It’s been almost one year since the Lakers paired LeBron James with Luka Dončić.

Last night was just another example of why you make that move 10 out of 10 times.

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday Jordan Bell, Jarnell Stokes, and Marquis Daniels! 🎉

Game Recaps

Lakers walk down Pelicans down the stretch, win 111-103

Tuesday night’s game was one of those nights where it hits you that Luka Dončić and LeBron James play for the same team and you wonder how that’s even possible.

Luka (28 PTS, 10 AST) and LeBron (30 PTS, 8 REB, 8 AST) were clicking on all cylinders in the win. With the game hanging in the balance with less than five minutes to go, Luka turned on his clutch gear and started hitting ridiculous three pointers after the Pels played 24 seconds of great defense.

I mean, what can you even do here: 😅

The Lakers also got solid production from DeAndre Ayton (18 PTS, 11 REB) and Marcus Smart (13 PTS, 3/7 3PT), who have now won eight consecutive games against the Pelicans.

On the Pels side, Trey Murphy dropped an insane 42 points, but it wasn’t enough to secure the win. With last night being the team’s seventh straight loss, any chance of New Orleans making a push for the play-in is quickly fading….fast.

Hornets buzz into OKC, stun Thunder in 124-97 win

Perhaps the biggest shocker of the entire season went down in Oklahoma City on Monday night. Going into the matchup, OKC had yet to lose to an Eastern Conference opponent all season…. until Brandon Miller and the Charlotte Hornets happened. 🔥

Miller (28 PTS, 19 in first half) and Kon Knueppel (23 PTS) walked into Paycom center like they owned the entire building, lighting up the defending champs from all over the court. A dominant 34-17 second quarter was all Charlotte needed to carry themselves to victory, eventually pushing the lead to as many as 28 points by the end of three.

Sometimes, when it’s your night, it’s just your night:

As for the Thunder, Monday’s loss brought on a string of ‘firsts.’ It was the first time they failed to score 100 points in a game this season, and their first time losing back-to-back games. 😱

After starting the season 24-1, OKC is just 6-6 over their last 12 games. It’s possible the grind of a long 82 game season may be setting in for the defending champs…

Elsewhere around the NBA:

• Don’t look now, but the Wizards have won five of their last seven games. They managed to carve out a 120-112 win over the Magic on Tuesday night to keep the good vibes rolling. CJ McCollum continues the tear he’s been on during this winning stretch, putting up a smooth 27 points on 11/19 shooting in the win. The Wiz are playing their best ball of the season right now, and, based on recent reports….Trae Young could be on the way soon. 👀

• The Cavs got a small taste of revenge against the squad that knocked them out of the playoffs last season on Tuesday night in their 120-116 win over the Pacers. With Donovan Mitchell out in this one, Darius Garland (29 PTS, 6 AST, 0 TOs) played a near flawless game in Mitchell’s absence, including a clutch bucket in the final minutes that sealed Indy’s fate. For the Pacers, they’ve now dropped an unlucky 13 consecutive games, and remain at the bottom of the barrel in the eastern conference.

• For most teams, if their entire starting lineup is sitting out, they’ll likely just throw in the towel. The Denver Nuggets are not like most teams. The Nuggs went into Philly and picked up their most gutsy win of the season, 125-124 in OT over the Sixers, with a number of guys stepping up…big time. Jalen Pickett (29 PTS, 7/11 3PT) was lights out from beyond the arc in his career high night, while Zeke Nnaji (21 PTS) followed suit with a career night of his own. A late bucket by Bruce Brown (19 PTS) was ruled a goaltend, and Denver squeaked by with the huge one point win.

• It’s always fun playing against your former team….it’s even more fun hitting a game winner against them. That’s exactly what Kevin Durant did in the Rockets’ 100-97 victory over the Suns on Monday night. Durant (26 PTS, 10 REB) was able to lead Houston to the dub, who were once again without Alperen Sengun. As for the Suns, after Devin Booker (27 PTS) nailed a game winner against OKC one night prior, Phoenix unfortunately was on the other side of the coin this time around.

Wayback Wednesday

On this week’s edition of Wayback Wednesday, we’re taking a look back at the career of an absolute BUCKET- give it up for Joe Johnson! 🙌

If you were to look up ‘Professional Scorer’ in the dictionary, you’ll simply see a picture of Joe Johnson. His game revolved around his elite scoring ability, and he quickly became one of the most polished bucket-getters in the league. After breaking out in his early 20s as a member of the “six seconds or less” Phoenix Suns, he signed with the Hawks in the 2005 offseason. From there, he elevated his game even further…

While down in ATL, Johnson turned his game up a notch….or five. The absolute peak of his career came during his time there, making six All-Star teams in a row from 2006-2012, including his 2006-07 season where he averaged 25.1 points on 47% shooting from the field, and 38% from downtown.

He led the Hawks to playoffs year after year, including a near-upset of the eventual champion Celtics in the first round in ‘08. Needless to say, he put the Hawks back on the map. 🔥

It wasn’t just his scoring that was silky smooth, he had a set of extremely underrated handles. Check out his ridiculously tight handle on this INSANE ankle breaker on Hall of Famer Paul Pierce:

Johnson has always been clutch, but it’s almost as if the older he got, the more clutch he became. In his next stops in Brooklyn, Miami, and Utah, Iso Joe was routinely knocking down tough game winners, both in the regular season and the playoffs. Over the course of career, he nailed eight game winning shots at the buzzer, and six of those shots are from the second half of his career. Safe to say, his game aged gracefully!

Joe Johnson called it a career after playing one game in the Covid-riddled 2021-22 season with the team that drafted him, the Celtics. Though he didn’t rack up a ton of accolades throughout his career, his game speaks for itself. One of the coldest hoopers of his era, Iso Joe got a LOT of buckets in his time in the association. 🌟

Three in the Key

We all have our strengths, and we all have our weaknesses…

In the latest Numbers on the Board pod, Kenny, Pierre, Darrick, and Mike share each current Playoff team’s biggest weakness as we get closer to the trade deadline!

Give it a listen: ⬇️

Signing Off

That’s all for today, Enjoyers! We appreciate you taking some time out of your day with us. The first week after the holiday season can feel like a real grind, so make sure you find some time this week to rest and recharge. 🙏

We’ll see you on Friday!

Bobby Kasmire