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Enjoyers. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read this newsletter and catch up on the last few days of NBA action. While completing your mission, you may run into our official midseason award picks. Be cautious, as they may cause you to Enjoy Basketball at dangerously high levels… 👀

Today’s Lineup

Last Night’s Action

Kings avenge playoff series loss with 134-133 win over Warriors

This was a nailbiter for 48 minutes, and the Kings (25-18) victory was, in large part, thanks to heroics from Harrison Barnes, who posted a career-high 39 points against his old team. With just seconds remaining, the Warriors (19-23) were down one and Steph Curry (33 PTS) had the ball in his hands… but De’Aaron Fox (29 PTS, 5 AST) stifled him and forced a turnover, clinching the win for Sac-Town.

Wolves squeak past Nets 96-94 thanks to late missed FTs

Karl-Anthony Towns (27 PTS, 10 REB) picked up his teammates’ slack and put Minnesota (32-13) in position to win the game. The Nets (17-27) surged in the fourth quarter and had the chance to tie the game at the line with just seconds remaining, but Mikal Bridges (21 PTS) missed both free throws.

Elsewhere around the Association…

• The Pacers (25-20) used a balanced attack to defeat Joel Embiid (31 PTS, 7 REB) and the 76ers by 12, 134-122. Pascal Siakam (26 PTS, 13 REB, 10 AST) and Myles Turner (20 PTS, 9 REB) were two of the seven Pacers in double-digits.

• Nikola Jokic (31 PTS, 11 REB) got his double-double, but the Nuggets (31-15) were blown out by 38 points in New York (28-17) last night. OG Anunoby (26 PTS) continued his dark horse DPOY campaign with a six-steal night.

• The Heat (24-21) found themselves on the wrong end of a blowout in this ECF rematch, losing 143-110 to the Jayson Tatum (26 PTS, 8 REB) and Kristaps Porzingis (19 PTS) led Celtics (35-10).

• This Bulls- vs. Lakers game was close in the first quarter, but Chicago got sloppy (16 turnovers) and Los Angeles came out on top in a 141-132 win thanks to D’Angelo Russell’s (29 PTS, 8/13 3PT) lights-out shooting.

Wednesday Night Notes

• Devin Booker (46 PTS, 17/23 FG) outdueled Luka (34 PTS, 9 AST, 8 REB) and the Mavericks in the Suns’ 132-109 win. That’s seven straight for Phoenix!

• Giannis (35 PTS, 18 REB, 10 AST) excelled in the first game of a new Bucks era, notching his seventh triple-double of the season in the Bucks (32-13) ten-point win against Cleveland (26-16).

• Finally, it was a career night for Jonathan Kuminga, who scored 25 PTS on perfect 11/11 shooting from the field in Golden State’s 22-point win over Atlanta.

The 2024 All-Star Starters were revealed last night, and the announcement came with the expected amount of controversy. Check out who got their name called below.

Eastern Conference: Damian Lillard, Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo (captain), Joel Embiid

Western Conference: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, LeBron James (captain), Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic

The halfway point of the NBA season is upon us, which means it’s time to hand out some awards. We’ll hit you with our Most Valuable and Most Improved picks today, and stay tuned for some more awards next week. Let’s get to it!

Most Valuable Player: Joel Embiid

70 points on 59% shooting. The third-highest game score in forty years. The highest scoring game for a 76er EVER. If that wasn’t an MVP moment, then we don’t know what is.

But Joel Embiid’s incredible game on Monday is far from the only reason why he deserves this award. JoJo’s ability to score from literally everywhere (and we mean everywhere) on the court makes him a near-impossible player to guard. A career-high and league-leading 36.1 PPG on 54/36/89 efficiency should be enough to secure Embiid his second-straight MVP—if he can reach the games played threshold.

Most Improved Player: Scottie Barnes

MIP is always the hardest to predict, and you can’t go wrong with the incredible crop of contenders this year. But for us, Scottie Barnes takes the 🎂. The third-year player has improved on both sides of the ball (20.2 PTS, 5.7 AST, 1.6 BLK) as Toronto needs him most. Barnes’ statistical increase speaks for itself, but you also must give him credit for taking the mental jump of becoming the face of this Raptors team, especially after the Pascal Siakam trade.

Three in the Key

Podcast Drop: What do your dream playoffs look like? Which potential matchups are you watching unfold in your mind? Who thrives on the league’s biggest stage? See if your vision matches up with Kenny’s in the latest episode of the Kenny Beecham Podcast, and subscribe wherever you get your pods.

Signing Off

If you’ve referred the newsletter to a friend using the custom link down below, we’ll see you on Sunday for Out of Bounds. If you didn’t know, that’s our biweekly newsletter about the fashion, culture, and business side of the NBA that’s ONLY available to Enjoyers with referrals. Either way, we’ll talk soon. Peace! ✌️

- Austin Zeglis