WTF Wednesday in the NBA

Some of the wildest shots and performances of the season, all in one evening.

Dec 16

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Starry Night Over the Rhone, Vincent van Gogh, 1888

A game in which DEEP INHALE Austin Reaves hit a game-winning three-pointer in overtime for the Lakers after Maxi Kleber banked in an above-the-break three to tie it after Russell Westbrook hit the go-ahead corner three after Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a 32-footer with the shot clock expiring after a fast break dunk for LeBron … all that after Wayne Ellington sent the game to overtime with a corner three after two Mavericks fought over and lost a rebound with 2 seconds remaining in regulation 30 game seconds after Ellington airballed a wide open tying three from above the break EXHALE …

A game in which all of this happened:

… only qualified as the second most bonkers finish of the night. Because of Thunder vs. Pelicans.

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Let’s set the scene. The Thunder are bad. The Pelicans are bad. Back and forth game. Pels are up three on the road, both teams in the bonus, no time-outs left, Thunder ball in the halfcourt, 4.5 seconds on the clock.

Garrett Temple, smart veteran, tries to foul Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the dribble to prevent a game-tying three. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, smart youngster, tries to turn that take foul into a shooting foul by pulling up from 30 feet. Temple doesn’t make enough contact for the take foul. Shai, uh, hits the shot for the tie.

1.4 seconds left, no timeouts, Devonte’ Graham from 60, bucket.

Holy smokes. Two absolutely wild shots, each all-timers on their own, within seconds of each other.

Graham’s shot reminded me a little of Tyreke Evans’ famous game-winner over Memphis from 2010. But that one didn’t immediately follow an off-balance 30-foot heave!

Anyways, that’s how the Lakers-Mavericks’ bonkers finish gets second billing: 90 feet of WTF shotmaking in four seconds in OKC.

Scores

Rockets 89, Cavaliers 124 — Cleveland took their feet off the gas pedals; we had real -73: THE SEQUEL potential here. The Cavs were +19 at the end of the first quarter … and started the second with a 12-0 run. The lead got as high as 45. I guess not all teams are built to go up 45 and then double down to get a 73-point lead.

This Isaac Okoro dunk is hilarious. Three Rockets just, like, bounce off of him from the impact of the slam?

Cleveland Cavaliers @cavs

HAVE MERCY! 🥶 #LetEmKnow

I really adore the Wily Veteran era of Ricky Rubio’s career.

NBA TV @NBATV

This sequence with Ricky Rubio 🔥

Hawks 111, Magic 99

Heat 101, Sixers 96 — Philadelphia came in just shy of full strength, not counting Ben Simmons. (Georges Niang and Furkan Korkmaz didn’t play.) Miami was missing its top three scorers. And yet …

Lakers 107, Mavericks 104 (OT) — I just want to point out that L.A. is now tied for the No. 5 spot in the West while Dallas is tied for the No. 7 spot.

Pacers 99, Bucks 114

Pelicans 113, Thunder 110

Hornets 131, Spurs 115 — Arrest Gordon Hayward for arson. 41 points in 29 minutes.

Wolves 124, Nuggets 107 — The concerns stated about Anthony Edwards coming out of Georgia in the draft were about his motor and about his jump shot. The motor concerns dissolved last year, for the most part: Ant Man was rough around the edges, but clearly cared deeply and seriously about winning.

Likewise, Edwards wasn’t a total disaster from deep: he was willing as a rookie to take threes, and made more than 30% of them while shooting almost 80% on free throws. Good fundamentals, something you can work with. He’s up above league average on three-point shooting this season on a high volume, and last night he hit 10 of them. Ten. Youngest player in NBA history to have 10 threes in a game.

There have been 194 games this season in which a team did not make 10 three-pointers. Hell, there have 42 games this season in which neither team made 10 threes. Those last two threes in this game — sizzling up Aaron Gordon on the stepback, frosted with the logo shot — were really smooth. Hella impressive from Ant.

Clippers 103, Jazz 124 — Eight straight wins for Utah.

Grizzlies 113, Blazers 103 — Seventh straight loss for Portland, who has it bad. Damian Lillard was 1/10 on two-pointers on the second game of the home back-to-back, but it was the Portland bench that gave up the rope. Lillard sat with 2:19 remaining in the third and the Blazers up six. He came back in with 9:50 left in the fourth and the Blazers were down six and never recovered. Memphis is good. Portland should be right there with them, especially with Ja Morant out.

Wizards 105, Kings 119 — I won’t lie: I definitely thought this was a Wizards win in the third quarter as Washington went on a run, so my attention waned. Plucky win for Sacramento, though, with Harrison Barnes blowing up in the fourth (15 points) and Doug Christie, filling in for Alvin Gentry, getting creative in the win. Of note: Davion Mitchell played the final eight minutes of the game, staying in there while Christie subbed Tyrese Haliburton, De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield in or out around him. The Kings went ultra-small for a crucial 2-minute stretch in crunch time with Barnes, Hield and the three guards on the floor. And it kind of held? Weird, interesting win for Sacramento. Washington needs more from Bradley Beal in winning time (2/7 in the fourth).

Schedule

Just four games due to our second Bulls postponement. All times Eastern.

Pistons at Pacers, 7
Sixers at Nets, 7:30, NBA TV
Knicks at Rockets, 8
Wizards at Suns, 9

Links

Spectacular Kirk Goldsberry piece on ESPN Insider on how early ankle injuries helped Steph Curry develop the skills necessary to become the all-time three-point king. ($)

Danny Ainge has come out of retirement to become the Utah Jazz’s new CEO. Ainge is close to new Jazz franchisee Ryan Smith and it sounds like GM Justin Zanik, who appears to be extremely good at his job based on how good the Jazz have been, will now report to Ainge. Interesting turn of events.

The Raptors are reducing arena capacity to 50% amid rising COVID-19 cases.

The NBA and players’ union are working through enhanced testing protocols given the changing landscape. It sounds like the league is prepared to adjust rules to avoid forcing asymptomatic players to quarantine for 10 days, if they can get public health expert buy-in.

I linked to Tim MacMahon’s big piece on the Rick Carlisle-Luka Doncic break-up yesterday. Dennis Smith Jr., who features in that story and is still in the NBA (Blazers), chimed in. This isn’t going well for Carlisle.

And finally. Shot: