Enjoy Basketball: ABC's - Awards, Blowouts, and Clowns

Hey there, Enjoyers of Basketball!

Yesterday we had two games which were decided by an average of 32.5 points. Fun, right? But there were still some terrific moments, proving why we shouldn't simply look at box scores. And if you turned the games off before a Suns/Mavs bench brawl or didn't realize Max Strus was the best player on the floor for minutes at a time, I got you covered.

Spoilers: Inside the NBA can be stupid, COTY Monty Williams can be brilliant, and we find out where Doc Rivers went to med school.

Miami Mashes Sedative Sixers

You know when your high school's Varsity and JV teams scrimmaged? Yeah, so this was that but broadcast to millions of people across seven continents.

The Miami Heat came out looking for blood. On every loose ball, long rebound, and 50/50 play, Miami simply out-hustled Philly. The Heat offense was poetry in motion with swift ball movement, methodical cuts, and open three-pointers. Twelve different Miami players scored, but the most impressive non-star was definitely Max Strus. The young wing shot 7-13 from the field and 4-10 from beyond the arc, and his high-intensity defense and sharp drives more than passed the the eye test.

On the other hand, the 76ers redefined the word "lethargic" last night. Not only did the big 4 of Embiid, Harden, Maxey and Harris only combine for 52 points (as opposed to 86 points in Game 4), but the offense moved at a snail's pace. Too much isolation and ball-watching meant that this game hit garbage time after only three quarters.

But, there is one grievance I can't resist mentioning. On the Inside the NBA halftime show, Barkley and Shaq wrote off Embiid's poor performance as him sulking for losing the MVP trophy yesterday, talking about "if it were us, we would've played with ferocity." Are you kidding me? Not only has it been widely assumed for weeks that Jokic had already won MVP, but Joel is playing with a litany of injuries. I may sound like I'm nit-picking here, but I happily saw the majority of NBA Twitter clowning them for this nonsense too. All I can say is I'm glad Kenny launched Enjoy Basketball for higher quality journalism. Okay, rant over.

Ending on a lighter note, the Heat played a lethal zone against Philly (Spo' is coaching circles around Doc), which inadvertently caused Miami's Dewayne Dedmon to commit three consecutive 3-second violations because zones are hard. Hilarious.

Suns break away in second half to take 3-2 lead

This game was really, really close until it really, really wasn't. In the first half, the two sides traded buckets and the defenses especially shined, limiting the score to 49-46 in favor of Phoenix. But then Dallas offense completely froze, scoring just just 34 in the second half to Phoenix's 61.

Luka Doncic scraped through the Suns scheme for each one of his 28 points, shooting 10-23 from the field. The fact that 28 points is unremarkable speaks to Luka's greatness, especially when he is asked to conduct every aspect of Dallas' offense. But the problem was the help.

In all these recent games, we are seeing a common playoff trend. Role players notably underperform on the road. In first round series, the talent gap usually compensates, but because the competition is higher now, this phenomenon is more glaring. Phoenix's role players were lackluster in their two losses in Dallas, and now the same is true for Dallas. When you combine this with the Mavericks shooting 38% from the field and 25% from three, it is not surprising that this one got away.

The most entertaining part of the uncompetitive second half was during garbage time in the final minutes. Marquese Chriss and Bismack Biyombo got into a heated argument and both were immediately ejected. The tremor in Kevin Harlan's voice as Chriss ran through his tunnel toward the Suns' locker room and the heated Biyombo (who was +20 in 21 minutes BTW) was as enjoyable as Devin Booker's smooth 28 points. Also, shoutout to Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson for being the best non-star wing duo in the league and posting a combined +38 last night.

Nikola Jokic wins MVP

Though somewhat expected at this point, Nikola Jokic has officially won the Most Valuable Player award in one of the closest races in recent memory. The Joker became the first player to score 2000+ points, 1000+ rebounds, and 500+ assists in a single season, and amazingly led the Nuggets in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals per game. In one of the most well-rounded seasons of all time, Jokic beat out Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who deserve their flowers as well. Now it's time for Jokic to go back to Serbia, drink beer, ride horses, and play cards with his brothers before lighting the NBA on fire next season. Man, he is living the life.

