🏀 The First Ever IST Champions...

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In 2023, we don’t get a ton of “firsts” in the NBA anymore. But we got one this weekend, and it was pretty dang cool.

Before we get into it, our Shooting Stars Collection is available now, so go get your gear before it’s all gone!

Come along, friends. Let’s talk hoops.

Today’s Lineup

🏆 Lakers Win In-Season Tourney: AD went ballistic in the Championship.

👀 Finding Their Rhythm: The Clippers are learning how to coexist.

🗣️ EB Roundtable: Who has flown under the radar this year?

Sunday’s Slate

Dominant Davis Leads Lakers to IST Trophy

Is there a scarier sight in the whole league for an opposing team than a fully healthy, locked in Anthony Davis? We’ll wait.

41 points. 20 rebounds. 5 assists. 4 blocks. Two “I’m him’s.” One In-Season Tournament Championship.

And while AD stole the show on Saturday night, the King still preserved his crown with In-Season Tournament MVP. LeBron James will never leave the NBA. He is forever. He is inevitable.

Congratulations to the LA Lakers on being the first-ever In-Season Tournament champions!

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Clippers on the Come Up

The James Harden era in LA started with a thud. Since then, the smoothing process is actually going really well (8-3 in their last 11), and that’s thanks in large part to…defense? Yes, it’s true.

LAC has the second-best defensive rating in the entire league over the last 11 games—they’ve held six of the eleven opponents on this run to 103 points or fewer. While Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have always been extremely high-level individual defenders, the Clips D with them has never truly been elite. Now, however, it sure looks like it.

Friday Fun

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams could teach a class on ethical buckets. 33 combined points in the second half on Friday in a win against Golden State, 0 made combined threes. Those young men in Oklahoma are hooping.

• You know who else is (quietly) hooping? The Brooklyn Nets. A win on Friday makes them 12-9, they’ve won six of their last seven, and possess the ninth-best net rating in the league. Mikal Bridges really is the star he appeared to be after the trade last season. Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Johnson, and Lonnie Walker IV are all averaging the EXACT same amount of points per game (14.6), and Cam Thomas is still a pure bucket. Balance.

Daily Trivia

EB Roundtable

We’re roundtable-ing once again, this time on the topic of underappreciated hoopers:

Who do you think deserves more love?

Rookies don’t usually contribute on good teams, but Lively II has already become a major cog in the middle for Dallas. He’s efficient when called upon offensively (73.5% FG) and provides the rim protection Dallas has needed for a while (1.6 blocks).

M-Rob is a problem. His defensive versatility shined in last year’s playoffs, and his impact has carried into this season too. He anchors the league’s ninth-best defense with 2.8 stocks per game, and he’s not afraid to get physical. The perfect Knicks center.

“NAW” as they call him on the Minnesota broadcast, isn’t the most famous player on the Timberwolves, but he’s as important defensively as any of his teammates not named Rudy Gobert. With both a block rate and a steal rate over 1.5%, Alexander-Walker uses his 6’9 wingspan to defend whatever position he’s assigned to. Minnesota has endless weapons on the defensive end.

Three in the Key

• Rudy Gobert is hitting 17-footers, the Wolves are never losing again.

• Mental note: don’t jump with AJ Lawson in the future…mercy!

• We must give Cam Reddish flowers for his performance last night.

What We’re Enjoying

Godzilla: Minus One: Many Godzilla movies of the past have focused primarily on the big monster, which makes sense considering the movies are called…Godzilla. And while Godzilla: Minus One has plenty of incredible monster scenes, it also tells a moving human story, too. Zilla-heads will love it. Casual fans will love it. Never seen a Godzilla movie? This is a great one to start with.

Signing Off

Before we depart, we want to send condolences to the family of the Kings fan who passed away during a game last week. A super scary and tragic situation overall, and our thoughts are with them and everyone who knew him. 💙 Talk soon.

Before you go…