Marcus Smart’s flop game is championship-level

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

BOOM: Isaiah Thomas dropped 42 on the Hawks, doing it by hitting five threes and drawing a bunch of fouls. If Boston’s going to win this series without Avery Bradley, the I.T. Factor needs to break way in the Celtics’ favor. It sure did on Friday. But the real star of the game was Marcus Smart, who had such an egregious, hilarious flop that the NBA should rename the “flop” the “Marcus Smart.” Vlade, Manu, Harden, CP3 ... y’all have a new king now.

MUZZLED: Detroit might go ahead and stop chirping at LeBron now. He didn’t have the best game (20 points on 24 FGAs, five turnovers) but he was supporting (in several ways) strong nights from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love as Cleveland moved to a 3-0 series lead over the Pistons. Meanwhile, Rodger Sherman rounded up all the past foes who trash-talked LeBron and then lost to him.

BETTER: Hey, Memphis didn’t get blown out in Game 3! They actually led for a while! They broke 75 points for the first time this series! They still lost. San Antonio’s up 3-0.

SCORES GALORE ...

CLE 101, DET 91
BOS 111, ATL 103
SAS 96, MEM 87

ON THE AIR TODAY ...

Raptors at Pacers, 3 p.m. ET, TNT, TOR leads 2-1
Heat at Hornets, 5:30 p.m., TNT, MIA leads 2-0
Thunder at Mavericks, 8 p.m., ESPN, OKC leads 2-1
Clippers at Blazers, 10:30 p.m., ESPN, LAC leads 2-0

WELP: A short, tight clip appears to show Isaiah rapping Dennis Schroder across the face. Context is surely missing, but the Hawks point guard is rightfully salty nonetheless.

SURE: Grizz, the Grizzlies’ aptly named bear mascot, dove off a ladder onto a fake Spurs mascot on a table below. Perfect Memphis.

SOMETHING TO WATCH TONIGHT: How the Clippers have shut down Portland’s potent backcourt.

WELL OF COURSE: The daffy end to Warriors-Rockets was in fact marred by a couple of painful non-calls, per the NBA.

THE MANY MOODS OF STAN: Nice Stan Van Gundy profile from Jeff Zillgitt.

GOLD STAR: C.J. McCollum wins Most Improved Player. It wasn’t close, but Kemba Walker finished No. 2 and Giannis Antetokounmpo finished No. 3. Steph Curry actually came in the No. 4 spot.

LOL: Rick Carlisle entraps an OKC reporter into declaring several Thunder players as dirty.

HMM: It’s still a mystery whether Steph Curry will be cleared to play in Game 4.

INTERESTING: It sounds like Dell Demps will stay with the Pelicans, which should mean Alvin Gentry is safe, too.

HOME OF THE BRAVES: Via Marc Stein (duh), the story of how the NBA’s Braves came to Buffalo, and why they left for California.

THE SCIENCE OF ANDRE DRUMMOND: Really cool feature on the science of athletic explosiveness from Tom Haberstroh.

Happy Saturday. See you next time.