Monty Williams wins COTY

Congrats to Monty Williams on winning Coach of the Year! Though my personal vote would have gone to Taylor Jenkins of the Memphis Grizzlies, Williams also absolutely deserves this. After doubters criticized the Suns' allegedly easy path to the Finals last season, many expected somewhat of a decline from Phoenix. Instead, Monty captained the Suns to an even better 64 wins, and seems on his way to a second consecutive Western Conference Finals appearance.

Trailblazers Hire New GM

The Portland Trailblazers have hired their interim General Manager, Joe Cronin, to a four-year contract. Reports say that Cronin's vision for the franchise, 16-year history with the team, and synergy with Head Coach Chauncey Billups played strong roles in the hiring decision. Cronin will have his hands full this offseason in efforts to either extend the contracts of Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons and build around them, or blow the whole thing up.

Morant Doubtful to return in Playoffs

Reports say that Ja Morant has a bruised right knee and is unlikely to return for the rest of the Warriors series. Well, that sucks. No, that double sucks. Morant was having a phenomenal series and this injury essentially stamps Golden State's ticket to the Western Conference Finals and Memphis' ticket to Cancun. Rest up, Ja.

Adreian Payne killed at 31 years of age

Michigan State star and 4-year NBA player Adreian Payne was fatally shot after allegedly attempting to help a woman engaged in a "domestic dispute" with the eventually killer. When athletes tragically pass, society tends to focus on their achievements rather than a human being. To counteract that, I'll just say two things. 1) Watch Draymond Green, Payne's roommate for two years at MSU, reflect on his friend in the Tweet below. 2) Tell your friends and family that you love them right now.

Look Who’s Laughing Now: Once an NBA punch line, JaVale McGee has become the role player every title contender needs - Jordan Ritter Conn (The Ringer)

Ja Morant is the Most Improved Player — and there’s still room to grow; plus Dillon Brooks and ‘the code’ - Sam Amick (The Athletic)

Joel Embiid’s MVP Loss Doesn’t Diminish His Legacy - Chris Mannix (Sports Illustrated)

Stock Up, Stock Down: NBA Playoffs Edition - Tommy Beer (BasketballNews)

Milwaukee Bucks @ Boston Celtics - 7:00 p.m. EST

In a 2-2 series, winners of Game 5 win the series 85% of the time, so this decision is loaded. So I am sticking with my guns and going with Giannis and the Bucks. They outplayed the Celtics for three quarters and would be up 3-1 if not for Al Horford going nuclear. Tonight I don't think the Celtics get so lucky. If the Bucks can contain the Tatum/Brown duo to less than 60 points, I think they'll have enough to take a 3-2 lead.

Golden State Warriors @ Memphis Grizzlies - 9:30 p.m. EST

With Ja Morant set to miss this game, it looks like the Warriors will close this series out 4-1 tonight. I know, I know, Grizzlies fans. I can here you pointing at last game where the Morant-less Grizzlies beating Golden State for 47 minutes. However, in that game the Warriors woke up in the 4th quarter. The Dubs took every shot the shorthanded Grizzlies could throw and withstood an awful team-wide shooting performance, so I except progressing back to the mean will produce a win.

That'll do it for me. I'm stoked for tonight's Bucks/Celtics game, and hope that the Warriors/Grizzlies game can be as riveting as the crunch time of Game 4. Now that the last of the awards have been handed out, it's time to start my (in no way biased) RJ Barrett MVP campaign. Hop on the bandwagon before he's averaging 40 points per game!

- Conor Geelan

Last Trivia Answer: On Monday, Jack asked you which players have scored the most points in a single playoff loss. Behind 63 points from Michael Jordan (duh), the next four on the list are: Donovan Mitchell (57 vs Nuggets in '20), Damian Lillard (55 vs Nuggets in '21), LeBron James (51 vs Warriors in '18), and Russell Westbrook (51 vs Rockets in '17).

Trivia Question: The most three-pointers made in a game without a miss is nine, and has been achieve three times. One player reached this feat in 2003, and another player did it in both 2006 and 2012. Who are these two players?