A Day Of Debuts

Happy Monday, folks! We hope your big game parties were a blast.

Wait, there was another big game yesterday? We meant Pistons vs. Raptors…kidding! Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs on their Super Bowl victory; that Patrick Mahomes guy seems like a keeper. However, we still had lots of basketball this weekend! So let’s talk about it.

Today’s Lineup

Same Faces, New Places 🌆 We saw lots of debuts this weekend.

Three More All-⭐ Two first-timers and a second-timer are SLC-bound.

EB Roundtable 🤝 What are Enjoyers looking forward to the rest of the season?

Friday Fun & Saturday Showdowns

Has anyone made a Jalen Duren/Duran Duran joke yet? No? Okay, give us a second. The Pistons rookie posted 30 points, 17 rebounds, and four blocks on Friday, becoming the second-youngest player ever to put up 30 & 15 in a game—behind only LeBron James. He’s not from Planet Earth.

In Miami, the Heat only needed 0.7 seconds to pull off a game-winning inbounds alley-oop. Shai Gilegeous-Alexander got extremely efficient buckets in Portland (44 points on 13/16 FG and 18-19 FT), and Milwaukee won their 10th straight behind 38 from Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks are making sure no one forgets about them.

Saturday was a day of debuts around the league. Josh Hart is going to be an MSG favorite—the Knicks' newest acquisition posted a modest line (11/7/4/4) but made plenty of winning plays in his New York introduction. About five miles away, Brooklyn fell to Philadelphia, although Mikal Bridges (23 points) shined. Jarred Vanderbilt is still really good (12/8/4), and D’Angelo Russell was solid (15 points, six assists) in his LA debut…well, his re-debut, we guess. To round out the night, the Mavs' superstar backcourt of Kyrie Irving & Luka Doncic played its first game together, but Swipa stole the show:

A Quick Sunday Session

White & Hauser lead Celtics to 119-109 victory over Grizzlies

Yes, you read that right! Jayson Tatum had an off game, shooting just 3/16 from the field. And with Jaylen Brown sidelined for the foreseeable future, Boston (41-16) needed some unlikely heroes to step up on Sunday. If you’ve been watching Boston recently, though, you’d know that Derrick White is barely an “unlikely” hero anymore. The Boulder legend has been on a heater in the last month or so, averaging over 20 points and shooting 50% from deep in the month of February. He wore a few hats on Sunday, that of a scorer (23 points) and facilitator (10 assists). Sam Hauser poured in 20 points of his own, and this man is the definition of a sniper. He’s now 19/33 from 3PT over his last four games. Bucket-getters get buckets. Ja Morant (25/6/7) led the charge for Memphis (34-22), but they couldn’t get over the hump. Box Score

VanVleet outduels Bogdanovic as Raptors hold off Pistons, 119-118

Toronto (27-31) was able to finally put away Detroit (15-43) in a game that simply did not want to end, featuring 26 points in the final 2:05 of the fourth quarter. Fred Vanvleet paced Toronto with 35 points and eight assists. Pascal Siakam, aka Spicy P, got some good news on Friday (more on that in the next section) and responded with 28 points and six assists of his own. Bojan Bogdanovic tried to keep the Pistons afloat with 33 points, and Alec Burks—who has had a nice season in the Motor City—scored 21 as well. Box Score

What Do An Ant, Fox, and Raptor Have In Common?

They’re all headed to the All-Star Game! Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox, and Toronto’s Pascal Siakam will replace the three injured players in Salt Lake City later this month. It’s the first ASG appearance for both Edwards and Fox, and the second for Spicy P (his first since 2019-20.)

EB Roundtable

It feels like the landscape of the NBA has completely shifted over the last few weeks. So we wanted to know…

And you delivered, because you always do. And that’s why we love you.

Kevin Durant being traded to the Phoenix Suns (understandably) dominated NBA news this weekend. But let’s talk about the other side of the trade. Brooklyn’s roster is certainly not devoid of talent— Mikal Bridges had been scorching for the Suns, Nic Claxton is solidly in the DPOY conversation, and Cam Thomas is emerging quickly. This team will be able to roll out some pretty impressive defensive lineups, too. Currently fifth in the East, the rest of the Nets’ season will be fascinating to watch.

Tanking teams deserve love, too! Hornets rookie Mark Williams had been stuck behind Mason Plumlee on the Hornets depth chart up until this point, but with Plumdog Millionaire being shipped out to Los Angeles, Williams now becomes Charlotte’s starting big. In limited minutes, he’s impressed this season with his defense (staying in front of Jayson Tatum is not an easy task) and has shown flashes of a promising post game. Has Charlotte finally found their franchise center?

The Nuggets didn’t make any splashy deadline moves like many other Western Conference teams. They acquired Thomas Bryant, signed Reggie Jackson off waivers, and that’s about it. Clearly, Denver believes they are a championship contender the way they’re constructed now, and that’s not a crazy thought. But our friend snorb is right; this feels like an important year for Denver. Are Jokic & Co. the favorites in a reloaded West?

Frozen Moments

• Jalen Williams had no regard for the good people of Portland, Oregon

• Spencer Dinwiddie was THIS close to sending Brooklyn & Philly to OT.

• I don’t think 7-footers are supposed to be able to do that, Joel…

Good Reads

Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, and Brandon Ingram are Ready to Take the Pelicans to New Heights - Franklyn Calle (SLAM Magazine)

Resilient Celtics still finding ways to learn from Finals meltdown - Michael C. Wright (NBA.com)

What We’re Enjoying

Norm by Andy Shauf: If you want some easy-listening indie-folk, then Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Shauf just put out a great album for you. If you want a layered, complex, kind of weird, and sometimes dark record with a memorable cast of characters, well, Andy Shauf just put out an album for you, too. Norm is an accessible project for pretty much everyone. The man doesn’t miss.

Signing Off

This is always the worst part of the newsletter…when we have to say goodbye. But the bright side? We’ll be back together so soon! Have a great week folks. Give someone a compliment today. Talk soon.

-Quinn Everts

Trivia Answer: The smallest capacity arena in the NBA? Surprisingly, it’s State Farm Arena in Atlanta!

Before you go: