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Changing of the Guard in Brooklyn

Plus, Zach LaVine shows out in return

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New Skipper in Brooklyn: The Nets fired Steve Nash and hired Ime Udoka...

Bullish Return: Zach LaVine went off in his return, coming up clutch in the 4th quarter...

Market Watch: Buy low on this slept-on player!

Hey, hey, hey! We had four games last night, plus some INSANE coaching changes. We also are diving into some lowkey players you should buy stock in!

Also also! Make sure to tune in Thursday evening as we interview another NBA player on our Twitter Spaces!

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Tuesday's NBA Games

Bulls beat Nets 108-99 behind LaVine's monster 4th quarter

This game was neck-and-neck, with Brooklyn even leading for the entirety of the 3rd quarter. However, the Bulls turned it up in the 4th, going on a 17-2 run and sealing the game away. Zach LaVine had a potent 29 points in his return from injury, including an insane 20 points in the final 11 minutes, and seemed to inject some much-needed life into the Chicago offense.

For Brooklyn, Kevin Durant scored 32 points on 56/50/100% shooting splits. Let’s not normalize greatness, people! There wasn’t much greatness outside KD, with Kyrie Irving scoring just four points and Ben Simmons out with left knee soreness. Yuta Watanabe (10 PTS, 2 BLK) looked good, though!

Thunder thwart Magic in big comeback 116-108

While the NBA would never air this game between two tanking teams on national television, it was a great matchup. That is why we Enjoy Basketball—all of it! Plus, it had one of the weirdest height disparities we've ever seen. 

The Magic (1-7) controlled most of the game, leading by 15 points in the 3rd quarter and even 11 in the 4th, but then everything started going wrong for Orlando and right for the Thunder (4-3).

The Thunder were downright scrappy on defense and executed every bucket they needed to on offense. Unfortunately for Orlando, the Magic closed the game missing 11 consecutive field goals despite 30 points and 12 rebounds from Wendell Carter Jr. 

MAN, isn’t Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just amazing?! The reigning West Player of the Week scored an efficient 34 points on 12/18 in beautiful fashion. Shoutout to Bol Bol and Aleksej Pokuševski—it was super fun to see the two lanky youngsters pin layups on back-to-back possessions and cause general havoc.

Heat scrape past Warriors 116-109

This game was super topsy-turvy. Though the Warriors (3-5) won the 2nd quarter by 7 and the 3rd quarter by 10, the Heat (3-5) won the 1st quarter by 9 and the 4th quarter by 15. That’s why they play all four!

It was down to the wire at the end, with the Dubs getting pretty lucky that Miami kept missing open threes. Finally, a clutch jumper by Jimmy Butler (23 PTS, 8 AST, 9 REB) sealed the deal.

Any game where Max Strus goes off is a good game. The sniper scored 24 points on 4-10 3PT, filling in for Tyler Herro, who left in the 2nd quarter with an eye injury.

For Golden State, Steph Curry had 23 points on 50/40/100% splits and added 13 assists and 13 rebounds for his 10th career regular season triple-double ever!

Suns scorch Timberwolves 116-107

After six minutes left in the first quarter, the Suns (6-1) never relinquished the lead, though the Timberwolves (4-4) cut it to within two points at times. To overcome a mediocre Devin Booker night, Chris Paul had a peak 37-year-old-CP3 game of 15 points and 12 assists.

But the hero of the night was Cam Johnson, who poured in 29 points on 7-11 from three. And considering the Timberwolves are paying their two star centers a combined $82 million this season, Phoenix’s Bismack Biyombo and Jock Landale did a serviceable job.

For Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns had a solid 24 points and 10 rebounds on decent shooting, but the help was not really there. Anthony Edwards (24 points, 5-10 3PT) had hot streaks, but the supporting cast of D’Angelo Russell and Rudy Gobert combined for just 12 points.

Latest Basketball News

Nets fire Steve Nash, hire Ime Udoka

After a tumultuous offseason and a 2-5 start, the Brooklyn Nets have fired Steve Nash. The HOF point guard issued this nice statement on Twitter. Steve Kerr said of the firing that if “you throw either of us [coaches] in that situation, we wouldn’t have done any better." No matter what you think of his tenure, the Nash era in Brooklyn was memorable and contained many “what if's?” that will never be resolved:

Just hours after this news, it was announced that the Nets will hire Ime Udoka. The former Celtics coach was put on indefinite suspension after an “improper relationship” within the organization. We’ll see how events unfold with his conduct and regime in Brooklyn.

Monday Night Notes

We had a seven-game slate on Monday, so let's quickly catch you up on the essentials.

Paul George had one of the best individual performances we've seen this season with 35 PTS, 9 REB, 8 AST, and 6 STL on a hyper-efficient 15-26 FG and 5-10 3PT! Plus, he hit a cold-blooded game-winner:

With Joel Embiid sidelined against the Wizards, James Harden tied a career-high in assists (17), and Tyrese Maxey scored a smooth 28 PTS and celebrated the win in fun fashion.

Kevin Durant's beautiful 36 points helped him pass Vince Carter for 19th all-time scoring and defeat the Pacers, but it couldn't save Steve Nash's job!

Rounding it off, Pascal Siakam (31 points) and the Raptors' smothering defense conquered the Hawks, while Giannis Antetokounmpo's dominant 31-point performance helped move the Bucks past the Pistons to a 6-0 record. Lauri Markkanen kept the magic alive in Utah with an entertaining 31 PTS, 11 REB, and 4 BLK performance!

Market Watch

Welcome back to Market Watch, the segment which looks to "buy low" and "hold for value" on players, coaches, and teams as if they were stock prices.

Hold for value: Desmond Bane

Through six games, Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane is averaging 24.6 points per game on 44% from the field as well as shooting 45% on 9.3 three-point attempts per game, up from 6.9 last season. These are 2015 Steph Curry numbers, people! Even if Bane regresses to around 21ish points per game on slightly less efficiency, he is a terrific product for this season and beyond.

Buy Low: Jamal Murray

Jamal Murray has not looked very good this season. The Blue Arrow is averaging 13.3 points per game on 41% from the field and 33% from three. Reminder: until the past two weeks, Murray’s most recent NBA game was on April 4th, 2021! Head coach Mike Malone said that Murray’s production would be “built up throughout the season,” so buy low on the stud and watch him shred your favorite team in April!

Good Reads

Ime Udoka Rumors Lay the Nets’ Soulless Endeavor Bare - Rob Mahoney (The Ringer)

Charles Barkley Calls for NBA to Suspend Kyrie Irving - Nick Selbe (Sports Illustrated)

Jaden Ivey keeping up in high-octane NBA Rookie of the Year race - Ethan Fuller (Basketball News)

Signing Off

That'll do it for us here at Enjoy Basketball. Make sure to join us on Thursday for our Twitter Spaces with a special NBA player guest!

-Conor Geelan

Trivia Answer: Steph Curry has always spooked defenders, but on October 31st, 2015, he scored 53 points against the Pelicans - the most points in a Halloween game ever.

Trivia Question: Since 1975, excluding the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (73 wins), which NBA regular team recorded the most wins without eventually winning the NBA Finals?