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Plus, important news on Kyrie and Josh Primo, and another Q&A

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Magic in the Air: Orlando comes up clutch against the defending champs

A Night to Remember: Wednesday night brought one of the best games of the year

Breaking News: Important updates on the Kyrie and Josh Primo situations

Q&A: Talking hoops with the 76ers' Georges Niang

And we back! Welcome, Enjoyers of the game, to another Friday edition of the Enjoy Basketball newsletter. We had some great games over the last couple of days, a few important pieces of news, plus an enlightening Q&A with the Philadelphia 76ers' Georges Niang!

If you want to hear more NBA players drop some knowledge, make sure to tune in to our weekly Twitter Spaces on Thursday evenings! We’ll have special guests on to talk hoops all year long and would love to see y’all there.

PrizePicks

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We missed on last week's picks, but who doesn't like a good comeback story, right? Two weeks into the season and we’re already 3-1 on Flex Plays (can miss one and still win up to 1.5x your entry) so we’re feeling pretty good about our predictions. Let us know how we did on our picks from last night's action on Twitter (@enjoybball) and make sure to tag us with your picks for tonight's games!

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Thursday's NBA Action

Magic’s team effort overcomes defending champs 130-129

If you just look at the Golden State Warriors (3-6) box score, all the signs point to an easy W for the defending champs. 129 points, 19 three-pointers made at a 44% clip, 19 turnovers forced, Steph and Klay combining for 66 points. It’s a recipe we’ve seen work time and time again for the NBA’s reigning dynasty.

But props to the Orlando Magic (2-7) for having the confidence to stick to their strengths. Rather than try and counter the Warriors' world-class spacing with smaller lineups, Orlando ran out bigger lineups to bully Golden State inside and get to the line.

And … the plan worked to perfection. The Magic got big nights from Paolo Banchero (22 PTS, 8 REB) and Jalen Suggs (26 PTS, 9 AST) while making 46 trips to the charity stripe as a team, the most they’ve had in a single game since 2017. And in crunch time, it was Suggs who stepped up with this unbelievably clutch sequence.

Denver take down OKC 122-110 thanks to stifling 4th quarter defense

This is the type of win that's incredibly encouraging for a team like the Denver Nuggets (5-3). Nikola Jokic (15 PTS, 14 AST, 10 TOV) wasn’t quite on his game tonight, but the big man still managed to set a new NBA record for triple-doubles by a center in the process.

Despite the Joker's rough night, Denver still got it done the hard way. They were absolutely clinical from three, hit 18 of their 31 attempts, made 88% of their free throws, and most importantly, locked OKC up when it counted, holding them to just 15 points in the 4th quarter.

And the cherry on top - quite possibly the best dunk of the year from none other than Jamal Murray (24 PTS, 4-6 3PT). It’s good to have you back, Jamal!

As for the Oklahoma City Thunder (4-4), it was all SGA tonight. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got his buckets the old-fashioned way, scoring 37 points on only 17 shots, all without a single three-point attempt. In fact, it was so old-fashioned that the last guard to score 37+ points on 17 or fewer shots without attempting a three was Kevin Johnson all the way back in 1990!

And, of course, he had to add in a filthy poster for good measure.

Wednesday Night Notes

Well, for one, we got the best game of the year so far! The Cleveland Cavaliers (6-1) thrilling 114-113 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics (4-3) was everything we love about NBA basketball and then some. A player (Darius Garland) returns from injury to put up a great performance (29 PTS, 12 AST), check. A massive poster from one of the game's best players, check. A clutch alley-oop in overtime, check. Listen, just do yourself a favor and soak up some of the best basketball you’ll see all year.

After the Dallas Mavericks (4-3) tone-setting 103-100 win over the upstart Utah Jazz (6-2), we can confidently assure you that Luka Dončić (33 PTS, 11 AST) is a really good basketball player. In fact, his hot start to the season is starting to ascend into historic territory. Doncic is the first player since Wilt Chamberlain, and only the third player in NBA history, to score 30+ points in each of the first seven games of the season. $5 to whoever can guess who the third player is.

No Jimmy Butler? No problem for the Miami Heat (4-5), who eked out a much-needed 110-107 victory over the Sacramento Kings (2-5). Bam Adebayo (20 PTS, 11 REB) and Kyle Lowry (22 PTS, 7 AST) showed out, but the story of the night has to be the boy wonder himself: Tyler Herro and his Joel Embiid-esque statline (26 PTS, 12 REBS, 3 BLKS). Herro ended the night in style, burying the game-winning dagger over the outstretched arm of Terrence Davis.

Dejounte Murray fantasy owners are absolutely feasting after last night. The former San Antonio Spur continues to stuff the stat sheet with his new team, putting up a career-high 36 points, nine assists, five steals, and five three-pointers during the Atlanta Hawks (5-3) 112-99 victory against the New York Knicks (3-4). And if you were wondering if anyone has had 36+ points, 9+ assists, 5+ steals, and 5+ assists in a game any time recently, the answer is no. It hasn’t happened since Stephon Marbury in 2007.

Quick shout out to Desmond Bane, who came through with the huge fourth quarter to fend off a furious Portland Trail Blazers (5-2) comeback in a 111-106 Memphis Grizzlies (5-3) victory. Potential first-time All-Star? 🤔

Ladies and gentlemen, the LA Lakers are officially on a winning streak, and it’s all thanks to … Matt Ryan? Down three with just a second to go, Ryan and Austin Reaves executed a beautiful out-of-bounds play to send the game to OT, where the Lakers would eventually win. And how about Bench Russ? The former MVP has been a breath of fresh air as the lead backup ball handler.

