Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Hercules as Heroic Virtue Overcoming Discord; Peter Paul Rubens; 1632-33

Skyscraper: an honorific given to a building that removes it from the context of the land its built upon, so magnificent it can only be contextualized through the plane of existence above us mere earthbound mortals. Yet it’s the particular plot of land that gives the skyscraper its inherent value. You build skyscrapers where land value is high, where opportunity for profit is less a matter of risk and more a matter of capacity. Skyscrapers tend to cluster, and new skyscrapers tend to pop up to exceed the grandiosity of those already established. It’s a long, slow race to the heavens.

NBA superstars are like this, with unbeliveably high ceilings and noteability not for the base of what they are, but for the heights they dwell in. Below a certain floor the building is just a building. What makes its a skyscraper — and what makes an NBA star a superstar — is what happens above.

Does anyone in this era reach higher than Giannis Antetokounmpo, figuratively or literally? My mind still hasn’t really recovered from the fever dream that was his 2021 NBA Finals performance, and I’m having real trouble wrapping my head around the fact that he has had a single — one — “bad game” this season, 25 games in. (That bad game: 20 points on 9/17 shooting [2/7 from the line], 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 8 turnovers in a Bucks win over Houston. Unquestionably his worst game of the season. The runner-up is a game in which he had 30 on 14/26 shooting [2/6 from the line], 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 turnovers in a loss to Boston. 30-10-6 on 54% FG, his second worst game of the season.)

Giannis was a total menace in the Bucks’ resilient win over the Hawks in the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday. It felt like whenever the Bucks needed a bucket, there he was. Whenever the Bucks needed a stop, there he was. Whenever the Bucks had a window of light, Giannis streaked through the opening to attack the rim. Whenever the Hawks had a window of light, Giannis appeared as if out of nowhere to blot it out. He is the finest Swiss army knife ever honed, capable of everything all the time.

He’s been in the United States for 12 years now, and the league is no closer to figuring him out. He has real flaws that well known and evident to anyone who stares long enough. And they do not matter at all because what he does great is completely unstoppable.

Nikola Jokic is putting up truly absurd statistics and is the reason the Nuggets are in the playoff mix. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been consistently excellent and a real vibes captain for the best team in the West. Luka Doncic has performances that boggle the mind and leave you shaking your head. But then there is Giannis, who almost never has a bad game, and frequently has godlike performances, and makes you wonder if anyone but him can ever be considered truly the best player alive so long as he roams the universe.

If you stand too close to a skyscraper, you may not be able to see the top. Such is the power of its relative height. Perhaps Giannis’ ceiling remains obscured and hidden from our mortal sight. Will it reveal itself?

Scores

Friday

Pacers 121, Sixers 107 — In this game:

• Joel Embiid left the game with a sinus fracture

• Jared McCain tore his meniscus

Cursed season.

Wizards 105, Cavaliers 115 — All those uncompetitive losses might have snapped something with the Wizards. Playing much better of late. Bilal Coulibaly is certainly a bright spot.

Hornets 95, Bulls 109

Nets 119, Grizzlies 135 — Some unnecessary saltiness from Ja Morant toward Jordi Fernandez and the Nets bench at the end of the game. Fernandez is sick of it, Taylor Jenkins tries to play it off … until Dennis Schroder gets involved. Weird stuff that does not make me feel better about my belief in the Grizz.

Lakers 87, Timberwolves 97 — Minnesota forced a high number of turnovers (21), held L.A. to bad shooting (38%) — the Lakers’ offense is not very good, but this is still an impressive defensive showing.

Clippers 98, Nuggets 120

Suns 134, Jazz 126 — Kevin Durant is back, again. The Suns were 0-3 during his latest absence. They are now 13-2 when he plays (including Sunday’s game). Sleeping giant.

Spurs 118, Blazers 116 — Very, very soft ejection of Chris Paul here.

