🧾Box Scores🧾

Phoenix trying to get back in a groove

📈Fantasy Leaders📉

Honestly a lower scoring day overall, we’ll see if tomorrow is better

League News

• Ja Morant and Joel Embiid 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.

• The NBA just released some numbers on the Top 15 most viewed players on social media in 2023. #1 is, unsurprisingly, LeBron James with 2.8 Billion views. With him breaking the all time scoring record, he’s been a huge topic this year, and I doubt that he’s been outside the Top 3 since he entered the league 20 years ago. #2 is Steph Curry, with 1.8 Billion views. He also broke an all time record, passing Ray Allen for most threes made in NBA history. #3 is, surprisingly, Victor Wembanyama, with 1.3 Billion views. The French phenom has been a social media sensation since he was 15 years old, and every night he’s doing something incredible. #4 is Nikola Jokic, with 1.2 Billion views. The 2 time MVP has been busy, winning his first championship and Finals MVP, drawing the eyes of the world to Denver. #5 is Luka Doncic, with ‘only’ 914 Million views. Luka brings his magic every night, and it feels like he’s shattering records every time we watch him. We’ll cover the next 5 in tomorrow’s post.

• In other news: Wemby had a dunk that nobody could hope to block, Ja tried to end Sabonis, and LeBron got manhandled by Jose Alvarado of all people

• Injury Updates: Aaron Gordon (dog bite) will miss time as he recovers. 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. Gary Payton ll (torn calf) is out indefinitely. 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 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