Cleveland on the rise

February 7th

Box Scores

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Games of the day

Last Nights top games!

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League News

Leonard’s 9th career POTW (via NBA)

Young’s 7th career POTW (via NBA)

Around the League

Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been named Players of The Week for Week 14.
Cleveland is on an absolute roll right now. They’ve battled up to 2nd in the East behind Boston, and they’ve done most of the work without a pair of all stars in Evan Mobley and Darius Garland. Both of them were out with injury for extended time until recently, but Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen have held down the fort. The Cavs are currently on a 6 game win streak, are 9-1 in their last 10 games, and have the 2nd best defense among Eastern Conference teams. They’re definitely a matchup nightmare, with Mobley and Allen locking down the middle while Garland and Mitchell score from all 3 levels. Add in shooters like Max Strus and Caris LeVert and the defensive ability of Isaac Okoro, and you’ve got a complete wildcard. Don’t sleep on the Cavs, cause if you do, you may be surprised in the worst way.
Injury Updates: Isaiah Stewart (ankle) will be out 1-2 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 weeks. Desmond Bane (ankle) will miss 6+ weeks. Marcus Smart (finger) will be out 6+ weeks. Chris Paul underwent surgery on his left hand and will miss 3-5 weeks. Gabe Vincent (knee) will be out at least 4 weeks. Mitchell Robinson (ankle) underwent surgery and will be out 8-10 weeks. 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

Memphis traded Steven Adams for Victor Oladipo and 3 second round picks from Houston. Miami traded Kyle Lowry and a 1st round pick for Terry Rozier. Indiana traded Jordan Nwora and Bruce Brown for Pascal Siakam. Look for more moves sooner than later with veterans like Malcolm Brogdon looking to be moved in the coming weeks.
The Golden State Warriors are reportedly looking to clean house. Everyone not named Steph Curry is available for trade, and they’re hoping to be be able to move on from Andrew Wiggins and acquire “an offensive minded 7 footer.”
The Los Angeles Lakers are linked to literally everyone, including but not limited to: Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, Andre Drummond, Bruce Brown, Dejounte Murray, Tyus Jones, Collin Sexton, Dennis Schroeder, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Miles Bridges.
The Free Agent market is still deep with vets like DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, Dwight Howard, Rudy Gay, Blake Griffin, Tyreke Evans, Austin Rivers, Montrezl Harrell (he’ll be out for a few months), and John Wall ready to contribute to winning or to mentor young guys. 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. 2

Season stats: 26.3 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 9.0 apg

His case: Jokic followed up a 26-point, 16-rebound showing in a Saturday win over Philadelphia with a 25-point triple-double last Monday to spoil Doc Rivers’ Bucks debut. The game marked Jokic’s league-best 14th triple-double of the season.

Lower back pain forced the two-time MVP to miss his second game of the season last Wednesday in what turned out to be a hotly contested loss to Oklahoma City.

2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Last week’s ranking: No. 3

Season stats: 31.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 6.4 apg

His case: Gilgeous-Alexander shook off back-to-back losses to Detroit and Minnesota by extending his career-long streak of 30-point games to eight last Wednesday in a win over the Jokic-less Nuggets. Oklahoma City won the season series vs. Denver 3-1, marking the first time it has done that since the 2016-17 season.

3. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

Last week’s ranking: No. 1

Season stats: 35.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 5.7 apg

His case: A strange late scratch created the perception that Embiid was ducking a matchup in Denver against Jokic. But the reality, it appears, is he was dealing with a serious injury suffered two days prior in Indiana.

The Sixers are 4-9 this season without Embiid and are working to put together a treatment plan for him. An extended timetable for return could push Embiid off this list altogether given the league’s participation requirements.

4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Last week’s ranking: No. 4

Season stats: 30.9 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 6.1 apg

His case: Antetokounmpo continues to stuff the stat sheet. But the two-time MVP’s seven-game streak of double-doubles ended last Wednesday in Portland in a game where he missed two free throws with fewer than three seconds remaining and his team down three points.

5. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Last week’s ranking: No. 5

Season stats: 26.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 4.4 apg

His case: In the middle of a seven-game homestand, Boston squandered an opportunity to run its winning streak to three in a row this past Thursday against a Lakers squad without LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Tatum scored a game-high 23 points in the loss for a team that started 20-0 at home but has since lost three of the last five at TD Garden. Tatum produced his ninth 30-5-5 game in last Tuesday’s win over Indiana.

The next five:

6. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (Last week: No. 6)
7. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings (Last week: No. 7)
8. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers (Last week: No. 9)
9. Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns (Last week: No. 8)
10. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns (Last week: No. 10)

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Fantasy Leaders

I never expected Donte to make Top 3 twice in a season 😭

Overtime Thoughts

Crazy how less than $5m broke this trio up, makes you wonder what could’ve been

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.