I couldn’t go with Playoff P, now could I? Yes, I did tease this commentary a bit with yesterday’s rankings, and you might think I’m being a bit harsh on the Sixers… but it’s nothing that hasn’t been already said by the fanbase itself, so therefore I absolve myself of any sins. Plus, I make of the Celtics enough to make up for it.
So yeah, Paul George‘s year has officially been closed, with news coming out that he received injections in his left adductor muscle and left knee this past Monday and has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
I’m not going to bother with the Clippers angle, only that they can enjoy their fruits, THE PROVERBIAL FRUITS ARE SO SWEET, but nonetheless, there was a lot of hype at the time, I mean, even at it’s worst, the Sixers at least got an upgrade of Tobias Harris, right? So let’s play a fun game, I’ll list out two players and you tell me which one is Tobias and PG.
- Player A: 17.2/6.5/3.1
- Player B: 16.2/5.3/4.3
So I’m sure you would get it after two tries, even one! But that’s not the point, just the mere fact that this two lines are nearly identical, but, you know, one dude is making over 50 million a year for the next three years should tell you all you need to know. (PG is Player B, by the way. Yikes.)
But we do live in a fantasy world, I mean unfortunately a real one too, but we deal with fantasy here and this actually leads us to next season talk, and I’m pretty sure PG will end up being an undervalue asset going into next season. While it’s always fun to kick the Sixers while their down, there will be rumblings that Paul George is washed, look at what he did, look at the situation, and all that is pretty true. But, there can still be value there too, so something to keep an eye on as I’m sure the Sixers will give us in the offseason what they so amazingly gave us during the regular season, and that’s high-tier popcorn content.
And it’s not all bad! In fact, Quintin Grimes has become the official tank commander for the Sixers (though he might want to dial back a little bit for those Flagg Sweepstakes), going ham the past few weeks, just to kick the Mavs front office when their down (I say keep kicking) and adding another scoring escapade, 46 points on 15/27 shooting (8/14 from three) along with 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals against the Rockets in a loss.
Of course with the emergence of Jared McCain (healthy recovery from his meniscus tear withstanding) and some great play from Guerschon Yabusele, and if Justin Edwards steps up, there could be an interesting core. But when Embiid and George are your lynch pins…
On the other side of the coast, the West continues to be an outright bloodbath, with seemingly every team winning with 2-9 seeds all being within like four games of each other with a just about three weeks to go…
Without Nikola Jokic and Jamaal Murray, the Nuggets were able to hold off the Lakers despite 30 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists from Austin Reaves. Aaron Gordon and Russell Westbrook were the difference makers here, scoring 38 with six rebounds for the ladder, and a triple-double for the former, 12/11/16. Luka had a another rough night, going 5/20 shooting, but with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 14 assists, just missing a near-triple-double himself.
Did you know that Aaron Gordon is shooting 45.7% from three this year? The more you know…
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.
