The Second Arrangement

GOOD MORNING PEOPLE!!

Golden State 132, L.A. Clippers 105 (Warriors up 2-1)

The Clippers were told to make Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson work, dammit. Something something something OUR HOUSE something something CHESS PIECE something something NEATLY TRIMMED GOATEE.

It didn’t work, nothing worked, the Clippers even let the lead get up to 36 points (to account for the line outside the place) and it still wasn’t enough.

Golden State owns too many options to count, and when the helpers come alive you’ve got apsatively no chance against the champs.

Andre Iguodala played his ass off in this win: Kevin McHale should learn that he doesn’t like to be called “Iggy” and Dre’s Game 3 strut ended with three three-pointers, two blocks and 15 points.

Andrew f*****g Bogut grabbed 14 rebounds, four offensive (because you can’t joke about anything anymore).

Alfonzo McKinnie made his way to every loose ball via several loose limbs, and Kevon Looney ran masterful in his attempts to process everything he’s ever been told about NBA defense.

The Clippers responded with JaMychal Green’s missed assignments and a ton of shots that went halfway down and out.

Danilo Gallinari missed 11-13 attempts in his bid to earn double-figure free throws (halved it, 5-5), rookies Shamet and SGA combined to clang 10-12, Lou Williams missed 7-11 shots.

And poor Patrick Beverley could only do so darn much against a Golly twice his size:

He’s gonna look so good next to Kevin Knox.

Game 4 in Los Angeles on Sunday at 3:30 PM on ABC.

Philadelphia 131, Brooklyn 115 (Sixers lead series 2-1)

The Sixers started Greg Monroe because they needed someone to mop up minutes. They understood that Monroe’s worn six uniforms in four years, not including 14 trips to tailor as a Celtic.

They get that he only played 480 minutes this year, and that most of that space was spent explaining why his arms can get rim on one side of the court but barely touch net on the other. He’s Greg Monroe, he’s somehow only 28 and here because Joel Embiid can’t be.

It turned out fine, just fine. Monroe’s curly-fry defense crunched hopeless in the face of D’Angelo Russell and it took Greg a while to realize which team he was supposed to be rebounding for, plus he did miss 9-13 shots before we could get to the end of this sentence.

But Monroe did hold the trunk in time for Boban Marjanovic (14 points, eight boards) to enter appropriately, and he settled a usage-heavy Sixers starting lineup in the spots of game where the fewer names, the better.

Philly did the best with what it could on Thursday, the team shitcanned T.J. McConnell (two minutes of garbage time) and didn’t dress the available Zhaire Smith yet the stars were more than enough.

Every Sixer got a strong taste in the first quarter, the visitors’ growing lead was cemented by the inclusion of Boban alongside the lamestain entrance of Net reserves Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris Levert (1-7 combined in the first).

The Sixers fielded athletes at every spot plus Boban’s taste and touch, this realization crushed the Nets. With the rotations slimmed and the stars fit to burn, Brooklyn conceded a competitive disadvantage at most running positions.

Tobias Harris took cunning advantage.

Harris has parked 8-12 three-pointers in his first postseason as a Sixer.

LeVert returned to make some hay of his release, he’d curl into 26 points before the evening was through, Dinwiddie also re-emerged to develop some OK action and 15 bench points.

Brooklyn looked outclassed, though, even with Embiid cramped on the bench.

Down at home, the Nets rolled out a zone to counter Joe Harris’ inability to match J.J. Redick (26 points, 7-17 shooting) and it eventually drew blood. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson slipped in for 10 (!) free throw makes, there were second half spots where BKN looked to have a Game 3 in them.

As Redick’s legs left him, however, Ben Simmons stepped into solemnity.

Simmons contributed 15 points, two blocks and three assists in the fourth period.

If it takes him this long to wind up, fine. I’m cool with this advancement.

Monroe, we’ll figure out later.

Game 4 on Saturday at 3 PM in Brooklyn on TNT.

San Antonio 118, Denver 98 (Spurs lead series 2-1)

Listen, if Derrick White is going to be this good all the damn time, I’m gonna want some of my monologue jokes back.

The second-year Spurs guard bodaciously careened through Game 3. The 24-year old’s 36 points were outrageous enough — White refused to take fliers on looks around the basket — his defensive capabilities dragged San Antonio over the top.

Derrick was part of a strong Spur collaboration to yank Jamal Murray out of his warm zones, rendering the Nuggets guard uneasy all evening. Murray reacted to the scrutiny like he was just asked to explain the documentary he pretended to also watch.

Jamal didn’t have much help. Will Barton missed 4-6 shots, his entire form looks different. Gary Harris ran 4-13 from the field and Nikola Jokic’s 22-point, seven-assist, eight-board night didn’t dent like it was supposed to.

Paul Millsap ran a thorn in San Antonio’s side all evening yet his play was never going to push the visitors ‘round a corner. It took the purpose of Denver’s delightful bunch of bench (Malik Beasley hit five threes, pulled nine rebounds, Monte Morris delivered spotless point guard play yet again) to make fertile the fields of play.

