Dame vs Jokic: a duel

Mornin' Enjoyers! Or afternoon, or evening ... we don't know when you read this. Anyways, we have had some crazy performances across the league that we gotta break down, plus we want to reminisce about an absolutely legendary season from the days of yore (aka when teams attempted just three three-pointers a game). Let's dive on in!

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Wild West ⚔️ Dame and The Joker gave us a beautiful offensive duel.

The Herd 🦌 The Bucks look deep, and it's scarily impressive.

Not Bad for a Rook 🪄 Breaking down one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time.

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Yesterday's Games

Jokic and Dame duel as Nuggets beat Blazers 122-113

Nikola Jokic put up a 36-point triple-double in a Nuggets (31-13) win versus the Trail Blazers. The wildest part? He only missed one shot … that's a 98% (!) true shooting percentage. Damian Lillard poured in an inspiring 44 points for the Trail Blazers, but Portland dropped their eighth straight road game while Denver snagged their 14th consecutive home victory. We truly Enjoyed this duel from two of the best offensive weapons in the NBA!

Box Score

Bucks bounce Raptors 130-122

The Bucks (29-16) edged out the Raptors (20-25) behind a monstrous night from Jrue Holiday. The two-way stud finished with 37 points, along with seven assists and six rebounds, and was the offensive motor for a Milwaukee squad missing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. The efficient production of Grayson Allen (25 points) and Joe Ingles (15 points) gives us hope that this Bucks roster can roll deep into the postseason!

Despite the high-scoring affair, both defenses stuck to their gritty ways. Holiday and Gary Trent Jr. pilfered pockets like they were in Oliver Twist, and there were more blocks than downtown Toronto. Despite the loss, we love to see Fred VanVleet continue his hot streak with 39 points on 54/50/100% shooting splits!

Box Score

Embiid's 41 sends Sixers past Clippers 120-110

As MVP chants reverberated in Crypto.com Arena, Joel Embiid dominated with a 41-point outing to lead the 76ers (28-16) to a win over the Clippers (23-23). To their credit, LA clawed back in the third quarter, but a scoring spurt by Tyrese Maxey (22 points) broke the game open in the fourth. Though Kawhi Leonard scored 27, the Clippers lost the eighth game in their last 10 appearances.

Box Score

Spurs outlast short-handed Nets 106-98

The Spurs (14-31) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 106-98 victory over the Nets (27-16) thanks to a career-high 36 points from Keldon Johnson. San Antonio rookie Jeremy Sochan (16 points) mirrored Dennis Rodman in hairstyle and grit, getting into an intense scuffle with Markieff Morris.

The Nets lost their third straight contest and were severely short-handed, with Kyrie Irving a late scratch and Kevin Durant still sidelined with an MCL sprain. In their absence, Ben Simmons dropped a 10-point triple-double, and Nic Claxton continued his DPOY candidacy with four rejections!

Box Score

Monday Night Notes

Steph Curry scored 41 in a win against the Wizards as the amped-up crowd echoed MVP chants. The weird part? It was a road game. After the game, coach Steve Kerr compared Curry’s universal fandom at away arenas to that of Michael Jordan. Every game is a home game when you're a beloved one-man circus! Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum put on a 51-point masterclass in a win over Charlotte, which shockingly makes him the Celtics’ all-time leader in 50-pieces at just 19—we mean—24 years old! 

Around the rest of the league, Walker Kessler gave Timberwolves fans more nightmares with a 20-point-21-rebound winning performance; a buzzer-beater RJ Barrett dunk forced overtime in a Knicks loss to the Raptors; and LeBron James gave us a monstrous performance with 48 points, eight assists, and eight boards in a 140-132 win over the Rockets despite Jabari Smith Jr's fun attempt to rattle him.

NBA History Spotlight

Magic Johnson probably had the most legendary rookie season in NBA history. After getting drafted first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft, Magic averaged 18 points, 7.3 assists, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.4 steals per game and became an ALL-STAR in just his rookie season. Funnily enough, he lost Rookie of the Year to Larry Bird!

Alongside a 32-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic led the Lakers to the NBA Finals while averaging 18 points, 9.4 assists, 10.5 rebounds, and 3.1 steals per game in the playoffs. 

Game Six of the NBA Finals became the most iconic game of the season. Kareem was sidelined with an injury and so, with a hole at the five spot, the point guard Magic Johnson slid into playing center. Putting up 42 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists to clinch the series versus the 76ers, Magic would collect the first of his five championship rings and earn the Finals MVP trophy over a prime Kareem, a top-five player of all time.

Frozen Moments

• The Bulls and Pistons play Thursday in Paris, so Detroit visited the Eiffel Tower.

• In the City of Love, Derrick Jones Jr proposed to his now-fiancée!

• The Grizzlies dominated the Suns for a 10th consecutive victory and celebrated wholesomely. 

• After a road win in DC, the Warriors visited the White House for the billionth time.

• TJ McConnell had a virtually perfect first half.

Good Reads

Does the NBA Have Any More Statue-Worthy Superstars? - Rob Mahoney (The Ringer)

The Inside Story of N.B.A. Players and Their Socks - Scott Cacciola (New York Times)

College basketball Power Rankings: Big 12 teams crowd the top 16, upsets shake things up - Jeff Borzello (ESPN)

What We're Enjoying

Ant-Man: A new trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania dropped, and it has us stoked to see what's the deal with the next "big bad" of the MCU.

Historically Good: HBO's The Last of Us just premiered and is already the highest-rated show of all time on IMDb. Based on the video game, the film follows protagonists Joel and Ellie after a fungal outbreak eradicates most of Earth. Critics have deemed it the "greatest video game adaptation of all time," so gamers and TV geeks alike should Enjoy!

Signing Off

That's wraps on this edition of the EB Newsletter. Let us know what you think of the new section and reply to this email with any ideas or improvements you have for us. We always want to hear from the Enjoyers community! Until next time,

-Conor Geelan

Trivia Answer: The New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets is the franchise with the least prolific all-time leading scorer. Brook Lopez leads the team in all-time points with 10,444 of them things! 

Trivia Question: Which of these players leads the 2005 Draft class in career 30-point games?