Top Stories

• Clippers outlast Bulls

• Celtics beat Suns

• Luka continues his Magic

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Games of the day

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

The Clippers overcame another slow start last night, winning after being down double digits to the Bulls multiple times this game. LA is proof that star power wins you games, as the depleted Bulls couldn’t overcome PG, Harden, and Kawhi. George and Leonard only combined for 42 points, but both were efficient on both ends of the court. Harden had his 76th career Triple-Double, keeping him at 8th all time. Harden needs 3 more to pass Wilt Chamberlain for 7th place.

Jayson Tatum stunk up another game while the stacked Celtics carried him to victory. Unironically it was Luke Kornet and Payton Pritchard that sparked the Celtics victory. Kevin Durant scored 45 points on 18-26 shooting, trying his best to carry Phoenix to victory. Boston was in danger of it’s first 3 game losing streak all year, but they squeaked out a close one to keep that from happening.

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League News

Around the League

• LeBron James and Jaylen Brown have been named Players of The Week for Week 19.

• Luka Doncic became the first NBA player to record six consecutive 30-point triple-doubles as the Dallas Mavericks pulled away in the second half and beat the Detroit Pistons 142-124 last night. Doncic finished with 39 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, beating Russell Westbrook’s mark of five straight 30-point triple-doubles. He also extended his own record with a fifth straight 35-point triple-double. Kyrie Irving added 21 points for Dallas, which has won two in a row after a three-game losing streak. The game got scrappy down the stretch. With 9:07 left, Stanley Umude was whistled for a flagrant four for hitting Hardaway in the head. Then, with 7:03 left, Jalen Duren fouled Gafford hard as he went to the basket on what would have been Doncic’s 10th assist. P.J. Washington lightly pushed Duren away from Gafford, who was on the floor, and Duren responded with a much harder shove, bringing all 10 players into the scrum. Doncic left the game immediately after getting his 10th rebound.

• Injury Updates: Ben Simmons (back) is out for the season. Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) underwent surgery and will be re-evaluated in one month. Evan Mobley (ankle) will miss at least one week. Josh Richardson (shoulder) had surgery and will be out for the season. Russell Westbrook (hand) underwent surgery and is expected back by the playoffs. Scottie Barnes (hand) underwent surgery and will be out 4 weeks. Trae Young (hand) had surgery and will be re-evaluated in 3 weeks. Dyson Daniels (meniscus) will be re-evaluated in 2 weeks. OG Anunoby (elbow) will miss 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 2-3 more weeks. Desmond Bane (ankle) will miss 2-4 weeks. Marcus Smart (finger) will be out 3 weeks. Gabe Vincent (knee) will be out at least 3 more weeks. Mitchell Robinson (ankle) underwent surgery and will be out 2-5 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 Miami Heat signed Patty Mills. Isaiah Thomas signed with the Utah Jazz G-League affiliate in hopes to return to the league. The Free Agent market is still deep with vets like Kemba Walker, Nerlens Noel, Dwight Howard, Rudy Gay, Blake Griffin, Tyreke Evans, Austin Rivers, Montrezl Harrell (he’ll be out for a few more months), 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 Kai Jones (yikes), Kevin Porter Jr (yikes again), Sharife Cooper, and Darius Bazley.

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NBA MVP Race

1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Last week’s ranking: No. 1

Season stats: 26 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 9.2 apg

His case: Dropped a 32-point triple-double against the Celtics Thursday to move within a game of the Western Conference lead, and punctuated the performance with a spinning dime.

Jokic notched his 51st double-double on Tuesday in an overtime loss to Phoenix. Even still, the Nuggets are 7-1 since the All-Star break.

2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Season stats: 31.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 6.5 apg

His case: The Thunder star picked up his career-high 46th game with 30 points or more this season in Wednesday’s win at Portland to cap a four-game road trip. He’s now only one game short of the OKC franchise record for 30-point games, reached twice by Kevin Durant (2009-10 and ’13-14).

3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Last week’s ranking: No. 3

Season stats: 30.7 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 6.3 apg

His case: Antetokounmpo returned to the lineup Wednesday after sitting out Monday due to left Achilles tendinitis. But even the two-time MVP couldn’t help the Bucks in a 125-90 loss to Golden State.

The 29-year-old scored 23 points with seven rebounds and six assists. Still, the Warriors manhandled the bigger Bucks in the paint, outrebounding them 50-36 while outscoring them 54-36 in that area. Additionally, rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis flat-out gave Antetokounpo fits.

4. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Last week’s ranking: No. 4

Season stats: 26.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 4.8 apg

His case: The NBA’s longest winning streak ended Tuesday at Cleveland in a game in which Tatum scored two points in the fourth quarter. The trio of Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis combined for 64 points in the first three quarters before totaling seven in a final frame they entered leading by 16.

The Celtics followed with a loss Thursday at Denver in a potential NBA Finals preview. They’ve dropped two straight for the first time since early November.

5. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks

Last week’s ranking: No. 5

Season stats: 34.6 ppg, 9 rpg, 9.8 apg

His case: He started the week winning Kia NBA Western Conference Player of the Month for the fourth time in his career. Doncic is just two Player of the Month awards away from catching Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki’s career total (six).

Still, individual brilliance hasn’t translated into team success for the eighth-place Mavs. The 25-year-old joined Russell Westbrook as the only players in NBA history to log five-straight 30-plus point triple-doubles as he reached that mark in a Thursday win vs. Miami.

The Next Five:

6. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings (Last week: No. 6)
7. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers (Last week: No. 9)
8. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers (Last week: No. 8)
9. Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns (Last week: No. 10)
10. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers (Last week: No. 7)

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Fantasy Leaders

Luka doing Luka things

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.