn there were a number of upsets, including Little Rock stunning Purdue!

FREE BOOGIE? Akis Yerocostas at Sactown Royalty has a massive review of what’s gone wrong in Sacramento and comes to the conclusion that it’s probably time to consider trading DeMarcus Cousins.

SCORES GALORE ...

TOR 101, IND 94
WAS 99, PHI 94
CHA 109, MIA 106
DEN 98, ATL 116
BKN 102, CHI 118
MEM 86, MIL 96
POR 110, SAS 118
PHX 69, UTA 103

YES! The NBA is shortening its free agency moratorium from 10 days to five. We’re all calling this the DeAndre Jordan Rule.

MMM HMM: The Hornets might be the NBA’s hottest team.

TOO NICE: Adidas is putting out a pastel Easter edition of their Crazylight Boost 2.5s for Andrew Wiggins.

A SCARY THOUGHT: Stephen Curry may not yet have peaked.

HATCHET BURIED? Dwight Howard, who has in the past been criticized as a biter, hired Shaq’s old agent. But it’s cool because Shaq encouraged it as the two talked through their beef.

CONGRATULATIONS: Marc Spears is joining ESPN’s The Undefeated as a senior NBA writer. Spears is phenomenal and we look forward to reading him there. His longtime colleague Adrian Wojnarowski wrote a very nice parting tribute.

SPEAKING OF SPEARS ... Here’s a Q&A with Carmelo Anthony, whose existence looms large over the coming free agent period.

MEASURING THE PROSPECTS: It’s on Insider, but it’s one of the most important pieces of the year for draftniks: Kevin Pelton’s annual analytics review of the draft prospects. Ben Simmons measures out very well, and Fred VanVleet could be a steal if he enters his name.

[SIPS TEA]: Jimmy Butler played Password with Derrick Rose on the Jumbotron and I’m just impressed with his Hulk impersonation and disappointed the Kermit mention didn’t earn a meme reference.

THE SUBCONTINENT: Reuters explores the NBA’s persistent drive to open up India as a market. Via REDEF.

ON THE AIR TONIGHT: Just a single NBA TV battle on Friday -- Celtics-Raptors at 7:30 p.m. ET. If you don’t have the madness, you may also be interested in Warriors-Mavericks due to it being a potential first-round matchup and plausible revenge game for Golden State, who previously lost in Dallas.

THE WEEKEND: Saturday features a bunch of good games (Cavs-Heat, Thunder-Pacers, Rockets-Hawks) but everyone will be focused on Warriors-Spurs in San Antonio at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Holy smokes. The Spurs go in undefeated at home. The Warriors enter having not lost to a fellow elite a single time this season. Get your popcorn.

No Sunday ABC game due to the Madness, but Blazers-Mavericks is nice and important.

Happy Friday. See you next time.