Charles Barkley was way more focused on watching TV than talking Bulls-Bucks
We’ve all been there. Stuck at a holiday function and roped into a boring conversation with one eye on the television as a game comes down to the wire.
Charles Barkley was all of us then, as the Celtics and Nets traded buckets in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Easter Sunday while the NBA on TNT panel did its best to preview the Bulls-Bucks series. Barkley was holding it together like a pro, too, until Jayson Tatum spun around Kyrie Irving to drop in a game-winning layup at the buzzer. At that point Charles did what all of us would: scream in excitement and completely disrupt the room.
How can you not love Barkley’s reaction? With no regard for whatever Kenny Smith was trying to talk about, Charles just lets his emotions go and immediately—and rightfully!—changes the topic. The excitement in his voice is almost as good as Tatum’s bucket.
The Nets (+4.5), meanwhile, have to find a way to regroup after blowing an intense 39-point game from Kyrie. The NBA on TNT panel can kind of relate. They had to somehow get back to talking about the Bucks and Bulls. Just don’t ask Barkley where that discussion was heading. He was just as focused on the action in Boston as the rest of us.
After an incredible game in Boston, the Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets 114-115 with Jayson Tatum’s game-winning buzzer-beater layup.
Kyrie Irving went off for 39 points against his former team and had some back-and-forth with the Celtics fans, but ultimately, the Nets fell to Boston.
NBA Twitter went wild during Game 1 of what seems to be a spectacular first-round series.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Celtics beating the Nets at the buzzer in Game 1 of the first round.
After an incredible game in Boston, the Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets 114-115 with Jayson Tatum’s game-winning buzzer-beater layup.
Kyrie Irving went off for 39 points against his former team and had some back-and-forth with the Celtics fans, but ultimately, the Nets fell to Boston.
NBA Twitter went wild during Game 1 of what seems to be a spectacular first-round series.
It’s always best to keep all of your cards close to the vest during the NBA postseason.
You never want to tip the opposition off on your gameplan and you almost certainly don’t want to give them any bulletin board material. If you tell the opposing team who you’re about to attack and how you’re about to attack them, you kind of throw all of that out the window.
That’s what Bruce Brown did on Tuesday after the Nets beat the Cavaliers through the individual brilliance of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to move up to the 7th seed and face the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
In his postgame press conference, Brown was asked about the matchup. He noted that Celtics’ center Robert Williams was out with a torn meniscus and that Brooklyn could “attack [Al] Horford and [Daniel] Theis.”
He really said that.
Bruce Brown: "Them not having Robert Williams is huge. Now we can attack Horford and Theis."
That’s…almost certainly not a great look. Not only are Theis and Horford two rock-solid defenders at their position, but now they’ll be motivated to step up to the challenge of protecting the paint.
Probably not the best idea. Kevin Durant knows that. That’s exactly why he immediately pushed back on it.
Kevin Durant wasn't a fan of what Bruce Brown said about the Celtics' bigs at tonight's press conference 😅
“That’s caffeine pride talking. He takes something before the game. Those two dudes can do the same stuff. It ain’t going to be that easy, I tell you that.”
He tried to soften the blow a little bit and for good reason. The Celtics take this stuff to heart. That’s almost certainly going up in their locker room.
They used Joel Embiid simply saying their scheme was easier to defend because it was iso-heavy as motivation back in February. Those comments actually might be what sparked their turnaround.
Ime Udoka said before last night’s game, he showed the Celtics the quote from Joel Embiid when he said they weren’t as difficult to guard as Charlotte.
So, yeah, for Brown to give them something else to push themselves with? Not the best move, certainly. Of course, it’s easy to talk that sort of trash when you’ve got what might be the best player in the world on your team.
We’ll see how it all works out on Sunday when these two teams finally meet up. From the look of it, things just got a lot more fun.
Is LeBron James an All-NBA player? Plus, the Nets might make a little movement in the standings.
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What’s good, family. It’s your boy Sykes here to usher you into this weekend of NBA basketball. But first, a quick question.
