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Knicks make a Protest, Shaq gets Jersey Retired

Knicks make a Protest, Shaq gets Jersey Retired

February 14th

Games of the day

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

Somehow Paolo Banchero became an All Star without ever playing on National TV. Last night was his FIRST nationally televised game in his time playing in the NBA, and he did not disappoint. He finished the night with 23/6/10 on super efficient shooting, but he and the Magic fell short against one of the elite teams in the league. SGA and Jaylen Williams dominated again, both dropping 30+ points each. Orlando has a bright future behind their defensive identity and pair of star young forwards in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.

Once again, Domantas Sabonis put the Kings on his back, and once again they fell short of a win. Sabonis, the league leader in triple-doubles, dropped 35/18/12, and De’Aaron Fox contributed 40 pts and looked like his All Star caliber self again. They fell to the balanced attack of the Suns, even when Bradley Beal only played 5 mins due to injury. KD had 28/11, and D-Book chipped in 25. If Phoenix can play a balanced style of basketball, instead of playing all iso ball, then they have a much better chance to make it far in the playoffs.

Shaq becomes the first player in Magic franchise history to have his jersey retired, and it’s been a long time coming. O’Neal is the 2nd greatest player in Magic history (Dwight Howard did more for the Organization for longer), and is the 3rd player to have his jersey retired by 3 franchises, joining Wilt Chamberlain (Warriors/Sixers/Lakers) and Pete Maravich (Hawks/Jazz/Pelicans). Orlando will likely retire more jerseys next, and the likely candidates would be Dwight Howard, Penny Hardaway, and Tracy McGrady.

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League News

Doncic’s 11th career POTW (via NBA)

Mitchell’s 6th career POTW (via NBA)

Around the League

Luka Doncic and Donovan Mitchell have been named Players of The Week for Week 16.
The NBA released the L2M report from the Knicks-Rockets game and confirmed that the call on Jalen Brunson was indeed incorrect. The Knicks have filed an official protest to the league office. If the NBA rules in favor of the Knicks, both teams will return to Houston to play an overtime period. Only 6 protests in NBA HISTORY have been upheld, with the last one being in 2007. That was when the Miami Heat filed a complaint when Shaq’s number of fouls was incorrectly called at 6 instead of 5. The teams eventually played out the time remaining in the game, which was only 51.9 seconds left, and Shaq had even been traded from Miami by this point (Miami still ended up losing). The precedent is that vast majority of protests will not be upheld, but if the Knicks even get the chance to play it out, they still have to get a win, which is not guaranteed whatsoever.
Injury Updates: OG Anunoby (elbow) will miss 3+ 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 4 weeks. Marcus Smart (finger) will be out 3 weeks. Chris Paul underwent surgery on his left hand and will miss 1-3 weeks. Gabe Vincent (knee) will be out at least 3 weeks. Mitchell Robinson (ankle) underwent surgery and will be out 4-6 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

Brooklyn traded Spencer Dinwiddie for Dennis Schroder and Thaddeus Young. The Bucks traded Cam Payne for Patrick Beverley. Philly traded Marcus Morris and Furkan Korkmaz for Indiana’s Buddy Hield. Minnesota traded Troy Brown Jr and Shake Milton and a 2nd round pick to Detroit for Monte Morris. Utah traded Simone Fontecchio to Detroit for Kevin Knox and a 2nd round pick. Memphis traded Xavier Tillman to Boston for Lamar Stevens and two 2nd round picks.
Phoenix signed Thaddeus Young, and they’re looking to sign Danilo Gallinari. The Toronto Raptors signed Justice Winslow. The Lakers signed Spencer Dinwiddie. The Sixers signed Kyle Lowry. 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. Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie, Danilo Gallinari, 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: 26.3 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 9 apg

His case: Jokic helped the Nuggets to their eighth win in 10 outings Thursday with 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists against the Lakers on the road. Despite squandering a 15-point lead in the second half, Denver closed on a 10-2 run in the final 2:18 for the win.

This season, Jokic has 32 games with 25 points or more, five-plus rebounds and five-plus assists. He had 32 such games in total last season.

2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Season stats: 31.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 6.6 apg

His case: Scored 28 points in combining with Jalen Williams (26 points) and Chet Holmgren (22 points) for 76 of his team’s 117 points in a loss to Utah that snapped a three-game winning streak.

Gilgeous-Alexander is the eighth player in NBA history to produce 30 games with 30-plus points in the first 41 games of the season. He’ll lead OKC on Saturday into what should be a fun road game in Dallas against Doncic (3 p.m ET, NBA TV).

3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Last week’s ranking: No. 4

Season stats: 31.1 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 6.4 apg

His case: Antetokounmpo was limited to fewer than 20 points for just the fifth time this season Thursday as the shorthanded Bucks suffered their worst home loss of the season to Minnesota.

Milwaukee rested Antetokounmpo for the final 16 minutes with the game out of hand, which means he’ll be refreshed for Friday’s home matchup against Charlotte. Before the loss to Minnesota, the two-time MVP had scored 33-plus points in his three previous outings.

4. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks

Last week’s ranking: No. 6

Season stats: 34.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 9.5 apg

His case: Lit up the ailing New York Knicks for 39 points on Thursday to lead Dallas to its first three-game winning streak since early January. The performance marked Doncic’s 34th 30-point game of the season, which ranks No. 2 behind Gilgeous-Alexander, not to mention his 29th double-double.

The Mavs tip off a four-game homestand on Saturday against Oklahoma City and sit just a game behind Sacramento for the No. 7 seed in the West.

5. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Last week’s ranking: No. 5

Season stats: 26.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 4.5 apg

His case: Led by Tatum, the Celtics continue to take care of business at home, going 4-2 on this seven-game run that ended Friday against Washington. The 25-year-old has flirted in triple-double territory in each of his last two games.

Tatum has put together 33 games with six-plus made 3-pointers, which ranks No. 2 in NBA history for a forward or center behind Paul George (52 games).

THE NEXT FIVE

6. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers (Last week’s ranking: No. 8)
7. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings (Last week’s ranking: No. 7)
8. Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns (Last week’s ranking: No. 9)
9. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers (Last week’s ranking: Not ranked)
10. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers (Last week’s ranking: Not ranked)

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Fantasy Leaders

Sabonis keeps the Triple-Doubles rolling

Overtime Thoughts

At this point this isn’t even a hot take

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.