Enjoy Basketball: Mavs role players step up and stay alive

Kick off your Wednesday right by Enjoying Basketball in the form of this newsletter!

Somewhere in last night's drafting, this became the Reggie Bullock newsletter. The internationally known superstar led the Dallas Mavericks to the win over the Warriors last night to extend the series. Luka helped too, but we're too nerdy around here for that basic take. Reggie Bullock turned into Reggie Miller (who was on the TNT call) for a few minutes there, despite the leaking Mavericks ceiling. Even better, Bullock recently won the NBA's most honorable award - read more about that later in the letter.

Now, attention! There's a new thing we're doing here for Enjoy Basketball. Reply to this email with your personal answer to the following question and we'll mention our favorite in the next newsletter: What is your all-time starting five? Must include two legend tier players, two all star caliber players, and one role player.

Doncic and shooters wash Warriors to stay alive

"We're playing pop-a-shot in here!" echoed from Reggie Miller after what seemed like Dallas' one-gazillionth three pointer of the night. They hit 20 threes on 47% shooting, compared to Golden State' 10 threes on 36% shooting, and these numbers were even more lopsided before the last three minutes skewed the stats.

From halfway through the second quarter until four minutes left in the game, the Mavericks had a blowout lead like we have unfortunately become accustomed to in the Conference Finals. Only at the very end did the Warriors bench unit go on a run (shoutout to Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga) but it was too little too late.

For Dallas, Luka had a not-so-efficient 30 points, 14 rebound, 9 assist outburst. But the true champions last night were Dorian Finney-Smith (23 points) and Reggie Bullock (18 points), who splashed in buckets so hard that the ceiling literally started dripping. They combined shot 15-23 from the field and 10-17 from three, and it seemed like every time they caught the ball with space it was automatically three points for the Mavs. Reggie's feat is even more impressive when you consider that he went 0-10 last game! Maybe Reggie Miller worked some Space Jam magic and gave Bullock the extra hot hand. Bravo, Reginald. Both of you.

The Mavs are now an impressive 3-0 in elimination games this playoffs, so anything could happen. [Insert generic Golden State 3-1 joke here]. Also, Draymond did the impossible, but not what you are thinking...

Reggie Bullock wins NBA's Social Justice Award for LGBTQ support

Reggie Bullock becomes the second ever winner of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award, after the inaugural award was presented last year to Carmelo Anthony. The other finalists were Jrue Holiday, Jaren Jackson Jr, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Fred VanVleet.

The NBA describes the award in that it "recognizes a current NBA player for pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically marginalized or systemically disadvantaged."

Bullock won the award for his work to progress LGBTQ equity. After his transgender sister was murdered in 2014, Bullock established RemarkaBULL, which is "a social enterprise providing revitalized spaces, housing and businesses developed based on the needs of the community. The Foundation portion focuses on LGBTQ support and the nonviolence movement."

Specifically this year, Bullock quickly formed relationships with Dallas-based organizations involved in LGBTQ advocacy, including Abounding Prosperity, Dallas Southern Pride, House of Rebirth, Black-Tie Dinner, the Resource Center and the Muhlaysia Booker Foundation.

T-Wolves hire executive Tim Connelly away from Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has signed to become the new head of basketball ops at the Minnesota Timberwolves. It is a lucrative 5-year/$40 million deal which includes ownership equity in the T-Wolves.

Connelly should be seen as one of the top executives in the league, sculpting the mid-market Nuggets to perennial playoff contention in the wake of the Carmelo Anthony trade. Over the past eight years, Connelly supervised the growth of Nikola Jokic, drafted Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr, and surrounded them with solid role players.

He becomes the second consecutive talented executive to leave Denver in favor of a heftier offer elsewhere. Masai Ujiri left Denver for the Toronto Raptors, where he built a championship roster within six years. Let's see if history repeats itself in Minnesota.

Five Questions That Will Decide the Rest of Heat-Celtics - Dan Devine, (The Ringer)

In Hiring Tim Connelly, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore Pass First Big Test - Mike O'Hagan, (Canis Hoopis)

Breanna Stewart Says WNBA Is ‘At A Tipping Point’ Due to ‘Restrictive Hard Cap’ - Zach Koons, (Sports Illustrated)

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

Game 5 is the most important game of the series, right? This 2-2 series has been a rollercoaster of blowouts, but whoever wins tonight will move within one game of the NBA Finals. Because the Celtics blew out the Heat in Game 4 even without shooting the ball well, they seem to be the more stable pick and therefore our selection to go ahead 3-2.

That'll rap up this newsletter! It was a bit on the shorter side, but we're entering the home stretch of NBA hoops! Yikes, we all might have to develop social skills outside of basketball talk this summer... but we'll still be writing you!

And here's your monthly reminder to drag this email into your primary inbox! We're still having some trouble with the newsletter sometimes getting put in the promotions tab so if you want to make sure you don't miss anything we do (including merch) just slide that email to the left.

Now go conquer the day!

- Conor Geelan

Last Trivia Answer: On Monday we asked which active player had the worst playoff field goal percentage (min. 20 games, 20 min/game). The answer? DJ Augustin. He has shot 36.8% from the field across 38 playoff games.

Trivia Question: Now, we'll ask the exact opposite question. What active player has the HIGHEST field goal percentage (Min. 20 games, 20 min/game)?