Enjoy Basketball: Wiggins Works Wonders, Warriors Win Game 5

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And just like that, the Golden State Warriors are once again one win away from a NBA Championship! Are we stuck in a time loop?

If Dr. Strange is a basketball fan, he has time loop'd the hell out of the Sacrament Kings. And LeBron James. Anyways, let's review what went down in Game 5, watch NBA players get roasted straight to their face, and determine if college hoopers actually learn anything at college. But first...

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Wiggins wows in Game 5 victory over Celtics

If we told you Steph Curry would score just 16 points on 7-22 from the field and 0-9 from three, while Jayson Tatum scored 27 points on 10-20 shooting, which team would you think had won?

Going into this game, we hosted a Twitter Spaces and asked Enjoy Basketball followers the keys to victory for each team. We all agreed that the Warriors were one Steph choke job away from a loss, while the Celtics were one good Jayson Tatum game away from a victory. Both of those conditions happened, and yet the Warriors somehow walked away with a 10-point win.

How? Andrew Wiggins. All series Maple Mamba has played stellar defense on Jayson Tatum. While this did not dissipate, the offense dominated the narrative of this game. Because the Celtics were face-guarding a cold Curry at half court, the responsibility of shot creation fell to Wiggins all game, and he did not disappoint. While Wigs usually gets some of his buckets from catch and shoot threes, he only scored by slashing to the rim and hitting pull-up mid-rangers. Of course its ridiculous to say, but he genuinely gave Kobe energy on a few possessions. And all because 2012 Tatum cursed Wigs.

Besides Tatum, the rest of the Celtics and Warriors got their three-point shooting abilities taken Space Jam style. The Warriors shot just 22.5% from three and Steph shot an ugly 0-9. His performance snapped his 232-game streak of having made at least 1 three-pointer in each game - a NBA record by a mile. While the Celtics technically shot 34% from three, that number is skewed for garbage time. In reality, it was brick city by both squads for 45 minutes.

Another disparity was free throws. People have claimed that the referees are generally favoring the Warriors in this series. Candidly, we think they have somewhat of a point. But, the Celtics still attempted 31 free throws tonight compared to Golden State's 15. The problem? Boston left an extra 10 points on the table by only shooting 68% from the line compared to the Warriors' 87%.

The progression of the Warriors' non-stars in this series has been interesting. Jordan Poole seems to be unable to score unless its a mismatch or a prayerful three-pointer, and played the 8th most minutes last night. Meanwhile, Gary Payton II played more and scored an efficient 15 points. Unrelated: Draymond Green fouled out for the third time in five games. To be honest, that's impressive.

They say Game 5 is the most important game of the series? Frankly, we agree. With Monday's win, Golden State put themselves in a great position to raise the Larry O'Brien trophy yet again. Please don't even start with the Wiggins for Finals MVP narrative...

Montrezl Harrell facing felony drug charges for marijuana in Kentucky

Charlotte Hornets big man Montrezl Harrell is facing felony drug charges after being pulled over in Kentucky on May 12th and being found with three pounds of marijuana in sealed bags. This is a Class-D felony for first time offenders in Kentucky and typically incurs a fine between $1,000-$10,000 and is punishable from 1-5 years of imprisonment. The former Sixth-Man of the Year is an unrestricted free agent, and this will undoubtedly affect his contract search if he does escape serious punishment.

Nuggets trade JaMychal Green to OKC for first-round draft pick

The Denver Nuggets traded veteran forward JaMychal Green and a protected 2027 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the 30th pick in this year's draft, a 2023 second-round pick, and a 2024 second-rounder. While this is not a blockbuster, both teams make a move around the edges to set themselves up for greater success and flexibility later.

Because Green is likely to opt into his $8.2 million contract for next season, Denver looked to unload his contract. In doing so, they save $20 million in salary and luxury tax and thus have access to the $6.4 million midlevel exception. It's also notably Calvin Booth's first move as Nuggets' head of basketball operations after the recent departure of Tim Connelly for Minnesota.

On the other hand, OKC receives a veteran that they could potentially flip into more draft capital. Though they gave up a first-rounder for this year, they already have three other first-round picks and probably would not want to bring in 4 rookies because there wouldn't be enough playing time to go around.

Not to brag, but I've been right about Games Two, Three, Four, and Five thus far so maybe the streak will live on another day. Celtics will pull one out tomorrow in Boston to stay alive. Though Curry won't disappear as dramatically as in Game 5 again, the home crowd of TD Garden will play a big factor in helping the Celtics shooters and hurting those of the Warriors. Because both sides collectively shot so terribly from three-point range in Game 5, one side out-performing the other could be the difference over these 48 minutes. Plus, Tatum finally found his rhythm so maybe that becomes a trend. Boston takes Game 6 (but Warriors in 7!).

Today, we decided to spare you with the "good reads" in favor of some video entertainment. The first two videos are from this week's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! The first one is apart of a great series: NBA players reading mean tweets.

The second one sees Khris Middleton and Deandre Jordan of Texas A&M go up against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Malik Monk of Kentucky in a general knowledge contest.

Finally, Enjoy Basketball founder Kenny Beecham gives us his analysis of last nights game in case this doesn't suffice.

What if tomorrow is our last NBA Game for three months?!?! Should we all root for the Celtics tonight for more basketball? Regardless, us here at Enjoy Basketball have so thoroughly enjoyed this season around the NBA. Isn't it fitting we're getting a Finals series filled with superstars, drama, and competition?

- Conor Geelan

Last Trivia Answer: Minimum 17 attempts, the worst midrange shooter this season was Keon Johnson. The Portland Trailblazers rookie shooting guard shot 2-32 from mid-range, an astounding 6.3%. Yikes.

Trivia Question: Name these two players. Both are former all-star power forwards, but outside their primes. Both made the play-in tournament this year. Both are 33 years old. And shockingly, both led the NBA in charges this year. Who are they?