Nikola Jokic has been making NBA history left and right for, basically, most of the last 3 seasons.
He did it again on Tuesday in the Nuggets win over the Suns. He notched the 10th playoff triple-double of his career at only 28 years old, which is pretty impressive on its own.
But what’s even more impressive is the fact that it’s the most playoff triple-doubles for a center in NBA history. He passed Wilt Chamberlain, who shockingly only had 9. Anytime you’ve passed Chamberlain in your career, you’re definitely doing something right.
The Inside the NBA crew let Jokic know about his new record on the show during a postgame interview. His response was simply “nice, thank you,” which says all you need to know about Nikola Jokic.
He also wanted to know if Shaq was also on that list with Wilt. Of course, he wasn’t. But his reason why is hilarious. He broke it down for Jokic while also hitting the big man with his ‘Big Honey’ nickname.
Ernie Johnson: "You passed Wilt Chamberlain tonight for most triple-doubles by a Center. Congrats on that!”
Nikola Jokic: "Nice, thank you. Is Shaq on that list?"
BIG. HONEY. What a response from Shaq. He’s used it before — incorrectly, albeit. But he nails it this time.
What’s more incredible here is that Shaq is so serious. Everyone else is laughing. There’s not a single chuckle coming from the Hall of Famer. He didn’t pass the ball.
Fans loved this — mostly because no one could get over the nickname.
Here’s a look at the NBA landscape as we head into the All-Star break
It feels like it took forever for us to get here, but the NBA All-Star break is finally upon us.
With that being the case, now is a good time to take stock of where everyone is when it comes to the standings and just how well they’re playing.
The Bucks, Nuggets and Celtics feel like they’re in a class of their own. The 76ers aren’t far behind and the Phoenix Suns are almost certainly going to make a push once Kevin Durant gets healthy.
It’s an exciting time in the NBA where so many teams can legitimately win a championship this year. Who has the best shot? Find out in our latest power ranking.
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Seasons greetings, folks! Happy Holidays. Welcome to the Festivus edition of Layup Lines. It’s Sykes here to guide you into the weekend’s NBA action.
First, I have some Festivus grievances about this season so far that I need to get off. For those of you who don’t know, Festivus is the day during the holiday season in which you air your grievances about, well, whatever. Seinfeld made it a popular thing, thought it isn’t nationally celebrated.
So let’s dive right into it. Here are my 5 Festivus grievances about the NBA season so far.
Can we talk about league parity more? I mean, my goodness, man. This is what people have said the NBA has been missing for so long. Now, we’ve got 6 19-win teams in the West and 6 18+ win teams in the East. There are no super teams. It feels like anyone can win it all. Let’s celebrate that instead of talking about other team’s shortcomings. Speaking of which…
Stop talking about the Lakers. I don’t want to hear about the Lakers anymore. Not until LeBron James breaks that scoring record. They don’t really have anything to trade outside of two current middle schoolers and that’s not enough to move anyone. So let’s move on.
Nikola Jokic might be MVP again. Deal with it. I’m starting the conversation here now. The Nuggets are the No. 1 seed in the West and the dude is averaging nearly 25 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. The Nuggets are legit contenders. Don’t get all whiny about analytics if he wins the thing again. That’s not a good look.
Put some respect on the Cavaliers. All you hear about in the Eastern Conference is the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. But the last time I checked, the Cavaliers have handled them both quite well. They’re 1 game back of the No. 1 seed in the East. They’re a legitimate contender and need to be addressed as such.
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Ja Morant isn’t worried about the rest of the Western Conference at all. When asked by ESPN’s Malika Andrews what teams he saw as the Grizzlies’ competition, he said the Boston Celtics.
That’s a team Memphis would have to meet in the finals. The implication here is that he’s not worried about anyone in the West as competition which, uh, I don’t know. There are lots of pretty good teams out there.
But my guy Cole Huff actually thinks Morant has a point. He wrote about it on Thursday.
“Based on Morant’s response, there’s no one in the West to worry about. But you can see where he’s coming from.
The Grizzlies are 19-11 on the season, which is tied for the best record in the conference. And they’ve done all of this damage without their starting lineup having logged a single minute together this season due to injuries.”
That’s a fair point. We’ll see how this shakes out come May.
Nets (-2.5, -105) vs. Bucks (+120), O/U 228.5, 7:30 PM ET
The Nets and Bucks have formed a bit of a rivalry over the last few years. This is always an incredible matchup. You’ve got two of the best five or so players facing each other head to head in Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee just took a tough loss to the Cavaliers and they’ve only lost back-to-back games once so far this year. I’m taking Milwaukee +2.5 in a close one.
That’s all, folks! Enjoy the weekend. Happy Holidays!
