Few thought the L.A. Clippers would be very good this season. The team traded Chris Paul for Patrick Beverley, and they lost J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford. Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams joined them, as did Milos Teodosic. But losing the captain and floor leader seemed to be a huge setback, even with Blake Griffin re-signing and DeAndre Jordan remaining under contract.
Forgot about Blake
We have that and more in Friday’s NBA newsletter.
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So much for that.
The Clippers are 4-0 after a Griffin buzzer-beater rescued an L.A. win in Portland on Thursday. Griffin’s triple capped a 25-8-5 line, furthering the case he’s one of the top 10 players in the league right now. This season, Griffin is averaging 26-9-5 on an effective field goal percentage of 60. He’s been a monster, just below the level of LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
This was the Clippers’ first close game of the season — they’d already trucked the Lakers, Suns, and Jazz. It’s comforting to see L.A. have answers at the ready without clutch maestro CP3. We forgot that Griffin has been just as capable of making smart, unstoppable plays in critical moments. Well, some of us forgot.
What’s new about Blake’s game is the three-pointer itself. He’s hit at least two every game this season, shooting 44 percent from deep overall while taking nearly six per night. If he continues to nail them at a good rate, he very well might be unstoppable.
As if the West wasn’t tough enough, the Clippers might be super legit. As if we didn’t have enough MVP candidates, Blake Griffin might be in the mix. There are always surprises in an NBA season.
Scores Galore ...
... And So Much More
Breaking news just before the newsletter publishes: Woj and Lowe report that Joseph Tsai, co-founder of Alibaba (the largest retailer in the world) is buying 49 percent of the Nets, and has an option to buy out Mikhail Prokhorov in four years. The valuation is, uh, $2.3 billion ... not including Barclays Center.
A mea culpa: I predicted that DeMarcus Cousins would put up 60-20 in his return to Sacramento with the Pelicans on Thursday. In fact, he had 41-23 in a New Orleans win. I regret the overly optimistic prediction.
The Kings put together a nice, brief video tribute for Cousins and fans gave him a standing ovation (as the Kings led 17-4 in the first quarter).
Here’s Kristian Winfield on the Nets’ huge Wednesday night win over the Cavaliers in Brooklyn, and what that meant for the team’s attitude and embrace of a new culture.
Shoutout to the Bulls for putting one in the wins column! The only winless team is now ... your New York Knickerbockers!
Speaking of the Bulls, Nikola Mirotic -- who is apparently in really, really bad shape after being clocked by Bobby Portis -- has reportedly told Chicago he won’t come back until Portis is gone.
Wonderful piece by Rob Mahoney on Jabari Parker’s scars.
The Thunder have begun to figure things out.
Jason Concepcion on how LeBron has shaped the modern NBA.
Celebrating Jordan Brand’s first five stars.
Oh boy. The Bucks trotted out a replica MECCA floor for Thursday’s game vs. the Celtics. Kyrie was under the impression it was the actual old floor from the MECCA.
Can Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Dario Saric play together? In their few minutes, Michael Pina writes, they’ve been dominant.
D’AWW Alert: Gordon Hayward’s daughter putting stickers on his cast.
Who Got Next?
This Friday is NBA TV only (plus League Pass, of course) with the broadcaster hitting must-see Thunder-Wolves at 8 p.m. ET and Wizards-Warriors at 10:30. (Good games.) On Saturday it’s a League Pass-only night with the best games being Cavaliers-Pelicans at 7 p.m. ET, Celtics-Heat at 8, and Rockets-Grizzlies at 8. Another League Pass-only day on Sunday with Magic-Hornets at 6 p.m. ET the biggest matchup.
Be excellent to each other.
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