Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily, even when COVID has ravaged the league.
Stephen Curry’s run, even including that loss to Boston, is being overlooked by strange everyday MVP talks.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Dwyer/AP.)
We had an incredible game happen on Saturday night as the streaking Boston Celtics (now winners of 6 straight) stopped the Golden State Warriors (who had their 4-game win streak snapped). Stephen Curry‘s 47 points was countered by Jayson Tatum‘s 44.
Curry has been on an incredible run. He has scored 30 points in 10 straight games and has averaged 39.1 points in that span. In the last week, he has also made 10 3-pointers or more in three games. If you don’t understand how insane that is, no one else has done that feat in an ENTIRE SEASON. Curry did it in a week.
Meanwhile, Tatum is having his own great stretch. He’s averaging 32.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in this 6-game win streak. Two weeks prior, we had people down on Tatum and the Celtics. They have responded quite well since then and are making idiots eat their own feet. Curry and the Celtics have been good stories recently.
Which brings me to the real crux of the problem. We have big networks talking about the MVP all the time. It’s like they’re trying so hard to discredit the season Nikola Jokic is having, who, at this point, SHOULD be the favorite to win the Most Valuable Player award. Look, I’ve talked about the MVP award, too. But I don’t bring it up every day, either, and y’all know I post here every single day. There are plenty of excellent stories going on in the league. Even when the league has been decidedly not fun. We mentioned Stephen Curry’s run. The Celtics are on a surge. So are the Knicks. What about what the Jazz and Suns are doing? Even the Hawks are doing quite well after a not-so-great start.
And, yes, I get that conflict sells. Negative press sells. Debate sells. But there is also something to be had about the fun of the sport. It’s why I like talking about the positive things. There is no need to bring down some individual or team just to make a point. There are plenty of feelgood stories to talk about in sports. There are 30 teams. There are more than 450 players. There are more than 2,000 regular season games to look at. We all have our stories about them. And we can all find something positive about them. We don’t need to go back to the same ol’ tired arguments, man.
So that’s all. I want to give props to the Warriors and Celtics for putting on a show. MVP talk can be for another day. Just not… every day.
Bullet Passes
The Utah Jazz didn’t have Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, and Mike Conley in addition to losing Donovan Mitchell. They took the Lakers, who are also undermanned, to overtime but L.A. prevailed.
Like most other games, this doesn’t really tell us anything. But it is a W for the Lakers and those count.
The resting policy is so weird in the league. The Spurs, who are notorious for resting star players, got fined once again for sitting out DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and Patty Mills.
But Poeltl and Mills, as much as they’re rotation players, are not “stars.” And, also, the Spurs were playing their 5th game in a week. Of course, they’re going to be tired.
What’s even more puzzling? They blew out the Phoenix Suns. The Spurs were obviously doing just fine without their “star players.” They have to do better with this.
Russell Westbrook got his 11th triple-double in 13 games. That is REMARKABLE. He has 25 overall this season. I feel this doesn’t get talked about enough.
The Bulls kept up with the Wizards by finally winning a game. Both teams are 23-33 in the 10th spot but Chicago owns the tiebreaker.
Grayson Allen is averaging 17 points while shooting .455 from three in his last 7 games. Hmmmm.
By the way, the Suns losing to the Spurs meant that they’re still 1.5 games behind the Jazz. Utah also lost and Phoenix blew a golden opportunity to gain a game.
NBA Scoreboard
Apr. 17, 2021
Watch This Play
Westbrook can still do this. Ridiculous.
(VIDEO CREDIT: House of Highlights.)
Even AFTER multiple knee surgeries. It’s unbelievable.
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.
R.I.P. Nala.