I wrote on what I know about the Nuggets' pretty baffling late-season decisions, and argued with myself about whether the logic of the process was right, no matter the result. open.substack.com/pub/thedenve...

@hpbasketball.bsky.social used to ask me all the time why I seems to spend so much energy “policing” bad uses of stats and part of it is the personal annoyance but the bigger part is how much harder the bullshitters make doing my job effectively.

My final thoughts on the MVP race and an unavoidable, uninspiring answer that leaves no one satisfied. hardwoodparoxysm.substack.com/p/2026-nbacc...

3. Lakers (division winner) 4. Nuggets (head to head tiebreaker over Rockets) 5. Rockets

I am here for your magic number and tiebreaker questions today, should anyone have any.

With the caveat that this is not a quote from a source but the word choice of the author and so maybe an issue on that end... "Calibrated force could impose costs on Tehran without triggering a broader war." What kind of "calibration" is killing the leaders of the country and 150 schoolgirls?

how it feels seeing your GOAT slander your city and suggest moving your favorite team away

Everything with teams in the Nuggets' spot is about the urgency of the playoffs and dread about the future. But I had a chance to write about the "momentness" of the regular season from three different perspectives: Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Cam Johnson. thedenverdig.com/p/the-meanin...

If you like the MVP award, if you care about the MVP award, if you like to THINK about the MVP award, I wrote a column I do pretty much every year on the qeustions you should ask to decide who should win. open.substack.com/pub/hardwood...

I wrote and spoke about KD, how his teams never seem to get better, the complications of understanding his impact, and the Rockets' palace intrigue and uncertain future. open.substack.com/pub/hardwood...

I spoke with @anthonyirwinla.bsky.social for my channel on the end of Klutch-Lakers, Luka's shot selection, is JJ a good coach, and more. hardwoodparoxysm.substack.com/p/wtf-lal-ho...

At the Denver Dig, I wrote on ThunderNuggets tonight, and how the Thunder have taken Nikola Jokic out of his comfort zone. open.substack.com/pub/thedenve...

Title track remains unchanged, though it should be noted Wolves are 3rd seed with a +3.48 SRS which is above the 2023 Nuggets.

DEFCON this week, where the Bucks are going the wrong, or right way, depending on your perspective.

As I do every Monday, teams top-10 in offensive and defensive efficiency schedule-adjusted at DunksAndThrees.com.

3️⃣ Things I Noticed on League Pass 🪙 Nolan Traore, diming 🪜 Donovan Clingan, stepping out ⏲️ Cade Cunningham, timing it up Traore's passing is currently the best reason to watch the Nets. Meanwhile, Clingan is nailing threes and Cade is blocking shots. www.lastnightinbasketball.com/three-things...

Title track for this week 91% of all champions since 1980 have 40 wins before 20 losses. All but four champions in the last 30 years have an SRS above 4.0. Only two teams have won a title in NBA history without a top-3 seed. 29 of the last 30 champs have checked two of the boxes.

DEFCON: Denver's at the brink, the Bulls are way past how bad they should be, I'm extremely frustrated with Memphis, and I don't think the Warriors are good.

Top 10 offense and defense teams via DunksAndThrees.com for this week. Celtics join the fray.

At the Denver Dig, I wrote on faith, saviors, a season on the brink, why you can't expect today's greats to have multiple titles, and of course, the Cam stuff. open.substack.com/pub/thedenve...

I did some research and it turns out that regular season clutchness doesn't help you when winter turns to spring in the NBA. youtube.com/watch?v=Yt5W...

At the Denver Dig, I went IN on the clutch question, their problems, and whether they're actually relevant. thedenverdig.com/p/clutching-...

Title track. - 91% of alll NBA champions since 1980 have won 40 games before 20 losses. - All but 4 champions have had an SRS of 4.0 or better in the last 30 years - Only 2 teams in NBA history have won the title with a seed lower than 3rd. 29 of the last 30 champions have checked two of 3.

DEFCON this week. Portland is at a tipping point.

Teams top-10 in offense and defense schedule-adjusted headed into tonight's games.

