Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. We’re here to talk about the daily happenings in the NBA!
Paul George had a hell of an opening night.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Hans Gutknecht/Los Angeles Daily News.)
It’s easy to make fun of Paul George. In the last few years, he’s had some unsuccessful playoff runs. Especially after he gave himself the nickname, Playoff P. Why would he do that?
Plus he tends to say things to please the home team and that contradicts himself. He’s said he’s wanted to play for both L.A. teams. George had an ESPN documentary series about his free agency where he ultimately stayed with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He said it was “more than just loyalty” and claimed that this was “the perfect opprtunity to bring a championship to OKC” (paraphrasing). But after getting eliminated by the Blazers in that now-legendary Damian Lillard walkoff three, he pretty much forced a trade to the Clippers in the offseason after being heavily recruited by Kawhi Leonard.
George once said that the Clippers last year were championship-or-bust then he said they weren’t after they were eliminated by Denver a few months ago.
I don’t think that George is lying but I think he wears his heart on his sleeve and says how he’s feeling at the moment. And it tends to contradict things that he has said earlier. Still, you just feel like he’s much better off saying less. I know how that feels in certain situations!
But I think the most maddening part about this is that a lot of people forget how good Paul George still is. He’s still one of the best two-way players in the league. George is downright scary on both ends of the court. He showed that today in their game against the Lakers. PG-13 was ablaze against the defending champs, scoring 12 straight points for the Clippers in the second half. He would score 26 of his 33 points after the first 24. Even though the Clippers blew a 22-point lead early in the first half (which got most of Twitter jumping again), they withstood those runs from the Lakers and eventually held them back, thanks to George.
So pundits and naysayers will say that this is just the regular season and that he would have to prove he could do this in the postseason. And that’s fine; he’s going to have to play well if the Clippers want to get that elusive ring. But the people have fun at George’s expense because of what has happened of late and what he says when he’s vulnerable. Normally, I’m all for vulnerability. But he might have to remember the things he has said in the past so that he doesn’t become a walking punchline even though he’s such a great basketball player.
Anyway, Paul George is still a star in this league. You just cringe at the stuff he says, sometimes, though.
Bullet Passes
The Lakers did receive their championship rings. They didn’t raise the championship banner, though, as they will wait for fans to be able to return to arenas before doing that act. Here’s the full video. Family members presenting the rings to the coaches and players via video (and later, face-to-face) should be a normal thing in ring ceremonies.
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA.)
In the first NBA game of the season, the Brooklyn Nets dumped all over the Golden State Warriors. I am happy to see Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Kyrie Irving all playing. Durant and Irving put on an exhibition in the first half and essentially put the game away early.
But you look deeper into that Nets squad and man, I didn’t realize how loaded they REALLY were. DeAndre Jordan, Joe Harris, and Spencer Dinwiddie rounded out the starting line-up but Brooklyn also has Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince, Landry Shamet, and Jeff Green all coming off the pine. And they still have Tyler Johnson and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (TLC! So I CREEP!) at the end of the bench. It’s ridiculous. Like I said, maybe I underrated them (I have them coming in 2nd in the East).
What I don’t get is that some people are saying Curry has to prove that he could get the Warriors to the postseason pretty much by himself. Dude, did you see what this guy did with Klay Thompson and a then-unproven Draymond Green? Yes, they also had Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut, and Shaun Livingston but they were all decidedly on the downside of their careers. They went 67-15 in 2014-15 and won the title. Like what else does Curry have to do?
Andrew Wiggins looked bad, REAL BAD, in this game. I can’t believe he’s in this 7th season. And people are STILL waiting for him to reach that potential.
On the other hand, James Wiseman didn’t look too lost in his NBA debut. He’s definitely raw but you can see he’s eager to learn. Wiseman finished with 19 points and 6 boards.
The new Lakers had mixed reviews in their debuts. Dennis Schröder (14-12-8) and Montrezl Harrell (17 points and 10 boards) had great energy even though Dennis didn’t shoot well. Wesley Matthews looked a bit lost and the Lakers were -18 when he was on the court. Marc Gasol got in foul trouble early and only had a single board and a single dime.
The new Clippers were also mixed. Serge Ibaka went for 15 points. Nicolas Batum had a nice floor game with 6 boards and 6 assists. Luke Kennard didn’t look like a $64 million man but he did get two steals.
But the Clippers won because their stars shined brighter. It’s nice in December. But can they get this done in the spring? Or in this case, summer?
NBA Scoreboard
Dec. 22, 2020
Watch This Play
Kelly Oubre, Jr. provides a powerhouse putback jam on Opening Day.
KELLY OUBRE! 😳 pic.twitter.com/zQrz3d0qWs
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 23, 2020
Too bad, that was a rare bright spot for the Dubs.
We’ll have a ton more NBA action on Wednesday!
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.