Some matchups in the WNBA are must-see-TV. That’s what you get whenever the Aces and the Liberty pair up. Thursday was no different.

🎉 Happy birthday Scott Brooks, Thomas Bryant, Hami Diallo, and Kostas Papanikolaou! 🎉

After starting off 0-2 against New York this season (including a loss in the Commissioner’s Cup Final), Las Vegas finally got their lick back against their East rivals.

The first half was dominated by Jackie Young, who piled in 22 PTS on 7/9 FG, giving Vegas the slight advantage going into the half.

New York, through the willpower of their star Breanna Stewart (26 PTS, 11 REB), and some stellar finishing from Pauline Astier (19 PTS) would not let the Aces run away with the night, cutting the deficit to two with 1:11 remaining in the game.

However, the second half of last night’s game was all A’ja. Every time the Liberty thought they had answers for the 4x MVP, she kept changing the questions. Wilson dropped 23 of her points in the second half, getting to the rim with ease against New York’s all-league frontcourt.

The matchup had its share of controversy towards the end. With the Aces up three with 18 seconds left there may have been a missed out-of-bounds call in the Aces’ favor. That led to Jackie Young icing the game with free throws, enabling the Aces to escape with a narrow victory.

The Liberty fall to the eighth seed, while the Aces continue to chase Minnesota for the WNBA’s top spot.

Although the night ended bitter, Breanna Stewart (26 PTS, 11 REB) passed Candace Parker to move into 10th on the WNBA all-time scoring list.

Dray is most certainly a team player above all else. After opting out of his player option to make way for a potential LeBron James signing, the Warriors’ glue guy returns to the team for 1-year, $27.7 million. For reference, that’s the same amount he opted out of in the first place.

While the Warriors would’ve loved to boast a lineup featuring King James this season, they’ll have to make do with an aging but well-seasoned roster.

The Dubs brought back 40-year-old Al Horford earlier this offseason on a two-year, $14 million deal to continue providing depth and a veteran presence behind Green and a hopefully healthy Kristaps Porzingis. With some encouraging production from Gui Santos last season, a potential return from Jimmy Butler in 2027, and the addition of Summer League MVP and Big Ten Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg, the Warriors will attempt to throw their hat into the playoff ring this season. Much of this, however, will depend on health, which was not in their favor last season.

Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green (and Brandin Podziemski) will all be entering the final years of their deals, so Golden State could look a lot different in the coming years if we don’t hear about extension talks coming soon.

July 31, 2007 - The Boston Celtics make a power move by acquiring 2004 MVP Kevin Garnett from Minnesota in a blockbuster deal 19 years ago today!

After running rampant through the NBA in 2004 with a core of KG, Sam Cassell, and Latrell Sprewell, Minnesota held the 1-seed in the West and the league’s reigning MVP.

After firing their legendary coach Flip Saunders after a rough start to the 2004-05 season, consecutive fumbled draft selections, and leaving the team’s core players high and dry in contract negotiations, the T-Wolves plummeted to the bottom of the West in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

With two years left on his deal going into the 2007-08 season, KG was the final piece that had to go. With initial rumors of KG only wanting to extend with the Seven Seconds or Less Suns or Kobe’s Lakers, options for the Big Ticket became pretty limited. Then came Boston, a team KG initially said he would never re-sign to. Then things changed on Draft Night 2007 when the Celtics made a move to acquire Ray Allen from the SuperSonics.

Now with a pair of stars to show off, Bean Town looked like a much more attractive destination and former teammates Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge agreed to a deal.

Celtics Receive → Kevin Garnett

Timberwolves Receive → Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff, Gerald Green, 2× 2009 first-round picks (Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington)

For Minnesota: The T-Wolves, looking for an opportunity for a fresh start in their post-KG era, walked away with 22 wins in the 2007-08 season and spent nearly the next decade fighting for lottery balls.

They received some starting production from Gomes (12.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG) and Telfair (9.6 PPG, 5.2 APG). Al Jefferson (20.1 PPG, 10.4 RPG) had a productive time before heading to Utah. None of the players Minnesota received lasted longer than 3 seasons on the squad. Kevin McHale stepped down as GM in December 2008.

For Boston: Garnett ended up being the final piece necessary to orchestrate one of the greatest turnarounds in NBA history. Boston set an NBA record going from an East-worst 24 wins in 2006-07 to the league’s best 66 wins (7 wins ahead of the closest team) in 2007-08.

Boston went onto drag themselves towards the NBA Finals, not winning a single road game until the conference finals. Once there, they emerged victorious against the LA Lakers in six games.

For KG, he would walk away from the 2007-08 season with a championship ring on his finger, a DPOY award, and an iconic championship quote.

Enjoyers! Thank you again for spending another Friday with us. We’ll be back on Monday to catch up on another weekend of hoops shenanigans.

Brian Shkabari