Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. We’re here to talk about the daily happenings in the NBA!
Hoping for Jayson Tatum to stay healthy.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Nic Antaya/Getty Images.)
So as we all found out, the Heat/Celtics game was postponed because there weren’t enough players to play on Miami’s side due to health and safety protocols (a term that we have been saying way too much as of late). Boston was near that threshold, too.
Obviously, on a health standpoint, the league will do what they can to ensure the health and safety of their players and staff. That’s way more important than anything.
However, on the competitive side, it seems a bit unfair. The Sixers only had 8 players available against the Nuggets on Saturday and they had to play their game. Sure, we got to see Tyrese Maxey blow up for 39 points. But their top players were out (injuries and contact tracing) and Philly took a loss instead of getting their game postponed.
This is the second time this season a game has been postponed (Thunder/Rockets from December 23 was also rescheduled). And it’s not looking any brighter, either. The Sixers are scheduled to play Atlanta and the team has 8 players out for that Monday night game. It seems like that game is also in danger of getting postponed. Seth Curry tested positive on COVID on Thursday, which led to a lot of players going into quarantine.
And we have seen many players test positive or/and go into quarantine. Jayson Tatum tested positive on Saturday and he’ll have to sit out for probably two weeks. Bradley Beal had to sit out because of contact tracing. It’s only going to get more difficult as the NBA has returned to a semi-regular traveling schedule; we knew this was going to be risky. Going into a bubble could be an option sooner than later as the league’s competitive balance and health are starting to compromise a bit.
I’ve said before that it’s getting more and more difficult to talk about basketball. Things could get worse before they get better even though a vaccine is in sight for all of us, including the NBA players. We’ll continue to monitor what happens in the next few days or weeks. The No-Look Pass might go into just bullet passes in the near future because it’s tough to talk about competition when a lot of players are sitting out due to COVID.
Bullet Passes
It seems like a great sign when Stephen Curry shoots terribly and the Warriors still win. They beat their 2019 NBA Finals opponents, the Toronto Raptors, after Damion Lee made clutch free throws and Pascal Siakam‘s jumper didn’t go in. The Warriors are now 6-4 while the Raptors sink to 2-7.
Kevin Durant returned to action and it happened to be against his old team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. He went for 36 points and 11 boards but the Thunder had a huge third quarter that put them over the top.
Kyrie Irving is still out due to personal reasons and, quite frankly, I’m worried about him. Hope he’s doing okay.
Zach LaVine went for 45 points against the Clippers but he wishes it could be 48 after he badly missed that three with 7 seconds left. Kawhi Leonard had 35 as the Clips barely escaped the cows from Chicago.
So Jerami Grant has really taken to his increased workload in Detroit. He went for 28 points in a loss against the Jazz but look at him eat with 25.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game!
It’s good that Grant is doing well in Detroit because one of their former players is also thriving. Christian Wood, who now plays for Houston, had 23 points in a loss against the Lakers. He has averages of 23.3 points and 9.7 rebounds. Right now, Grant and Wood are the frontrunners for Most Improved Player.
Or maybe it could be Talen Horton-Tucker. He had a career game against the Rockets with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals. It’s hard to be a secret when you play for the Lakers so I expect teams to make a play for him this coming offseason.
NBA Scoreboard
Jan. 10, 2021
Watch This Play
Caris Levert goes fivehole on Al Horford to Jarrett Allen.
Not bad in real time either pic.twitter.com/djK7Om4uIu
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 10, 2021
The Nets did lose the game, which is starting to get a bit baffling, but, at least, they were fancy in their loss.
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.