He should call it And Another Thing

Gotta say, I’m not so confident that you do

On that last Suns fast break after the Dunn steal, Jalen Green looked beside himself that Gillespie didn't throw him the lob for a dunk ... only to wind up with a catch-and-shoot 3 in the corner. That kind of night.

Jalen Green's already got five 3s a couple of minutes into the third quarter of his first game as a Sun, with most of them coming off the catch rather than pulling up. Looking really smooth so far playing off the catch, attacking the second side, running PNR with Williams, etc.

Bradley Beal looks like someone who very badly wants to prove everyone wrong, and is in the process proving them more and more right with every successive miss and mistake

*Slight* difference between the welcome that Suns fans gave Bradley Beal and Chris Paul.

You know how I know I've been slacking on my basketball Internet? I *just* found out that Devin Booker has a Jack Skellington tattoo. Feels like something I would've written at least two blog posts about back in the day.

🆕 BIG NUMBER: 2️⃣ 🐻📉 @tomhaberstroh.bsky.social + I dig into Ja Morant's unrest in Memphis, his declining production at the rim, what optimizing for him gets you, what *moving* him gets you, and more! 🍎: tinyurl.com/bccmdnu ✳️: tinyurl.com/52vk9jst 📺: youtu.be/LD9HfFa6EiI

At Y! Sports: A quick one on Luka Dončić's season-opening heater, and how one of the best players of his generation looking even better than ever can leave you grasping for descriptors that fit: yhoo.it/43iSXZQ

Just digging through old emails on a regular Wednesday morning

At Y! Sports: A quick one on Luka Dončić's season-opening heater, and how one of the best players of his generation looking even better than ever can leave you grasping for descriptors that fit: yhoo.it/43iSXZQ

Lakers have six games in the next two weeks. If LeBron doesn't come back before that, he'll have missed the first 15 games — running right up against that 65-game threshold for year-end awards eligibility. There hasn't been an All-NBA team without LeBron's name on it since 2004.

(We recorded this before Rockets-Grizzlies ... during which Ja went 6-for-19 from the field, taking three attempts at the rim and nine outside the paint, with six turnovers against eight assists. The points still stand.)

🆕 BIG NUMBER: 2️⃣ 🐻📉 @tomhaberstroh.bsky.social + I dig into Ja Morant's unrest in Memphis, his declining production at the rim, what optimizing for him gets you, what *moving* him gets you, and more! 🍎: tinyurl.com/bccmdnu ✳️: tinyurl.com/52vk9jst 📺: youtu.be/LD9HfFa6EiI

Entering Wednesday, the Mavs were last in the NBA in offensive efficiency, by a lot. Their offensive rating when Flagg was at PG was in Process Sixers/7-59 Bobcats territory. Last night, Kidd started D'Angelo Russell ... but kept the ball in Flagg's hands down the stretch:

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has released a resume portal via his transition site, offering jobs for people of all skill levels “to help build an administration of public servants that will drive down costs and keep all New Yorkers safe.” www.transition2025.com/apply

Last 3 Games for the New York Knicks: vs CHI: 43 made field goals, 31 assists, 6 players with 10+ points vs WAS: 44 made field goals, 32 assists, 7 players with 10+ points vs MIN: 55 made field goals, 32 assists, 6 players with 10+ points

Mitchell Robinson has nine offensive rebounds in 16 minutes. The Timberwolves have nine offensive rebounds as a team.

MPJ throwing the lob to a wholly unsuspecting Nic Claxton up by four with 26 seconds left was sublime

Not trying to get ahead of myself, but when the Nets have three of their first-round picks down in the G-League, play their "vets" and play the Pacers, they look kinda like an NBA team

Mentioned it in last week's write-up on the Flagg-at-PG experiment (yhoo.it/4oR9kVT): As hard as things have been in the half-court, he looks like an absolute demon when he gets the chance to get out and run.

Without their centers and without either of their backup point guards, the Grizzlies just don't really feel like they're in the Rockets' weight class, curdled vibes or no

Not sure if this is a good thought or a kinda-sleep-deprived thought, but: on-ball Amen Thompson sometimes feels like they gave Ja Super Soldier Serum

[sigh] We'll always have the first couple days of the season. Get well soon, Walker Kessler. See you next year.

