Good morning. Let’s basketball.

A City on a Rock; Unknown Artist (once falsely attributed to Goya); 1800s

On Saturday night, a Reddit user posted a theory that captured a good bit of the NBA community’s oxygen: a theory that the Memphis Grizzlies’ scorekeeper was illegitimately giving more blocks and steals to Jaren Jackson Jr. than were actually earned. The primary data suggesting a conspiracy to inflate JJJ’s stats was that his home-road splits in those categories — which are more subjective than, say, points and rebounds — were outrageous, perhaps outside the bounds of random distribution.

The accusation was that because JJJ began the season as an underdog in the Defensive Player of the Year race and is now the favorite, someone was cooking the books the gain financial advantage.

The post rocketed around the league and the fan community. A sportsbook pulled DPOY off the board. And of course, a few analysts immediately looked into it and found

… that the case was completely overblown. Kirk Goldsberry and Kevin O’Conspiracy Debunker reviewed all of JJJ’s home blocks and steals, finding just a minimal, incidental number of close calls. The NBA also refuted that a scorekeeper could “go rouge” like this because the NBA itself reviews stats recorded on each play. The upshot is that JJJ’s DPOY case is probably strengthened as all these analysts insist that, yes, Jackson is this good, especially at home! There’s lots of evidence that he’s currently the best rim protector in the league. And everyone took a solid half-day to reinforce that information.

In fact, this whole brouhaha was so good for JJJ that there is now a boomerang conspiracy that the Grizzlies planted the original conspiracy in order to draw attention to JJJ’s defensive excellence. Incredible!

Anyways, we’re getting some funny in-jokes now.

hoops bot @hoops_bot

Grizzlies announcer with the Seinfeld reference - regards to JJJ blocks

4:02 AM ∙ Jan 30, 2023

The NBA, folks. What even is this thing?

More Like ‘CandACE Parker’

Well this is something: Candace Parker, who helped lead her hometown Chicago Sky to the 2021 WNBA Championship, announced she will join the 2022 WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces as a free agent. She reunites with former Sparks co-star Chelsea Gray and will team up with 2022 MVP A’ja Wilson and 2022 MVP second runner-up Kelsey Plum. Obviously, this is an incredible roster getting even better. Also, on Sunday night word broke that Alysha Clark — who spent last season with the Mystics, having previously starred for the champion era Storm — will join the Aces, too.

Nekias Duncan offers up some vital context for the Aces given what Dearica Hamby alleged on her way to the Sparks. Given that the players’ union has called for an investigation into the Aces’ behavior around Hamby’s pregnancy and trade, one imagines that the players choosing the Aces right now will support that. It’s a tricky situation to be sure.

Now we wait on Breanna Stewart as well as a host of other important free agents. The Aces appear to be on the path of hegemony in the WNBA this season … unless, perhaps, Stewart joins Jonquel Jones, Betnijah Laney and Sabrina Ionescu on the Liberty. Stay tuned.

Scores

FRIDAY

Bucks 141, Pacers 131 — Indiana is still flailing without Tyrese Haliburton. But they did lock up Myles Turner on a 2-year extension! The Lakers continue to take Ls.

Grizzlies 100, Timberwolves 111 — Is this a rivalry?

Magic 105, Heat 110

Cavaliers 100, Thunder 112 — Fourth quarter offense was a nightmare for Cleveland without Donovan Mitchell. The Cavs other than Darius Garland shot 3/13 from the floor in the period. 35 in the win for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Raptors 117, Warriors 129 — Spoiler alert: by the end of the weekend, the Warriors are sitting in the No. 6 seed in the West. Wild!

SATURDAY

Nuggets 119, Sixers 126 — One of the most electric performances of the season, given the crowd, the narratives, the high quality of both teams and THIS DUDE.

47-18-5-3-2 for Embiid, the best scoring center since Shaq. In the wake of missing out on an All-Star starting spot and two straight runners-up finishes to Nikola Jokic in MVP voting, he had it all going. The only blemish was six turnovers; that will happen when your center is handling the ball this much, assuming they aren’t named Jokic.

The Nuggets played really well and led for about 40 minutes. Jokic was quite incredible himself (24-8-9-0-2). I found it notable that Michael Malone played just nine players — a playoff style rotation — knowing that Philadelphia was going to take the game very seriously. Good basketball.

