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FOMO: Fear of missing out
Seen this term on social media? Probably. Experienced it? More likely. Love NBA basketball and want to keep pace with all the latest scoop? Give me a read each week and you will never experience FOMO on the NBA!
Chris Paul is back and the Rockets are on a roll
Making his comeback from knee injury in a win over the Suns on 16th November, CP3 has sparked the Rockets to a 7-game win streak. The Houston Rockets are sitting pretty at the top with a league-best 17-4 record. Since his return, the Rockets have the league's best offensive rating and the best defensive rating.
In his absence, James Harden had been shouldering most of the load on offense. Having Paul back helps Harden share some of the playmaking responsibilities. The Beard is putting up MVP numbers yet again and his claim to the award seems stronger than ever this season. He has been named the Western Conference Player of the Month for November.
Leading the league in points and assists, these are his numbers through 22 games:
31.7 pts, 5.1 rebs, 9.7 asts, 1.7 stls, 45.8 FG%, 40.5 3P FG%
Impressive, to say the least.
Point Guards set to return from injuries but league hit with more injuries
We've been missing quite a few players in the league this season due to injury. With Chris Paul back on the court in recent matches, fans had something to cheer for. There are a few more comebacks to be happy about. Tony Parker made his return to the San Antonio Spurs lineup this week against the Dallas Mavericks, playing 14 minutes, netting 6 points and dishing out 4 dimes. Isaiah Thomas is aiming for a mid-December return to action for the Cavs. It will be interesting to see how the Cavs play with Isaiah in the lineup.
Derrick Rose was taking time away from the Cavaliers to consider his future, and retirement, due to injuries ravaging his body time and again. This time it's his ankle. Thankfully, he has decided to continue playing basketball and will be joining his team soon. That is a lot of PGs to be excited about having back.
Kawhi Leonard is on the last leg of his comeback from a quadriceps injury and has participated in 5-on-5 sessions. Expect the Spurs to hit their stride with Leonard back in their lineup. His comeback could be 2-3 weeks down the line since Coach Pop has no interest in rushing his star player back to the court too soon and says he is too valuable to bring back early.
On the other hand, injuries are taking down players left, right and center.
Blake Griffin suffered an MCL Strain in his left knee and will be out at least two months. The Clippers are already short on personnel with Milos Teodosic and Danilo Gallinari injured while Patrick Beverley is out for the season. Four of their team's starters are out now, and their chances of making the playoffs are in serious jeopardy.
This happened to Kristaps Porzingis against the Heat:
That looks bad, but the Unicorn is hopeful of a quick recovery. This is what he had to say:
"They call me the Lizard because I recover so quickly."
Mike Conley has been struggling with an Achilles injury. Iman Shumpert is out for two months as well after knee surgery. Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis also went down with ankle and groin injuries, respectively. Jokic is expected to miss 'several games' and Davis' status is unknown as of now.
Cleveland Cavaliers streaking
The Cleveland Cavaliers seem to be coming into their own with an 11-game win streak. Any concerns about the slow 5-7 start seem to be addressed as of now. They are in the second position in the Eastern Conference with a 16-7 record, behind the 20-4 Celtics.
Isaiah Thomas will be back soon, taking the team from strength to strength. LeBron James is again in the conversation for league MVP, his performances on a nightly basis generating awe around the league. The King may be in his 15th year, but he's having himself quite a season:
He was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month. Over the first 23 games these are James' averages:
28.3 pts, 7.9 rebs, 8.7 asts, 1.3 stl, 1.2 blk, 58.4 FG%, 41.3 3P FG%
The efficiency is out of this world. He's not slowing down anytime soon.
LeBron to the Sixers in 2018 free agency?
LeBron's plans for 2018 free agency are discussed often. He's been linked heavily with a move to the Los Angeles Lakers. Reportedly, the Sixers are planning a bid to lure James away from Cleveland to Philly. It is a scary thought to imagine him playing with two young guns in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Simmons' game has repeatedly been compared with LeBron's, and his numbers are spectacular. He leads all rookies in scoring, rebounds, assists, and steals.
This season's result for the Cavs will play a major part in LBJ's decision. Anything less than the title will not be enough.
Will James stay in Cleveland, or dash to the Sixers or the Lakers? Only time will tell.
#FreeJah
The Sixers have quite a few young, talented players in their core - Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, Robert Covington, among others. Jahlil Okafor is not being played by the Sixers and is not being released or traded either. He warms the bench, his talent being wasted by the Sixers management and coaching staff.
