Nuggets atop the West?

Hey Enjoyers! Right now, we have Landry Shamet scoring 30-balls and the Knicks winning eight straight, so if you need some confidence, just remember that anything is possible!

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West is Weird 🧐 There is a new King in the West ... sort of

Wiz Kids 🧙‍♂️ The Wizards' Beal and Kuzma dismantled a disheveled Suns team

Blazing Trails 🔥 Damian Lillard passed Clyde Drexler for Portland's all-time scoring leader

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Yesterday's Games

Wizards outlast Suns 113-110

The Wizards (12-20) skimmed by the Suns (19-13) to snap a ten-game losing streak. The 113-110 victory was largely thanks to big nights from Bradley Beal (27 points) and Kyle Kuzma (29 points). It was tight the entire game and even tied with 2:47 left, but clutch buckets from Beal and Kuz sealed the Suns’ fate. 

Missing Devin Booker, things were a bit spliced together for Phoenix. Deandre Ayton took up the scoring mantle with 30 points, and Landry Shamet randomly had 31 points (including nine three-pointers) off the bench. Plus, Bismack Biyombo baptized Daniel Gafford on live television.

Box Score

Nuggets grind Grizzlies 105-91

Denver handily defeated Memphis last night, and now the Grizzlies (19-11) and Nuggets (19-11) are tied for the #1 seed out West! Aaron Gordon continued his stellar season with 24 points. Plus, is it even a Nuggets game without Nikola Jokic dimes? The reigning 2x MVP had some wild highlights to go with his 13-point, 13-rebound, 13-assist game. Only Jokic, man…

Ja Morant was terrific with 35 points and ten assists (though he also had seven turnovers), but the other Grizzlies couldn’t hit anything. Excluding Ja, they shot 43% FG, 10% 3PT, and 55% FT … yikes. 

Box Score

Lauri Legend leads Jazz past Pistons

The Jazz (18-16) conquered Detroit (8-25) 126-111 behind 38 points from Lauri Markkanen, who poured in a career-high nine three-pointers. Can we also take a moment to give Jarred Vanderbilt some love? Every night, V8 terrorizes opposing scorers, crashes the boards, and cuts hard to the rim. Tonight, his 18 points and 13 rebounds proved more of the same. Still, the kids showed out for the Pistons. Jaden Ivey erupted for 30 points, and Jalen Duren (who’s barely freakin’ 19, btw) added 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Box Score

Knicks obliterate Warriors for 8th straight win

Sure, Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins were out for the Warriors (15-17), who now fall to the 11th seed out West with this loss. But still, the Knicks (18-13) looked legit in a 132-94 blowout. Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett led a well-balanced scoring attack while the young kids like Jericho Sims and Enjoyer of Basketball Miles McBride fought tooth and nail for extra possessions. Shoutout to mini-Lou Williams himself, Immanuel Quickley, for leading the scoring charge with 22!

Box Score

Bulls beat Heat for much-needed win

Despite buzz about franchise turmoil, the Bulls (12-18) rallied for a much-needed 113-103 win against the Heat (16-16). Nikola Vucevic was monstrous tonight with 29 points and 12 boards, and even defensive stud Bam Adebayo couldn’t contain him. Bam himself had an efficient 27 points, but the Heat continue to struggle when missing Jimmy Butler. DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine had 24 and 21 points, respectively, for a well-rounded W that temporarily blocks out the recent negativity in Chi-Town.

Box Score

Monday Night Notes

In Trail Blazers vs. Thunder, Damian Lillard’s 28 points made him Portland’s all-time leading point scorer! However, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wowed yet again with 35 points and a buzzer-beater baseline jumper to win!

Meanwhile, the Hawks outlasted the red-hot Magic 126-125 behind 37 points and 13 assists from Trae Young. Orlando was led by Markelle Fultz, who put up 24 points and nine assists and has looked very impressive since returning from injury. We NEED this man to stay healthy because he’s a certified hooper.

NBA History Spotlight

Michael Carter-Williams may have had the greatest rookie debut of all time. On October 13, 2013, MCW put up 22 points, seven rebounds, 12 assists, and nine (!!) steals. To this day, he is one of only three players to put up this statline or better, and the first since 1985. And in just his first game in the league!

Perhaps most impressively, he led a rebuilding 76ers team to a win over LeBron James’ Heat which was coming off two consecutive championships. The game opened a dominant 19-0 in Philly's favor with Carter-Williams terrorizing ball-handlers, and they pulled off an upset in an iconic debut. 

Good Reads

Kevin Durant on once-heralded NBA prospect Emoni Bates' path: 'You gotta go through some s***' - Vincent Goodwill (Yahoo Sports)

Do the Raptors Need to Reset Before the Trade Deadline? - Zach Kram (The Ringer)

Why future megastars like Ja Morant getting tossed from a game is a problem for the NBA's transition game - Bill Reiter (CBS Sports)

What We're Enjoying

The Bread Basket: We're enjoying this draft series of non-athletic things like food, yellow things, or "Davids" put on by Danny and Zach Guarino. They've collabed with Richard Jefferson, Nick Jonas, and Barbara Corcoran, and we absolutely love it!

Argentina's World Cup Celebration: Never in our lives have we seen something like Buenos Aires during Argentina's World Cup victory. Even here in NYC, fans were going crazy in Times Square!

Signing Off

That's wraps for us at Enjoy Basketball! We hope you're day is as smooth as Shai and as beautiful as Kelly Oubre. And again, use the referral system below to help other people Enjoy the game we all love!

-Conor Geelan

Trivia Answer: The only active NBA player to play high school ball in Vermont is Bruce Brown, who spent his junior and senior years at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, VT.

Trivia Question: Which NBA franchise did Forbes recently value at $7 billion, the highest in the league?