🧾Box Scores🧾

Every game from last night went down to the wire

📈Fantasy Leaders📉

Jaylen Williams makes his Top 3 debut

League News

• Lauri Markkanen and Bam Adebayo have been named Players of The Week for Week 12.

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

• We’ve reached the halfway point of the season, roughly 41 games in for most teams, and there have been quite a few shake ups. The trade deadline is about a month away, and there’s a few more moves that can be made, but a few major ones have been made already. The Knicks and Pacers have committed to winning now, trading for OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam, respectively. The Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves have been at the top of their conferences for months now, and it seems like they’ll both be holding those spots for the foreseeable future. Going into the 2nd half of the season, inter-conference matchups will be more important than ever, with playoff seeding on the line. One game could set your team up with the perfect path to a championship, so teams in contention must compete every night.

• In other news: Anthony Edwards lobbed it to himself off the backboard, Jordan Poole had a shaqtin moment, and Rudy Gobert had an insane snatch block.

• Injury Updates: Desmond Bane (ankle) will miss 6 weeks. Marcus Smart (finger) will be out 6 weeks. Tyrese Haliburton injured his hamstring, and will miss 2+ 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 4-6 weeks. Darius Garland (jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee) will both be out for at least 2 weeks. Mitchell Robinson (ankle) underwent surgery and will be out 8-10 weeks. Ben Simmons (nerves) will miss 2+ 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.

Trade News

• Indiana traded Jordan Nwora and Bruce Brown for Pascal Siakam. The Detroit Pistons traded Marvin Bagley lll, Isaiah Livers, and a 2nd round pick to the Washington Wizards for Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala. The Bulls are looking to move Zach Lavine and possibly DeMar DeRozan. The Knicks signed and waived Taj Gibson in the span of a week. 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 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 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: 34.6 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 6.0 apg

His case: Injuries are inevitable, and the league’s new rules mandating participation could derail Embiid’s candidacy before Philadelphia even reaches the All-Star break. For Embiid, that’s probably just fine as he and the third-place Sixers are eyeing a title over individual awards.

The big man currently averages career-highs in points, field goals made (11.6), free throws made (10.2), free-throw percentage (88.2%), assists (6.0), steals (1.1) and plus-minus (plus-9.1).

2. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Last week’s ranking: No. 2

Season stats: 25.5 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 9.2 apg

His case: Jokic is gaining ground on Embiid and would probably be No. 1 right now if Denver didn’t lose two of its last three games going into last Friday’s win against New Orleans. The Nuggets are now 4-4 in their last 8 games.

But Jokic is doing his part, averaging a blistering 79.7% from the field over that span and 80% from 3-point range (he’s attempted just five 3-pointers) with 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks.

3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Last week’s ranking: No. 3

Season stats: 31.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 6.3 apg

His case: Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City to its largest margin of victory (62 points) in franchise history with 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting last Thursday in just 21 minutes. In their 139-77 win against the Blazers, the Thunder became the first team since the Spurs in 1993 to shoot 50% or better in 10 straight games.

The 25-year-old has averaged 33 points per game on 61% shooting in his last 10 outings.

4. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks

Last week’s ranking: No. 5

Season stats: 33.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 9.1 apg

His case: The 24-year-old has dropped fewer than 31 points just once since before Christmas, but the workload has taken a toll. Doncic missed last Thursday’s 128-124 win against the Knicks with a sprained right ankle.

Currently ninth on the NBA’s all-time triple-doubles list (62), Doncic forms one of the league’s most formidable backcourt duos with Kyrie Irving, who lately has shouldered more of the scoring burden.

5. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Last week’s ranking: No. 4

Season stats: 31.2 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 5.9 apg

His case: No doubt, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks demolished Boston last Thursday. The two-time MVP contributed 24 points and 12 rebounds against a gassed Celtics team that had outlasted Minnesota one night earlier in an overtime thriller.

Milwaukee had lost four of the previous five — all with Antetokounmpo racking up monstrous numbers. Still searching for consistency, the Bucks need the veteran’s leadership just as much as his production.

THE NEXT FIVE:

6. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics (Last week: No. 6)
7. Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings (Last week: No. 8)
8. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers (Last week: No. 9)
9. Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers (Last week: No. 7)
10. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers (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