Wed, Nov 22nd, 2023

  The Opening Tip

• Houston’s Alperen Şengün is the Charmander to Nikola Jokić’s Charizard
• The sportsbooks cannot set the over/under high enough for the Pacers or Hawks
• LeBron in Year 21 = ridiculous

1. Surprisingly tough question to answer: Did Kelly Oubre get hit by a car?

The NBA’s most unanswerable question is not MJ vs. LeBron or Wilt vs. Russell, it is, simply: What the fuck happened to Kelly Oubre?

Context: On Nov. 11, Woj reported that 76ers forward Kelly Oubre was ‘a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle.’ He added Oubre was expected to ‘miss significant time due to his injuries.’

The report was followed by the appropriate amount of well-wishes for someone who was hit by a car.

But … five days later, Philadelphia police cast doubt on the incident. From the Philly Inquirer:

Ourbe could have reported the wrong location, or he could be lying completely.

FWIW, TMZ obtained was sent doorbell footage of Oubre returning to his apartment, looking (acting?) like a person who was just hit by a car.

Even weirder: Ourbe is now back to practicing, and could return by next week, which brings us to today where, 11 days later, we still have no idea if Oubre got hit by a car or not. 

2. Daily GIF: Şengün Fever

Babe, wake up, a new 7-foot European big man who can pass, shoot and rebound just dropped. 

3. Trivia time

LeBron broke Kareem’s scoring record and Kareem broke Wilt’s scoring record.

Whose scoring record did Wilt break?

Answer at the bottom.

4. The highest over in 28 years hit by 56 points

The over/under for Hawks-Pacers last night closed at 253.5, the highest since 1995.

• The final score was 157-152, the highest-scoring regular season game since Halloween, 2019, when the Rocket beat the Wizards, 159-158. 

The bigger picture … we could be looking at two of the top all-offense-no-defense teams in NBA history.

• The Pacers currently have the highest offensive rating ever (122.6) and the second-worst defense, while Atlanta has the seventh-worst defense and the fourth-best offense.

Also, for the bettors: Indiana is 12-1 in overs, while Atlanta is 9-4.

5. PPG among NBA players in Year 21

The five players who reached their 21st season before LeBron were little more than symbols of longevity.

LeBron, in Year 21, is averaging 25.7-8.1-6.6 on 58.7 percent shooting for a team with semi-legit title aspirations.

[WATCH: LeBron scores point No. 39,000]

6.  Quick Hits

• If you’re in Memphis and want to go to a Grizzlies game, you can *definitely* afford it. 
• This Obi Toppin dunk. 
• Devin Booker on DeAndre Ayton: “He played extra hard tonight. I seen that, and my challenge for him is to play like that every night.”
• James Dolan is a huge loser, pt. 575686.
• The jersey Victor Wembanyama wore during his debut sold for $762K. 
• New Jordan Poole lowlight is here.

7.  Reads

• How the Cetlics’ new starting five is picking teams apart [The Ringer]
• Chet Holmgren is this good this early [Defector]
• In-season tournament kudos [Bill Simmons Podcast]
• Alperen Sengun has liftoff [The Ringer]

Trivia answer: Bob Pettit