Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla might love the movie The Town, but he doesn’t seem all that moved by that being the inspiration for a Jeopardy! prompt.
“I could care less,” Mazzulla told reporters about the Jeopardy! moment before leaving the press table.
“What is a firm response?” would be the winning answer for any Jeopardy! contestant if they saw the Mazzulla clip.
To be fair to Mazzulla, his team dropped a tough one to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, so he might not have been in the mood to talk about it. At the least, we probably know what movie he’ll watch to cheer himself up!
Joe Mazzulla on becoming a part of a jeopardy question:
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.
What’s up, hoops fans. Welcome back to Layup Lines. The NBA Cup got started Tuesday night with a little group play action, and several of the games delivered in the way of drama.
You already know about the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors, who put on show in Klay Thompson’s first game back in the Bay. But there was also the Atlanta Hawks going on the road to stun the Boston Celtics with a one-point win, and the Detroit Pistons’ overtime win over the Miami Heat.
That last game was particularly interesting because it involved one of the greatest coaches of this generation making an incredibly uncharacteristic mistake at the worst possible time. With the game tied at the end of the extra period, Erik Spoelstra called a timeout — even though the Heat didn’t have any.
The blunder led to a technical foul that allowed the Pistons to shoot the game-winning free throws with a second left (and made for a great Jalen Rose meme).
A complete, uncharacteristic meltdown from Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra.
First: he gets burned by Detroit’s ATO.
Second: he calls a timeout in frustration, but he doesnt have any left. So he’s assessed a technical foul. Pistons take the lead at the line.
Now, look, I’m not here to necessarily defend Spoelstra. Yes, he’s human. Yes, he’s allowed to make mistakes. And there’s no guarantee the Heat would’ve won in the second OT. But he blew it. There’s no way around it. He even owned up to it after the game.
But isn’t blaming Spoelstra kind of just a convenient cover for how mid the Heat actually are and have been for what, more than two years now? They’re 4-6 on the season after losing a dog fight with the Detroit freaking Pistons. The same Pistons team that tied the record for the longest losing streak ever last season. Shouldn’t that be a bigger concern here?
I don’t know. It just seems like maybe that’s where the focus with this team should be. It’s not that Spo lost them a game. It’s that Heat management keeps forcing him to prove how great he is on a nightly basis by rolling out a team that isn’t actually very good. They’re worse than bad, because there isn’t some high lottery pick awaiting them for winning 40 games every year.
We forget because Miami made an improbable run to the finals two summers ago, but they’ve been an 8-seed each of the last two years. As mid as mid gets. And they’re only getting middier. Their star player, Jimmy Butler, is now 35 years old and hasn’t played at least 65 games — the league minimum for awards — since 2018-19. And by the way, he was out again Tuesday.
Sure, the Heat still have Olympian Bam Adebayo, but after him, it’s Tyler Herro, the potential of Jaime Jaquez Jr. and a bunch of dudes. And they’re supposed to compete with the likes of the Celtics, Cavaliers and Knicks? Please. That they aren’t as bad as the Pistons most nights is a credit to Spoelstra.
So you can go ahead and pin this one loss on the coach, but you’re probably missing the bigger picture. The Heat win more games because of Spoelstra than games they lose because of him. I can’t believe I’m saying this about a coach, but Pat Riley and the front office should do more to get the man some help.
Gregg Popovich health update
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
I used this newsletter last week to send well wishes to Gregg Popovich after learning the Spurs coach would be out indefinitely with an health issue. Today we learned exactly what that health issue was.
The Spurs announced Wednesday Popovich suffered a mild stroke at the team’s arena Nov. 2. They said he’s expected to make a full recovery after already starting a rehab program. A timeline for his return hasn’t been determined.
This news is both scary and relieving to hear all at once. Whether or not he coaches again — which it sounds like he will — it’s awesome to know he’s expected to recover. At the same time, it’s difficult anytime you hear about a stroke.
The important thing here is Pop seems to be OK. So, let’s just continue to keep him in our thoughts until he’s back with the team.
Gregg Popovich is going through some things today.
The longtime Spurs head coach hasn’t been able to coach the team over the last few weeks because of a previously undisclosed medical condition.
On Wednesday, the Spurs put out a statement giving us more detail on what’s going on with Popovich. He apparently suffered a mild stroke earlier this month and is currently on the road to recovery, according to the team. He’s already begun the rehabilitation process. There’s no timetable on when he might return.
If you’re a fan of the NBA in any sense, Popovich probably means a lot to you. Not only has he been the league’s best head coach, but he’s also been a positive presence in our lives through the years.
With that in mind, it’s as good a time as ever to reflect on some of the best moments we’ve seen from Popovich through the last few years.
That time he pranked Shaq
Pop hasn’t always seemed like the most playful coach out there, but that’s always been in him. Exhibit A is the time he pranked Shaquille O’Neal by fouling him as soon as the game started after he complained about the Hack-a-Shaq strategy.
This guy, man.
His pre-Game 7 interview
One of the best things about Popovich throughout his career so far has been his brutal honesty. He’s never held his tongue.
When asked about the prospect of playing against the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the 2012-13 NBA Finals, he told us that it sucked.
And, yeah, it probably did!
When asked about the message he wanted to send to his team before playing in Game 7. Here’s what he had to say:
“I want them to have no fun whatsoever. This is all business. There’s no eighth game, is there? This is the last game. That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”
He also called having to play the game “torture.” He added, “It’s hard to appreciate or enjoy torture.”
Never change, Pop.