The league and the fans have taken notice, and are speaking out. The number 3 pick back in 2015 has found support in fellow NBA players, asking for him to be traded to another team since he is apparently not in the Sixers' plans moving forward.
Devin Booker and Jayson Tatum are two of the NBA players tweeting about the situation. Hopefully, Jahlil will find himself in a new place where he'll be hooping once again, soon.
Memphis Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale fired!
The Grizzlies have been struggling with Mike Conley injured, along with a bunch of other players. They lost their 8th consecutive game against the Brooklyn Nets at home on 26th November. Marc Gasol was benched in the 4th quarter of a game well within their reach (Grizzlies down 10 entering the 4th). The very next day, David Fizdale was fired and his assistant, J.B. Bickerstaff was named interim head coach, the team announced.
The firing comes a day after Gasol criticised the decision to bench him and said
“I hate not playing. That’s what I value the most. If I’m not on the floor, that means I’m not valued."
LeBron James and Dwayne Wade were shocked and are looking for an explanation. They both worked with Fizdale while playing for the Miami Heat. Fizdale was an assistant coach there for many years. Fizdale, well respected around the league for his basketball acumen is being seen as the fall guy:
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was clearly concerned about his former assistant being fired:
OKC Thunder in hot water
The Oklahoma City Thunder were expected to be one of the better teams in the West after the acquisition of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony over the summer. However, it hasn't been smooth sailing and the Thunder are struggling with a 10-12 record while sitting in 9th place in the West. After the win over the Golden State Warriors on 23rd November, the Thunder have gone 2-3 losing consecutive games to the Detroit Pistons at home, and away to the Mavericks and Magic.
They came back to beat Minnesota Timberwolves 107-111 on the back of PG13's 36-point effort and sneaked a win over the Spurs.
They have been inconsistent with their performances and need to gel better. Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic torched OKC for 40 points. Russell Westbrook had 37 in the game and 22 in the 4th but his late effort wasn't enough to save OKC's night. He was clearly disappointed:
Thunder through 20 games last season: 12-8
Thunder through 20 games this season: 8-12
Seems like OKC needs to focus on playing harder against mid-table teams and not letting easy wins slip by. There is still a lot of basketball to be played this season for them to make a full recovery
Lonzo Ball heaps praise on Stephen Curry, calls him "best shooter of all time"
Stephen Curry balled out against the Lakers in a 127-123 OT win, going for 28 pts and 7 asts on 9-20 FG shooting. He converted on back-to-back threes in OT and won the game for the Warriors with 13 total point in overtime. In the same game, Lonzo had 15pts, 10 asts ,5-12 FG, 3-7 3P FG. Not too shabby himself.
This is what Curry thinks of LaVar's "Lonzo better than Steph" remark:
After the Warriors-Lakers game, LaVar was again asked about Lonzo being better than Curry. He gives a classic LaVar Ball response!
Rookie Donovan Mitchell scores career-high 41 points!
Jazz rookie had himself a career night against the Pelicans, leading his team to a 108-114 victory with a stat line of 41 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast, 13-25 FG, 6-12 3P FG.
WOW! He is the first rookie to crack the 40-point barrier this season.
He joins Steph Curry, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant and Eric Gordon as only active players to have scored 40+ points in a game as rookies. He's in good company on that list.
Mitchell is highly regarded by many around the league and say he is a future star. He seems to be headed in the right direction surely.
Ejections - here, there, everywhere
This week in the NBA has been all about ejections and more importantly, it's top players being ejected, and Coach Popovich (not a rarity).
LeBron James was ejected for the first time in his 15-year career. In a match against the Miami Heat, LeBron was repeatedly frustrated with no-calls when driving to the basket. On one particular no-call, James lost his cool and charged at the ref. This is what the referee had to say about why he threw James out:
"Immediately after the no-call, he turned and threw an air punch directly at me and then he aggressively charged at me and then he used vulgarity in my ear a few times."
Here's what happened:
Enes Kanter thoroughly enjoyed James' ejection following their altercations on and off the court. He tweeted this:
Gregg Popovich got ejected after he used a bunch of expletives against one of the referees in the game versus the Dallas Mavericks. Angry Pop is the best:
Pop is not holding back on going off on the refs in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, this happened.
Anthony Davis got ejected for the first time in his career on Wednesday against the T-wolves. He had to be held back by his teammates from charging at one of the refs. Watch it here.
Kevin Durant joined the Ejection train on Friday against the Magic. He didn't leave the court before directing a few expletives at the referee.
