The Opening Tip

• New Bones Hyland meme just dropped   
• You don’t see 71 points very often
• The Mavs without Luka are nothing

1. The NBA’s most likely January 6 contributors, ranked*

6. Kyrie Irving: Remember when, in the aftermath, Kyrie took a few weeks off for a mental health break? Why was that ....

5. Enes Kanter: Notice we didn’t say *current* NBA players.

4. Michael Porter Jr.: A conspiracy theorist once said COVID was being used to 'control the masses.' Guess who that was. 

3. Meyers Leonard: People who say bad words on XBox Live 🤝 January 6

2. Jonathan Isaac: It’s not too late to buy ‘Why I Stand’ for a new low price of $25.68.

1. Gordon Hayward:

• Ask yourself: Why did Hayward opt for ‘Education Reform’ on the back of his jersey during the bubble?
• Ask yourself: Could you see this haircut ruffling the papers on Nancy Pelosi’s desk?
• Now … ask yourself … why did Gordon Hayward play such inspired basketball at 7:30 PM ET on January 6, 2021, dropping a career-high 44 points in Atlanta, which is just a short flight from DC, where the insurrection fizzled out around 3 PM ET?

*Our legal team tells us we must specify that there is no evidence these people stormed the Capitol. 

2. Daily GIF: Bones 👋

Bones Hyland, the NBA’s new ultimate chucker, shared this moment last night with the camera during a 31-point win over the Clippers. 

3. Trivia time

Five players have won Sixth Man of the Year multiple times. Two are Ricky Pierce and Detlef Schrempf, since, you know. Can you name the other three?

Answers at the bottom.

4. 71 is a shitload of points

Donovan Mitchell scored 71 points on Monday night.

Housekeeping:

• He did it on only 34 shots. Devin Booker got his 70 on 40 shots. Kobe got his 81 on 46 shots. 
• His team needed every single point: The Cavs trailed by 21 at one point and needed a miracle (lane violation) to send it to OT, where they eventually won. 
• It’s only the third 70-or-more-point game since 1994. 

Also: He’s a 6-foot-1 guard.

Of the 12 70-plus point games in NBA history, six were by Wilt (7-foot-2, Dick and Don era) and all but two were by players 6-foot-6 or taller.

The only non-Mitchell 70-plus game by someone shorter than 6-foot-6 was David Thompson (6-foot-4, 73), which was immortalized here, and happened in a loss on the last day of the season.

So … when you factor in height, result, and era, Mitchell turned in arguably the most impressive individual NBA game of all-time on Monday.

[WATCH: Every Mitchell bucket]

5. By the numbers

2-10

After last night’s blowout loss to the Celtics, the Mavericks are now 2-10 in games in which Luka Doncic doesn’t score 30-plus points.

1st, 55th

Per TNT’s broadcast last night: Nikola Jokic is first in touches per game but 55th in held possession per game.

150 points

The SGA-less Thunder gave the Celtics the ass-whooping of the year on Wednesday, eventually reaching a franchise-high 150 points, only 12 points off the all-time regulation mark.

1 game

The Nets are tied for worst team in the league over the last one game, with an 0-1 record. Don’t even worry about what happened in the 12 games before that.

6.  Quick Hits

• Chuck, on TV: ‘I don’t wanna be one of these assholes on television …’
• Shaedon Sharpe, who is really good at dunking, is going to be in the dunk contest. 
• First round of All-Star fan voting is in. 
• New no-look Jokic pass just dropped. 
• Are we getting a Kemba-Celtics reunion? 

7.  Reads & Pods

• Will anyone score 82 (or more) points? [The Athletic]
• The NBA, ranked [The Ringer]
• Zach Lowe’s 10 things [ESPN]

Trivia answer: Jamal Crawford (3), Lou Williams (3), Kevin McHale (3).