San Antonio wanted its salt back. The Spurs lived in the lane all evening, it wasn’t just White.

When initial penetration efforts folded the San Antonio Second Nature slipped into its spring schedule, the offense innately folds into each and every available slotted receptor because these Spurs need this s**t to survive.

No Manu, no Timmy, no Parker and no gahdamn bow ties standing around explaining things.

Instead, we bring you TV’s Derrick White:

Confidence resonating, White was asked to step forward and instead he decided to jump up.

Game 4 in San Antonio on Saturday on TNT at 5:30.

IF I EVER LOSE THIS HEAVEN

All the Quincy Jones albums are great, I went and checked.

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HELLO ONE AND ALL!!

Utah 118, Phoenix 97

Utah’s starting lineup (minus Ricky, still without Derrick Favors and his bum back) sparked a dud, Phoenix ran out to an early lead and even reigned by 13 at one point.

Devin Booker left the game with an ankle injury around the same time Donovan Mitchell (29 points) began to develop his wind. Around that same issue, Dragan Bender began to consider the math needed to line up four three-pointers in an NBA game.

He’d miss each, the Suns’ most reliable scorer was Richaun Holmes and Richaun Holmes usually scores best if there’s literally nothing between him and the rim (and sometimes the rim remains an obstacle).

Rudy Gobert dunked a bunch and Joe Ingles (with a bit of a contingent in Phoenix, I reckon) was demonstrative in his bid to put these pups away.

Grayson Allen also managed six field goals for Utah, two threes and a couple of squirts around the basket.

For some reason I feel like a big bowl of milk, right now.

Jimmer Fredette made 5-11 looks for Phoenix but missed all four of his three-pointers. He’s yet to hit an NBA three-pointer this season, despite taking some rather CBA-level attempts.

Jazz: 48-30, No. 5, prolly going to be your Number Five.

Suns: 18-61, could really struggle in this season’s final week.

Later in the evening, for their civic duty, these gentlemen were awarded two cases of Arizona’s state drink.

Portland 116, Memphis 89

Memphis earned its (ten-point!) third quarter lead: Delon Wright sprung wily and (starting center) Ivan Raab worked nicely (if not precisely) around the goal.

Chandler Parsons faced up and hit three threes on the night, that was kinda gross, 16 points in total. Memphis even tried to make a scorer out of Jevon Carter (2-6, five boards, six points, four assists), which left me delighted.

After the half-break the Trail Blazers began defending like a year-older team. PDX responded wonderfully to Memphis’ attempts at a zone — Zach Collins can’t rebound for s**t but he can sure sneaks in for buckets, 18 points.

The Grizzlies made Mo Harkless beat them and he did, 5-7 shooting and four steals. Enes Kanter hit 10 field goals and Evan Turner whurped another triple-double.

And yet Damian Lillard (8-18 shooting, 20 points and 10 assists, nothing crazy) looked twice as good as anyone else on the court.

You can’t keep your eyes off him, and for the good reasons. It wasn’t the shoes.

Trail Blazers: 50-28, I had ‘em for 44 wins. Analysis you can count on.

Grizzlies: 31-47, Joakim Noah was unavailable.

Atlanta 130, Philadelphia 122

The Sixers ran without Joel Embiid again but Jimmy Butler was around for this stepback, this 76er snoozer outta ATL.

The Hawks were the better team, and by a lot, only free throw attempts kept Philly around (and the Sixers still biffed 16 freebies).

Atlanta bottled Ben Simmons under cap and wouldn’t let Butler ease into his heroics. J.J. Redick had to take 23 shots, and J.J. Redick had to lead the Sixers in scoring (30).

Atlanta made a finisher out of Simmons and he couldn’t relate. Ben boned short-shot after short-shot and looked nervous to head to the line — Simmons missed five of eight freebies, 6-17 from the field.

T.J. McConnell had to get the Sixers together, which is never fun. Tobias Harris leaked out for 21, but offense wasn’t truly the problem.

PHILA couldn’t find Trae Young in transition — I mean, he’s Trae Young — and the visitors had a miserable time trying to hang with the rookie in screen/roll situations. By the fourth quarter, the Sixers had to trap to get it out of his hands.

Who’s hands?

Young hands:

John Collins enjoyed 25 points, stepping up with Trae stuck at half-court, while Alex Len hit his season average with 11 points.

DeAndre’ Bembry hit for 17 points and six rebounds in Vince Carter’s absence, the Hawk swingman also dished four assists in 21 minutes. This could be something.

Kevin Huerter added 15 points on 6-12 from the floor, often altering his shot’s release point so that its light could not be veiled by the billowing shadow arisen from the nebula of Boban Marjanovic’s looming excellence.

Pivots Amir Johnson and Jonah Bolden did well to contribute on Philadelphia’s offensive glass, but otherwise they’re running laps.

Hawks: 29-50, No. 12 in the East.

76ers: 49-29, third in the East.

Orlando 114, New York 100

New York is horrible at defense and it showed, look at Orlando and all these points.