Is LeBron James an All-NBA player this season? It feels like, for the first time in a long time, he’s in danger of missing that nod after hitting that mark in every year but his rookie season so far.
But James is officially done for the season with two games left to go. He’ll finish with averages of 30.3 points per game, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists on incredible efficiency. His 26.2 PER is extremely impressive for anyone — let alone a 37 year old.
But the Lakers still stink. They’re missing the playoffs completely. While his numbers are great, it’s fair to say his complete body of work didn’t contribute to winning. That has to matter in these conversations, right?
But the All-NBA rosters are filled with the 15 best players in the NBA from that season — plain and simple. It doesn’t feel like there are 15 players in the NBA better than LeBron James right now. He might not be at the front of that list anymore, but he certainly isn’t off it. At least, it doesn’t feel like that anyway.
I don’t have a vote, thankfully, so I don’t have to decide this. But if it were up to me? He’d probably still make the team. None of us can be mad if anyone leaves him off, though. And that, in itself, is quite the shocker.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
(Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775715993 ORIG FILE ID: 1239822301
The 76ers do not want to see the Toronto Raptors in the playoffs. Not only because they may lose their best wing defender in Matisse Thybulle for a few games, but also because the Raptors might actually just be better, my colleague Prince Grimes writes.
The key here is James Harden, who just has not been himself. Like, at all. Not even himself from just a few weeks ago.
When Harden is at the top of his game, the Sixers have the two best players between these teams. But he’s been anything but that in the majority of his time with Philly. Harden was phenomenal in his first four games with the Sixers. In the 16 games since, he’s shooting under 36% from the field and under 30% from three. He’s still giving them 20 points and 10 assists – including 15 assists Thursday – but the Sixers are in big trouble if this version of Harden shows up in the playoffs.
We’ll see how this goes for Philly. But right now? 76ers fans should be uncomfortable.
Nets (-8.5, -370) vs. Cavaliers (+280), O/U 232.5, 7:30 PM ET
(AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)
Don’t look now, but the Nets have a real shot at avoiding that 8th seed and moving up to 7th with a win against the Cavs. They’d have the same record at 43-28 and would own the tiebreaker with a 3-1 season series lead.
No idea how this turns out. The Nets have shown us all season that you can’t really trust them too much. But one thing we do know about them? They do score well and while being average on defense. So pound that over.
He passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 14,211 points as a Buck. With his 44 against the Nets he moved to 14,216, forever etching his name in the history of that franchise.
Anytime you break a Kareem record, you’ve done something pretty great. Antetokounmpo was asked about his accomplishment after the game and, while he seemed very proud, he also used this as a moment to subtly take a jab at James Harden.
“I did not know about it. But it’s good. It’s good because I’m changing the narrative. You know, I don’t want to be the guy that dunks and runs. I can make a 3.”
That’s literally the only part of this you need to listen to. That’s how you know he’s thrilled that he has this record. Because just stuck it to one of his biggest critics.
Remember a few years back when there was some beef between Harden and Antetokounmpo after the latter won MVP over the former. Harden came back the next season in an interview and basically said there was “no skill” to Antetokounmpo’s game.
He didn’t call him out directly but he was definitely talking about Giannis.
james harden tried to warn you about giannis – until he learns how to shoot and closeout games it’s going to be hard to win games playing like a running back pic.twitter.com/RdBFPM0yhL
“I wish I could just run, run with 7 feet and run and just dunk. Like, that takes no skill at all. I’ve got to actually learn how to play basketball and have skill, you know?”
Look at how the tables have turned. Giannis has a franchise-record over Kareem, he’s a two-time MVP and an NBA champ.
Not bad for a dude with no skill.
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Welcome to Layup Lines, our daily NBA newsletter where we’ll prep you for a tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon.
What’s good, fam! It’s Sykes back again with another edition of Layup Lines. Thanks so much for rocking with For The Win the way you do.
Before we get to everything, I want to talk a bit about tanking. The NBA just has not been able to stop it.
