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The action on the hardwood has the stove extra hot as we officially have entered 2024. The longest single-season losing streak was finally snapped and left in 2023, superstar game-breakers are elevating their games to help keep their powerhouse teams atop the league standings, and an electric slasher has returned from the gulag to get his team out of the basement. That's the grease on the stove, lets get to the cookin'.
12 is back. Ja Morant has returned from his 25-game suspension to drop a big time support drop to the strugglin' Grizzlies. The household name point guard brought back-in a major level of electricity and buzz to the Grizzlies since his first game back... and the league for that matter as all eyes were on Ja. For the Grizz, it hasn't just been imported electricity from Morant in his late arrival- he has brought aid that the Grizzlies desperately needed.
Memphis had felt Morant's absence from the opening tip and losing Marcus Smart for 14 of the 25 Morantless games didn't help. Grizzlies were forced to rely on Vince Williams Jr. and Desmond Bane to hold down the backcourt. Memphis was 6-19 ridin' a five game losing skid going into Morant's first game of the campaign. In the seven games he has played, the Grizzlies are close to matching their wins total already going 5-2 with Morant- they won the first four games with him back in the rotation. Morant's presence was made known right away as he had a thunderous performance in his return game versus the Pelicans. 12 proved the rust to be slim to none with a real solid box of 34 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. He did go 0-5 from beyond the arc with 5 turnovers, but that is the only negative takeback of what was a great performance that was topped off with a buzzer beatin' game winner:
Video via SportsCenter//X
Vintage Morant slashin' his way under the basket to finish with a slick flick of the wrist prior to the horn sounding. For the cat to pull that off in his first game back shows his electric tendencies and game-breakin' motives. Look what just one spark can do for a team. Peep his teammates embracin' him after the basket- that's a spark creatin' shot. They now have won 5 games in 7 opportunities... it took them 18 games to win their first five. That's what I call making your presence known to create a spark. The flare; electricity; and game winnin' shots go a long way, but so does solid play across 4 quarters.
Morant has been better than I expected as he is averaging a solid 25-8-5 thus far with 57 assists and 23 turnovers. Morant's scoring has been solid outside of some inconsistency and two bad games. Grizzlies are 5-0 in games that Morant scores more than 20 points, but are 0-2 in the games that he didn't surpass 20. He was quite abysmal shootin' from the field in the two losses and is shooting 46.7% from the field overall thus far, but when he is on, he is on. That has always been the case with him, frankly. We shouldn't be shocked that Morant's shot has some rust; I have no concerns on his game off rip. All I know is Memphis is THRILLED to have their star guard back, and the league is excited to have a spark-wave of highlight slashes and posters back on the mainstream... rejoice Morant's poster on Wemby:
video via Memphis Grizzlies//X
Two cats placed in the top-5 of my current MVP rankings have activated their game-breakers to leave a trail of destruction in the box scores to power their squads to victories. Power. Efficiency. Precision. One guy is breakin' decade old records throughout activation while the other is slayin' the top teams in the league to shockwave the Western Conference. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the reigning MVP Joel Embiid has those on the hardwood on NOTICE.
How about SGA ferociously leadin' the red-hot Thunder atop the Western ranks? Gilgeous-Alexander is ballin'-ballin' right now and is a complete joy to watch play ball. "Gimme the ball and watch how I rock wit it". Shai ranks 3rd in the league with a 31.4 points per game average and does his thing on the defensive side of the court, leadin' the league by a wide margin in steals per game with a 2.6 average. SGA is the epitome of consistent with his well rounded game in the elite tier and his high shooting clip from the field. Shai has the 2nd best field-goal percentage (54.9%) of all the top ten scorers behind Giannis Antetokounmpo (60.6%). SGA's incredible season has elevated the Thunder and his play of late has helped them get some MONSTER dubs against top teams.