That time he geeked out about planets
There are certainly times when we take basketball — and sports, overall — way too seriously. Pop was there to make sure that never happened.
Basketball doesn’t matter in the context of NASA discovering 1,200 habitable planets.
His interview with Craig Sager
This is just such an awesome moment. Craig Sager had been hospitalized and battling Leukemia for months.
When Sager was finally able to return to work and do sideline interviews again, Popovich made sure to let him know how much he missed him and how it was an honor to be able to work alongside him again — even if he hated that part of his job.
“I’ve got to honestly tell you, this is the first time I’ve enjoyed doing this ridiculous interview we’re required to do. And it’s because you’re here and you’re back with us,” he said.
A class act.
This awesome moment between Pop and Tim Duncan
Popovich has never hesitated to give Tim Duncan all the credit for his success as a coach. No matter how good he was at X’s and O’s or managing personalities or any of the other duties that come with coaching, Pop knew that having an all-time great by his side was what made the biggest difference.
So being able to get even a small glimpse into their relationship was always awesome. This moment after a tough loss says it all.
That’s awesome.
Becky Hammon’s Hall of Fame speech
This moment isn’t a Pop moment — it’s a Becky Hammon moment. But the fact that she was more than willing to take a chunk of the biggest moment of her basketball career — being enshrined into the Hall of Fame — to show Pop a little love shows you exactly the sort of person he is to the people he works with.
Get well soon, Pop. There are a lot of people out there rooting for you.
Did Jalen Rose have a Chris Webber timeout flashback?
Jalen Rose was a part of the Fab Five at Michigan that famously watched Chris Webber call a timeout the Wolverines didn’t have against UNC in 1993.
Flashforward to 2024. Rose was in attendance at the Miami Heat loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night, and he watched as Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra called a timeout late in the game.
But he didn’t have a timeout, which meant a technical foul and the win for the Pistons.
Cameras caught Rose’s reaction, and there were A LOT of Chris Webber jokes about what was flashing through his head at that moment:
Jalen Rose's reaction to Spo calling a timeout he did not have is an all-timer pic.twitter.com/nMLgLI6J3V
Golden State Warriors superstar guard Steph Curry played against his former teammate Klay Thompson for the first time on Tuesday night, which is still such a strange thing to type.
The revered “Splash Brothers” won four NBA titles together in Golden State and will go down in history as one of the great duos on the basketball court.
However, Tuesday night’s NBA Cup game found Curry and the Warriors playing against Thompson and his new team, the Dallas Mavericks.
Very early in the contest, Curry actually hit a nice 3-point shot right over Thompson, which you really must see to believe given how weird it is.
This is going to take some getting used to; that’s for sure.
Dallas Mavericks superstar guard Klay Thompson returned to Golden State for the first time since leaving the Warriors this offseason on Tuesday night.
Of course, he was given a hero’s welcome by the Golden State fans in attendance after he joined the team in 2021 and helped bring four NBA titles to the franchise as one of the “Splash Brothers” opposite Steph Curry.
Warriors fans all wore captain’s hats to honor his “Captain Klay” nickname and gave him a wonderful standing ovation before the game.
You could tell just how much the moment meant to Thompson, who will most likely have his jersey retired one day as one of the franchise’s all-time great players.
While he was to play against Golden State after the celebration, this was such a cool moment for Thompson and his former team.
Dwight Howard’s time on Dancing with the Stars ended on Tuesday night.
Former NBA star Dwight Howard’s Dancing with the Stars journey came to an end on Tuesday night.
Howard and his dance partner Daniella Karagach made it to the competition’s quarterfinals, one celebrating past dance routines in the show’s history for its 500th episode, but couldn’t advance to next week’s semifinal round.
Three other athletes, former NFL wide receiver Danny Amendola and recent Team USA Olympians Ilona Maher and Stephen Nedoroscik, all advanced to the show’s semifinals.
Howard, the former Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets standout, won an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. He most recently played for the Taoyuan Taiwan Beer Leopards from 2022-2023.
These 2024 NBA Cup basketballs are pretty awesome.
The 2024 NBA Cup kicks off on Tuesday night, pitting all 30 of the league’s teams against each other for the in-season championship.
This year’s NBA Cup will be utilizing a customized basketball for those in competition, just in case you’re watching and you notice the design on the basketball looks different than it usually does.
The design on the basketball shows the tournament bracket and the trophy, which is a neat twist for this year’s competition.
Be sure to check out the latest run of the NBA Cup to see these customized basketballs in action. They’re pretty sharp if you ask us.
ESPN projects the Alabama freshman to be a first round pick.
While the 2024-25 college basketball season only just recently began for the Alabama Crimson Tide, it’s never too-early to start taking a look ahead to the 2025 NBA draft, which is set to take place this upcoming summer.
After not having a player selected in the 2024 NBA draft, Alabama is likely expected to have at-least one name come off the board in 2025, with ESPN projecting that to be in the first round in their latest mock draft in freshman forward Derrion Reid.
According to ESPN, their latest mock draft has Reid coming off the board at pick No. 21 overall in the first round to the Utah Jazz. Reid is the lone player from Alabama projected in the first round by ESPN’s mock draft, while Jarin Stevenson, a sophomore forward, is also sitting at No. 45 overall on their latest Big Board.
After coming to Tuscaloosa as a five-star prospect, Reid has started 2-of-3 games for Alabama so far this season as a freshman where he is currently averaging 7.7 PPG and 4 RPG. Reid is also shooting 50% from the field, as well as 50% from three-point range.
