Steph Curry’s NBA return for his first game since fracturing his hand in October was fun as hell, even though the Warriors lost, 121-113, to the Raptors at home. It took Curry until the second quarter to get rolling scoring the ball, but once he was on, he never let up.
The Houston Rockets defied convention at the trade deadline when they dealt away Clint Capela for Robert Covington, electing to permanently start a lineup without a traditional center. They’ve had substantial success since then, but the Clippers presented the toughest challenge to date: A team replete with big, physical wings to counter the Pocket Rockets.
james Harden’s legacy, status, and reputation forced their way into the NBA news cycle during his recent on-camera interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. In it, Harden reacted to Nichols’ line of questioning with faux disinterest, as if feeding his own narrative was beneath him, while what he actually wanted was to set the record straight.
While Zion Williamson’s 20-point game streak grows, New Orleans dropped the first leg of a back-to-back to the overhauled Minnesota Timberwolves at home Tuesday night.
1st Quarter:
The Heat were aggressive to start with Jimmy Butler scoring twice early on. On the other end it was Giannis and Middleton getting things done for the Bucks.
With 23 games left in their regular season schedule, the Los Angeles Lakers have an opportunity to clinch a spot in the 2020 NBA playoffs as soon as Tuesday night. While they won’t know exactly where they’ll be seeded for a little while longer, they currently sit atop of the Western Conference — the same place they’ve been since the start of November — with a 5.5 game cushion over the No. 2 seed, the Denver Nuggets.
The Philadelphia 76ers are exactly where they shouldn’t be months away from the NBA playoffs that are supposed to validate The Process.
The Orlando Magic will make the playoffs for the second straight season after six years out of the money. In some realms, that’s nice. That’s positive. That’s progress. The Magic slipped into the No. 7 seed over the injury-ridden Brooklyn Nets late last week and have five games on the No. 9 Washington Wizards with 23 games to go. FiveThirtyEight gives Orlando a better than 99 percent probability of making the playoffs.
What makes an NBA Coach of the Year?
