Cavaliers-Celtics, Thunder-Rockets
The Rockets' 119-116 win over the Thunder last night felt like a playoff game. Donovan Mitchell himself compared the Cavaliers' 115-111 win over the Celtics yesterday to Game 3 of last season's playoff series between the teams.
What a treat to have both games the same day.
Houston (14-6 entering) vs. Oklahoma City (15-4) and Cleveland (17-3) vs. Boston (16-3) were matchups of the top two teams in each conference.
This was the first time in nearly half a decade two games the same day were matchups of teams that had won 70% of their games (minimum: 15 games).*
And the games lived up to the hype as well-played and exciting.
It'd been nearly 25 years since two such games on the same day were decided by single digits!**
*Dec. 6, 2019: Bucks (19-3) over Clippers (16-6), Celtics (15-5) over Nuggets (14-5)
**Dec. 11, 1999: SuperSonics (14-6) over Heat (15-4) by four, Trail Blazers (16-5) over Kings (12-5) by five
Washington Wizards
Only once in the previous 30 years has a calendar year featured two winless months by teams (minimum: 10 games). In 2018, the Grizzlies went 0-10 in February and the Suns went 0-14 in March.
This year, there have been two winless months.
Both by the Wizards.
Washington (0-12 last February, 0-14 in November) has set a new record for repeated ineptitude, becoming the first team with multiple winless months within a year. The 76ers went winless in November 2015 and November 2016, a span of 13 months.
Obviously, NBA seasons don't operate by calendar months. But society does, and so the Wizards get a loud, depressing reminder of how much they stink.
Brandon Ingram
Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram is hiring Klutch Sports, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
Flashback: When Anthony Davis hired Rich Paul, Davis insisted it didn't mean he'd request a trade from New Orleans. A few months later, Davis requested a trade. Then-Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry later acknowledged he knew, when Davis hired Paul, a trade request was inevitable.
Expect similar downplaying from Ingram about the significance of the agent change. And maybe Ingram truly isn't looking to force a trade. There are many reasons to hire Paul.
But if you want to demand a trade, Paul has a strong reputation for being the best agent to handle that process. (If you want to join the Lakers, Paul is absolutely the best agent for making that happen.)
Ingram is in a contract year and has not gotten a satisfactory extension offer from the Pelicans, who've seemingly at least somewhat soured on him. Cap space will be limited next summer. Whomever his agent, Ingram has strong incentive to get himself and his Bird Rights before the trade deadline to whichever team will pay him big next.
Brandon Ingram-Jazz
The Pelicans and Jazz were "deep" in Branon Ingram trade talks until Ingram expressed he didn't want to re-sign with Utah, according to In The N.O.'s Shamit Dua, who adds context suggesting the Jazz were willing to pay Ingram the money he desired.
Interesting the rebuilding Jazz would trade for Ingram, who's in his prime. Maybe they just saw him as a good buy-low option.
I'd also love to know what contract parameters Utah was offering, just so we can compare to what Ingram actually gets.
But money isn't everything. As NBA salaries skyrocket and are massive regardless, we'll see more players prioritize destination rather than chasing every last dollar.
Awards Live
Watch Danny tease the awards show like only he could, Nate and Danny visually react to the difficulty of picking awards and LeBron's on-off splits and, of course, actually pick the awards:
LeBron James
As Nate pointed to on the pod:
That -5.7 mark would be the worst of LeBron's career and just the third time his team got outscored with him on the court:
The Cavaliers got outscored by 2.2 points per 48 minutes with LeBron on his rookie year, and the Lakers got outscored by 2.7 points per 48 minutes with him on in 2021-22.
So, how are the Lakers 12-8? They've absolutely dominated when LeBron sits.
They're are on pace to become LeBron's first team to outscore opponents without him on the court – by a lot!
Los Angeles is outscoring teams by 11.1 points per 48 minutes when LeBron sits. The previous high for a LeBron team is the 2010-11 Heat at just -0.5 points per 48 minutes.
There's reason Anthony Davis cracked Nate's MVP ballot and Danny's All-NBA second team. As Nate noted, shooting luck factors, as does sample size.
LeBron's -83 overall is just the 45th-worst 20-game plus-minus stretch of his career. In December/January 2017-18, LeBron's Cavaliers got outscored by 148 over 20 games – and still made the NBA Finals.
Dunc'd On Live
Watch Nate and Danny react to the Hawks advancing to the NBA Cup quarterfinals, Jaylen Brown dunking, the Pistons running up the score on the Pacers and other NBA Cup action:
NBA Cup
At The Athletic, John Hollinger breaks down how the Hawks won an NBA Cup group that includes the Celtics and Cavaliers and covers NBA Cup scenarios.
Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards after the Timberwolves' loss to the Kings on Wednesday, via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic:
“We soft as hell as a team, internally,” Edwards said. “Not to the other team, but internally, we soft. We can’t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids. Just like we playing with a bunch of little kids. Everybody, the whole team. We just can’t talk to each other. And we’ve got to figure it out because we can’t go down this road.”
"Everybody right now is on different agendas,” Edwards said. “I think that’s one of the main culprits of why we’re losing because everybody out there has got their own agenda.”
Rarely see someone speak so harshly about his own team. Krawczynski provides way more context on Minnesota's issues.
The Timberwolves beat the Clippers on Friday, but one game isn't enough to move past the deeper problems Edwards raised.
Will Hardy
With Jazz guard Collin Sexton moments from sending what would have been the go-ahead basket through the hoop with just two seconds left against the Lakers last night… Jazz coach Will Hardy called timeout. Utah didn't even get a shot up after the stoppage, losing 105-104.
This isn't quite Brett Brown kicking the basketball when the tanking 76ers were leading a close game late. Brown's technical foul definitely hurt his team's chances of winning. Hardy's timeout was at least plausibly helpful at the time he took it.
But, man.
-Dan Feldman