Steve Stoute was hired by the Knicks to help change the perception of the franchise, but it sounds like his job should be to make sure things like his own interview on ESPN’s First Take don’t happen.
Reasonable minds can quibble about when, exactly, Jayson Tatum became the best player on the Boston Celtics. There’s no official date everyone will agree on, but let’s call Jan. 11, 2020, a safe compromise. That night the Celtics beat the New Orleans Pelicans by 35 points. Tatum, who on Monday was named the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Week, scored a career-best 41 on only 22 shots. He grabbed six rebounds, tallied four assists, stole the ball three times, and did not turn it over once.
From earlier this afternoon, the Raptors’ Paul Watson, their latest two-way contract player, has been named to the 2019-20 Midseason All-NBA G League roster. The squads for both conferences can be found here.
The Memphis Grizzlies had to feel good about the state of their rebuild from the moment they hurdled six teams in the lottery to land the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Memphis’ transition out of the Grit-n-Grind era was already in full swing at that point: Zach Randolph and Tony Allen were long gone, and Marc Gasol was sent to Toronto at the trade deadline. The next generation of the Grizzlies would be shaped by 30-year-old general manager Zach Kleiman, and soon 35-year-old head coach Taylor Jenkins. Securing the No. 2 pick was all Memphis needed for the second phase of its bold makeover.
There were a few surprises to announce before Monday night’s Raptors vs. Timberwolves game. Kyle Lowry was in, Serge Ibaka was out, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was to get the start against the talented (and large) Karl-Anthony Towns. In theory, the new look T-Wolves, fresh off a satisfying streak-breaking win and welcoming aboard a healthy D’Angelo Russell, could have been considered the favourites. In theory. Instead, Toronto extended their win streak to 15 games — a new Canadian professional sports record — with a 137-126 victory. In retrospect: no surprise there.
USA Men’s Basketball has officially announced their preliminary roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and the Golden State Warriors are well represented. The 44-man roster includes three Warriors, and they’re exactly who you would expect: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
Just before the Miami Heat’s current five-game road trip — one that Miami is currently 0-3 on — the Heat called up 2019 second-round pick KZ Okpala, who had been with the Sioux Falls Skyforce since December.
There are a lot of storylines tonight as the Golden State Warriors host the Miami Heat at 7:30 p.m. PT on NBC Sports Bay Area.
The Miami Heat (34-18) are currently riding its longest losing streak, at three games, and will be looking to take advantage of an injury-ravaged Golden State Warriors team. Both teams have only played one game so far with their remade rosters, with the Heat adding Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala to the rotation, and the Warriors trading away D’Angelo Russell, Jacob Evans, Omari Spellman, Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks at the deadline, and getting back Andrew Wiggins from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