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But they’re almost certainly going to pull out some fun wins, too. Most bad teams do. Especially when you’ve got some absolute bucket-getters on your squad.
That’s what Collin Sexton is. He doesn’t think there’s anyone he cannot beat, and that is amazing.
But the best part about it is Sexton will give you a show. He’s not just going to get a bucket — he’s going to perform that bucket, too. He’s going to give you a show. That’s just what he does. It’s who he’s always been. And it’s perfect.
He did it again against the Nuggets in the Jazz’s season opener on Wednesday night. My man really stamped the ground like an actual bull before taking off at Nikola Jokic.
Just call him Collin “They don’t call me Young Bull for no reason” Sexton at this point.
But what I think most people miss about Curry is how much of an absolute savage he is. And he’s also not afraid to let you know that he’s better than you or that he’s going to beat you. It’s why we saw him put a ring on it in the middle of the NBA Finals.
The internet got another glimpse at just how savage Curry is on Friday.
NBA writer Joe Viray was reviewing playoff tape in preparation for next season when he stumbled upon this clip of Curry against the Nuggets. He noticed Curry did his now infamous “night night” gesture before he went right at Nikola Jokic on defense to close the game out.
He blows by him out of the pick and roll, makes the layup and does the gesture again. Like I said, dude is a savage.
Been re-watching the playoffs and I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but…
Watch Steph Curry do the Night Night "playcall" directed toward the bench, before he attacks Jokić in spread PnR and scores — after which he does the Night Night again.
This offseason, several teams in the West have made moves to help themselves strive to be championship contenders.
The Denver Nuggets reshaped their roster and hope the return of Jamal Murray will propel them to title contenders in the West. The Dallas Mavericks look to maintain their standing as a contender following the loss of Jalen Brunson in free agency. The Minnesota Timberwolves acquired Rudy Gobert in a blockbuster trade to form a dynamic frontcourt tandem with Karl-Anthony Towns.
With that in mind, the latest HoopsHype intel report includes conversations from the NBA’s Vegas Summer League with Murray on his upcoming return and Mavericks swingman Reggie Bullock discussing how the team will recover from the loss of Brunson. Plus, new updates on the Lakers, Celtics, and Timberwolves.
After becoming a free agent, Bruce Brown is headed to Denver.
With the NBA free agency officially kicking off, teams are scrambling to upgrade their benches and the Brooklyn Nets just lost an important role player: Bruce Brown.
Basketball insider Malika Andrews of ESPN reported that the Denver Nuggets came to a two-year agreement with Brown which will see him earn more than $13 million per year.
The fourth-year talented guard earned a major promotion, getting himself a 30 percent raise, up from $4 million from last year.
Brown solidified himself as a reliable role player for the Nets this season, averaging nine points and nearly five boards per contest. He really shined in the playoffs, bringing him a lot of offseason attention. Brown averaged 14 points per game in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Boston Celtics.
With both superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving requesting trades from the team, the entire roster is in shambles. The team was able to bring back the likes of talented big man Nic Claxton and veteran role player Patty Mills, but have lost a couple of other players already including Andre Drummond.
Bruce Brown has agreed to a 2-year, $13M+ deal with the Denver Nuggets, sources tell ESPN.
The NBA Draft is less than a week away, with more potential big trades on the horizon following the Christian Wood acquisition by the Dallas Mavericks, as noted throughout our new HoopsHype aggregate mock draft.
To get a better projection of where all of the projected top prospects stand currently, we compiled mock drafts from ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, The Ringer, Sports Illustrated, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, SB Nation, Yahoo, Basketball News, and USA TODAY’s For The Win.
The most notable risers within the projected lottery selections included Dyson Daniels moving up further within the top 10 picks, Ousmane Dieng becoming a projected lottery pick, and Jalen Williams vaulting into the Top 20 range. Jake LaRavia and Dalen Terry, two of the biggest risers throughout the draft process, have moved into the late first round.
Other risers in the second round include Ryan Rollins, Andrew Nembhard, David Roddy, John Butler, Michael Foster, Gabriele Procida, and Dereon Seabron.
The notable name that fell was MarJon Beauchamp, who now is projected outside the top 20 picks despite receiving a green room invite. Josh Minott and Jean Montero were among those whose stock fell in the second round.
NOTE: These rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for the overall consensus, not our own opinion. For example, if a player was the first pick on a publication’s mock draft, he received 58 points. If a player was second, he received 57 points and so on. We then tabulated the total number of points for each player’s consensus ranking.
HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report
Following the withdrawals of several prospects, the aggregate NBA mock draft has shifted noticeably, and more intel on teams have surfaced with the draft nearing.