Oklahoma City is ridin' a five game winning streak that has dubs over the Timberwolves, Celtics, and Nuggets. Gilgeous-Alexander has been superb on the win streak averaging 34 points a game with a 36-piece against the Cs and a 40-burger against the Nuggets. The dude is a straight scorcher on the offensive and will slaughter any defender in the league inside the key and when slashin' the paint. SGA even went to work on Jrue Holiday and Derrick White in the win over the Cs- two of the best defensive guards in the league. Here he is puttin' one of the best big man defenders in a damn blender:
video via NBA//X
Thunder are a scary team when Shai is puttin' up numbers. SGA has scored 30+ points in 20 of the Thunder's 32 games- OKC is 15-5 in those games. His value on the O is massive, when you mix in his value on the D and look at his efficiency you immediately start talkin' MVP. He is playing that good right now. I have him sittin' in the 3-spot currently for MVP going into 2024. Could you imagine the Thunder not having SGA? You take away his production and they are in the basement, not atop the West. We can say the same regarding the reigning MVP; who is showin' he wants back-to-back trophies BADLY.
Joel Embiid is back to being an absolute game breaker for the 76ers as Philly sits three games back of the Celtics for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Embiid had himself an unreal December of play averaging 40.2 points per game with two 50-burgers and seven games with 35+ points. Philly went 9-1 in December when Embiid played and 0-3 when he didn't (including one game versus BOS). It's hard to argue his value when we look at the 76ers with and without him. 76ers are 21-5 with Embiid. They are nothing without him. He ranks 1st in the league in points per game and 5th in rebounds per game. The rebounding has just as much value as his scoring does for the Sixers as Embiid averages 5.6 more boards a game than Philly's 2nd best rebounder Tobias Harris.
Through 28 games, Embiid is somehow following his trend of rising his numbers from the year prior. The fact he is playin' better right now than he did in his MVP season last year speaks volumes. Every statistical field has been improved thus far and he is back to breakin' records. Embiid joins Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only hoopers to post 30+ points & 10+ rebounds in 14 straight games in NBA history. Embiid also became the first player to average 40+ points and 60%+ field-goal percentage in a month and the first player in NBA history to score 30+ points, 15+ rebounds, and 10+ assists in a game despite sitting out the entire 4th-quarter. Is all that not appealing enough? Embiid also has a 76ers' franchise record of 15 straight 30+ point games. He is a straight freak on the hardwood and is on pace for another MVP season if he keeps this pace and doesn't miss ten more games due to injuries/rest. Can you imagine having to guard this:
video via NBA TV//X
One of the more passed around names in trade talks finally has a new designation. Raptors dish forward OG Anunoby to the Big Apple in exchange for RJ Barrett; Immanuel Quickley; and a 2024 second-round pick. Knicks also get Malachi Flynn and Precious Achiuwa in the exchange. Knicks trade two major young assets to reel in arguably their number one target in next year's free agency. A big move, with some big risk. They add an immediate upgrade at wing with the prototype 3&D monster, but will it pan out for New York in the end?
This trade is quite interesting as I evaluate it with full ponder. Knicks land a stud young forward, no doubt. Anunoby has elevated his offensive game and continues to be savvy on the defensive as one of the more diverse defenders in the game who can guard multiple positions. Anunoby has the 3rd best steals per game average of all players in the past two years (1.7) and is hungry to be a number 1 or 2 scoring option going into his free agency. A good get for a Knicks team sittin' at 18-15, but is it the right decision knowing how aggressive they planned to be in free agency? It's hard to tell. Off rip I lean to the wrong decision side of the notion.
Why would they include Quickley? That's a brutal loss to their depth that already was bleak. More importantly; the rumor mill told us that the Cavaliers would have played ball on a Donovan Mitchell trade if Quickley was available and New York passed. Which was fine, but they send him in this trade for Anunoby? I don't like that play. Gettin' rid of Barrett was fine; with the draft capital they have, they could have simply added more draft compensation rather then including Quickley. Not only do you lose a six man of the year threat, but you lose a young cat who can still groom himself into a star in the league depending on the situation and his further development. I also fear that coach Thibodeau may overuse Brunson now that they don't have IQ to back him up. They are in a fight for the play-in and will continue that fight throughout the season- no doubt in my mind that Brunson will be overused. This could spiral bad quick, or be good. Risky type of trade.