Nikola Vucevic worked his way toward 29 points with 13 rebounds, while Terrence Ross’ 23 points (on only 14 shots) made the difference in a runny, runny game.

This was Terrence’s first knockout performance in two weeks, he was able to step into looks during the third quarter and put New York away.

What New York and Orlando both learned, this year, is that nothing puts Mario Hezonja away.

Talkin’ mess to fans, playing with the mascot. Mario fouled out, too.

Someday we’ll all return to Orlando, just like this.

Magic: 39-40, living with the No. 8 seed in the East, half-game up on Miami.

Knicks: 15-63, Knick fans will vote Mitchell Robinson onto the 2020 All-Star team.

Indiana 108, Detroit 89

The Pacers and Pistons really should consider not scheduling each other for a few years.

This contest outlasted a miserable start because it had to, NBA rules enforced each of those 48 minutes and only the Pacers seemed to want to really do something with it.

Tyreke Evans started for Indiana and missed a dozen shots in 13 attempts, he dished one assist.

However, the addition of that Other Ballhandler was so badly what the Pacers needed on so, so many possessions. The team’s movement ensured, pushed-down scorers like Bojan Bogdanovic and Doug McDermott were able to feed off quick post-ups and related, forward-y moves.

The Pacers fielded a bench, people to make shots in places the Pistons didn’t have. T.J. Leaf worked again and splished both his buckets, Domantas Sabonis connected on seven field goals and pulled in 13 rebounds (because there were so many rebounds).

The remaining movement did the Pacers well in the third quarter, the team lived at the line even while missing damn near every field goal. DET’s Reggie Jackson (16 points) did his best to loft in Blake Griffin’s absence, and Wayne Ellington curled for 26, but the Pistons never had this.

Thom Maker started with Griffin resting that knee, and the Pistons were felled by his Makerisms — repeated issues of Thon’s offense, and defense.

Pacers: 47-32, No. 5 in the East.

Pistons: 39-39, No. 6 in the East and way the hell behind the Pacers.

Charlotte 115, New Orleans 109

This game was sloppy and its players were bored, only waiting out the seconds until the inevitable happened:

Stay in Charlotte. I already growled about this on Never Too Much.

Make as much money as you can, and figure out the Best Fit later.

Hornets: 36-42, No. 10, two and a half games out.

Pelicans: 32-47, Anthony Davis sat the contest after developing back stiffness.

Minnesota 110, Dallas 108

Luka Doncic was outstanding, but he also attempted a rather lame three-pointer late in this contest that managed to never have a chance while still somehow ruining all of Dallas’ chances at a win.

The Mavericks couldn’t hit a three but, hell, Minnesota can’t stop anything. Immovable doof versus wholly-resistible dud.

Jalen Brunson is like Rick Brunson, but good. On the other hand, Minnesota’s defense: Dallas enjoyed a season-high 64 points in the paint.

Minnesota basically took the victory due to Luka’s bad miss and because Karl-Anthony Towns was able to long-arm his way into score after score, 28 points on 12-15 shooting.

Between Mitchell Robinson’s Dawkins-y throwdowns, KAT’s stellar performance and Andre Drummond’s 28 points, the NBA enjoyed quite a bit of Connie Hawkins-styled reach on Wednesday.

Timberwolves: 35-43, I was for a play-in tournament until I watched this game.

Mavericks: 31-47, Anstey.

Chicago 115, Washington 114

Nothing I can relay about the 52 seconds of live action I witnessed from this performance will be nearly as entertaining as taking a bathroom break with this Michael Jordan (vs. KG) clip:

I mean, you get Kevin Harlan delivering some weird flowetry about Stanley Roberts, it’s a trip.

(Later during a free throw a Bulls fan yelled “hey! Burger King!” out at Stanley.)

(Then again this was 1998 and Burger King was actually good back then.)

Walt Lemon Jr. won the contest for Chicago with a pair of free throws.

Bulls: 22-57, apparently the execution down the stretch was flawless.

Wizards: 32-47, “hey! Burger King! But in 2019!”

Boston 112, Miami 102

On the surface it appears odd that Miami routinely returned to the same zone that Boston so wonderfully picked apart on Monday, but the Heat are going to need that sort of support system if the club is to make the playoffs.

The odds turn rather rough after Wednesday’s loss. Josh Richardson left the game with a creeping left leg injury during the third quarter and Boston hit 27 free throws to Miami’s 12. The Celtics were always in the middle of that zone.

This is how a series works, though, and sometimes the NBA sports you a two-game series during the worst of the regular season. Miami threw its best at Boston for a few days and the odds didn’t pan out, though the Heat had some chances.

Justise Winslow, that ain’t him out there. Just so you know.

We’ll visit with Boston on Friday and post a BtB overnight.

Celtics: 47-32, No. 4 in the East.

Heat: 38-40, half’a game behind Orlando, No. 9 in the East. No. 9.

No. 9.

Houston 135, L.A. Clippers 103

I don’t know what’s gotten into Houston’s defense but the club has it so the other side doesn’t want to finish plays, now. Like, the pick and roll just gives up. I’ve never seen it so tired.

