🏀 Welcome to the Carushow!

Welcome back, Enjoyers! December is here, which means only 24 more days until NBA Christmas games. We don’t want much this year—just a game as good as Cavs-Warriors 2016.

Looking for a little more hoops content this holiday season? Let's just say… we know a guy. The latest episode of the Kenny Beecham Podcast just dropped and it's an absolute banger. Check it out to hear Kenny talk about who's leading the major award races one month into the regular season.

Today’s Lineup

🐂 Last Night’s Action: Caruso’s heroics lead Bulls to much-needed win.

📖 Wednesday Night Notes: This duo recreated an iconic NBA moment…

🔥 Performance of the Week: Could he be making an early case for 6MOTY?

Last Night’s Action

The stars were out last night during an absolutely PACKED nine-game slate. Let’s talk about it:

Bulls win the un-winnable, take down Bucks 120-113 in OT

The 2023-24 Chicago Bulls are like a boxer who’s taken an absolute beating for six rounds. Their face is hardly recognizable and their legs are wobbling, but they absolutely refuse to go down.

With no Zach LaVine or DeMar DeRozan, Chi-Town made things happen against the red-hot Bucks. Nikola Vucevic (29 PTS, 10 REB) and Coby White (23 PTS, 7 AST) poured in buckets and the bench unit got a ton of second-chance opportunities thanks to Andre Drummond (14 REB, 13 MIN). Alex Caruso saved the day by sending it to OT, where the Bulls took care of business easily.

Trae Young masterpiece lifts Hawks over Spurs 137-135

Say it with us: Two. Way. Trae.

In one of the finest performances of his career, Trae Young (45 PTS, 14 AST) made everything happen for the Hawks. Setting up teammates for open looks? Check. Floaters over Wemby? Check. The game-winning defensive play? You guessed it: check. And the Hawks needed every bit of his performance, because four Spurs scored 20+ points including a career night for Jeremy Sochan (33 PTS, 8 REB, 6 AST).

Notable games elsewhere around the league…

• Knicks 118, Pistons 112: Jalen Brunson (42 PTS, 8 AST) and Julius Randle (29 PTS, 8 AST) put all five boroughs on their back to get NYC the dub against a Pistons team desperate for any sort of momentum. We’re just sad that a Killian Hayes (23 PTS) masterclass went to waste…

• Heat 142, Pacers 132: A boring game when the Pacers are playing? No way! Tyrese Haliburton (44 PTS, 10 AST) and Jimmy Butler (36 PTS, 10 REB) dueled all night, but it was the young Jaime Jaquez Jr (24 PTS) who made the difference during Miami’s huge fourth quarter.

• Thunder 133, Lakers 110: The young guys showed the vets how it’s done (and then some) in this one. SGA (33 PTS, 7 AST) was his usual un-guardable self, Isaiah Joe chipped in with three blocks, and Chet Holmgren (18 PTS, 2 STL) had yet another play that we can’t believe a seven-footer pulled off.

• Blazers 103, Cavs 95: We see you, Portland! This young Blazers team is a surprisingly fun watch, especially when Shaedon Sharpe (29 PTS, 10 REB) takes over games like this. Shout out to Duop “3reath” (3-4 3PT), who had some clutch buckets off the bench.

• Hornets 129, Nets 128: It looks like Terry Rozier (37 PTS, 13 AST) and the Hornets cracked the code for winning basketball games, and it’s simply unmissable. Brooklyn dominated the boards, but they just couldn’t get enough shots to fall when it counted.

Wednesday Night Notes

You can always count on Hump Day to come through with great hoops moments, and this Wednesday was no exception. Let’s go through some of the best ones you might have missed, shall we?

• The hottest team in the league recreating one of the most iconic basketball photos of the past 20 years? Sign us up! The Magic beat up on the Wizards for their eighth win in a row, but it was this Jalen Suggs–Cole Anthony connection that truly stole the show.

• What’s better than one elite playmaking center? Two! The third-annual Nikola Jokic vs. Alperen Sengun showdown ended with the former MVP showing the young guy how it’s done in a 134-124 Denver win. Sengun (22 PTS, 7 REB) held his own, but it’s hard to beat a 284-pound Serbian man with a 15:0 assist-to-turnover ratio.

• After a shaky start to the James Harden era, the Clippers are finally beginning to click. Winners of four of their last six, LA went into Sacramento and walloped the Kings by 14 despite a De’Aaron Fox 40-piece.

• Perfection is something we rarely see in the NBA, but Zion Williamson was about as close as you can get during the Pelicans’ huge win over the Embiid-less Sixers. He was 11-12 from the field AND the line in a dominant 33-point performance. Come to think of it… you could make a trivia question out of this:

Performance of the Week

Cole Anthony (ORL): 27.5 PPG, 6.5 REB, 6.0 AST, 56/50/88 splits

Somebody needs to stop us, because we seriously can’t shut up about the Orlando Magic. Elite defense, electrifying prospects, and a bench as deep as a 2K fantasy draft—what’s not to like? Anyone on their team could go off on any given night, and that’s what makes them so fun to watch.

This week, it was North Carolina’s finest J. Cole Anthony who stepped up off the bench in Orlando’s wins over Charlotte and Washington. The fourth-year guard is the ultimate high-energy spark plug with the confidence to make practically any shot on the court… could he be a future Sixth Man of the Year? 🤔

Three in the Key

• Uncle Jeff Green will forever be a Nugget at heart! 🥹 

• Jeff Teague always tells the most hilarious stories on his podcast… 🤣

• Mitchell Robinson is gonna make us cry. 😭

What We’re Enjoying

Run It Back ft. Kenny: Our boy Kenny is on a generational run of guest appearances! Just this week, he hopped on FanDuel’s flagship NBA show Run It Back to talk ball with Chandler Parsons, Michelle Beadle, and Lou Williams. Give it a watch!👇

Signing Off

And that’s our time! With Christmas coming up, try and take some time this week to think of some thoughtful presents for your friends and family. Nothing feels better than absolutely nailing a gift. 🎁

Until next time,

-Spencer Poole

Trivia Answer: The answer to today’s trivia is Gary Payton! The Glove might be more well-known for his Hall of Fame clamps, but he could get buckets with the best of them. He dropped 32 points without missing a single shot (14-14 FG, 3-3 FT) back in 1995.

Before you go…