A new twist on the NBA 'Hold Me Back' fight: the 'Hold HIM Back' fight

It turns out that Isaiah Stewart would prefer that you not punch him in the mouth.

Nov 22

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Pistons vs. Lakers turned up when LeBron James punched Isaiah Stewart in the mouth on a free throw attempt. Of all the players in the NBA to punch in the mouth, Isaiah “Beef Stew” Stewart now moves to roughly the bottom of the list. He didn’t just have beef with LeBron over the incident — he tried to break out of containment twice to get at King James.

Stewart seemed to get even more incensed either when he noticed all the blood on his face or because LeBron said something after Stewart initially reacted in anger. Maybe both. Russell Westbrook also seemed to be an accelerant when he burst into the showdown.

What’s interesting is that if Stewart really wanted to get at LeBron, his best chance was right in the beginning as James came over to apologize. (Apologies after strikes to the face with balled fists are usually not immediately well received.) That’s why I think Isaiah was set off by the blood (blood is not instant, this isn’t WWE) or something James or perhaps Westbrook said. You can imagine someone involved on the Lakers’ side — maybe even LeBron — saying something to the effect of “you’re not going to do anything” and Stewart then seeking an opportunity to prove that wrong.

But we don’t yet know what all was said.

Stewart’s going to get suspended a few games for prolonging the incident and making all sorts of contact with all sorts of people. At the end of the incident, it actually looks like he tries to break containment when exiting the tunnel, perhaps to come around and get to the Lakers’ locker room. LeBron should get a 1-game suspension for punching a player in the face. Was it intentional? Maybe LeBron intended to elbow Beef Stew in the head instead of punching him. Doesn’t matter. That’s a game.

But let’s turn away from the violence and award three medals for heroism in the incident.

DeAndre Jordan — For the first time all season, let’s say it together: Thank Goodness DeAndre Jordan Was On The Floor For The Lakers!

NBA Retweet @RTNBA

Isaiah Stewart running after LeBron

Good defense, DAJ!

Cade Cunningham — Like so many things with the No. 1 pick right now: he had the right idea, but just didn’t execute. The NBA is a little too fast right now. He’ll get there.

The entire Detroit Pistons coaching staff — Dwane Casey, Jim Moran (the big guy with short hair seen above), Tim Hardaway: I mean, that wouldn’t be a job duty that I would handle with gusto, but kudos to you for trying to save Isaiah from himself. And for saving LeBron, too.

Bye Luke

The Kings fired Luke Walton on Sunday. Alvin Gentry takes over as interim coach. Here’s a chart with the Kings’ coaching history since Vivek Ranadive bought the team in 2013.

The Kings under Vivek Ranadive have fired two coaches who had seen significant improvement in their second or third seasons. Luke Walton is not one of those coaches.

Much is made of the Kings’ 15 years of futility, which is relevant only for the fan and competitive perspective. Half of that span fell with the team under a Maloof family desperately trying to relocate or sell the franchise. Half of that span is under Ranadive. The mistakes of the Maloofs are not the mistakes of Ranadive. Keep in mind too that the Kings have had some disastrous front office issues under Ranadive — Monte McNair, who came around prior to the 2021 season, is not a part of most of them, though the Bogdan Bogdanovic free agency decision looms.

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Scores

Friday

Pacers 118, Hornets 121

Warriors 105, Pistons 102 — Golden State rested Stephen Curry and Draymond Green and still won.

Lakers 108, Celtics 130 — Brutal beatdown for L.A. with LeBron James back. LeBron had 23 points on 72% eFG and the Lakers were just -4 in his 32 minutes on the court. That means the Lakers were -18 in the 16 minutes that LeBron sat. Story of the season for this team.

Magic 113, Nets 115

Thunder 89, Bucks 96

Clippers 81, Pelicans 94 — Jonas Valanciunas destroyed L.A.’s front line and Paul George shot 8/26 from the floor and 3/14 from three. Tough night.

Bulls 114, Nuggets 108

Mavericks 104, Suns 112 — Phoenix is really good. Credit to Dallas for being in it without Luka Doncic — Kristaps Porzingis seems to be continuing a strong start — but Phoenix is just really good.

Raptors 108, Kings 89 — Pascal Siakam appears to be back.

Saturday

Rockets 99, Knicks 106

Pelicans 94, Pacers 111

Heat 100, Wizards 103 — Even when you’re watching Washington you’re not sure if you should believe what you’re seeing. Miami took over in the third quarter, putting a 16-point lead on the board after two P.J. Tucker threes, and it felt like the true title contender was finishing off the pretender to prove a point. And then the Wizards finished the quarter strong and kept grinding through a tense fourth, and then there was Spencer Dinwiddie, benefiting from the Heat deciding to double Bradley Beal at the catch, hitting go-ahead threes.

Washington Wizards @WashWizards

FOR THE LEAAAADD!!! #DCAboveAll | @SDinwiddie_25

Wizards look real to me.

Hornets 105, Hawks 115 — Atlanta is now 7-1 at home and 1-8 on the road. They stopped a hot Charlotte team here. The Hawks’ road strength of schedule is pretty high. I think they are making a bee line for the top five in the East.

Thunder 105, Celtics 111

Magic 108, Bucks 117

Grizzlies 95, Wolves 138 — Good lord. Memphis needs to fix its defense (worst in the NBA after being No. 7 last season). The offense wasn’t good here either, but the Grizz let the Wolves’ most notable trio (I refuse to call them a Big Three) score a combined 72 points on 75% effective field goal percentage and four turnovers. You’re just not going to win games letting *Minnesota’s* scorers do that to you. And in the slime unis no less!

Minnesota Timberwolves @Timberwolves

THREE IN A ROW DLo - 28 pts. / 5 ast. / 4 reb. Ant - 23 pts. / 5-6 3PT / +36 KAT - 21 pts. / 5 reb. / 2 ast.

Sixers 111, Blazers 118 — I guess it’s now officially Dame Time.

Jazz 123, Kings 105 — Omen alert: this game was delayed 10 minutes as a fan sitting courtside produced a large amount of vomit on the court, then continued vomiting as the crew cleaned it up. Less than 24 hours later, Luke Walton was fired.

Sunday

Mavericks 91, Clippers 97

Lakers 121, Pistons 116 — Lost in the mayhem was Anthony Davis blocking Cade Cunningham twice on a critical possession with a minute left.

SportsCenter @SportsCenter

AD BLOCKS CADE TWICE THEN HITS THE CLUTCH LAYUP 🤯

Knicks 103, Bulls 109 — I’m eager to read some deep statistical analyses of the season DeMar DeRozan is having to this point.

Nuggets 97, Suns 126 — Twelve straight Ws for Phoenix.

Raptors 104, Warriors 119 — The Raptors schemed to keep the ball out of Steph Curry’s hands: he had just 10 FGAs and 7 FTAs. But Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins combined for 65 points on 88% eFG, so the defense technically met its objectives but didn’t exactly work. Warriors are feeling themselves.

Schedule

Busy night. All times Eastern.

Nets at Cavaliers, 7, NBA TV
Hornets at Wizards, 7
Thunder at Hawks, 7:30
Rockets at Celtics, 7:30
Pacers at Bulls, 8
Magic at Bucks, 8
Wolves at Pelicans, 8
Suns at Spurs, 8:30
Grizzlies at Jazz, 9
Sixers at Kings, 10, NBA TV

No links today as this email is on the verge of being too long to send. Be excellent to each other.

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