They better hope this "pitch" keeps Anunoby long-term or this would be a monumental mistake for a 4-5 month rental. That's my only shade on it. Gettin' rid of Quickley hurts and you have risk with the card that OG could sign somewhere else next season. My concern lies there, from a roster upgrade this is a wonderful move for the Knicks. OG fits well with how they operate. Brunson-Randle-Anunoby? Yeah, that sounds good off the tongue. The starting five got a massive upgrade. Anunoby gives them so much more to work with. The spacing will be better and their style should be more aggressive. Defensively, it's a no brainer upgrade. Knicks win more games with this trade; bottom line.
It's hard for me to fully critique the trade from the Raptors side without fully knowing the exact trade offers placed in front of them. Sorry I don't hold weight into accounts on X. Woj/Shams being the only exception as they are employed to deliver legitimacy (I beg ya to stop with that nonsense of the NBA Central & Legion whatever). We know the Raps are in sell-mode and that they wanted to swing Anunoby for some return knowing he'd walk in free agency. They got some pretty damn return if you ask me. Remember how I said Quickley could groom into a star depending on the right situation? Well this could be that right situation. Quickley will get more minutes and should fit in well with Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam (for now). Barrett is a hometown cat who still has value in his game, a new scenery is just what the doctor ordered for him. Barrett fits in with Scottie Barnes as well. Plus they get a draft pick... hard to tell if they were offered a better trade than that. I feel they made the right call. Who doesn't love a nice December trade!?
As one streak ends another streak rises. Pistons ended their travesty of a losing streak at a record tying 28 games in a row, but don't worry we have another streak to jump our focus to: that being the Celtics' 23 game winning streak at home. A positive streak to focus on, rather than a negative one. Boston has started the campaign an unreal 16-0 at home to jump their home win streak to 23 dating back to last season. Celtics are just two wins shy of tying the '57/58 squad for the best home start to a season in franchise history. It's much better to experience a historically good streak rather than a historically bad one.
Celtics have had this level of home success on a few occasions across their history. They are tasked with trying to match the franchise's epic 38 game home winning streak that was accomplished across the '85-86 and '86-87 seasons. That's a crazy feat no doubt, but anything is possible. Boston has played every home game thus far against Eastern Conference foes which has elevated their Conference record to a league best 21-4. They used their prowess in the Garden to place themselves a tier above the rest in the East. I don't like how they had their schedule drawn up, but the C's could care less about my opinion. They dominated the East with the draw up and now have a serious wave of confidence going into 2024. A needed wave as business picks up for them in the Garden and right off the horn of the new year.
Celtics will play nine of their next ten home games against the West. The Nuggets and Timberwolves are on the slate for two of the first four matchups. Huge games for the C's to position their conference prowess to a league prowess. Both Denver and Minnesota sit atop the West, but each of them have struggled on the road which creates a great opportunity for the Celtics to extend their record streak against the highest echelon of comp. The more they extend this streak, the more of a problem they will become as we dive into the new year and second half (ish) of regular season action on the hardwood. Can someone stump the streak? Our focus is sharpened.
I had to cover all that noise on the stove prior to droppin' the latest power rankings and standings update going into 2024. I have some football to cover, but I will jump right back to the hardwood with a PR Scoop for yah's tasting by the end of the weekend. We have some solid games to enjoy in the meantime, including a trap game for the Celtics at home against the Jazz on Friday night. I'll catch ya on the flipside, enjoy this unreal jelly-slam by the specimen Wembanyama on your way out:
video via NBAStats//X
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