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Welcome back, Enjoyers! All-Star Weekend is done and it’s time to get back to our regularly scheduled hoops progr—wait… what do you mean there aren’t any games until Thursday? Well, since we’re here anyway, we might as well get prepared for the rest of the season. Let’s get started. 👇

Today’s Lineup

New Team, Same Stadium 🏟️: Westbrook stays in LA, but how will he impact the Clippers?

Must-See TV 📺: Three games you MUST watch down the home stretch.

The Numbers Game 📈: These stats could define the rest of the NBA season…

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Must-Watch Matchups

There’s still plenty of high-quality hoops left to go around this season, but in case you only have time to watch the best of the best, here are three top-tier games you shouldn’t miss under ANY circumstances.

KD and Kyrie go to war: March 5th

If you had said that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving would be facing off this season and that neither of them would be on the Nets, I don’t think we’d believe you. And yet here we are!

Kyrie asked out, KD followed suit, and now the two are headlining a battle between two Western Conference heavyweights. Not to mention Luka, DBook, CP3, and Ayton—this game will have more star power than Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Make sure to tune in!

Jokic vs. Embiid Round Two: March 27th

The source of endless Twitter feuds and Reddit comment wars, the third-straight Joel Embiid/Nikola Jokic MVP debate is going strong, with no signs of slowing down. Embiid struck first this season, with a dominant 47 point, 18 rebound performance to lead the Sixers against the Joker earlier this year. And their rematch in Denver is sure to feature similar fireworks.

Could another Herculean effort over his rival power Embiid to his first MVP award? Could Jokic become the first player since Larry Bird to win three straight? Only time will tell.

Giannis and Tatum vie for Eastern Conference supremacy: March 30th

With just nine days to go before the end of the regular season, the Bucks and Celtics will square off in a game that could very well decide who wears the Eastern Conference crown. Winners of 11 straight, including an OT win over Boston just last week, Milwaukee is within a half game of Jayson Tatum and Co., who lead the East with a 42-17 record. Let’s hope we get another all-timer like this instant classic from last year's playoffs.

Numbers to Remember

114.4

In modern times defined by off-the-wall scoring, this season has done more than take things up a notch; it’s cranked the dial to the max and snapped it right off. This year’s league-wide offensive rating of 114.4 is more than two points higher than any other season in NBA history. To put it in perspective, that’s the same difference between 2001-02, the height of the hand check era, and 2015-16, the middle of the three-point revolution. 🤯

70.3

Speaking of crazy offense, Nikola Jokic is on pace to put up the most efficient high-volume season in NBA HISTORY. His 70.3 true shooting percentage would be the 4th all-time highest by any player regardless of output, and is nearly three percentage points higher than the next most efficient 20+ PPG season, which was Steph Curry’s 2017-18 campaign (we think his floaters definitely have something to do with it 🤑).

3

The number of games separating the fifth seed and the twelfth seed in the Western Conference. The bottom half of the playoff bracket out West is still anybody's game. With parity we haven’t seen in decades and stars like Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, and Damian Lillard leading the charge, the West is looking more and more like a playoff race for the ages.

Latest Basketball News

Westbrook and Pat Bev find new homes in buyout market

From mortal enemies to teammates to midseason buyout candidates, Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley have certainly made their way around the block over the past year.

Pat Bev will be packing his bags and heading to… *drumroll please* the Windy City! The Bulls are in desperate need of more ball handling, and Beverley fits right in with the gritty defensive identity that Billy Donovan has orchestrated in Chi-Town.

But it’s Westbrook’s move that remains the more interesting and divisive of the two. The former MVP captured the attention of many during his season and a half stint with the Lakers—namely due to his failure to mesh with LeBron James and Anthony Davis—and now he’ll get a fresh start without even having to pack his bags. Unlike their LA counterparts, the Clippers have plenty of shooters on the roster, and Westbrook’s ability to find the open man and run in transition could help what has been a stagnant offense at times.

Nate McMillan out as Hawks Head Coach

Just two seasons removed from leading the Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals, Nate McMillan is no longer their head coach. Reported clashes with Trae Young, a disappointing first round exit in last year’s playoffs, and an inability to fix the Hawks’ consistent defensive woes all led to his eventual dismissal. It’s still early days, but former Jazz coach Quin Snyder, Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, and Bucks assistant Charles Lee have all been reported among the leading candidates to replace McMillan.

But hey, Hawks fans, at least you can remember the good times.

Jacque Vaughn gets the long-term bag in Brooklyn

On a more positive head-coaching note, congrats to Jacque Vaughn for getting PAID! Despite Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving heading for greener pastures, the Nets are sticking by their head coach who, by the way, has the fifth-best record in basketball since taking over from Steve Nash earlier this season. With talented hoopers like Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Nic Claxton still in town, Vaughn can get to work fostering a new identity for Brooklyn basketball.

Frozen Moments

• This hilarious interaction between Dame and LeBron at the All-Star Game

• Victor Wembanyama showing off handles that should be illegal for a 7’5” (!!) player to have

• Dwight Howard was among 12 players ejected in massive bench clearing brawl in Taiwan

Good Reads

Inside Victor Wembanyama’s Plan to Dominate the NBA Like Never Before - Jeremy Woo (Sports Illustrated)

Why Russell Westbrook might have finally found the right team with the Clippers - Lachard Binkley (SB Nation)

As the NBA gets more and more skilled, ‘Tall Ball’ continues to (re)-take hold - David Aldridge (The Athletic)

What We’re Enjoying

The Last of Us: If you aren’t on the Last of Us train by now, what are you doing? Even if episode three might be the saddest thing we’ve ever watched, the show is an incredible video game adaptation and a unique take on a post-apocalyptic world.

Signing Off

That’s all from us today! Take this last day without hoops to reset, recalibrate, and get ready to Enjoy the beautiful game of basketball tomorrow.

Until next time,

-Spencer Poole

Trivia Answer: The answer is today’s trivia is Luka Doncic! The Slovenian phenom might have one of the nastiest stepbacks in the league, but he hasn’t even buried more than eight threes in a game.