This wasn’t ever much of a competition, and the Rockets just put together an outrageous pair of wins.

Rockets: 51-28, third in the West.

Clippers: 47-32, sixth in the West and I think we’ve developed tiers.

Toronto 115, Brooklyn 105

Your Nets suffered from repeated Trouble With Gasol, Marc pinned five assists in the first half and picked four steals to explain away that 3-10 shooting.

Toronto didn’t lack for buckets.

Kawhi Leonard was Cohen-level turgid on his way toward 26 points but Pascal Siakam slinked gorgeously toward his team-leading 28:

Five assists and 10 rebounds, one turnover.

Toronto turned it over seven times all day, one fewer than what Brooklyn coughed up in the first half. BKN cleaned up its act as the night moved along, but it couldn’t get a handle on Toronto’s offensive board’woork.

Caris LeVert (1-9 shooting) fell back a bit after a string of strong games and D’Angelo Russell (11-25 from the floor) still takes some nutrageous shots.

Raptors: 56-23, second in the East, 2.5 games behind Milwaukee.

Nets: 39-40, No. 7 in the East.

Denver 113, San Antonio 85

Nikola Jokic needed a help-me game, and the Nuggets did well to involve him early. To seek the pivot, to make sure the Old Man settled before anyone else got to grabbing from the table.

This is part of what pushed Coach Pop out of the game, escorted off for arguing butts and strikes: Gregg Popovich loudly articulated expectations for LaMarcus Aldridge to earn the same treatment from the referees that Jokic was set to embrace.

The game needn’t get down to that grimy a level, the Spurs were never truly in this. San Antonio never led and two of its double-figure scorers (Davis Bertrans, Lonnie White IV!) tacked their totals in garbage time.

Denver learned from Tuesday’s whupping. The home team went all out with jumpy defense and dangerous decisions on the other end — everything worked because the hustle was in regard.

San Antonio tried a zone and nothing helped, first day of the rest of Denver’s life.

Monte Morris and Malik Beasley got their brims back at home, 19 points for each off the pine. Mason Plumlee delivered exceptional defense and four field goals, Nikola nearly peeled off a triple-double and Torrey Craig picked up three fouls in 19 minutes. The Nuggets are back.

Show patience with Gary Harris (5-10 shooting, 11 points).

The Gary we see in May should act remarkably smoother than the fella we’ve practiced with in spring.

Nuggets: 52-26, No. 2 in the West, 1.5 games behind Golden State.

San Antonio: 45-34, No. 8 in the West, half’a game behind OKC.

PACK IT UP

My oh my, what a great drummer can do for a recording.

Thank you for reading!

I gotta do that button again:

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GOOD MORNING PEOPLE!!

Portland 122, New Orleans 110

If you are here to figure out why Julius Randle scored 45 against Portland, understand that the Trail Blazers can’t guard your screen and roll and that PDX has a little trouble meeting bodies coming through the rye (at the front of the rim). This was in place well before Randle started tapping his way past 30.

The Blazers weren’t alone in the giveback.

At one stretch in the contest Portland fielded Enes Kanter and Zach Collins up front against the pairing of Randle and New Orleans center Jahlil Okafor. Had I been cleared for action, Kelly Dwyer would have finished the second quarter with eight points on 4-6 shooting (four boards).

Portland’s defense improved considerably as the night rang along, but Randle refused to let up:

(Anthony Davis sat out the entire contest, and it was good to see New Orleans play with purpose as a result. There are good dudes on this team that deserved much better than what 2018-19 gave back.)

Damian Lillard was nice (24 points) when he had to be in the second half and C.J. McCollum hit half of the 20 shots he took. New Orleans had no chance in the face of that backcourt, no help with PDX’s buttwork on the offensive glass.

Rodney Hood traveled and Jake Layman missed all six of his field goal attempts.

Trail Blazers: 42-26, No. 4 in the West.

New Orleans: 30-41, No. 12 in the West.

Milwaukee 113, Miami 98

This is a game that should get to us. The Bucks needed half a game to turn out twice as better as the Miami Heat, another playoff team working at its home arena.

The Heat don’t play well at home, news to those of us that got to watch the Bucks drag through the first quarter and a half of this Florida Turn.

Miami led by as many as 23 in the first half, the front of the rim was unapproachable to Milwaukee and Justise Winslow was acting like a real jerk at the front of the line.

Little bench spurts kept MKE in business, Pat Connaughton and Ersan Ilyasova each popped five field goals and three three-pointers and D.J. Wilson scored a bit of prime time. Khris Middleton earned 21 points, helpful when Miami began the game by hitting six of its first eight three-pointers.

And Giannis Antetokounmpo found his compass in the second half.

Six turnovers, two steals and three blocks.

Justise Winslow bruised a thigh partway through this contest, he’d return but his scope was never the same. Those things bleed nasty, keep a concerned eye on our guy as Miami looks to wrap up its playoff bonafides.

Bucks: 52-17, tops in the East.

Heat: 32-36, game up on Orlando for the last playoff spot, MIA vs. ORL on Sunday.