Also, James Harden — who looks like he will perhaps not make the All-Star team at all, which I find exceptionally hard to believe — had 17 points, 14 assists and zero turnovers. That dime to Embiid on the left wing with 4:40 left in the fourth: perfection.

Two quick Harden moments. First, he was apparently supposed to be on the floor but was sitting on the bench (whoopsie) and so he came off the bench at a fortuitous time to cause a turnover. (It didn’t work out.)

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

Harden really ran onto the court from the bench mid-play 😅

11:01 PM ∙ Jan 28, 2023

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Second: this is James Harden’s babyface turn as Embiid’s sidekick.

Philadelphia 76ers @sixers

Philadelphia 76ers @sixers

🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

10:27 PM ∙ Jan 28, 2023

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I love this team and it will be proven — in a court of law, if necessary — that I never wavered on my preseason prediction they’d win the conference.

Knicks 115, Nets 122 — Kyrie Irving drops 21 in the fourth quarter to knock down the solid Knicks. He’s really stepped up since Kevin Durant went down.

Rockets 117, Pistons 114

Bulls 128, Magic 109

Clippers 120, Hawks 113 — The Clips are in a stretch with 10 of 11 games on the road. They are 5-1 so far.

Kings 110, Timberwolves 117 — A rare cold effort from the Kings. Wolves are creeping up the standings. Should they trade Karl-Anthony Towns for some of those picks they gave up for Rudy Gobert?

Wizards 113, Pelicans 103 — Seventh straight loss for the Pelicans, who aren’t talking enough about. One nice thing about New Orleans building up a nice start to the season is that they can survive this and still make the playoffs, perhaps.

Suns 128, Spurs 118 (OT) — 30-spot for Jeremy Sochan in the loss!

Lakers 121, Celtics 125 (OT) — Come for the brutal no-call on LeBron’s would-be game-winning shot at the end of the regulation, stay for LeBron’s total frustration meltdown.

That’s obviously a foul, and I get the frustration. The Lakers should have beaten the best team in the league right there. Every game matters for the Lakers to get into the play-in and perhaps the playoffs. Still, the tantrum is pretty funny. The post-game commentary is straight-up absurd.

Michael Corvo @michaelcorvoNBA

LeBron: "I don't understand what we're doing. And I watch basketball every single day. I watch these games every single night, and I don't see it happen to nobody else. It's just weird."

5:21 AM ∙ Jan 29, 2023

Nobody else, LeBron? NOBODY else is getting bad whistles?

Anyways, Patrick Beverley goes one better after LeBron’s tantrum: before overtime, he brings a camera out to the referee to show him LeBron was fouled. Petty and hilarious.

Jason Gallagher @jga41agher

Top 5 tech of all time

4:18 AM ∙ Jan 29, 2023

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ArtButMakeItSports @ArtButSports

The Presentation of Her Portrait to Henry IV, by Peter Paul Rubens, 1622-25

4:27 AM ∙ Jan 29, 2023

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Look, this was a rather egregious missed call. But to have the refs’ union come out and acknowledge it talking about “sleepness nights”? GTFOH. I’d venture to say that every NBA team has been cost at least one game due to a blown call this season. Lakers exceptionalism is a belief that this should never happen to the Purple and Gold.

Mavericks 100, Jazz 108

Raptors 123, Blazers 105

SUNDAY

Heat 117, Hornets 122

Pacers 100, Grizzlies 112 — Ja Morant continues to defy physics.

John Hollinger @johnhollinger

how

1:54 AM ∙ Jan 30, 2023

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He had 27-10-15 in the win, by the way.

Clippers 99, Cavaliers 122 — Can you tell just by the score when Kawhi and PG sit? Hey, let’s watch Jarrett Allen dunk on Moses Brown. For science.

NBA UK @NBAUK

Jarrett Allen punished the rim!

10:00 AM ∙ Jan 30, 2023

Pelicans 110, Bucks 135 — New Orleans continues to flail. Giannis puts up a 50-piece in 30 minutes shooting 20/26 from the floor.

Schedule

All times Eastern.

Magic at Sixers, 7
Lakers at Nets, 7:30, NBA TV
Kings at Timberwolves, 8
Warriors at Thunder, 8
Wizards at Spurs, 8
Pistons at Mavericks, 8:30
Raptors at Suns, 9
Hawks at Blazers, 10, NBA TV

Alright, that’s good for a Monday. Be excellent to each other.