Enjoyers, we hope the Thanksgiving season was a restful one for you and whoever you chose to spend it with. And as you finish off the last of the leftovers, there’s a heaping helping of NBA basketball coming right up:

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to Kenrich Williams, De’Andre Hunter, and Enjoyers Bassam, Rafael, Aidan, Seth, Ben, Seamus, and Bobby! 🎉

Weekend Wrap-Up

Giannis’ 42-point triple-double propels Bucks past Wizards 124-114

We may have reached the point in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s career where he has become underrated. After two MVP awards, a DPOY, and a Finals MVP, fans have come to expect dominance from the Greek Freak, leaving his consistently efficient 30 PPG to fall by the wayside of media attention. But with performances like Saturday’s, he’s putting the league back on notice.

Giannis absolutely feasted on Saturday against the Wizards, racking up 42 PTS, 12 REB, and 11 AST en route to a double-digit win for Milwaukee, their sixth straight W. Though Washington has the league’s worst record at 2-16, we can’t take performances like this for granted, especially when Giannis is currently leading the league in PPG while shooting over 60% from the field. Only time will tell if the Bucks make noise this season, but no matter what, never forget about the Freak.

Rising Rockets down Thunder 119-116 to tighten West standings

Houston, the league has a problem… the Rockets. On Sunday night, Clutch City beat OKC in a nail-biter to move within one game of the Western Conference’s top seed thanks to 38 PTS from Fred VanVleet (who also shot 13-14 from the free throw line). Couple that with a near-triple-double from Alperen Sengun and 15+ points from Dillon Brooks and Jabari Smith, and Houston was able to defend their home court against the best in the West.

Seeing the resurgences of teams like Houston and OKC over the last few years has been the definition of Enjoy-able. While both teams have made savvy trades and free agent signings, the foundation of their success has come through the draft—the old school way of building a contender. Now, at least for the time being, they’re duking it out at the top of the standings. You love to see it!

Elsewhere around the NBA…

• While Houston and OKC were battling out West, Cleveland and Boston were doing battle in the East. After the Celtics snapped Cleveland’s historic start earlier this season, the Cavs got them back with a 115-111 victory to reclaim the East’s top seed. With Boston missing Jaylen Brown and Derick White, a combined 57 PTS from Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland were enough to earn Cleveland the home victory. Will we see more of this matchup come playoff time? 👀 

• Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how many dawgs there are in the NBA, and performances like RJ Barrett’s on Sunday are a reminder of that. The former #3 overall pick may be playing for a sub-.500 Raptors team, but his 37 points on 75% shooting to lead Toronto past Miami is a reminder why he was once the top high school player in the nation. Go off, RJ!

• The Pistons may not have won a playoff game since 2008, but they have a serious shot to bring the NBA Cup to the Motor City. Detroit is 3-0 in Cup play and have nine wins on the season overall—that’s over half of their total from a season ago.

Record Retrospective

Some say that modern NBA offenses have gotten out of control. We say they’re just catching up. Let’s rewind all the way back to 1983 and take a look at the highest combined scoring game in NBA history.

It was a crisp December night in the Mile High City when the Pistons came to town for a clash with the hometown Nuggets. Detroit, just a few years removed from their back-to-back championships, featured a core of Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer, while Denver was led by a trio of pure bucket-getters: Alex English, Kiki Vandeweghe, and former MVP runner-up Dan Issel. Both teams entered hovering around .500 on the season and looking for a spark.

The game was a track meet from the opening tip, with a 40-point first quarter from the Nuggets giving way to an eventual triple overtime clash. In the end, it was Detroit emerging with a 186-184 lead led by 47 PTS from Thomas and a combined 76 PTS from John Long and Kelly Tripucka. For Denver, Vandeweghe led all scorers with 51 PTS while English and Issel chipped in 47 and 28 apiece. The squads combined to shoot over 56% from the field, and even crazier, they made just two threes in the entire game.

While it may only be a matter of time until this record falls, the 80s have the mark to beat for now. Bad Boys for life!

Three in the Key

Signing Off

And we out! Thanks for spending a portion of your day with us. This week, don’t forget to make time for yourself even in the bustle of a busy schedule. It’s easy to rest up during a break, but finding consistent balance is even more important. See you soon!

-Walker Carnathan