Top Stories

• Bucks blow 20 point lead to Lakers

• Warriors beat Heat for much needed win

• How has the Dame trade worked for Milwaukee so far?

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Games of the day

Last Night’s Top Games! (link to the box scores of every game from yesterday)

Staring at a double-digit deficit midway through the fourth quarter without LeBron James available, Austin Reaves and the Los Angeles Lakers faced a clear choice. Can’t believe i’m saying this, but Reaves was the driving force in the Lakers comeback. Reaves had his second career triple-double and made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 38 seconds left in the second overtime as the Lakers overcame James' absence and rallied to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 128-124 on Tuesday night.

Reaves had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in 47 minutes as the Lakers opened a six-game road trip by winning their fourth straight despite trailing by 19 points in the fourth quarter and never leading in regulation. Anthony Davis provided 34 points and 23 rebounds while playing 52 minutes despite dealing with a knee problem late in the game. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points, a season-high 21 rebounds and 11 assists for his ninth triple-double of the season. Damian Lillard scored 27 but shot 9 of 29. Malik Beasley added 21. The exhaustion of both teams was apparent as nobody scored in the first three minutes of the second overtime. The Lakers briefly trailed by two in the second OT, but pulled ahead for good on Reaves’ last-minute 3-pointer.

The Warriors trend of having more wins on the road than at home continued last night. Klay Thompson returned to the starting lineup and scored 28 points, Kuminga added 18 and the Warriors pulled away in the second half to beat the still-shorthanded Miami Heat 113-92. The Warriors are 18-19 at home and now 19-15 on the road; they're on pace to be the second team in NBA history to finish with a winning record overall while having a below .500 record at home. Curry and Andrew Wiggins each scored 17 for Golden State, which led by two at the half and then led by as many as 22 points in the fourth. The Warriors (37-34) moved a full game ahead of Houston in the race for 10th — and the final play-in spot — in the Western Conference.

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League News

Around the League

• Anthony Davis and Derrick White have been named Players of The Week for Week 22.

• The Milwaukee Bucks have experienced the 2023-24 season at different speeds. It’s been around six months since they brought in Damian Lillard, a trade that shook the league. It sent a message across the NBA’s other title contenders, but we knew it would give the Bucks enough highlights, lowlights, promises and headaches for years to come. The excitement that followed Dame to Milwaukee as some sort of presumed favorite to reach the NBA Finals got swapped for some negative emotion a few days later. Jrue Holiday got traded from Portland to Boston, about the worst outcome possible for Giannis and the Bucks. Even worse, Lillard didn’t get the team he reportedly wanted, Miami, and while going through a divorce admitted he was lonely in his new town. Khris Middleton’s multiple injury sagas have lasted nearly the whole season. Even dealing with all that, Milwaukee made it into January with a 30-13 record, second-best in the league and just a few games behind the Celtics in the East. Then Adrian Griffin got fired. Firing him at 30-13 seemed like a horrible decision, and still does, as Milwaukee is still a title contender regardless of the coach. A few days later, along came Doc Rivers to try to fix whatever was wrong with the Bucks: their record looked better than the reality of bad chemistry, fake confidence and horrible perimeter D. They’re currently 14-11 under Rivers with 10 games to go. Depending on how the playoffs go, it may not be crazy to eventually say that the Dame trade worked out better for Boston than it did for Milwaukee.

• Injury Updates: Brandon Ingram (knee) will miss at least 2 weeks. Ausar Thompson (blood clot) is out for the season. Christian Wood (knee) underwent surgery and will be out multiple weeks. Bilal Coulibaly (wrist) sustained a fracture and will be out for the season. Alperen Sengun (ankle and knee) is likely out for the season. Saddiq Bey (knee) tore his ACL and is out for the season. Benedict Mathurin (shoulder) underwent surgery and is out for the season. Ben Simmons (back) is out for the season. Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) underwent surgery and will be re-evaluated in 3 weeks. Evan Mobley (ankle) will miss at least one more week. Josh Richardson (shoulder) had surgery and will be out for the season. Scottie Barnes (hand) underwent surgery and will be out 3 weeks. Trae Young (hand) had surgery and will be re-evaluated in 2 weeks. Jarred Vanderbilt (foot) will miss “several weeks”. Joel Embiid (torn meniscus) will be out for 1-2 months. Julius Randle (shoulder) will be out 1-2 more weeks. Marcus Smart (finger) will be out 1 more week. Gabe Vincent (knee) will be out at least 1 more week. Mitchell Robinson (ankle) underwent surgery and will be out 2-3 weeks. Tari Eason (leg) had surgery and will be out for the season. Patrick Williams (foot) had surgery and will be out for the season. Zach LaVine (foot) underwent surgery and will be out for the season. Robert Williams underwent knee surgery and will be out for the season. Ja Morant had surgery on a torn labrum and will miss the rest of the season. We wish all these guys speedy and successful recoveries.

