James Harden said he feels like ‘I am the MVP’ and he has a convincing argument

He…might have a point?

This year’s MVP race in the NBA has been pretty hotly contested all season long. Lots of great players have been playing great basketball.

The list of candidates is strong. Joel Embiid has been the league’s most dominant two-way force when healthy, Nikola Jokic is having a historic offensive season, LeBron James is…well…LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo has unlocked more of his game, and Damian Lillard is still super clutch.

But after his 44-point, 14 assist night against the Pistons on Friday, James Harden thinks he’s the one who should be taking home the MVP trophy this year.

He was asked about the MVP race after his big game and whether he felt like he belonged in the conversation.

He flat out said he feels like the award should be his. And he might not be wrong.

Mason Plumlee really shook a defender with a wild dribble move and everyone had jokes

Poor Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot.

Y’all. Mason Plumlee belongs on the And-1 circuit, apparently. Who knew that this man had a dribble package?!

Granted, Plumlee is one of the better ball handlers at center. He can definitely pass well and bring the ball up the floor in a pinch. But if you have to rely on him to do that? You’re probably in a bad place as a team.

But, apparently, that wasn’t the case on Friday.

He really shook Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot during the Pistons game with the Nets on Friday night. He faked a pass and turned it into a dribble after catching the ball and Luwawu-Cabarrot just had no idea what was going on.

Now, to be fair, it looks like he stumbles on his teammate’s foot a bit. But a move is a move. And that doesn’t happen without Plumlee’s….trickery. Which, who knew?!

Everyone had jokes because, of course, no one should be getting slid by Mason Plumlee.

To be fair to Luwawu-Cabarrot, though, that’s a great move! There’s no shame in being crossed by a great move…even if it’s from Mason Plumlee.

Watch our brand new sneaker unboxing show, Special Delivery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB1zpeaqoQE

Kevin Durant really sent the perfect tweet and everyone made jokes about it

There really are perfect tweets

Whenever you log on to Twitter, the energy level always has to be at 10.

There are always going go be people ready to argue with you about some of the most trivial things. There are also always going to be people who are just going to be mean to you no matter what.

Kevin Durant captured that perfectly on Monday night when someone told him to “relax” because he’s Kevin Durant.

KD responded “that’s hilarious” to a tweet quoting Steve Kerr saying that last season when the Warriors went 15-50 was more enjoyable than the last year they went to the Finals for a number of reasons.

Kerr later said the quote was taken out of context, but it was assumed that he meant it was difficult coaching Durant. Which is what prompted the “that’s hilarious” response.

Glasses Malone told Durant to “relax” after his response and this is what he had to say.

Honestly, he’s not wrong! Twitter is the wild, wild west of the internet.

When you open it, you’re automatically on edge. Of course, that’s super unhealthy. But it’s true! There is no such thing as a chill Twitter experience.

Everyone felt this tweet in their soul.

This is so good because KD is so right. Twitter is a madhouse. You either match the energy or you log off — there’s no in-between.

What a tweet.

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https://youtu.be/FcQDjgS6ATE

The NBA’s new ‘Earned’ jerseys, ranked from best to worst

Some of these are pretty good.

The NBA’s “Earned” jerseys are back again. They make these every year for the 16 teams that make the playoffs and they’re always released in the second half of the season.

They came back again on Wednesday. The NBA just released their latest “Earned” jersey offerings and they aren’t too bad. Some of them definitely miss the mark, of course, but you’ll always have your misses.

But there are also some definite hits within this new group of jerseys. There are also probably more than a few teams in this crop that should think about making their earned jerseys their regular ones because they’re that good.

Here’s a quick look.

You know what’s next. It’s time to rank them from best to worst.

The 20 best moments of the 2020-21 NBA season so far

Here are the 20 best moments of the NBA season so far from the best plays to the best memes.

This NBA season has been quite a journey already and we’re just hitting the halfway mark.

We’ve had our fair share of incredible moments from game-winners to dunks to every amazing individual performance we’ve seen. We’ve also had a ton of memes, weird interviews and wild press conferences, too.

And it’s all happened in such a small window because of the shortened season.

Yes, we know. It can be extremely hard to keep up with it all. But don’t worry about it! That’s exactly why we’re here. Here’s a list of the 20 best moments from the NBA season so far this year, from dunks to memes and everything in between.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MK0HoBHqbY&t=210s

WATCH: Boston Celtics-Brooklyn Nets 123-95 video recap (12/25)

The Boston Celtics fell to the Brooklyn Nets in the end, but looked every bit their opponent’s equal for much of the game.