To their credit, they’ve tried their best! They flattened the lottery odds out for the top 3 teams, they added the Play-In Tournament, and moved up the trade deadline. Yet, here we are. The Thunder are still sitting half their roster out for the rest of the season. The Magic are giving Admiral Schofield and Iggy Brazdeikas burn in winnable games (with all due respect to the two of them). The Pistons are…trying I guess?
Look, the point is this: Tanking ain’t stopped. We’ve only changed the standards a teeny bit. As long as there is incentive to lose, tanking will exist and the product at the end of each NBA season will be watered down. That just is what it is.
A real way we could stop this from happening is by getting rid of the draft altogether. But, ya know, that’s another conversation for another day.
Moving on!
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Jose Alvarado is the steal king of the NBA. If you look at the raw numbers, they don’t say that. But in just watching this dude you can see that he is a grade-A ball thief.
He’s literally been hiding on the sidelines over the last few weeks just waiting to steal the ball from these poor, unsuspecting souls. It’s been a joy to watch. It also kind of bears itself out in the numbers:
“This dude Alvarado has quite literally made this into a thing. The numbers behind it are kind of mind-boggling. I guess this is how you average 3.1 steals per 36 minutes, which is a pretty wild rate.”
Nets (-1.5, -135) vs. Bucks (+110), O/U 242.5, 7:30 ET
Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
I don’t care what seed either teem is or where they’re positioned in the playoff race right now. Whenever the Nets and Bucks line up across from one another, we’re in for a real treat.
These are two of the best offensive teams in basketball right now. It’s Giannis vs. Durant. It’s Irving vs. Holiday. It’s Khris Middleton taking tough jumpers. We’re in for a real fireworks show. I’m taking the over.
Who’s in and out?
—Finally some good news, Lakers fans! Anthony Davis is a game-time decision for Friday’s matchup against the Pelicans. LeBron James may try to play, too. It won’t help Thursday against the Jazz, but it’s at least good news.
—Don’t look now, but Jalen Green just broke a couple of NBA rookie records for 3-point shooting. That kid is overlooked now, but he’s going to be amazing someday.
Home to white-sand beaches, delicious Cuban cuisine, and, of course, beautiful sunshine. A paradise situated on the Southern tip of Florida, Miami has it all. Even NFL star Tyreek Hill, the Dolphins traded for earlier this week.
Aside from his lightning-quick touchdowns, Hill is known for his audacity. It’s not enough that he incinerates a poor safety’s pursuit angle in the blink of an eye. He has to rub in just how much better he is at football than them.
Hill’s most famous celebration is the “peace sign” he holds up in a hapless defender’s face as he cruises across the end line. He’s done it enough that it’s synonymous with his player profile.
And during the Heat-Nets game on Saturday night, in the middle of a laugher in Miami, Nets center Andrew Drummond decided to commemorate Hill joining the greater South Florida community:
He flashed the peace sign before finishing a dunk.
Hilarious. Like the announcing crew, I can’t get over the panache.
I’ll be honest, Dear Reader. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a 6-foot-10, 280-pound man have the wherewithal to pour salt in the wound mid-play. I guess Drummond is built different.
I also guess that’s what happens in the middle of a road blowout: You channel the trademark of one of the city’s top stars to dance on the grave.
Miami (+2.5) would go onto lose 110-92—the fourth consecutive defeat for a Heat team that looked like a title favorite until the last week proved otherwise.
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Kyrie Irving went off for a career-high 60 points and broke the Nets franchise record just one day after Karl-Anthony Towns dropped a 60-point game himself. The 29-year old had an unreal 41 points at the half and NBA Twitter was going crazy.
NBA players, media members, and fans legit thought Irving would actually break Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game mark.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Kyrie Irving going off for a career-high 60 points.
Kyrie Irving went off for a career-high 60 points and broke the Nets franchise record just one day after Karl-Anthony Towns dropped a 60-point game himself. The 29-year old had an unreal 41 points at the half and NBA Twitter was going crazy.
NBA players, media members, and fans legit thought Irving would actually break Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game mark.
