🧾Box Scores🧾

Bucks-Spurs was the game of the SEASON

📈Fantasy Leaders📉

Giannis put up a MONSTER performance

League News

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton have been named Players of The Week for Week 9.

• NBA All Star Voting for 2023 is now open! Click here to do your daily vote.

• Tonight the unstoppable force met the immovable object, and fireworks ensued. For the first time, Giannis Antetokounmpo faced off against Victor Wembanyama. Giannis got the win, and he dropped an impressive 44/14/7 on 19-28 shooting. Wembanyama was on a minutes restriction, but still put up 27 and 9 with 5 blocks in just 26 minutes. There were so many highlights it’d take forever to list them all, so check them out here. This was one of the few times anyone has been able to keep up with Giannis in the paint, and Wemby was holding his own. Could this have been some kind of passing of the torch night?

• In other news: Nikola Jokic hits a game winner from Curry range

• Injury Updates: De’Andre Hunter (knee) will be out at least 2 weeks. Gabe Vincent (knee) will be out 6-8 weeks. Darius Garland (jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee) will both be out for at least 4 weeks. Mitchell Robinson (ankle) underwent surgery and will be out 8-10 weeks. LaMelo Ball’s (ankle) injury was described as “severe”, so expect him to miss some serious time. Ben Simmons (nerves) will miss 2+ weeks. Robert Williams underwent knee surgery and will be out for the season. Jae Crowder had surgery for an adductor/abdominal tear and will be out for 8 weeks. Mason Plumlee (MCL) will be out for 2 months. We wish all these guys speedy and successful recoveries.

Trade News

• The Bulls are looking to move Zach Lavine and possibly DeMar DeRozan. The Knicks signed Taj Gibson since Mitchell Robinson will miss considerable time. The Pacers are signing James Johnson because they clearly don’t want another Giannis Incident. Look for more moves sooner than later with veterans like Malcolm Brogdon looking to be moved in the coming weeks.

• 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.

NBA MVP Race

1. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

Last week’s ranking: No. 1

Season stats: 35.0 ppg, 11.7 rpg, 6.0 apg

His case: Embiid hasn’t played since Dec. 22 due to a sprained right ankle and stayed back in the Philadelphia area during the team’s current four-game road trip to receive treatment. Sixers coach Nick Nurse said the reigning MVP is back on the court working out.

But there’s a good chance we won’t see Embiid on the floor again until 2024, when Philadelphia hosts the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 2.

2. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Season stats: 26.3 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 9.2 apg

His case: Jokic and the Nuggets hosted Oklahoma City riding a season-high six-game winning streak after the big man dropped his third career triple-double Thursday in which he shot 100% from the floor. The 26-14-10 showing marked just the fourth triple-double since 1954-55 that featured 25 points or more and 100% on FGs.

By the way, the two-time MVP owns two of those performances.

3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Last week’s ranking: No. 3

Season stats: 30.8 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 5.6 apg

His case: The two-time former MVP produced his second game of the season Wednesday with 30-plus points on 80% from the field. He also appears poised to make NBA history as the first player to average 30 points or more on 60% shooting in a season.

With Antetokounmpo serving as the engine, Milwaukee is averaging franchise-highs in points per game (125.2), offensive rating (121.2) and effective field goal percentage (58.2%).

4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Last week’s ranking: No. 4

Season stats: 31.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 6.5 apg

His case: The third player to average 30-plus points and 2.5 steals per game through the first 25 outings of a season, Gilgeous-Alexander could become the first in league history to average 30 points or more on 55% shooting with 2.5 steals per game.

The OKC guard produced a 7-for-16 clunker the first time the Thunder faced Denver on Oct. 29. But he redeemed himself in the next meeting with a 25-point effort on Dec. 16 in Denver.

5. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks

Last week’s ranking: No. 5

Season stats: 33.7 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 9.2 apg

His case: Doncic gifted a 50-point double-double in Phoenix on Christmas Day and followed by dropping 39 points Wednesday in a loss to Cleveland, scoring 20 in the opening frame. The first-quarter explosion marked his third 20-point quarter this season, which is tops in the NBA.

Doncic sat out last Thursday’s loss at Minnesota while nursing a left quadriceps injury he aggravated on Christmas Day.

The Next Five:

6. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics (Last week: No. 6)
7. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves (Last week: No. 10)
8. Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers (Last week: No. 7)
9. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings (Last week: unranked)
10. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers (Last week: unranked)

🏀Highlights🏀

The highlights from the top games of the night!

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.

All Star 2023