The Opening Tip

• Denver hasn’t lost since trading for Aaron Gordon.
• Chris Paul is closing in on another milestone.
• The league is better with Isaiah Thomas in it. 
• If Poku wasn’t an NBA player, who would he be?

This weekend's best matchups

1. Those crazy SOBs in Denver have turned Aaron Gordon into the guy we all gave up on

The Great Orlando Magic Diaspora of 2021 sent three quality players to Chicago, Boston and Denver. 

• In Boston, Evan Fournier has killed it on Twitter but not yet on the court.
• In Chicago, the Bulls are 3-4 since Nikola Vucevic joined the team. 

But in Denver … former career-long disappointment Aaron Gordon suddenly looks like the passing, cutting, dunking, shooting ad-libber we all wanted him to be. (His numbers -- 12.5 PPG, 61 percent shooting, 4.2 RPG, 3.1 APG -- don’t jump off the page, which is fine. He’s in a do-some-of-everything role, not a shoe-horned superstar role like in Orlando.)

The Nuggets are 7-0 since trading for Gordon, who has fit like a glove in the orbit of Nikola Jokic. (See: GIF above.)

In fact, as The Ringer’s Dan Devine pointed out, Jokic has already assisted on more of Gordon’s baskets (16 in six games) than any member of the Magic did all season (15). Going from the Magic to the Nuggets for Gordon must feel like when Homer moved from the powerplant to Globex Corporation (for the first few days, at least.)

Denver guard Monte Morris put it perfectly:
 

He was there for any team to take at the deadline. Luckily for basketball fans, he ended up with the most pass-happy team in the league.

[READ: Have Aaron Gordon and the Nuggets unlocked each other’s potential?]

2. Trivia time

Chris Paul is two steals away from passing Scottie Pippen for sixth place on the all-time steals list.

So …

1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  
5.  
6. Scottie Pippen (2,307)
7. Chris Paul (2,305) 

How many of the top five can you name?

Answer at the bottom.

3. Daily GIF: Isaiah Thomas is back

Hopefully, in a few years, Isaiah Thomas will be looked at the same way we look at Carmlo Anthony right now in Portland. As in, of course he never should have been out of the league for so long.

After signing a 10-day contract with New Orleans earlier in the week, he scored 10 points off the bench on Tuesday against the Hawks, including eight in a row and the 3-pointer above.

4. Five things that Aleksej Pokuševski looks like that don’t involve being a basketball player

This curious fellow is Aleksej Pokuševski, a 19-year-old Serbian NBA player for the Thunder. “Poku” has some real potential -- on Wednesday, he became the youngest player to make seven 3s in a game -- but he doesn’t have your classic basketball guy look.

Here are five things that Poku more looks like: 

1. An online cryptocurrency owner who bought $BTC in 2016 and must let you know every 10 minutes that he didn’t sell. Also helped start the Reddit-GameStop stock revolution. 
2. An international student living in NYC in one of the big skyscrapers in Long Island City. Takes Uber Blacks to Williamsburg. Has a closet of pristine Stan Smiths. 
3. Your unusual cousin who visits you in high school. All the guys think he’s weird. All the girls are intrigued. 
4. A Berlin club promoter who chain smokes outside the venue at 11 p.m. because “it’s still dead in there.” Probably knows Daniel Theis. 
5. The guy who somehow got 10 pairs of the newest Nike SB/Jordan release. You know so because he posted 10 photos of them on Twitter/Instagram/Reddit. He’s not sure if he’s selling yet -- just testing the waters. $1,500, OBO.

5. By the numbers

100/100/100

Kevin Durant returned to the Nets on Wednesday night. He shot 10 combined 2s, 3s and free-throws, and he didn’t miss any of them. Now, if he could stop the bizarre Twitter behavior.

23 straight

Donovan Mitchell’s 37 points helped the Jazz beat the Trail Blazers last night for Utah’s 23rd win in a row at home. Utah’s now 39-13 and in possession of the best record in the NBA.

.278 win percentage

On Tuesday, the Kings were a half-game out of the play-in game. Since, they've lost to the Timberwolves and Pistons -- two teams with a combined .278 win percentage, and now sit 12th in the West.

147 points

OKC is on a five-game losing streak, but more to the point is that the Thunder have lost those five by a combined 147 points, which includes a 48-point violation at the hands of the Trail Blazers. 

6.  Quick hits

• The Inside the NBA crew coined a new term yesterday: Ballroom Superstars.
• Both Morris brothers got ejected from their respective games last night. 
• Here’s Kawhi dunking all over DeAndre Ayton.
• Mo Harkless, of all people, had a poster last night too. 
• Miami’s Victor Oladipo injured his knee again last night during a dunk.
• Rajon Rondo Clippers update: Hit the 3 that buried the Suns last night, stared down Chris Paul after the game. 
• We promise that Thanasis Antetokounmpo trash-talking Luka Doncic is worth your time.

7.  Reads and podcast pick

• Russell Westbrook is averaging a triple-double again, but everyone has stopped caring [CBS Sports]
• The Nets are pushing the regular season to its limits [Sports Illustrated]
• Doris Burke on NBA contenders + MVP candidates [The Lowe Post] 
• What Jalen Suggs and Jalen Green show us about the changing paths to the NBA [The Ringer]

Trivia answer: 1. John Stockton (3,265), 2. Jason Kidd (2,684), 3. Michael Jordan (2,514), 4. Gary Payton (2,445), 5. Maurice Cheeks (2,310).