🏀 Dame Time, All The Time

Powered By

That’s right, folks. We’re back.

With 14 games over the past two days, including some hyped-up rookie debuts and more Highlights than the House itself knows what to do with, we’re here to break it all down for you with a smile. Isn’t the regular season great? 😁

ICYMI: the OG Enjoyer Kenny Beecham dropped a new episode of his podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts! Check out the Kenny Beecham Podcast and listen to the latest episode to hear Kenny predict the NBA’s 2023-24 award winners. Trust us, you’ll wanna see his picks… 👀

Today’s Lineup

The Ultimate Spoiler 😡: Luka steals the spotlight in Wemby’s debut…

Freak Time ⏰: Milwaukee looks just as good as advertised.

Conference Wars ⚔️: The All-Star Game is switching back to East vs. West!

But before you get to reading, start your day off with some trivia.👇🏀

Opening Week Recap

We understand that you can’t watch ten basketball games at once. And if you can, we’re pretty impressed… and scared. But WE can (don’t ask us how, it’s an Enjoy Basketball secret), so we’re gonna break down the last couple days of hoops action for you. Off we go!

Last Night

Milwaukee Bucks 118, Philadelphia 76ers 117: Different time zone… same Dame Time. In his regular season Bucks debut, Damian Lillard put up 39 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and one W. Philly got 58 points from new signee Kelly Oubre Jr and Tyrese Maxey combined, but it wasn’t quite enough. BOX SCORE

Los Angeles Lakers 100, Phoenix Suns 95: Under 200 total points in a game that featured two of the greatest players of all time facing off for the first time in five years? Hoops are so back. LeBron James is winning his war against Father Time, as he scored 10 big points in the fourth quarter to help lead the Lakers to the W. Kevin Durant jumped up to 12th all-time in career points scored with his 39 tonight, but it still wasn’t enough. BOX SCORE

Wednesday Night

Atlanta Hawks 110, Charlotte Hornets 116: Charlotte got some great play from LaMelo Ball (15 PTS, 10 AST) and rookie Brandon Miller (13 PTS, 3-7 3PT) to spoil a breakout game from Jalen Johnson (21 PTS, 7 REB). Mark Williams (15 REBS, 3 STL) also gave us an early candidate for most disrespectful block of the year. BOX SCORE

Washington Wizards 120, Indiana Pacers 143: Defense was more of a suggestion than a rule in this one. Tyrese Haliburton (20 PTS, 11 AST) went off and Bruce Brown (24 PTS, 6-8 3PT) seemed to be a perfect fit in this rising Indiana squad. Is anyone else getting 2022-23 Kings vibes? 🤔 BOX SCORE

Houston Rockets 86, Orlando Magic 116: It was Orlando’s depth that won them this one—they got great performances off the bench from Cole Anthony (17 PTS, 8 REB) and Jonathan Isaac (11 PTS, 1 BLK), including this furious rejection of Jalen Green. Welcome back to the NBA, Jonathan! BOX SCORE

Detroit Pistons 102, Miami Heat 103: Miami managed to hang on to this one thanks to an excellent night from Bam Adebayo (22 PTS, 2 BLK) and some great defense in the closing moments. And despite the L, Cade Cunningham (30 PTS, 9 AST) and fifth-overall pick Ausar Thompson (7 REB, 5 BLK) both seem primed for a great season in the Motor City. BOX SCORE

Minnesota Timberwolves 94, Toronto Raptors 97: The Raptors did just enough to eke out this win over the Wolves. OG Anunoby (2 STL, 3 BLK) and Scottie Barnes (2 STL, 5 BLK) were instrumental in holding Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns to a combined 45 points on 52 shots. BOX SCORE

New Orleans Pelicans 111, Memphis Grizzlies 104: The Grizzlies were missing a lot of pieces in this one, and it showed. The Pelicans dominated the boards, and Zion Williamson (23 PTS, 7 RBE) gave us a reminder that he’s absolutely terrifying when healthy. BOX SCORE

Oklahoma City Thunder 124, Chicago Bulls 104: The Thunder used a barrage of third-quarter threes to pull away from the Bulls and secure Chet Holmgren a W in his NBA debut. SGA (21 PTS, 10 AST) was undoubtedly the best player on the court—if the Thunder exceed expectations, he could be a serious MVP candidate. BOX SCORE

Sacramento Kings 130, Utah Jazz 114: Elite dribble handoff play from Domantas Sabonis (22 PTS, 12 REB) and a 27-point first-half clinic from Harrison Barnes were enough to get the job done in this one. Also, Malik Monk (10 PTS, 7 AST) casually ended a life. So that happened. BOX SCORE