This Pistons-Spurs game is bonkers good. Spurs executing, Pistons bodying and hanging in with aggression. would be such a great Finals. /is triggered by 05 memories

good news everyone, supreme court justices are beholden to their corporate benefactors over their fascist overlords

Trump Suffers Setback Unrelated To Child Rape

Oh man, the teaser for it alone...

Aim higher. Ted Leonsis in the baby race at halftime for extra ping-pong balls.

I know Brad PItt loved the source material, and the movie he made was fine, even if it completely misses every point of the book. But why hasn't there been a World War Z TV series? With how streaming series are, it is absolutely 100% the best way to do it. It would be phenomenal

Wrote about murals, and tacos, and why Spurs fans in San Antonio have no reason to worry about Austin stealing their team anymore. www.expressnews.com/sports/spurs...

I feel like all these ranking solutions miss the potential for executives to degrade themselves for job security instead of having coaches do it. Simon Says Guy at halftime of the Finals for lottery placement

The Nuggets have used Jamal Murray as their stagger for years. Now, there's evidence this season that not only are there better options without Nikola Jokic, but a big benefit to Murray with a different rotation. At the Dig: open.substack.com/pub/thedenve...

Requiem for a Point God. I haven't written like this in a long time. hardwoodparoxysm.substack.com/p/requiem-fo...

🏀 Who better to unpack all the NBA hysteria than @hpbasketball.bsky.social ⁉️ He and I will do that live at 9 p.m. ET tonight ❗ ☑️ KD's (possible) burner ☑️ Adam Silver under fire (again) ☑️ The tanking conversation ☑️ And more YouTube: tinyurl.com/5n6kkrkz Twitch: tinyurl.com/5x3cnbjy

I thought Denver's defense was good *enough* fully healthy, but when I dove into the differences since injuries hit, I found out that the early season was smoke and mirrors. open.substack.com/pub/thedenve...

It's still wild to me that only one of last year's 40/20 teams even made the conference finals Every year I wonder if we're about to start seeing the outliers overtake the historical trends...

If you had told me last summer "The 25-26 Spurs are NBA title contenders" I would have assumed "Oh, they must've pulled the trigger on the Giannis deal" and not "Steph Castle is already a top 50 player, Harper's pretty good, and Keldon figured out a role to impact winning."

There are two months left in the season, but we know more about who will win the title than you'd think. A look at what history says, what the outliers can be, and who WON'T win the title this season. hardwoodparoxysm.substack.com/p/road-to-th...

I wrote a lengthy discussion of Adam Silver and his interpretation of the office of the Commissioner, why the Sterling scandal likely influenced a lot of the proceeding years, and why Saturday's press conference was a shot across the bow. hardwoodparoxysm.substack.com/p/the-shadow...

we have got to stop allowing cops to use their taxpayer-provided squad cars and uniforms for their off duty security work, because we have a separation ordinance and yet here it looks like MPD are providing security for the ICE agents staying at the depot hotel

At the Denver Dig, I wrote on how Denver is out of time and can't afford any more inexplicable home losses. It's go time for them. thedenverdig.com/p/times-up-d...

At the deadline, teams chose cowardice and half measures. I wrote on it and who I thought actually did well. hardwoodparoxysm.substack.com/p/2026-nba-t...

One of the traps I always fall into is assuming that NBA careers are linear. @hpbasketball.bsky.social said it best in the Celtics preseason preview "Chemistry changes. People change. Games develop, good and bad. Guys get better and want bigger roles." Another reason I'd be a bad GM

I wrote on the Pelicans' delusions of mild grandeur and other trade nonsense. hardwoodparoxysm.substack.com/p/the-pelica...

I wrote on the Giannis Saga, the feelings on all sides, why Doc needs more of the blame, and the bad bad bad options. hardwoodparoxysm.substack.com/p/the-long-s...

For the Locked on Nuggets Everydayers club, I wrote an in-depth and I mean IN DEPTH scouting report for Nuggets-Thunder tonight. lockedonnuggets.supercast.com/subscriber_v...

I got some stuff wrong in my latest batch of rumormongering, so I issued a correction. So that's embarrassing. hardwoodparoxysm.substack.com/p/nba-rumor-...

lmao I need comment from Ethan Hawke and Alison Brie about losing this legitimate acting award to the dog "we are so thrilled to be recognized for his work in a movie he does not totally understand he was in.”