L.A. Clippers 128, Chicago 120

Teams have complained about Doc Rivers’ set of screens dating back to his years with the Celtics. Not from earliest days, Mark Blount would never be caught getting in another basketball player’s way, but the successful sorts of seasons.

Bulls coach Jim Boylen loves Ryan Arcidiacono because Ryan played for Villanova during the NCAA tournament, Ryan was on CBS and Villanova’s coach had good hair and an engaging backstory.

When Clippers big man Montrezl Harrell knocked the ex-NCAA point guard out of the NBA game in the first half with a rough screen, Jim Boylen became upset.

We’ll let Doc Rivers take over from here:

Reminder ahead.

Head coaches don’t talk to each other during games, unless a bad joke needs laughing at. Jim Boylen’s brand of iconoclasm has its set of detractors.

The Bulls were outclassed in other areas, too, the Clippers ran supreme when the club kept options open and Chicago had no answer for a production with so few transition opportunities for Lauri to lap up: L.A. made enough shots and only turned it over seven times.

Clippers: 40-30, No. 8 in the East, six games up.

Bulls: 19-51, several men down.

Detroit 111, Los Angeles Lakers 97

This was not a fun game to watch on TV, in lieu of highlights I instead think you should watch a hungover Bernard Black engage two visitors:

(English people hug weird.)

Blake Griffin played the Lakers for eight quarters this season and only pulled in two rebounds.

Blake was the one forced to jam a win down the throats of the visiting Lakers, hitting one of his three field goals in the final seconds to cinch it. Los Angeles stayed on the court credibly for far too long, JaVale McGee was quite the factor.

A win’s a win, Detroit, but, yikes.

Shout out to Piston scorer Langston Galloway, 23 points and four three-pointers on a night where everyone played like Thon Maker.

Pistons: 35-33, No. 6, tied with Brooklyn.

Lakers: 31-38, please don’t come back to Michigan for a while.

Charlotte 116, Washington 110

Kemba Walker had his fourth quarter silhouette standing in at the outset of this win, Charlotte needed his burst and Washington needed an early reminder.

The Wizards have worked hard all season, the team truly has, but Washington loses concentration in the time it takes for a Sununu to stiff a server.

Scott Brooks’ crew slipnutted 14 turnovers in the first half alone before registering as “hapless” defensively for strands of the second half.

Charlotte isn’t great, and Walker (10-28 shooting on the night) tired after a spell, Washington used offensive rebounds and a few gnatty deliveries from Jabari Parker (17 points) and Jeff Green (20 points!) to keep close and familiar.

Tony Parker was your Dagger Darling, answering runs for his beloved Hornets and pumping in 16 points.

Jeremy Lamb squeezed the Wizards out of contention with 18 bench points of his own plus eight rebounds, as (say it with me) Bradley Beal’s effort-fisted 40 couldn’t keep Washington above water.

Hornets: 31-37, No. 10 in the East, one game out of the bracket.

Wizards: 29-40, No. 11 in the East, out of the bracket.

Philadelphia 123, Sacramento 114

It was delightful to see the Kings give it a go, and not with some cynical exercise meant to take advantage of all the trap game trappings. This was the Kings’ last contest in a tough road trip and though PHILA was ready for its guests, Sacramento put dat collective butt on the line.

The Kings stuck with the offense, pretty or otherwise. SACTO wanted to create readers out of its writers and the bigs were still allowed to make significant decisions from whatever post looked best. A whole lot of sideline trust in a contest that could have gone uneasy.

Harry Giles dished four assists and contributed a dozen points. Marvin Bagley has only been 20 for a coupla days, he recently returned from an imposing knee strain and you can hardly tell, 15 points and a steal.

Philadelphia’s instruction was just as sublime, the team built buckets and stops off the back of its movement and trust. The Sixers finished the night a better basketball team than they started the evening as.

Jimmy Butler developed more great looks than great looks made and he made quite a few, 22 points on 8-14 shooting.

Beautiful action cleared spaces for our man to do Jimmy Butler Things, even with Ben Simmons and/or Joel Embiid bashing around within the same lineups. There’s room ‘ere.

Embiid directed some killer defense down the stretch and Simmons hit both his free throws again (along with 18 points).

Bobi played nice early on and T.J. McConnell thinks he looks cool with his mouthguard hanging out like that.

76ers: 44-25, No. 3 in the East.

Kings: 33-35, No. 9 in the West.

Houston 106, Phoenix 102

Chris Paul’s absence was badly felt for the hosts. Houston exhibited little cohesion on Friday, it looked like the Suns dragged the Rockets away from the TV.

Phoenix runs good action, you might not like the shots or the players folding over the tortilla on these wraps, but the Suns remain fun to participate within and Friday’s heaves were falling.

DeAndre Ayton turned the ball over seven times but he hit just as many field goals and pulled in twice as many rebounds. If you experienced adolescent troubles with the ‘7’ possibilities on the Multiplication Table, I apologize.

Houston was really shitty defensively with Kenneth Faried roaming.

