What’s the word, Enjoyers? Time to get your neurons firing with an early morning hoops poll. We’re not even sure what we’d pick here…

Today’s Lineup

Last Night’s Action

Josh Hart eats boards for breakfast, Knicks clamp and destroy Sixers 106-79

Two things here:

1. The Knicks’ defensive run over the last three games needs to be talked about more. No Mitchell Robinson, no OG Anunoby for the first two matchups, but they still casually became the first team in 12 years to allow less than 80 points in three straight games.

2. Josh Hart is a MACHINE. The Villanova grad dominated the glass, attacked the basket with impunity, and consistently found the open man in arguably the best all-around performance of his career. The standing O from the MSG faithful was well-earned. Now if only Coach Thibs would give him a break… 😂

Ant-Man’s 37 powers T-Wolves’ 118-100 comeback W over Clippers

The second Kawhi Leonard left the game with back issues last night, Anthony Edwards was brutally honest about what he saw on offense:

“Just a whole bunch of mismatches”.

To be fair, he played like it. Ant-Man tore LA’s defense to shreds in the third and simply never looked back, helping turn what was once a 22-point Clipper lead into a more-than-comfortable blowout for Minny.

And how about this lockdown D on Paul George? That’s a superstar player making superstar plays right there:

🏀 🏀 🏀

Around the NBA

• Basketball world, meet Trey Jemison. The young center out of UAB was the unexpected star of the night in the Grizzlies’ (23-43) 109-97 dub over the Wizards (11-54), dropping a career-high 24 in his 14th-ever NBA game. We’re an automatic fan of anyone who has a hook shot in their bag.

• The Rockets (30-35) started the game with a throwback to their small-ball era, but it ironically ended up being 6’11” Jock Landale who saved the day against the Spurs (14-52). The Aussie big man came up clutch in the 4th with multiple big buckets and a block on Wemby to secure a close 103-101 W.

• The Pacers (37-29) have been a little up-and-down since the Pascal Siakam trade, but there’s nothing like a little win on the road against one of the best teams in the league to kickstart a hot streak. The Thunder (45-20) had no answers for Myles Turner, while Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith deserve a ton of credit for keeping SGA relatively quiet.

• If Javale McGee hit a three in garbage time and everyone had already turned off the game, did it really even happen? Thanks to the power of Twitter, the answer is yes! The Kings (37-27) took advantage of a woeful shooting night from every Buck not named Giannis to put together one of their strongest wins this year.

• No Jaylen Brown, no Kristaps Porzingis, no problem for the Celtics (51-14) in their 121-107 win over the Jazz (28-37). Jayson Tatum led the way with 38, including this authoritative jam on a break.

See all of last night’s box scores HERE.

Monday Night Notes

• Just when you thought Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets were gonna have an off-night, they turned on the jets… and then some. The Big Honey finished with a ridiculous 35-17-12 and 6 steals to overcome a 22-point Toronto lead.

• This one snuck up on us, but it’s time to get on record watch, people! After going 9-9 from the field in a W against the Bulls on Monday, Daniel Gafford has made 28 (!!) straight shots, just seven shy of Wilt’s all-time record. This is what getting lobs from Luka does to a man!

• Wemby is starting to learn the harsh truths of NBA life. One day you’re dropping a 5×5 and looking like prime Hakeem, the next you’re getting posterized by Trayce Jackson-Davis. Shout-out to the point god Chris Paul, who had 19-9-8 to lead Golden State to a W.

• This sick James Wiseman move summed up the Pistons’ blowout of the Hornets last night. Everyone knows they haven’t brought it every night, but we’re starting to see the vision in the Motor City.

• And finally, we’re realizing that 35-year-old KD is starting to make a habit of scoring (at least) his age. He dropped 37 in a win over the Cavs, making it the first time in his career he’s scored 35+ in four straight games. And his clamps look better than ever…

Let’s talk about the Beam Team! The Sacramento Kings might not be shattering offensive efficiency records like last year, but they’re still cruising well above .500 in a loaded Western Conference. The Kings have an explosive offense that’s third in the league in 130-point games, and it’s all because of one play...

It’s not a “weird trick”, but we do need to talk about how nice the Kings’ dribble handoff game is. HC Mike Brown’s off-ball expertise thanks to years in the Warriors system, combined with Domantas Sabonis’ physical playmaking acumen, means the Kings can use these high post handoffs to get open looks practically at will when their All-Star center is on the court.

Sactown’s 11.7 PPG off handoffs is more than twice the league average, and the duo of Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray are #1 and #2 league-wide in handoff points. It’s no wonder that Domas has a top-ten offensive rating when he can run this play all day—he’s a whole four points clear of his next-highest teammate.

So next time the Kings are slicing up your favorite team, watch out for that dribble handoff. They’re probably cooking you with it.

Three in the Key

Signing Off

Thanks for reading, y’all! Let’s leave things today with some wise words from our main man Giannis.

Stay humble and enjoy life,

-Spencer Poole