Hey, some good news for the Lakers: the team snapped their nine-game losing streak by beating the Hawks in L.A. on Sunday night. It was a convincing dismissal sure to galvanize the team as it finds its way through another tough season.
The Lakers finally won! What could go wrong?
We have that and more in Monday’s NBA newsletter.
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
Oh, also: the most prominent player’s prominent dad said the coach had lost the team. Cheers!
Yep, LaVar Ball is at it again, telling ESPN’s Jeff Goodman — who is in Lithuania to cover the younger Ball brothers — that the Lakers no longer want to listen to or play for Luke Walton. This is an outrageous thing to say when your son is a struggling rookie who nonetheless gets plenty of minutes under said coach. Most mad NBA dads have sons strapped to the bench. Ball is just blowing up Walton for sport.
The Lakers seem rightfully appalled and refused comment. Rick Carlisle defended his fellow coach by suggesting ESPN should stop quoting Ball, which isn’t going to happen.
You know who really came out of this smelling like a rose? Walton, who had a savage joke about the situation after the win.
Scores Galore ...
UTA 102, MIA 103
NYK 100, DAL 96
OKC 100, PHX 114
SAS 110, POR 111
ATL 113, LAL 132
... And So Much More
Two big game winners in the NBA on Sunday! C.J. McCollum hit a floater to get the Blazers past the Spurs, and Josh Richardson sprinted in for a game-winning layup against the Jazz. Neat!
College basketball stole this particular show, though: look at this freaking finish in Stanford vs. USC!
Welp, Kawhi Leonard has a partial tear in his shoulder and will miss some time. Meanwhile, the Wolves are just two games behind the Spurs for the No. 3 seed.
Seerat Sohi on the Thunder’s Andre Roberson conundrum.
Don’t miss Matthew Dellavedova, definitely not a dirty player, clotheslining Bradley Beal in an attempt to slow a fast break. Delly tries to apologize immediately; I’m with Beal. The way to apologize for a clothesline is to NOT CLOTHESLINE PEOPLE.
Whitney Medworth’s B-Sides remind you that Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan remain BFFs.
This is wonderful. The Sixers were beating the Pistons by 30 in Philadelphia. Andre Drummond hit two free throws ... and shushed the crowd! Context, buddy.
Looks like John Wall is staying with Adidas.
Uh, this is a weird Steph Curry ad for Brita with a Viner. Also, Curry scored 45 points in three quarters on Saturday. His career high is 54 and it’s SO SOFT because his team is so good.
Heavens bless Carmelo Anthony cursing loudly on live TV.
Eight games on Monday. NBA TV has Bucks-Pacers at 7 p.m. ET. Full schedule here.
Be excellent to each other.
The B-Sides: Reasons to love the NBA this past week
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