Richaun Holmes capped a double-double off the pine and Devin Booker got his 29. The Suns weren’t right there, but they were close to kinda being “right there.”

I guessed Kelly Oubre would shoot an attempt on the wrong end of the court on Friday’s podcast, I had to be sated with him missing a wide open dunk:

I hate it when I miss dunks.

James Harden won the evening for Houston, he directed teammates in and out of sight lines and finished with 41 points and 11 assists. Harden turned the ball over six times and talked when it was appropriate to talk. The dude hit 14 rebounds and pulled in nine necessary defensive rebounds. It was Jordanesque.

In the last minute of the game, Harden was beat off the dribble by Devin Booker and stripped by Oubre. It was Austin Dayesque.

Rockets: 43-26, No. 3 in the West.

Phoenix: 16-54, last in the West.

San Antonio 109, New York 83

I stayed in on a Friday night* and watched this.

Spurs: 40-29, No. 6 in the West, half-game up on Utah.

Knicks: 13-56, Kadeem Allen wasn’t bad.

*a Friday night in Indiana.

THE BLUES WALK

If you want to introduce a friend to jazz, this tune is a good track to start nodding to.

Thank you for reading, maybe listening.

(More to come.)

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GOOD MORNING PEOPLE!!

Boston 128, Golden State 95

The Celtics won this game because Boston stopped trying to figure out what was wrong with themselves long enough to concentrate on what was beatable on the other side.

Nothing is wrong with the Warriors, either, this was only a basketball game that Boston won handily.

The contest did highlight just how f*****g important Klay Thompson is to these Warriors, the band was begging for scores in spots during this performance and Thompson (who delivered wonderfully lusty basketball during GSW’s recent road swing) is the sorta pressure release that creates room to breathe.

When you can breathe, you can score, and Golden State had a hard time swimming its way toward pockets of oxygen on Tuesday in the face of Boston’s traveling pants.

The defense was Celtic-like, something to expect.

Boston’s offense was another trigger: Celtics actually gave up the ball early in a possession, the Celtics trusted its own movement and expectations.

Ball met hands, Gordon Hayward splashed 30 points on 16 shots and Jaylen Brown found himself covered in robusto sauce — 16 points on ultraquick posts and flings, teammates giving a little more, Brown leaning on the hits that make him tricky.

The Celtics led by as many as 35, by the fourth quarter Steve Kerr was ready to put David West in to make a point.

Celtics: 39-26, No. 5 in the East.

Warriors: 44-20, tops in the West.

Philadelphia 114, Orlando 106

Jimmy Butler wears a braid and ninja headband now because it’s been about a month since everyone else started it, so Jimmy has to do it now. One hundred percent chance Jimmy came into third grade out of the summer of 1996 to declare that he was gonna become a storm chaser as soon as he grew up.

The Sixer swingman contributed pristine basketball down the stretch, making PHILA look phoolish for going away from him all game. Steals and buckets and stops, Jimbo was apsatively dominant in the closing minutes against a Magic defense that has earned every bit of its top-ten ranking.

Orlando’s offensive picture in the clutch was rather clouded, what with Jimmy Butler stealing the ball away from Nikola Vucevic, or Jimmy’s ribbon getting in Evan Fournier’s face.

J.J. Redick canned six three-pointers on the night, and when his cans ran out, Mike Scott hit his third three-pointer of the evening. It sealed up Philadelphia’s fourth win in six post-Break tries without Joel Embiid.

Amir Johnson started and rang two blocks, he hit 5-9 from the field and a three-pointer.

Couldn’t get a shoutout:

76ers: 41-23, No. 4 in the East.

Magic: 30-36, No. 10 in the East.

Houston 107, Toronto 95

The Raptors fell behind early because the bench couldn’t hack it, and because the Rockets owned all the answers for what Toronto did best. The Raptors weren’t angry, they were more disappointed with themselves than anything.

Houston held on to its lead, as high as 22 at one point as Toronto failed to crack 40 points in the first half, Rox held on loosely through the comeback and into the conquest.

James Harden was enough, 35 points, Eric Gordon hit three three-pointers and P.J. Tucker made Kawhi Leonard’s isolation forays appear as if they were performed inside of those human-sized cubes that they blow dollar bills into for the cash grab.

Leonard finished hitting 10-22 shots, 26 points, but you’d watch him fumble in the box and wonder why he couldn’t just pocket 40.

(P.J. Tucker.)

Chris Paul doesn’t add stardom to Houston’s equation anymore, just another level of supreme competency. Someone else making the exact right play at the exact wrong time for an opponent.

Paul missed nine of his 10 shots, but he beat the Raptors in 2019 on a team with Nene playing backup center.

Rockets: 39-25, No. 3 in the West.

Raptors: 46-19, second in the East.

Memphis 120, Portland 111

You can bend over backwards to let yourself become discouraged at the thought of the Blazers blowing a game to the stupid, self-defeating Grizzlies, or you can run through what Portland just gave you.

