The Opening Tip

• The Pacers are sick of their first-year head coach.
• Wait until you see Kyrie Irving’s late-game layup from last night. 
• The Reddit community was not having Anthony Davis’ #SponCon AMA.

This weekend's best matchups

1. The Pacers’ outside-the-box coaching hire is nosediving while the person they fired is thriving

The Indiana Pacers are like NBA refs -- if you’re hearing or talking about them, it’s probably not for a good reason.

Cue this week’s NBA newscycle: Their first-year head coach, Nate Bjorkgren, is likely going to be fired after this disastrous season for Indiana.

(Side note: There are two types of NBA head coaching hires you’ve never heard of. The Nick Nurses, who burst onto the scene and make you understand why they went from anonymous to great coach, and the Nate Bjorkgrens, who make you realize why they weren't nationally known before they got hired.)

From ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
 

So … he’s an ***hole?

From B/R’s Jake Fischer:
 

2. Daily GIF: This move by Kyrie was too sick 😤😤

(Too harsh?)

To be fair, Kyrie Irving was great last night (45 points on 31 shots), but the Nets dropped their fourth straight to the Mavericks. Milwaukee is now only a half-game behind Brooklyn for the No. 1 seed in the East.

3. Trivia time

Who was the last No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the playoffs?

Answer at the bottom.

4. Anthony Davis’ Reddit AMA didn’t go as planned

Anthony Davis held a Reddit “ask me anything” session on the NBA subreddit on Tuesday, which was actually just a thinly-veiled vehicle for the promotion of his new RUFFLES sponsorship.

Sensing a definite con, the Reddit community decided to troll the ever-living hell out of him instead of taking the time to pick the brain of a top 10 NBA player. 

Here are some of the funniest/most outlandish questions Davis received.

From user farikogrim:
 

(It sounds innocent until you click the link.)

From hotsaucename:
 

From lololololololol59:
 

From user OutlandishnessShot87: 
 

From Obamna_:
 

From kiwiwikikiwiwikikiwi:
 

From teensonacid:
 

Surprisingly, AD didn't weigh in on Rose's Hall of Fame case, Biden's foreign policy decisions, or what he and LeBron choose to do on their own time. 

5. By the numbers

27 years

On this day 27 years ago, the No. 8 Nuggets knocked off the No. 1, 63-win Seattle SuperSonics in a decisive Game 5, marking the first time in NBA history an eight seed beat a one seed. It’s since happened four more times -- the 1999 Knicks over Miami, the 2007 Warriors over Dallas, the 2011 Grizzlies over San Antonio, and the 2012 76ers over Chicago.

Pictured above is the iconic photo of Denver’s Dikembe Mutombo after the win.

37-29, 37-29

After last night’s blowout loss to the Clippers, the Lakers are 37-29 -- the same record as your 2020-21 Knicks.

-45

It’s time for our weekly check in on Kevin Love: In a blowout loss to the Trail Blazers on Wednesday, he was -45 in 26 minutes on the floor. It was the worst plus/minus for the Cavs since 2012.

27-7, 16-17

The Nets have a 27-7 record with James Harden and a 16-17 record without him. It’s a shame he got injured, because the MVP would have been way more interesting if he was playing every night. Speaking of which …

-500

Nikola Jokic is now a -500 favorite to win the MVP. In other words, he’s winning the MVP. At No. 41 overall in the 2014 draft, he’ll become by far the lowest draft pick to win the award.

6.  Quick hits

• ICY haven’t looked at the standings recently, here you go. 
• Ernie picked Utah to make the Finals last night.
• James Harden says he’ll be back before the playoffs start.
• Here’s Tacko Fall’s dreamshake from garbage time the other night.
• The G League is launching a team in Mexico City next year. 
• There’s some weird behind-the-scenes stuff going on with the Cavs and Collin Sexton.

7.  Reads and podcast pick

• Oscar Robertson wants Russell Westbrook to break his triple-doubles record [The New York Times]
• LaMelo Ball is basketball’s rookie highlight machine [The Wall Street Journal]
• The Fab Five changed basketball. Now they've moved on to bigger things [Yahoo]
• The best late-season storylines [The Bill Simmons Podcast]

Trivia answer:  2012: No. 8 76ers vs. No. 1 Bulls