Enjoy Basketball: Curry squishes Mavericks' hopes, LaVine linked to multiple teams in free agency

Welcome back to another edition of Enjoy Basketball!

While most of the league has begun its offseason, four teams are still battling it out for the NBA Championship. Well, one series is a battle. The other, not so much.

The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat just wrapped up their war in Game 3. Players were getting injured left and right, and in the end, Miami took home the win. Despite that, Marcus Smart got his Stone Cold moment.

Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors just put a chokehold on the Dallas Mavericks. No team in NBA history has managed to come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Things are looking bleak in Dallas.

Let’s get into the action.

Curry cooks, puts Mavs in 3-0 hole

This just in, we have acquired a live feed into the Mavericks’ locker room. Luka Doncic seems to be giving a post-game speech. Let’s listen in to what inspirational words he has for his team after the tough loss…

Oh… that’s not great.

Doncic dropped 40 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists in Game 3 against the Warriors while shooting 11-of-23 from the field and 4-of-9 from deep. As usual, he put the team on his back. Unfortunately, it once again did not result in a win. Golden State is just too connected on both sides of the ball.

Now, it’s not fair to say that Doncic had no help. Both Spencer Dinwiddie (26 points) and Jalen Brunson (20 points) played well, but the Mavs got little production from anyone outside of those three. But more importantly, they just weren’t able to stop the elite team-ball of the Warriors.

Golden State is playing like a group that has been here before. And that’s probably because they have. Stephen Curry was phenomenal, Draymond Green played his role to a tee (as usual), and Andrew Wiggins, one of the players who actually hasn’t been here before, looked amazing.

Oh yeah, and Wiggins decided to baptize Doncic.

Wiggins’ dunk is going to go down as one of the best playoff dunks in recent memory, but the real MVP of the play was Steve Kerr. Shoutout to the Warriors coach for challenging the call. When the refs called the dunk an offensive foul, he knew he couldn’t let Wiggins go down like that. The refs may have ruined the moment, but at least Kerr saved the highlight.

It’s looking like the Warriors are going to be heading back to the NBA Finals. A 3-0 lead is an insurmountable mountain that no team has ever climbed. Although, wouldn’t it be fitting if Doncic were the first player ever to accomplish the feat? After all, everybody acts tough when they’re up…

Finalists for Lakers job announced

Based on reporting from both Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of the Atheltic, the Los Angeles Lakers have narrowed down their coaching search. Wojnarowski stated that former Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts and Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham are being brought back for second interviews. Charania added that Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson would also be in that group.

While each has a chance to land the position, one candidate may have emerged as a sneaky favorite. According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, Ham is “the guy LeBron wants.” With the backing of King James, it’s hard to imagine the Lakers going in a different direction.

LaVine’s uncertain future in Chicago

New reports have come out regarding Zach LaVine’s future with the Chicago Bulls. According to Bulls insider KC Johnson of NBC Sports, LaVine’s “return to the Bulls no longer is considered the slam dunk it once was.”

Johnson also mentioned that four teams have been brought up in league circles as potential destinations for the 27-year-old guard. He mentioned the Lakers, Trail Blazers, Mavericks, and Atlanta Hawks, stating that “league gossip throughout this week has linked LaVine” to those squads, and that more teams will pop up in the rumor mill in the coming weeks.

The Bulls have the ability to offer LaVine more money than any other team, but whether or not they will is unknown. With his exit interview comments, it’s clear that LaVine wants a max deal, but if the Bulls are hesitant to give him that, he may leave the Windy City this summer.

Kings ‘will explore’ trading fourth pick

The Sacramento Kings lucked out in the draft lottery, landing the fourth-overall selection. With Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith Jr., and Paolo Banchero dubbed as the clear top three, the Kings essentially own the first pick to the rest of the draft. In turn, they could look to move the pick in order to improve their depth.

Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report reported that “there’s a strong belief among rival teams that Sacramento will explore trading the fourth selection.” He noted that the Kings would likely either trade out of the draft entirely, adding a high-impact veteran, or trade down, adding a key rotation player in the process. Some trade ideas are better than others, though...

Sacramento committed to competing for the playoffs last season when they traded for Domantas Sabonis, and with the recent hiring of Mike Brown, adding more top-end talent seems like a smart decision if that is truly their goal.

Dominant Bam Adebayo Shows He Is Heat’s ‘Heart and Soul’ in Game 3 Win Over Celtics - Michael Pina (Sports Illustrated)

Top performers from the 2022 NBA Draft Combine - Sanjesh Singh (NBC Sports Chicago)

Draft Hopeful Scotty Pippen Jr. Sounds off on ‘Pressure’ of Famous Bulls Name - Steve Bulpett (Heavy.com)

Knicks' Miles McBride opens up on offseason, goals entering Year 2 in NBA - Ian Begley (SNY)

Warriors' Gary Payton II says Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks sought him out, personally apologized after series - Dennis Young (SFGATE)

Miami Heat @ Boston Celtics - 8:30 p.m.

In the game after a loss, the Celtics are the best team in basketball. Literally.

Since February, the Celtics have only lost back-to-back games one time. In the nine games they’ve played after losses in that time span (including the playoffs), they’ve shot 50.0% from the field, 39.9% from three-point range, and 85.8% from the free-throw line. All of those numbers would have led the league during the regular season. So, despite how truly despicable their Game 3 loss was, the numbers say that Boston is going to take Game 4.

Basketball is awesome. Sometimes I like to take a step back and realize how incredibly lucky we are to watch the best players in the world competing in the sport that we all grew up playing. Doncic step-back threes, Smart returning to the court like Stone Cold, and Lowry gritting out a playoff win while injured. There’s just nothing like it.

I mean, you just can’t write this stuff. Curry literally told the Mavs to go “night night.” That’s sicko behavior and I absolutely love it.

It’s looking like the Warriors are Finals-bound, and no matter who makes it out of the East to face them, that series is going to be a battle. The Heat and Celtics both play with unwavering heart and will undoubtedly be the toughest opponent Golden State has faced. Get ready for an amazing NBA Finals, people.

That'll be it for me. Thanks for reading. See y'all next time.

- Jack Simone

Last Trivia Answer: The answer to Friday's question is Lakers legend Magic Johnson. He dropped 42 points in a 1980 playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers at the ripe age of 20 years old (and 276 days). And for what it's worth, LeBron James is the second-youngest to ever score 40 in a playoff game.

Trivia Question: Reggie Bullock shot 0-for-10 last night. I know. Not his best performance. But that got me thinking... who has the worst field goal percentage in playoff history? A bunch of players are tied at 0.0% because of a lack of games of minutes, and most of the list was made up of inactive players, so I narrowed it down.

Among active players who have played in at least 20 playoff games and averaged at least 20 minutes per game, who has the worst postseason field goal percentage? Hint, they did not make the playoffs this season.