Front Office Moves

• The Free Agent market is still deep with vets like Kemba Walker, Nerlens Noel, Dwight Howard, Rudy Gay, Blake Griffin, Tyreke Evans, Austin Rivers, and John Wall ready to contribute to winning or to mentor young guys. Joe Harris, Victor Oladipo, and Killian Hayes were all cut or waived by their teams and are available to be signed. There are a few younger names on the market, like Kevin Porter Jr and Darius Bazley.

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NBA MVP Race

1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Last week’s ranking: No. 1

Season stats: 26.1 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 9 apg

His case: Maybe Jokic does have eyes in the back of his head. As long as the 29-year-old keeps dropping triple-doubles like the one orchestrated last Thursday in a quality win over the Knicks, he’ll remain so far ahead of the field he won’t be able to see it in the rearview anyway.

The 30-14-11 performance against New York, snapped the Knicks’ four-game winning streak and came on the heels of a 35-point, 16-rebound gem in a gritty road win at Minnesota.

2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Season stats: 30.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 6.4 apg

His case: Extended his franchise record of 30-point games last Wednesday to 50 (an NBA-high) with 31 points against Utah. The 25-year-old scored 20 of those points in the second half, as Oklahoma City captured its third-straight win and 13th in its last 16 outings.

T-3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Last week’s ranking: No. 3

Season stats: 30.7 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 6.4 apg

His case: Antetokounmpo appears to be losing some ground after missing two games dealing with a left hamstring issue. The 29-year-old returned last Thursday and contributed to Milwaukee’s 115-108 win against Brooklyn.

He scored 21 points with nine rebounds and five assists in the victory. But the Bucks are currently riding the hot hand of Damian Lillard, who has averaged 31 points and 11.3 assists over the team’s last three outings.

T-3. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks

Last week’s ranking: No. 4

Season stats: 34.1 ppg, 9 rpg, 9.8 apg

His case: Doncic produced perhaps the ugliest triple-double of the season Tuesday in San Antonio, shooting 6 of 27 against the NBA’s 28th-rated defense. But this is all about winning, and the 25-year-old keeps delivering on that front.

Doncic scored 34 points with nine rebounds Thursday against Utah to push Dallas into sixth in the West. He just needs to maintain the momentum. Doncic needs just three more 30-5-5 games to tie Oscar Robertson for the most such outings in a single season.

5. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Last week’s ranking: No. 5

Season stats: 27.1 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 4.9 apg

His case: The savvy 25-year-old put up a couple of 30-point showings this week to increase his 30-point games total to 25, which is tied for sixth in the NBA. Tatum scored 23 points in last Wednesday’s first half against a shorthanded Bucks squad missing Antetokounmpo.

Of the top five MVP candidates, Tatum holds the lowest usage percentage (29.6%) outside of Jokic (28.7%). Still, you can’t discount his contributions to Boston’s double-digit game lead in the East.

THE NEXT FIVE

6. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings (Last week’s ranking: No. 6)
7. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers (Last week’s ranking: No. 7)
8. Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns (Last week’s ranking: No. 8)
9. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns (Last week’s ranking: No. 10)
10. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves (Last week’s ranking: unranked)

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Fantasy Leaders

Austin Reaves makes his Top 3 debut

Overtime Thoughts

Hoopgrids

Hoopgrids is a daily basketball trivia game. You cross match each category to find a player that fits both. The rarer the player, the lower the score. The goal is to get the lowest rarity score possible.