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If home-court advantage exists, just imagine how powerful home-country advantage could be…

Today’s Lineup

🎉 Happy birthday to Mark Eaton, Naji Marshall, and Enjoyers Michael, Cole, Sebastian, Jeremiah, and Mitch! 🎉

Game Recaps

Wemby’s 30-10-5-5 game leads Spurs over Pacers 140-110 in Paris

This was a different kind of home game for the Spurs. Well, not for the Spurs—for Wemby.

In the first of two NBA Paris games (Indy and San Antonio will play at Paris’ Accor Arena again on Saturday), Victor Wembanyama (30 PTS, 11 REB, 6 AST, 5 BLK) helped the Spurs demolish the Pacers, who were led by Benedict Mathurin (24 PTS), in Wemby’s home country. San Antonio was only up six at the break, but a 70-point second half fueled what turned out to be a blowout effort on the offensive end by the final buzzer.

Shai drops career-high 54, Thunder down Jazz 123-114

With 23 PTS at the half and the game essentially tied, SGA knew he could win this one for OKC. We all just didn’t know he was gonna do it with this much style.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (54 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST, 3 STL, 2 BLK) had the epitome of an MVP moment on Wednesday against Utah, as he sliced and diced the Jazz and led the Thunder to a comfortable win after a back-and-fourth couple of quarters. Collin Sexton (18 PTS, 9 AST) hit a shot or two in the fourth quarter that gave Utah fans the slightest bit of hope for a comeback, but in the end, the Thunder got the job done with a little help from Jalen Williams (25 PTS) in the 4Q.

Elsewhere around the NBA…

• The Bucks are winners of five straight after a near-triple-double from Damian Lillard (29 PTS, 11 AST, 9 REB) and some normal Giannis stuff (25 PTS, 12 REB, 3 BLK) led Milwaukee over Miami 125-96.

• Two missed Darius Garland (26 PTS, 5 AST) free throws with just seconds left in regulation helped Fred VanVleet (26 PTS, 5 AST, 7 3PM) and the Rockets stave off the Cavs and escape with a 109-108 win.

• Dallas handed OKC a rare loss last night, as Spencer Dinwiddie (28 PTS) stepped up to lead the Mavs past the Thunder 121-115. SGA (31 PTS, 7 AST) and J-Dub (33 PTS, 7 AST, 4 STL) still got theirs, though.

• The Pistons are reaching new heights (being two games over .500), and we’re here for it. Detroit took down Atlanta 114-104 on Wednesday thanks to a productive yet turnover-laden night from Cade Cunningham (29 PTS, 11 AST, 10 TOV).

• After trailing for much of the first half against Dallas on Wednesday, the Timberwolves took the lead in the third quarter and didn’t look back—even despite a late Mavs comeback attempt. Jaden McDaniels (career-high 27 PTS) led Minny in scoring in their 115-114 W.

• Mark Williams (38 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST) had a career night, but Memphis’ bench—especially Luke Kennard (28 PTS)—got hot at just the right time and powered the Grizzlies over Charlotte 132-120.

• And finally—35 points. 22 rebounds. 17 assists. Nikola Jokic must have heard everyone handing the MVP to Shai this week, because he showed out in Denver’s 132-123 win over Sacramento last night. And, he did this: ⬇️

All-Star Starters REVEALED!

The time is here, Enjoyers! The NBA announced each conference’s All-Star starters last night, and even with the new four-team format set to shake things up, getting to recognize the best lineup from each conference is still dope. Here we go!

Eastern Conference: Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Karl-Anthony Towns

Western Conference: Steph Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic

But that’s not all! We have a question, Enjoyers. Go ahead and reply to this post with your deepest pulls:

Top Five Friday

In case you didn’t know, the NBA has an absolute barnburner of a day planned for hoops fans on Saturday. Here are the top five matchups we’re looking forward to tomorrow: ⬇️

1. Celtics @ Mavs, 5:30pm ET - Finals rematch

Boston vs. Dallas. Jayson Tatum’s crew coming into town to face Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson. Luka will be watching from the sidelines due to his calf injury (although he reportedly wants to be back before the All-Star break), but this game is still certain to be a good one.

2. Lakers @ Warriors, 8:30pm ET - Steph vs. LeBron

When is it not great to see two legends of their time duke it out? As the Lakers jockey for position in the playoff picture, the Warriors are sitting on the outside looking in and might have hard decisions to make at the deadline.

3. Nuggets @ Wolves, 3:00pm ET - Western Conf. Semis rematch

In a redo of one of the best pre-Finals playoff series from last year’s bracket, Anthony Edwards and Co. will be facing off against the all-powerful Joker. Will the Nuggets exact revenge on Minnesota for ending their season early back in May?

4. Rockets @ Cavs, 7:30pm ET - Surprise 2024-25 contenders

We’ve been LOVING watching the Cavs ascend from playoff team to super-contender and the Rockets going from play-in team to solidly dangerous playoff squad. The only thing that could top those two? Make them go up against each other! Jalen Green vs. Donovan Mitchell should be electric.

5. Pistons @ Magic, 7:00pm ET - Battle of No. 1 picks

How about this! Detroit and Orlando find themselves in similar situations so far this year after both grabbing their franchise superstars with the first overall pick in successive drafts. Cade Cunningham has been on a HEATER recently, but don’t count out the magic of P5:

Three in the Key

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Signing Off

And we’re out! Thanks for sticking with us this week, Enjoyers. Whether you’re planning on going out with friends, spending time with family, or staying in and watching hoops, we hope your next few days are Enjoy-able. See you Monday! ✌️

Austin Zeglis