🏀 Hometown Harden is Back!

Spooky season is over, people! It’s time to get serious again. NBA hoops are no laughing matter—just ask Kawhi.

We’ve got a lot to get through today, including some great game highlights, a blockbuster trade, and the debut of a new segment. Let’s dive right in!

Today’s Lineup

They’ve Arrived🚪: San Antonio gets their first statement win of the Wemby era.

Hometown Harden☀️: The Beard is back where it all began…

Beyond the Box Score 🔢: Exploring the NBA’s most under-appreciated skill!

But first, a little trivia:

Last Night’s Action

Spurs stun Suns in legendary 115-114 comeback

Don’t lie—99% of you thought this was game was over at halftime. Eric Gordon was burying threes left and right, the Suns’ defense was great, and Kevin Durant taught Wemby the importance of never meeting your heroes… because they’re bound to drop a 15-foot fadeaway right in your face.

But give all the props in the world to the Spurs (2-2), as they clawed all their way back from a HUGE deficit. Devin Vassell was making moves worth every dollar of that $146 million contract, Victor Wembanyama turned his slow start around (while also adding a poster to his wall), and Keldon Johnson provided the unreal game-sealing steal and finish:

Stifling defense helps Knicks blow by Cavs 109-91

Without Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen, this was always going to be a tough one for Cleveland (1-3). At least we got to see some Emoni Bates buckets! As for New York (2-2), they simply decided that the Cavs weren’t allowed to score in the third quarter. Combine that with a well-balanced scoring attack led by four players with 15+ points, and you have the recipe for a stress-free victory.

Clippers beat Magic 118-112 thanks to monster third quarter

This was a really good game for about 30 minutes, but then the Clippers dropped 20 points in 4 minutes. Yeah. Paul George and Russell Westbrook simply decided they were done missing shots. It’s a bummer this wasn’t a close one, because outside of that stretch the Magic were arguably the better team…

Monday Night Notes 📒

Monday night’s slate left us with a lot of blowouts, but whenever you have 11 games going on there will always be something to talk about. Let’s go through some key moments:

• Dejounte Murray quite simply cooked. He dropped 41, 7, and 5 in the Hawks’ 14-point win over Minnesota.

• The Blazers grabbed their first win of the year, an eight-point victory over the Raptors, thanks to 23 boards from Deandre “DominAyton” Ayton. This Jabari Walker block wasn’t too bad either…

• The Mavericks are up to 3-0 after an impressive 125-110 dub on the road in Memphis. Luka Doncic was his usual spectacular self, with a casual 30-point triple-double including this step back from the other side of the Mississippi:

• Steph Curry was creating space out of thin air during the Warriors’ 28-point demolition of the Pelicans. He finished with 42 to continue his absolutely scorching start to the season.

• The Joker tied LeBron James with 107 career triple-doubles in a 110-102 win over the Jazz. Jokic and LeBron are now tied for fourth all-time, behind Russell Westbrook, Oscar Robertson, and Magic Johnson.

• Speaking of LeBron: in the game of the night, the Lakers managed to fight off the Magic at home thanks in part to this cold-blooded late three. It just hits different when the net barely moves:

James Harden ➡️ Los Angeles

Well folks, it finally happened. James Harden is a Los Angeles Clipper, and it only took several months of highly public workplace drama to make it happen!

The Details

Clippers get: James Harden, P.J. Tucker, Filip Petrusev

Sixers get: Robert Covington, Nic Batum, Marcus Morris, KJ Martin, 2028 unprotected first-round pick (via Clippers), 2026 protected first-round pick (via Thunder), first-round pick swap (via Clippers), two second-round picks (via Clippers)

Thunder get: 2027 unprotected first-round pick swap (via Clippers)

The Motivation

Why the Clippers said yes: Los Angeles already mortgaged most of their future to bring in Paul George a few seasons ago, but now they’ve officially gone all in. PG13, The Klaw, and The Beard are a trio with championship potential when healthy, and the Clippers’ bench remains fairly strong, especially with P.J. Tucker in the mix. Plus, we’re getting the return of this elite duo! Third time’s the charm… right?

Why the Sixers said yes: All things considered, this could have gone a lot worse for Philly. The 76ers restocked on draft capital, landed some quality role players (including a Robert Covington reunion), and freed up a massive amount of money for the 2024 offseason. Not terrible considering all of their offseason chaos!

Why the Thunder said yes: Not much to see here, just another classic Sam Presti move. Taking advantage of a desperate team to get a high-value pick swap in exchange for a heavily-protected first? That’s a good deal with high potential to pay off.

Beyond the Box Score 🔢

The time is upon us—our new segment is here! We’ll be diving beyond the box score a couple times a month with y’all to explore how players can impact the game outside of points, rebounds, and assists.

Riddle us this: is there a more underrated skill in basketball than setting screens? Yeah, we don’t think so either. It’s the foundation of the pick-and-roll, one of the most reliable ways to generate space, and the ultimate tool to create mismatches. Yet we barely seem to celebrate the best of the best screen-setters!

So this week, we’ll be taking a look at an underrated catalyst behind one of the NBA’s best offenses—Kevon Looney, the screen god.

Loon is really, really, really good at setting picks. It’s well known that the Warriors’ legendary offense relies heavily on both on- and off-ball screens, and Looney is an expert at both. Through four games this season, the nine-year NBA veteran is leading the league in screen assists per game (8.3) and screen assists points per game (17), all while only playing 26 minutes a night. That’s over 20 points generated by screens per 36 minutes!

In fact, the Warriors’ first bucket of the season was a perfect example of what we’re talking about. Look at how crisp this screen is on Josh Okogie, giving Stephen Curry the perfect mismatch against Jusuf Nurkic.

So next time you tune in to a Warriors game, keep an eye on #5 and all the open looks he creates. You’ll never be able to un-see it. 👀

Frozen Moments

• Giannis can’t decide whether to stay in character for Halloween. 😂

• Norman Powell got some major ‘LeBronto’ flashbacks… 👑

• Slender Man-banyama arrives on the scene!🕴🏾

What We’re Enjoying

In-Season Tournament Courts: You get a court! You get a court! Everybody gets a court! The NBA recently released each team’s special In-Season Tournament courts, and they’ve been causing quite a stir on social media. We love how bright and unique each of them are—let us know what you think!

Signing Off

That’s our cue! Our goal for you this week is to support some of the under-appreciated players on your favorite team. Send them a positive message on social media, or make a post highlighting their play. It might just make their day.

Until next time,

-Spencer Poole

Trivia Answer: The answer to today’s trivia is Clint Capela! He swatted 10 shots against the Minnesota Timberwolves back in 2021.

Before you go…

Happy birthday to Enjoyers Kaleb and Ean! We appreciate all the support and hope you have a wonderful day full of buckets from your favorite team. If you want to get your own shoutout in the newsletter, take a sec and fill out our survey below. 🙂