Giannis above – by Tom Ziller

Good morning Let’s play basketball.

Hercules as a heroic virtue that overcomes discord; Peter Paul Rubens; 1632-33

Skyscraper: a tribute to a building that removes it from the context of the land on which it is built, and is so grand that it can only be contextualized by the plane of existence above us simple earthbound mortals. But it is the special property that gives the skyscraper its special value. They build skyscrapers where land values ​​are high and where profit opportunities are less a question of risk and more a question of capacity. Skyscrapers tend to proliferate, and new skyscrapers emerge from the ground that surpass the ones that already exist. It’s a long, slow race to heaven.

NBA superstars are like that, with impossibly high ceilings and notable not for their base but for the height at which they reside. Below a certain floor the building is just a building. What makes it a skyscraper — and what makes an NBA star a superstar — is what happens at the top.

Is anyone accomplishing more than Giannis Antetokounmpo during this time, figuratively or literally? My mind still hasn’t truly recovered from the fever dream that was his performance in the 2021 NBA Finals, and I’m having a really hard time grasping the fact that he had a single – one – “bad game” this season , 25 games in. (This bad game: 20 points on 9/17 shooting (2/7 from the line), 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 8 turnovers in a win Bucks over Houston. Hands down his worst game of the season was a game in which he made 30 of 14/26 shooting (2/6 from the line), 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 turnovers in a 30-10 loss at 54% FG, his second-worst game of the season.)

Giannis was an absolute menace in the Bucks’ commanding victory over the Hawks in the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday. It felt like he was always there when the Bucks needed a bucket. Whenever the Bucks needed a stop, he was there. Whenever the Bucks had a window of opportunity, Giannis would dart through the opening to attack the rim. Whenever the Hawks had a window of opportunity, Giannis would appear out of nowhere to block it. It is the best Swiss Army knife ever sharpened and is capable of anything at any time.

He’s been in the United States for 12 years now and the league is still far from understanding him. He has real flaws that are known and obvious to anyone who watches him long enough. And they don’t matter at all, because what he does great is completely unstoppable.

Nikola Jokic puts up really absurd statistics and is The The reason for this is that the Nuggets are in the playoff mix. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was excellent throughout and a true captain of the best team in the West. Luka Doncic has performances that boggle the mind and leave you shaking your head. But then there’s Giannis, who almost never has a bad game and frequently turns in godly performances, and one wonders if anyone other than him can ever be considered truly the best player alive as long as he roams the universe.

If you stand too close to a skyscraper, you may not be able to see the top. That is the power of its relative height. Perhaps Giannis’ ceiling will remain hidden from our mortal gaze. Will it reveal itself?

Friday

Pacemaker 121Sixers 107 — In this game:

Cursed season.

Wizard 105, Cavaliers 115 – All those uncompetitive losses might have put a damper on the Wizards. Plays much better lately. Bilal Coulibaly is certainly a bright spot.

Hornets 95, Bulls 109

nets 119, Grizzlies 135 – Some unnecessary saltiness from Ja Morant towards Jordi Fernandez and the Nets bench at the end of the game. Fernandez is fed up, Taylor Jenkins tries to play it off…until Dennis Schroder gets involved. Strange things that don’t make me feel better about believing in the Grizz.

Lakers 87, Timberwolves 97 – Minnesota forced a high number of turnovers (21), held LA to poor shooting (38%) – the Lakers’ offense isn’t very good, but this is still an impressive defensive performance.

Clippers 98, Nuggets 120

Suns 134Jazz 126 — Kevin Durant is back. The Suns were 0-3 during his most recent absence. They are now 13-2 when he plays (including Sunday’s game). Sleeping giant.

Spurs 118Blazer 116 – Very, very gentle ejection from Chris Paul here.

Portland was down 13 at halftime, jumped out to a 17-point lead with 8:29 left in the fourth period… and lost. The Spurs are on pace to win games this year.

Saturday

Falcons 102, 110 dollars

rockets 96, Thunder 111 — Houston’s shooting was terrible all game and OKC found a way to put up points in the second half. What more could you expect from the two best defenders in the league? Amen Thompson was consistently effective in every minute he played, and Tari Eason was pretty good too. Jalen Green, Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun all had poor offensive nights; I still see something real in Green and I think as long as the work ethic and mind is there (which it appears to be), he has All-Star potential.

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The Thunder are so, so, so good. Clearly the class of the West. I thought they would have company at the end of the conference. I was wrong. They are just incredibly good at virtually every facet of the game. Celtics of the West.

Sengun, perhaps frustrated at being restricted by Isaiah Hartenstein, became cheeky with Cason Wallace in the closing moments.

Lu Dort received a garbage time tech for celebrating a three-pointer by raising three fingers. The referees are out of control.

Sunday

Pelicans 104, Pacemaker 119 — It’s hard to overstate how badly the Dejounte Murray deal turned out for New Orleans… even before you think too much about Dyson Daniels. Murray had eight turnovers in this game, which is now an average of 4.2 per game. It might be time for the reset button in NOLA.

Knicks 100Magic 91

Celtics 112Wizard 98

Timberwolves 106Spurs 92 – A sharp fast break for Rob Dillingham.

The Wolves are 6-1 since their loss to the Kings and Anthony Edwards’ rip-off on the team. I wonder how they got on the same page. Group Pokémon Go! meetings?

Blazer 109, Suns 116

Maverick’s 143Warrior 133 – Helluva Bay Shootout. At halftime it was 81-74… and things didn’t calm down much from there. (Luka Doncic was 28-8-9 in 18 minutes in the first half, at least from some perspective.) This probably should have been a slam-dunk either way; It just so happened that both teams were incredibly hot at the same time.

The Mavericks’ offense is ranked 4th. The Warriors’ defense is down to 6th.

Grizzlies 110, Lakers 116 — Anthony Davis’ win-loss split is pretty wild:

• 31 points on 57% from the floor, 44% from three

• 24 points on 48% from the floor, 9% from three

He had 40 points on 15/22 shooting in this one. Imagine that. Memphis might just have a Lakers problem.

Always east.

Heat to the pistons, 7
Sixers at Hornets, 7
Bulls at Raptors, 7:30 p.m
Cavaliers at Nets, 7:30
Nuggets at Kings, 10
Jazz at the Clippers, 10:30 a.m

Some trade restrictions were lifted Sunday, making more members of the league eligible for relocation. We can demonstrate this in two trades:

The Miami deal is 100% related to the Heat’s salary cap and roster size and is potentially a precursor to a Jimmy Butler transfer. Miami moved a little further away from the second frontcourt and opened up a second vacant roster spot. Indiana needs help at center, but there was no inherent reason for the Heat to help the Pacers — the second-round pick swap option is essentially worthless.

The Warriors needed another creator and found him at a relatively cheap price as they needed to compete while Steph Curry is still a top-10 player. Schroder fits the Warriors’ needs a little better than 3-and-D Melton, who is unfortunately out this year. They wonder if Schroder’s arrival will push Draymond Green, who has essentially become the team’s backup point guard, back into the starting lineup where he can spend more time with Steph. Also, keep an eye on the Warriors defense. Given Melton’s injury, this is a fantastic opportunity for Golden State, but there are tradeoffs. Meanwhile, I suspect the Nets aren’t done yet. Schroder was the leader of this overachieving team, and trading him for a second player leaves the matter wide open.

has a good rumor summary about what might come next.

Okay, this is Monday. Be great to each other.