And finally, how good is it to see John Wall doing stuff like this again?

Latest Basketball News

James Harden Sidelined with Foot Injury

The Philadelphia 76ers (4-5) will have to get their season back on track without the help of superstar guard James Harden. The 2018 NBA MVP is expected to miss the next month with a right foot tendon strain. Harden had started the season off strong, averaging 22 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists through the first nine games.

Former Spurs Spurs Psychologist Sues Team over Josh Primo Misconduct

After initially receiving praise for their quick dismissal of second-year guard Josh Primo, the San Antonio Spurs now find themselves in hot water after a lawsuit brought forward by former team psychologist Hillary Cauthen stated that the team knew about Primo's sexual misconduct since January, and yet failed to act. Primo is accused of exposing himself nine times in front of Cauthen, beginning in December 2021.

Latest on the Kyrie Irving Situation

Following a Twitter post last week promoting a controversial documentary that propagates antisemitic language and ideas, Kyrie Irving, along with the Brooklyn Nets organization, announced on Wednesday that they would each be donating $500,000 to worthy causes with the help of the Anti-Defamation League. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt later said that he would not be accepting Irving's donation, stating that Kyrie “feels no accountability for his actions”.

Yesterday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a statement voicing his disappointment that Irving has not offered an “unqualified apology” and “more specifically denounced the vile and harmful content contained in the film he chose to publicize.” Irving responded with a press conference where he continued to echo the rhetoric of the previous night's statement, taking responsibility for the retweet while avoiding a direct apology. The press conference was cut off by Nets PR after just six minutes of answering questions.

And finally, the Nets took action last evening by officially suspending Irving from the team. In a public statement, the Nets called Irving's conduct “against the values of our organization” and a “detriment to our team.” Irving will be suspended without pay until he satisfies “a series of remedial requirements that address the harmful impact of his conduct,” with a minimum suspension of five games. Irving would later offer an apology to Jewish families and communities via Instagram.

Q&A with Georges Niang

Thank you to Cyclones, Pacers, Jazz, and Sixers legend Georges Niang for talking with us yesterday! We put his best answers below for you to enjoy, but make sure to tune in live every Thursday to hear the full conversation with our weekly special guests.

Q: What was the moment that made you first fall in love with basketball?

A: The moment that I remember is when I was a kid watching my dad shoot hoops across the street at a neighbor's house. Back then I thought the hoop was so tall but in reality, it was like seven feet, and my dad was going up there and dunking it. I haven’t had many dunks in my career, but that’s kind of how it started. I just fell in love with the sound of the ball, how it went in the hoop, how it sounded going off the backboard, the rotation of the ball, I was fascinated with that as a kid.

Q: The NBA can be an incredibly stressful league at times. What are some things you do on a day-to-day basis to get your mind right and just Enjoy Basketball?

A: I definitely like to take some me time, whether that's putting the phone down and relaxing or watching sports aimlessly. And Philadelphia is the closest I’ve ever lived to home so I like to take an hour or an hour and a half outta my day to call my friends and family and grow those relationships. I'm a big relationships person, so if I can sit down and have conversations when I'm not doing training to get ready for a game or working out, I like to spend it around people that I care about.

In the summertime, it’s a little different. I love being by a body of water, whether that’s a lake or an ocean. I love golf. Really I just love my free time and I love spending it with my family.

Q: What is it like playing in front of the fans in Philly?

A: I mean, these are some of the best sports fans you’ll ever come across. They’re passionate and that passion goes back decades. There's grandparents, great-grandparents, adults and even the young kids are just as passionate as the grandparents that have been fans for 60 years. When you have passion in a city that's blue-collar and driven by hard work and dedication and sacrifice, you're gonna have a lot of fan support.

But when you’re not playing well, they’re also gonna let you hear about it. And I think that's the part a lot of people think about, but this is a great city with so much support and love. I was telling someone the other day, If you win a championship in Philadelphia, you'll be taken care of for life here. And why wouldn't you wanna play in a city where there's expectation and there's pressure? You work your whole life to play in these big moments, why not do it in a city like Philly where they actually care?

Q: What was your "welcome to the league" moment?

A: I was in Indiana, I think it was preseason. It was a game where I had just gotten in. Robin Lopez was on the Bulls at that point, and Fred Hoiberg, who used to be my coach at Iowa State, was their coach.

So I go up for a defensive rebound, and I look back before I jump and Robin Lopez was far enough away where I was like “oh I can get up and grab this.” And he must have made a quick sprint cause I thought I was soaring to grab it and he reached over my back and grabbed it out of my hands. My side hit his chest and I fell into the baseline and he went up and dunked it and started screaming.

And then I was like, “Oh **** this is gonna be a lot tougher than I thought.”

Good Reads

The unlikely journeyman Lakers clutch hero: Matt Ryan's whirlwind from Team USA (no, not that one) to L.A. - Joe Vardon (The Athletic)

1 Problem Every 2022-23 NBA Team Didn't See Coming - Zach Buckley (Bleacher Report)

Donovan Mitchell’s Takeover Has Been a Work of Art - Chris Herring (Sports Illustrated)

Signing Off

That’s all from us today! Whether it’s shooting hoops, playing games, hanging with friends, or anything else under the sun, make sure to go out and do something you enjoy this weekend.

Until next time,

-Spencer Poole

Trivia Answer: The answer to Wednesday’s trivia is the 15-16 San Antonio Spurs! They went an impressive 67-15 in the regular season before losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round.

Trivia Question: Which NBA player holds the record for the highest career points per game average in the month of November?