To get a better projection of where all of the projected top prospects stand currently, we compiled mock drafts from ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, The Ringer, Sports Illustrated, NBADraft.net, CBS Sports, SB Nation, Yahoo, Basketball News, and USA TODAY’s For The Win.
The most notable risers within the projected lottery selections included Keegan Murray leaping Shaedon Sharpe into the top five range, Dyson Daniels entering the top 10, and Malaki Branham cracking the end of the lottery. Dalen Terry also vaulted 12 spots since our last aggregate mock draft and is currently positioned as an early second-round pick.
Some of the more notable names that fell slightly included TyTy Washington, Max Christie and Leonard Miller.
NOTE: These rankings reflect the composite score to get a feel for the overall consensus, not our own opinion. For example, if a player was the first pick on a publication’s mock draft, he received 58 points. If a player was second, he received 57 points and so on. We then tabulated the total number of points for each player’s consensus ranking.
HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report
The players are not going to solve the MVP problem.
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What’s good, family. It’s the homie Sykes, back again, to usher you into tonight’s playoff action. But before we dive in, a word on MVP voting.
People are ready to flip the voting process upside down after learning Nikola Jokic is set to become the 13th player to win back-to-back MVP awards.
The thinking is that a back-to-back MVP shouldn’t be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs as Jokic was. And because that happened, Jokic shouldn’t actually be MVP. Now, because voters failed to predict the future of the playoffs (GASP), some folks are calling for major changes to the voting process.
The main change people are looking for is to have players voting for the MVP, amongst other rewards. This has been an idea pitched around for years but, obviously, the Jokic MVP win has kicked the dust back up on it.
Folks from across the internet are arguing the time for change is now. You’ve even got a former player and coach in Nick VanExel suggesting this should happen.
But allowing players to vote is not the problem solver people think it is. The thing is, it already happens in a major area of the game. Players have an All-Star vote. And you know what many of them choose to do with it? Absolutely waste it.
Here’s a quick list of players who were voted by other players as All-Star starters this year: Raul Neto, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, PJ Washington, Brandon Clarke, Nic Claxton, Jarred Vanderbilt and Juan Toscano-Anderson.
This stuff is on the record. It’s recorded. No disrespect to those guys, who are all fine players. They’re certainly not All-Stars though. Yet, here they are with player votes.
Not sure if this is breaking news to anyone, but players have biases and agendas, too. Just look at what happened during the All-Star starter selection after James Harden forced his way out of Brooklyn. Kevin Durant refused to take him. That’s fine! It was hilarious. But, clearly, there’s a bias there that impacted his selection. And there’s stuff like that that happens all the time in the NBA between players.
Look, I don’t think it’s without reason to want to adjust the process or refine it in some way. Maybe clean it up a bit. Joel Embiid made a good case here (without disparaging Jokic, by the way).
But having a players-only vote doesn’t seem to be the answer, either.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
So Ja Morant’s season is all but officially over and what a season it was. This 22-year-old kid may have become the best point guard in the NBA while leading his team to the 2nd best record in the entire league.
That’s impressive. Super impressive. And it absolutely stinks to see his year end this way. Especially with a bone bruise injury that just feels so flukey.
Morant was clearly frustrated which is exactly why he dropped the Jordan Poole “broke the code” tweet the way he did. Our Prince Grimes has more.
“This isn’t how anybody wanted to see Morant’s season end, especially considering how it happened. The injury didn’t come on one of his fun aerial assaults that often end with him on the ground. It was fluke. While it didn’t break the code, as he insinuated, you can understand why he’d be so frustrated with the injury”
It’s a shame to see things end this way. But Ja will be back next year. And, hopefully, he’ll be better than ever.
Celtics (-5.5, -230) vs. Bucks (+180), O/U 212.5, 7 PM ET
(AP Photo/John Minchillo)
The Bucks and Celtics are squaring off in what is almost certain to be a slugfest of a game 5. Neither team has really been able to get things cracking offensively in this series. These are two defensive juggernauts going at it. The Bucks have a 99.4 defensive rating in the playoffs so far, which is a league-best. And the Celtics were one of the best defenses in the NBA all year long.
The safest bet you could possibly take here is the under. These two teams just aren’t going to score on each other.
Who’s in and out?
(AP Photo/Steven Senne)
—Robert Williams (knee) is questionable to return to the lineup in Game 5 against the Bucks
—George Hill (abdomen) is probable to play against the Celtics in Game 5.
—Ja Morant (knee) is out with a bone bruise for Game 5 against the Warriors
Shootaround
(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
—The officiating in the Celtics-Bucks series has been a topic of conversation since the first tip-off. The C’s have some thoughts on it, too, per Celtics Wire.
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