Portland was done 13 at the half, roared back to take a 17-point lead with 8:29 left in the fourth … and lost. The Spurs are just winning games this year.

Saturday

Hawks 102, Bucks 110

Rockets 96, Thunder 111 — Houston’s shooting was horrible all game, and OKC found a way to generate points in the second half. What more would you expect from the top two defenses in the league? Amen Thompson was consistently impactful in every minute he played, and Tari Eason was quite good, too. Jalen Green, Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun all had bad offensive nights; I’m still seeing something real with Green, and I think as long as the work ethic and mind stuff is there (which it appears to be) he has All-Star potential.

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The Thunder are so, so, so good. Clearly the class of the West. I thought they’d have company at the top of the conference. I was wrong. They are just unbelievably good in basically every facet of the game. Celtics of the West.

Sengun, perhaps feeling frustrated about being limited by Isaiah Hartenstein, got saucy with Cason Wallace in the closing moments.

Lu Dort received a tech in garbage time for celebrating a three-pointer by raising three fingers. Referees are out of control.

Sunday

Pelicans 104, Pacers 119 — It’s hard to overstate just how bad the Dejounte Murray trade has gone for New Orleans … even before you think too much about Dyson Daniels. Murray had eight turnovers in this one, now averaging 4.2 per game. Might be time for the reset button in NOLA.

Knicks 100, Magic 91

Celtics 112, Wizards 98

Timberwolves 106, Spurs 92 — A spicy fast break for Rob Dillingham.

The Wolves are 6-1 since their meltdown against the Kings and Anthony Edwards’ rip job of the team. Wonder how they got on the same page. Group Pokemon Go! sessions?

Blazers 109, Suns 116

Mavericks 143, Warriors 133 — Helluva shoot-out in the Bay. The score was 81-74 at halftime … and it didn’t calm down much from there. (Luka Doncic had 28-8-9 in 18 minutes in the first half, for some perspective.) This probably should have been a blow-out in either direction; it just so happened that both teams were unbelievably hot at the same time.

The Mavericks’ offense is up to No. 4. The Warriors’ defense is down to No. 6.

Grizzlies 110, Lakers 116 — Anthony Davis’ win-loss scoring splits are pretty wild:

• 31 points on 57% from the floor, 44% from three in wins

• 24 points on 48% from the floor, 9% from three in losses

He had 40 on 15/22 shooting in this one. Go figure. Memphis may also just have a Lakers problem.

Schedule

All times Eastern.

Heat at Pistons, 7
Sixers at Hornets, 7
Bulls at Raptors, 7:30
Cavaliers at Nets, 7:30
Nuggets at Kings, 10
Jazz at Clippers, 10:30

Trade Time

Some trade restrictions lifted on Sunday, making more of the league eligible to be moved. We have two trades to show for it:

• Thomas Bryant to the Pacers with the Heat receiving second round pick swap rights

• Dennis Schroder to the Warriors for De’Anthony Melton and two seconds (net)

The Miami deal is 100% related to the Heat’s salary cap and roster size issues, and quite possibly a precursor to a Jimmy Butler trade. Miami moved a bit further from the second apron and opened up a second empty roster slot. Indiana needs help at center, but there was no inherent reason for the Heat to help the Pacers — the second round pick swap option is basically valueless.

The Warriors needed another creator and found it for a relatively cheap price given the need to compete while Steph Curry is still a top-10 player. Schroder is a marginally better fit for what the Warriors need than 3-and-D Melton, who unfortunately is now out for the year. You do wonder if Schroder’s arrival will push Draymond Green, who has essentially turned into the team’s back-up point guard, back into the starting lineup where he can share more time with Steph. Keep an eye on the Warriors’ defense, too. This is a fantastic pick-up for Golden State in light of Melton’s injury, but there are trade-offs. Meanwhile, I suspect the Nets are not done. Schroder was the leader of that overperforming team, and trading him for seconds means the shop is wide open.

The Stein Line has a good rumor round-up on what could be next.

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