The Opening Tip

Play-in Tournament

You gotta give.

1. It’s so over

Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant used to run this league. Well, Curry and LeBron did and Kevin Durant felt left out, so he joined a 73-win team and ruined the NBA for a few years.

Anyway, the tire-some ‘face of the league’ argument hasn’t really been one for more than a decade, because it’s been those three.

Look what’s happened to our faces, though. 

Deep breath

KD is on another sinking superteam of his own making which hasn’t scored 100 points in two losses. He looks dejected. He’s getting prophetically outplayed by Jaden McDaniels. He only got off 15 shots in 41 minutes last night. He’s two losses from formally being rejected by another fanbase. His third ‘star,’ Bradley Beal, has 29 points in two games, and a no-trade clause that makes him value-less on the open market. He has two bad choices: force another trade, or ride out a situation where this is the ceiling.

Exhale

TLDR: Sometimes, it just ends, whether the millennials are ready or not. It’ll be over soon for these guys, and it won’t be cinematic.

2. Daily GIF: Dagger

Luka Doncic hit this shot to clinch Game 2 last night, then unleashed a ‘motherfucking asshole, yeah.’

3. Trivia

4. Poors Cavs and Magic

We knew going in Magic-Cavs had zero juice. Through two games, it’s proven to have, in fact, negative juice.

The one stat you need to know: The Cavs have scored 97 and 96 points, respectively, and they’ve won by 14 points and 10 points, respectively, for a 2-0 lead.

Oh, and: Magic star Paolo Banchero is averaging 7.5 turnovers per game.

Quick hits

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