Never Lame Dame (you can steal that, it’s not that great) is exactly that. Which I guess is technically not true, the word never is pretty strong, but then again, a dead man (Kawhi Leonard) just shut down a Celtics MVP favorite, so I feel anything is possible nowadays. And since the aforementioned Leonard has been a topic de jour a few times already this season, and while I would love to continue talking about SGA making his All-Star starter case with a season-high 42 points on 14-26 FG, Damian Lillard is the focus, nailing 11 three-pointers, finishing his night against the Timberwolves with 38 points on 13-21 FG in just 29 minutes. Just to put that in context, the only players with 3+ games and 11+ threes this season is Steph… and of course Dame. Something to add, Dame already had eight threes and 27 points just in the first half. So while the correct nomenclature would probably be “Mostly Never Lame Dame,” I’m pretty sure that actually being a concept of time, or a reference to, even if Dame O’Clock sounds Irish, is probably safe being the lede today. But just in case, here’s what else I saw during last night’s small slate of games…
Tyrese Haliburton – 33 MIN, 0-9 FG, 0-6 3PT, 1-1 FT, 3 REB, 6 AST, 2 BLK, 2 TO, +7, 1 PTS. Haliburton had one point the entire night… from a technical free throw? Yikes.
Tyler Herro – 34 MIN, 3-11 FG, 2-7 3PT, 3 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 2 TO, +16, 8 PTS. The Heat offense looked like a mess… or like it came straight from 2005, probably both!
Kevin Durant – 33 MIN, 11-17 FG, 3-6 3PT, 5-5 FT, 9 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 3 TO, +11, 30 PTS. Nets are 15-6 in their last 21 and they’ll have a semi-full and healthy roster against most likely this Friday. Seems like KD is thriving, and the drama has subdued so the Nets actually might be really good?
T.J. Warren – 19 MIN, 6-10 FG, 0-1 3PT, 4 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, -1, 12 PTS. Signing Warren may have been one of the better low-risk, low-reward moves this offseason, he’s been a great and stable producer coming off the bench.
Jaren Jackson Jr. – 24 MIN, 6-11 FG, 1-4 3PT, 2-2 FT, 7 REB, 2 AST, 8 BLK, 2 TO, +25, 15 PTS. BLOCKANDA FOREVER!
Jarrett Culver – 13 MIN, 3-9 FG, 0-2 3PT, 1-2 FT, 4 REB, 1 AST, -13, 7 PTS. If you told me Culver would play 10+ mins, I’d assume Grizz won by 30+.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – 38 MIN, 14-23 FG, 1-2 3PT, 13-13 FT, 2 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL, 2 TO, +6, 42 PTS. More like Shai Gorgeous-Alexander, amirite?
Spencer Dinwiddie – 35 MIN, 7-16 FG, 4-8 3PT, 2-2 FT, 7 REB, 10 AST, 4 TO, +13, 20 PTS. Dinwiddie slowly becoming that secondary playmaker that Mavs and Luka desperately need.
Keldon Johnson – 34 MIN, 8-25 FG, 1-6 3PT, 4-5 FT, 6 REB, 2 AST, 1 BLK, 2 TO, +3, 21 PTS. Rattling off a quick three-game win streak to beat the tanking allegations, smart by the legendary Pops.
Josh Richardson – 27 MIN, 9-13 FG, 5-7 3PT, 1-1 FT, 1 REB, 2 AST, 2 TO, +6, 24 PTS. He could honestly help a contender as a bench player. He really has turned himself into quite the efficient 3-and-D player that can be a solid role player.
Rudy Gobert – 32 MIN, 8-13 FG, 0-0 3PT, 0-1 FT, 20 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 2 TO, -13, 23 PTS. Look, here’s my hot take on this situation so far. I don’t think this was necessarily the worst trade ever, nor do I think Rudy is a bad player… it just looks like he’s a bad fit. To me, that’s a front office thing. They thought he was part of the solution, but so far, looks like he isn’t and now there aren’t any more picks and limited pieces to trade and improve the team further.
Jaden McDaniels – 28 MIN, 1-4 FG, 0-2 3PT, 1 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, -15, 2 PTS. Being a Minnesota sports fan is a miserable experience, almost as bad as being a San Diego sports fan. Ahem.
Blake Griffin – 21 MIN, 1-3 FG, 0-2 3PT, 3-5 FT, 6 REB, 5 AST, -20, 5 PTS. Celtics kryptonite is California apparently…
Jayson Tatum – 37 MIN, 7-20 FG, 2-8 3PT, 4-4 FT, 11 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 3 TO, -18, 20 PTS. Healthy small-ball Clippers just a way different animal.
Kawhi Leonard – 29 MIN, 10-12 FG, 2-3 3PT, 3-6 FT, 9 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 2 TO, +23, 25 PTS. Return of the Klaw… and he’s probably still at 60-70%, which is scary when you think about. Scary that he could get better and scary that he could blow up.
Jay is a longtime Razzball everything who consumes an egregious amount of Makers Mark as a vehicle to gain wisdom and augment his natural glow. Living in the D.C. area, he also likes spending time visiting the local parks and feeding lettuce to any turtles he encounters, including Mitch McConnell.