The Boston Celtics were right there in the hunt for the win for three quarters, but the wheels fell off late against the Brooklyn Nets in their 123 – 95 Christmas Day loss, who — as Celtic veteran Marcus Smart put it afterwards, “force you to be almost perfect.”

Make no mistake, the Nets are not invincible — but they are so deep and well balanced that even minor mistakes can cost opponents dearly in early results. And the Celtics made more than a few mistakes against Brooklyn Friday. And while it may be no easy task deterring the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, letting your opponent shoot north of 50% not only overall but from deep is a recipe for disaster — especially if your team is hitting 37.8% from the floor and 29.6% from 3-point range.

https://embed.sendtonews.com/oembed/?SC=qKO8vpEpuY-1085322-7498&autoplay=on&V=2&format=json

Of course, the Nets defended exceptionally well, forcing 15 turnovers — but committed as many themselves. And the best defense on earth can’t explain why the Celtics only hit 13-of-19 free throws in the contest.

For a look at the game and its ebbs and flows, watch the video reap embedded above, and try not to get to down about the loss.

As coach Brad Stevens shared postgame, “That team is really good. They’re the deepest team in the NBA, and they’re certainly in the conversation for the best.”

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Odds for the exact matchup in the 2021 NBA Finals

Odds for the exact matchup in the 2021 NBA Finals

Kevin Durant will make first return to Bay Area on Feb. 13 vs. Warriors at Chase Center

After signing with the Nets in the 2019 offseason, Kevin Durant will make his first return to the Bay Area against the Warriors on Feb. 13.

On Dec. 22, the Golden State Warriors will open the season in Brooklyn against the Nets. Along with the first game of the 2020-21 campaign, Golden State’s tilt with Brooklyn is slated to serve as Kevin Durant’s first chance at playing time with the Nets.

After signing a four-year, $164 million contract over the 2019 offseason, Durant missed his entire first season in Brooklyn due to the Achilles injury he suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals with Golden State.

With Brooklyn’s only trip to Chase Center in 2019 getting canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Durant and the Nets will travel to San Francisco for ] Durant’s first return to the Bay Area on Feb. 13.

During his three seasons with the Warriors, Durant averaged 25.8 points on 52.4% shooting from the field with 7.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.5 blocks per contest. Along with winning a pair of championships, Durant earned NBA Finals Most Valuable Player honors twice with Golden State.

Before joining Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green in Golden State, Durant notched 35 or more points in 10 different contests against the Warriors over his career. In 2014, the then Oklahoma City Thunder forward tallied a career-high 54 points on 19-of-28 shooting from the field with six assists, four rebounds and two steals in 43 minutes.

On his way to scoring 37 points during a game between the Thunder and Warriors in 2016, Durant matched another career-high performance with seven 3-pointers.

The Saturday night primetime matchup against Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Nets will come during a four-game homestand in Golden State.

View Golden State’s full schedule of the first 37 games via @warriorsPR on Twitter:

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Eric Paschall reacts to release of Warriors opening week schedule for 2020-21 NBA season

Following the release of the first two games on the Golden State Warriors 2020-21 season schedule, Eric Paschall chimed in on social media.

For the first time in eight months, Eric Paschall and the Golden State Warriors will have a game to prepare for. On Wednesday, the NBA announced a slate of games for the start of the 2020-21 season.

On Dec. 22, the Warriors will travel to New York for an opening night tilt with the Brooklyn Nets. Following Kevin Durant’s reunion with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr, the Warriors will venture to Wisconsin for a Christmas day game against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.

After the announcement of Golden State’s scheduled start to the 2019-20 season, Paschall chimed in with a message on social media.

Via @epaschall on Twitter:

Paschall’s contest against the Bucks will be the second Christmas day game of his young career. However, Paschall went scoreless in seven minutes against the Houston Rockets in 2019. The Villanova product tallied just three rebounds and two assists in Golden State’s surprising upset win against James Harden, Russell Westbrook and the Rockets on Christmas day.

Despite his low scoring total on Christmas, the former second-round pick earned All-Rookie first-team honors in his debut season in the Bay Area with 14 points on 49.7% shooting from the field with 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 27.6 minutes per game.

As the Warriors make a push to get back into playoff contention in the Western Conference, Golden State will need Paschall to double-down on his rookie campaign as a sophomore in the association.

The Warriors will tip off the 2020-21 NBA season on Tuesday, Dec. 22, against the Nets at Barclays Center in Brooklyn at 4 p.m. PST.

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