Portland Trail Blazers 111, Los Angeles Clippers 123: One of the most hyped debuts of the night was, well, fairly quiet. Scoot Henderson (11 PTS, 4 AST, 4 TOV, -16 +/-) got his “welcome to the NBA” game out of the way early, but that’s expected when you have Paul George (27 PTS, 6 AST) and Kawhi Leonard (23 PTS, 6 AST) hounding you all night. BOX SCORE

Cleveland Cavs 114, Brooklyn Nets 113: This isn’t Paid In Full, but Mitch(ell) is still money (Donovan, that is). The man shook off Cam Johnson and hit a game-winner to cap off a 27-point night in BKN. Max Strus balled out in his debut with Cleveland, scoring 27 of his own (and grabbing 12 rebounds).BOX SCORE

Boston Celtics 108, New York Knicks 104: New Celtics addition Kristaps Porzingis did not take long to get acclimated to the Boston weather. The former Knick scored 15 points in the first quarter and finished with a 30-piece against the team that drafted him. Is there a statute of limitations for a “revenge” game? BOX SCORE

Dallas Mavericks 126, San Antonio Spurs 119: Wemby is here, and he’s… pretty good! After a slow start, Victor Wembanyama scored nine points (4-5 FG) in the fourth quarter and finished with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in his NBA debut. But clearly, Luka Doncic doesn’t care about Wemby’s moment—he dominated as per usual to the tune of 33 PTS, 13 REB, and 10 AST. Gregg Popovich wasn’t impressed.

NBA Starting 5

Get everything to know from last night and the best of today in the NBA's new Starting 5 newsletter. Sign up HERE!

Around the W with Crina

The WNBA season ended last week, so let’s take a look at five cool moments that happened during the regular season!

1. WNBA Canada Game weekend

The WNBA held its first-ever game in Canada, a preseason game between the Chicago Sky and the Minnesota Lynx, back in May. A sold-out Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and a weekend full of WNBA events around the city made for an all-around success.

2. AT & DB: Record-Breaking Power Couple

With an extended season this year we saw a lot of high-scoring games—especially in Connecticut. Alyssa Thomas led the league in triple-doubles, and her teammate/fiancé DeWanna Bonner exploded for a 40-point game in June.

3. Sabrina Ionescu wins 3PT challenge and breaks records at All-Star weekend

Not only did Sabrina Ionescu win the 3PT challenge, she broke the record by scoring 37 points in a near-perfect showing. Take a look!

4. Brittney Griner announced as All-Star starter after return to league

After a year without her, BG’s return was highly anticipated. Playing with the Mercury once again, she averaged 17 PTS and 6 REB and was announced as an All-Star. The vibes were so back.

5. Las Vegas Aces repeat as champions

The most historic feat of all belongs to the the Aces, who became the first team since the 2002 Los Angeles Sparks to go back-to-back and repeat as champions. A team led by 2023 Finals MVP A’ja Wilson kept the party going with their legendary parade celebrations.

That’s all for this WNBA season! Thanks for following along :)

East vs. West is Back!

The NBA is turning the clock allllll the way back… to six years ago.

Commissioner Adam Silver announced that the NBA All-Star game is returning to the traditional East vs. West format with standard scoring and timing. We’re not gonna lie—it was fun watching the schoolyard-style drafts where LeGM would sit there and outmaneuver whoever the East captain was. Plus, the target score format gave us some crazy intense moments, like LeBron hitting this game-winner in Cleveland: ⬇️

Still, the old format feels more like organic hoops, and we love that too. At the end of the day, we just want to see the best players in the world compete with some degree of effort out there… 😅

Frozen Moments

• Andre Drummond… where did this come from??? 🤯

• Bones and Russ were in sync on this fast break. 🔥

• The vibes were immaculate for Darko Rajakovic’s first win! 😎💧

What We’re Enjoying

This Twitter user makes an incredible NBA season guide, complete with intriguing diagrams about players and teams that have us rethinking some opinions! It’s like we always say: a better informed Enjoyer of Basketball is a happier Enjoyer of Basketball. 🫡 🏀

Signing Off

And we’re outta here! No matter how your team looked in game one, don’t overthink it—there are 81 more to go! Building up expectations is always better than tearing them down.

Until next time,

- Spencer Poole

Trivia Answer: The answer to today’s trivia is Shai-Gilgeous Alexander! SGA has scored 20 or more points in 36 straight games, including Wednesday night’s W over the Bulls.

Before you go…

Happy birthday to certified Enjoyers Ismail and Max! Thanks for sticking with us and supporting positive hoops content. 🫡 If you want your own birthday shoutout in the newsletter, it's simple. All you have to do is fill out the survey below: