Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. We’re here to talk about the daily happenings in the NBA!
The Milwaukee Bucks made a lot of threes against the Heat.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Lynne Sladky/AP.)
We have to remind people that the game is so different now.
The Milwaukee Bucks set a record for most three-pointers in a game. The deer sank 29 of those bad boys in their rout against the Miami Heat. I’m sure the Bucks waited to do that against the team that eliminated them in the Eastern Semis.
29 three-pointers! That’s 87 points worth of three-pointers!
And I’m sure people are like, “How many of these dang threes NBA players shoot nowadays?!” Hell, even within the last five years, there’s been a noted increase of threes attempted. Check out the league averages in three-pointers made and attempted:
(Data from Basketball Reference.)
Some people would tell you that the Golden State Warriors were the main reason why the league is now about three-point shooting. Well, they stand out because they’ve won three championships and had some of the best shooters of all-time in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant.
But in actuality, the Houston Rockets led in three-point attempts in 7 of the last 8 seasons (G. State led in 2016 when Curry shattered the record for most threes made in a season). They had a general manager in Daryl Morey (now in Philadelphia) who brought in the analytics to the team. The Rockets increasingly shot fewer midrange shots and were all about only lay-ups, dunks, and threes. And yes, they tried to employ that strategy even before mad scientist MIke D’Antoni got there.
The Bucks were fourth in attempts last season and second the season before that so it shouldn’t be any surprise that they’re the ones that broke the record for most threes (funny enough, the previous record was held by the Rockets themselves at 27). But that’s where the game is right now. Shooting threes is way more encouraged now than, say, a decade ago. And for the most part, players probably won’t get yanked for shooting a three. Remember when fastbreak threes were bad shots? Not anymore!
The Rockets also hold the record for most threes attempted at 70. Last season, the league average for team shots per game was at 88.8. Ridiculous, right? We’ll probably get to a point where half the shots taken in an NBA game are three-pointers. And with players getting better at shooting from long distance, it seems to be trending that way.
The game has changed, guys.
Bullet Passes
Remember that because of this pandemic, we have unusual scheduling for this NBA season. The Bucks and the Heat are going back-to-back in MIAMI.
I’m sure the Heat would love to avenge their 47-point loss against Milwaukee. But just like on Tuesday, Jimmy Butler will be sitting out as he has an ankle injury.
Lots of triple-doubles happened on Tuesday.
Russell Westbrook returned on the court and got himself 21-15-11. That’s three in three games for Russ and the only other player to get trip-dubs in the first three games of the season was Oscar Robertson.
The problem is that the Wiz are 0-4. Yikes.
Nikola Jokic got his second triple-double of the season by going 26-11-12. But some might call it a bad quadruple-double as he also had 10 giveaways.
The Kings beat the Nuggets down in the fourth quarter to take the win. The surprising Kings are 3-1 while Denver is off to a 1-3 start.
Julius Randle went for 28-12-11 as the Knicks handed the Cavaliers their first loss. It’s Randle’s 7th career such line. The Knicks are now 2-2.
Andrew Wiggins had a nice bounceback game with 27 points. The Warriors looked so bad early but I mean, one game is just one game. The Dubs are now back on .500.
Right after I touted the undefeated teams in the league, the Cavs and the Pacers lost on Tuesday. Celtics and Pacers also played back-to-back games in Indiana but they had the day off on Monday.
Orlando is, however, 4-0 for the first time in franchise history. Only the Magic and the Hawks stay unbeaten.
The Raptors are 0-3 and I’m starting to wonder if the losses of Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol hit them harder than people thought. Yes, Gasol was a traditional 5 and his age and mobility kept him out on small ball games but Ibaka was such a safety valve for Toronto on both ends.
Injuries suck.
Ja Morant has a Grade 2 ankle sprain that’ll keep him out for 3-5 weeks. That’s huge for Memphis. It may not be for long but the Grizz cannot get off to a bad start if they want to make the postseason. And they already have Jaren Jackson, Jr. and Justise Winslow out.
Kevin Love is out 3-4 weeks with a calf injury. The Cavs suffered their first loss on Tuesday.
Ban injuries.
NBA Scoreboard
Dec. 29, 2020
Watch This Play
The Thunder‘s Isaiah Roby made Nikola Vucevic look like he was walking on ice.
Isaiah Roby = fearless
19 points pic.twitter.com/12J7wR1U3b— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 30, 2020
What a jab that was. Vucevic did get the last laugh as his Magic stayed undefeated.
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.