The Trail Blazers haven’t played at home since before the All-Star break, which was in 2018. The team ran nearly perfect on its road trip ahead of the flight to Memphis, Friday’s close defeat at the hands of the deeply-staffed Raps only left to sting an otherwise spotless trek.

The Blazers outlasted ESPN games and a Sunday afternoon contest in Charlotte that started around mid-morning out in Portland. The team has a top-five offense and it wants us to consider it a postseason comer.

That’s still in place, Memphis has its sparks and the Blazers were ready to roll a little. Portland’s defense was stretched at the wrong times and Mike Conley (40 points on only 18 shots) hit some outrageous stringers.

The visitors had trouble with Memphis’ pick and roll and the resulting beef from a Gasol transaction (Delon Wright was superb on both ends, 25 points, Jonas Valanciunas hit 6-7 buckets, very necessary).

Ivan Raab is the NBA’s best frontcourt passer (on a six-game night) and Joakim Noah absolutely changed the Grizzly capabilities each time he entered the game.

The Blazers weren’t terrible, C.J. McCollum remains a stud and the bench helpers were aware, the defense just suffered a bit.

Thursday (against Oklahoma State) will be Portland’s fifth home game since January. Yet look at this record.

Grizzlies: 26-40, No. 14 in the West.

Trail Blazers: 39-25, No. 5 in the West.

Minnesota 131, Oklahoma City 120

Minnesota worked up a superb game, the passing was crisp and the movement looked almost natural, super weird for this team, super weird.

The Wolves defense, in spite of the final holler listed above, was good enough to encourage OKC away from its Easy Spots and back into what Russell Westbrook brings — 38 points on 15-28 shooting, six assists, but not a lot of function or fear cultivation.

The Thunder ran normal, Paul George returned and missed 17 shots, 10 three-pointers, the team missed 13 free throws and could not match whatever it was that Minnesota brought to a Tuesday.

The Timberwolves’ urging was impressive, the spacing and movement was sound, Minnesota dragged OKC all over the court in the Thunder’s attempts to mind it all. MIN plugged 11-22 three-pointers.

Even Andrew Wiggins cut quickly, acted quickly (still Stephen Jackson-styled slow, but speedy for Andrew), he looked great taking those long twos. Wiggins finished with 18 points, he hit for a steal and a block and the satisfaction of the home crowd.

Also, Karl-Anthony Towns clocked a few heads together.

In a midgame interview, former Timberwolves two-point scorer Tony Campbell accidentally referred to himself as “a great Katt Williams fan” before correcting himself.

Timberwolves: 30-34, No. 10 in the West.

Thunder: 39-25, No. 4 in the West.

Indiana 105, Chicago 96

Your Bulls started slow but began coming together once they became convinced they could win the game. Chicago couldn’t, but its reads on both ends were encouraging. Indiana is a lot to try and shut down.

‘Course the Bulls were still the team that left Bojan Bogdanovic wide open in the corner with a minute to go and the Pacers up five, c’mon Chicago, Bojan splashed his fourth three of the evening and he’s back up to 43 percent on the season.

Chicago went small late and Indiana traipsed, Darren Collison finished several awfully-needed scoring possessions (22 points) and IND did well to seek out Lauri Markkanen (4-14) and Otto Porter (1-5 from behind the arc).

Thaddeus Young had six assists and 11 rebounds.

Quinn Buckner is delightful.

Pacers: 42-23, No. 3 in the East.

Bulls: 18-47, No. 13 in the East.

MY ADORABLE ONE

Love this version, gorgeous pedal steel solo.

PHIL LESH AND HIS WEIRD BASS.

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GOOD MORNING PEOPLE!!

Orlando 103, Golden State 96

Basketball has a clock and the game still demands that you work up intelligent output within the clock’s terms. Time’s flat circle even exists within Orlando, a place we’ve all spent a month in (one weekend).

Your hometown Magic did not play exceedingly well in this win, but the club’s shots went in and the defense was pointed and accurate enough to reel in the victory. Terrence Ross was around for a lot of it.

Golden State wasted its fourth quarter, wasted it, it was a Wednesday night in Orlando and the champs managed 15 damn points. Frittered away the period with turnovers and a weird insistence on getting DeMarcus Cousins the ball in the spots of the court he likes least. These places are tough to find.

Boogie likes to pass as much as he likes to shoot but he doesn’t love anything as much as having the ball, DMC could not connect for his sloppy new team (ohfer four in the fourth) down the stretch of a contest he got to finish. Boogie wasn’t prepared to admit frailty in the face of OK Orlando footwork.

Facing a fourth quarter deficit, the Magic dug in to take the sorta stupid threes they usually love to lose games with. Aaron Gordon nailed a triple late and cinched the game on a tip-in after Warrior forward Jonas Jerebko found himself lost in the movement.

Klay Thompson was fearless in Kevin Durant’s absence (rest) but his touch faded as the night drew Orlando-y. Stephen Curry needed 33 shots to score 33 points, the Warriors plugged in 96 points per 100 possessions and the team just lost to Florida.

Nobody on the Magic was especially astounding, the home team just had the sensibility to steer right once the Warriors decided to use the cigarette lighter to set the passenger seat on fire.