🚨NEW POD ALERT🚨 @stevejones20.bsky.social & I are BYKE w more Dunker Spot! -Luka + Reaves + tinkering defense 🧐 -OKC >>> -DA BULLS! -Spurs seeing more junk 👀 -So Dallas... And more! YT: youtu.be/4MgcfGutho4?... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7GLM...

At Last Night in Basketball, @jadubin5.bsky.social tracks adjusted efficiency — how much better/worse a team is than a league-average unit in a given season: www.lastnightinbasketball.com/adjusted-eff... 24-25 OKC: 11.1 points-per-100 above league-average. 25-26 so far: +10.4 — *without* J-Dub.

what makes the Fullcast perfect is that someone else said it this time

"I wish you had a girl donkey you could treat as your daughter" best sports show, another perfect @shutdownfullcast.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/0FuH...

oops here is the gift link

real sense in which last night was fairly predictable. real question is why our pundits and the elites who listen to them couldn’t see it. (gift link)

"The results, then, are a marked contrast to the accommodation, capitulation and outright surrender of prominent individuals and institutions in the face of Trump’s demands." @jamellebouie.net this morning: [🎁]

Zohran at Knicks-Wolves tonight to meet with Pablo Prigioni about becoming his chief of staff

Get down to the Clippers by a dozen in the first five minutes of the game — yawn, stretch. Tie it back up before halftime, rip off a 70-point second half, open up a 25-point lead, cruise to an eighth straight win. What, like it's hard? yhoo.it/4oRLWHI

“I wish them the best in private life” is something I need an NBA player to say after knocking an opponent out of the playoffs

"Every day that the election marched on, Cuomo's campaign looked less and less like the work of a man who wanted to help anyone in the city and more like a spiteful tantrum thrown in the face of a city he no longer knew."

I knew that Mamdani had it; he had the people and did the work, and has been the clearest and most lucid in rejecting the untenable current state of things. But the vile, bigoted shit against him was so constant, and I am conditioned to that working better than I want. This feels like an exorcism.

At Y! Sports: I wrote about the Thunder, who are doing it again: yhoo.it/4oRLWHI

The Sixers haven't scored since a pair of Maxey free throws at 4:26, and haven't made a basket in more than six minutes. Just a catastrophic shamble toward the finish line here.

This is the "coming out in victory formation" of posting

It's pretty thin gruel when they're getting their doors blown off by the Raptors on the second night of a back-to-back, but Kyle Kuzma's made some really nice cuts tonight. After a brutal start in Milwaukee last season, he's looked much better/more comfortable in a smaller role.

The Raptors playing "Notorious" when Brandon Ingram scores, in a game against Giannis, whose baskets get followed by "Notorious" when he's playing at home in Milwaukee, is pretty disorienting if you've spent way, way too much time in your life watching League Pass

Why did I vote for Mamdani? Well, part of it is that it felt genuinely inspiring to vote for someone articulating a vision of life that wasn't just about being scared of everybody and everything, one that conceived of better things as actually possible. Mostly, though: I'm a huge frontrunner.

NYC hits 2 million votes, breaking the 1989 record (1.9M) and taking us back to records set in the 1960s! (1969: 2.4M; 1965: 2.6M)

They’re calling it “the least essential thing ever aired on television”

Love distinct periods of hope. Here’s to more distinct periods of hope!

Cole Anthony: cool rebounder

Fellow bitter southerners, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia all elected Democratic Governors. Georgia in 2020 wasn’t a fluke. South Carolina, Florida, Texas, All y’all of the y’allternative persuasion. Keep being loud. Keep getting into good trouble. Protect black folks and trans people. Vote

Hey, Collin Murray-Boyles — you're a good defender, right?" "You bet, Coach!" "OK, cool. Go guard Giannis one-on-one in the post." "... you bet, Coach?"

shit, that's top shelf bluesky

Anthony Edwards practiced today with the Timberwolves. Chris Finch said he “is progressing well” from the hamstring injury. When asked if he could play tomorrow vs the Knicks, Finch said “I wouldn’t be able to say at this stage. I have no idea.” That wasn’t a no.