Hey! How was your weekend? Hopefully you didn’t do anything that made people around you look like James Harden here… unless it was actually a dunk. In that case, consider us impressed.

Today’s Lineup

Sunday Fun

Barrett Goes Bananas as Raptors top Warriors 133-118

Could this trade have possibly worked out better for everyone involved? RJ Barrett scored a season-high 37 on Sunday (13-20 FG, 5-8 3PT) and Toronto (15-21) is playing a whole different brand of basketball lately (in a good way). Golden State, meanwhile, falls to 17-19.

Elsewhere…

• If you woke up on Sunday and thought you were still dreaming because you saw that Sam Merrill scored 18 points and hit five threes in the first half… same. But he did! Cleveland (21-15) held San Antonio (5-30) off, 117-115.

• Nikola Jokic apparently decided that he didn’t want to score Sunday… the 2X MVP shot just three times but dished 16 assists to help Denver (26-12) beat Detroit (REDACTED) 131-114.

• The superstars did superstar things in Dallas. Kyrie Irving scored 35, Luka scored 34, and that was enough to lead Dallas (22-15) over Minnesota (25-10) even with Anthony Edwards scoring 36 of his own.

• Two games for Memphis (13-23) this weekend, two sizzling performances for Jaren Jackson Jr. On Sunday, his 28/10/6, paired with Vince Williams Jr (19 PTS, 9 REB) providing huge minutes off the bench, helped the Griz down Phoenix (19-17) to the tune of 121-115.

Weekend Wrap-up

• A season-best 23 three-pointers helped Memphis down the Lakers on Friday. Marcus Smart hit EIGHT of them. Taylor Jenkins also played lockdown defense.

• A monster (even for his standards) 48-point, 17-rebound game from Giannis wasn’t enough as Milwaukee lost 112-108 to Houston who used the power of friendship.

Chris Paul Breaks Hand

The 2023-24 season just keeps getting tougher for the Golden State Warriors. On Saturday, point guard Chris Paul broke his hand and will require surgery that will keep him out for four-to-six weeks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Here’s to hoping CP3 can return in no time!

And a video of his best passes. Just because.

While at Vanderbilt, Aaron Nesmith was a 41% three-point shooter. And in his first three NBA seasons, Nesmith did a great job carving out a niche but never shot the three as well as he did in college. Now in his fourth season, Nesmith is improving on all levels— including becoming the high-level shooter that made him such an intriguing prospect in the first place. He’s shooting 45.3% from deep, scoring more than ever before (11.6 PPG), playing the most minutes of his career, and posting a career-high steals clip (1.2), too.

Three in the Key

Signing Off

And with that… we gotta go. But we’ll be thinking about you until we next speak! Instead of thinking of this as just another week, do something you “haven’t gotten around to” doing. Yes, that thing. You’ll be happy you did. Talk soon!

-Quinn Everts