Today’s Top Stories

• Warriors beat Sixers

• Rising Stars rosters announced

• Steph vs Sabrina at All Star Weekend

• Trade deadline is 8 days away

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Box Scores

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Games of the day

Last Nights top games!

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

League News

Around the League

• Devin Booker and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been named Players of The Week for Week 14.

• The league recently released the Top 15 selling jerseys for the first half of the season, and there were quite a few surprises. The players, in order, were (1) Stephen Curry, (2) Jayson Tatum, (3) LeBron James, (4) Victor Wembanyama, (5) Giannis Antetokounmpo, (6) Luka Doncic, (7) Devin Booker, (8) Kevin Durant, (9) Tyrese Maxey, (10) Damian Lillard, (11) Ja Morant, (12) Joel Embiid, (13) LaMelo Ball, (14) Nikola Jokic, and (15) De’Aaron Fox. Notable surprises are Jayson Tatum at 2, it doesn’t seem like he has that kind of fan support, but seeing as how the Celtics have had the best record all year, it’s definitely reasonable. Tyrese Maxey is in the midst of a breakout season, but seeing him in the top 10 is a welcome surprise. Victor Wembanyama had been hyped up to be great since he was 16 years old, but his jersey being at 4th is insane, especially for a rookie. An interesting thing to note is the Wolves and Thunder have been the top 2 seeds out west for most of the year, and yet neither have a top 10 jersey sales player. Which players do you think will rise or fall in the 2nd half of the year?

• In other news: Hawks fans chanted “we don’t want you’ at D’Lo, Draymond fouled Embiid 0 seconds into the game, and Embiid later hurt his knee causing him to leave the game.

• Injury Updates: Ivica Zubac (calf) will be out 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 4-6 weeks. De’Andre Hunter (knee) will be out at least 2 weeks. Gabe Vincent (knee) will be out at least 4 weeks. Darius Garland (jaw) will be out for at least 2 more weeks. Mitchell Robinson (ankle) underwent surgery and will be out 8-10 weeks. 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

• 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.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

NBA MVP Race

1. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

Last week’s ranking: No. 1

Season stats: 36.0 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 5.8 apg

His case: Unbelievably, the reigning MVP started last week accomplishing a feat many thought they’d never witness by breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s franchise record for scoring with a career-high 70 points against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

2. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Season stats: 26.3 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 9.0 apg

His case: Denver finished a five-game road trip 3-2 absorbing a beatdown last Thursday at New York despite the two-time MVP logging 31 points and 11 assists. Jokic was named an All-Star starter Thursday for the fourth straight year, joining Alex English as the only other Nugget to be picked to start in four All-Star games.

3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Last week’s ranking: No. 3

Season stats: 31.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 6.4 apg

His case: Scored 16 of his 32 points against the Spurs last Wednesday in the third quarter in piecing together his league-best 32^nd 30-point game of the season. Finishing with 10 assists in that contest, the 25-year-old notched his sixth double-double, after accomplishing that feat last season just three times.

4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Last week’s ranking: No. 4

Season stats: 31.3 ppg, 11.7 rpg, 6.2 apg

His case: The eye-popping scoring and rebounding jump off the page initially, but Antetokounmpo is also averaging a career-high 6.2 assists while shooting a career-best 60.5% from the field. No player has averaged 30-plus points per game in a season on 60% shooting.

But expect an adjustment period with new coach Rivers in the fold. That’s where the veteran’s leadership should kick in to carry this experienced squad that’s expected to seriously contend.

5. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Last week’s ranking: No. 6

Season stats: 27.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 4.4 apg

His case: The five-time All-Star has kept his head down and stayed on the grind all season, blasting Doncic and the Mavericks for 39 points and 11 rebounds on Monday only to follow up Thursday with 26 points and eight rebounds in a dominating win over Miami.

It’s clear Tatum and the Celtics are fed up with falling short so many times in recent years.

The Next Five:

6. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (Last week: No. 5)
7. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings (Last week: No. 7)
8. Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns (Last week: unranked)
9. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers (Last week: No. 10)
10. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns (Last week: unranked)

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Fantasy Leaders

I promise nobody expected to see Donte at #1, ever.

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.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

NBA All Star 2024