Magic: 29-34, No. 8 in the East.

Warriors: 43-19, just lost to Orlando, tops in the West.

Houston 121, Miami 118

The Heat played well enough to win this performance, Miami’s Texas effort was supreme and its execution mostly on point. The Heat worked on the second night of a back-to-back, flying in from Florida same as these here Rockets, but it wasn’t legs that felled Miami.

Nah, James Harden is just nutty. You don’t even have to relent and yet he’ll still park four home runs in a game.

Harden collected bucket after bucket in the second half, scheming to add to his total (fifty-eight, FIFTYEIGHT, 58!!) while the Heat slowly lost its nerve.

Miami started on a string, doubling Harden yards from the rim on the second night of a back to back, flying righteously in Hassan Whiteside’s continued absence (hip pointer), establishing a 21-point lead at one point without looking like a racer that skipped its last pit.

Goran Dragic’s hair has grown back at an astonishing rate after a disastrous recent cut. In back-to-back nights against Golden State and Houston the reserve point guard administered a 24-points per game average alongside eight total assists and only two turnovers in 45 minutes. And, again, the hair looks great now — he really grew into it.

Dion Waiters splashed threes late, Miami made 15-28 (53.6 percent) overall, your whole Heat appeared to have the arc.

Houston’s defense turned up as your evening dragged along, mainly because Miami had to take the ball out of the damn net so much because James Harden was with basketball.

Sometimes, in this super-speedy culture, James gets five at-bats per game.

Rockets: 37-25, fifth in the West.

Heat: 27-34, tenth in the East.

Utah 111, Denver 104

Not an illustrious game, but a rather impressive one. Utah just had itself a midweek.

The Jazz put the screws on Nikola Jokic, got the driver right and turned the knob the good direction, Nikola finished with 13 boards and seven assists but also with as many made baskets (five) as turnovers and fouls. Rudy Gobert is long, Utah had a way of making Jokic feel like a squished-in power forward.

The visitors did well in mapping without Ricky Rubio (hamstring), Utah held up to some Denver defensive scrutiny even with backup point man Raul Neto sidelined with the same setback. Joe Ingles (10 assists) provided a dish, but his setup is wholly different from that of Neto and Rubio’s — the Jazz won this while circling wagons.

Your show-stopping regulars (Will Barton, Jamal Murray, the forever young Paul Millsap) helped Denver pull a game out of this.

The Nuggets entered halftime down 17 and nearly yanked a one-possession plot out of the final minute, yet a goaltend call went silly and Donovan Mitchell’s nine ultraclutch points in the second-half of the fourth quarter tucked the squealer in Utah’s pocket.

Utah came back to top the Clippers and held on to frustrate the Nuggets in 48 hours, Mountain Time-hours. Get real.

Jazz: 35-26, No. 6 in the West.

Nuggets: 42-19, No. 2 in the West.

Indiana 122, Minnesota 115

Karl Anthony-Towns sprinted magnificently in the first quarter, running up 23 of his 42 points, but the Pacers do well with a stated goal hanging over them.

Thaddeus Young led a righteous second quarter charge, 11 points and two steals, while Bojan Bogdanovic (14 points in the game’s final 7:22) spun expertly down the stretch of the contest.

Bojan wore a beautiful red blazer to the game because he “thought we were on TNT.”

KAT needs help.

Andrew Wiggins is severely deficient as a competitive basketball cog at this level and Minnesota felt the sting when it replaced Luol Deng’s fourth quarter minutes with that of the (game, but also missing dunks) Anthony Tolliver. Deng’s aching left Achilles is killing Minnesota’s playoff hopes.

Also Andrew Wiggins. Destroying those hopes.

Tripping those hopes on the way out of the elevator and into the lobby, walking away and pretending not to hear anything with the earbuds in but, guess what, someone left their earbuds back up in the hotel room.

Pacers: 41-22, third in the East.

Timberwolves: 29-33, No. 11 in the West.

Cleveland 125, New York 118

The whole game happened: Larry Nance Jr. fouled out, Marquese Chriss missed all five of his shots and Mitchell “Yoke” Robinson made each of his five field goals. Even better was New York forward Noah Vonleh, 7-7 from the floor, Mr. November now back to make March all his.

At one point in the broadcast, Clyde Frazier lamented the loss of available Raisin Bran on the Knick postgame flights.

New York got its buckets throughout, Cleveland can’t guard anyone and wouldn’t know where to stand if you asked a Cavalier nicely.

Then Damyean Dotson had to leave — he’s a Knick and was playing well on both sides, DDOT took a hard hit in the fourth and would not return. His teammates showed their respects by quietly packing their respective Wednesdays away in response, suddenly the bloom was off the Mudiay and the hops on Dennis Smith Jr. flattened.

Cedi Osman picked at openings and hit three three-pointers. Kevin Love (26 points on only a dozen shots) reminded us that greater things do exist and Ante Zizic (needed comeback buckets) enforced the idea that this was still a Cavalier versus Knicks contest.

And Collin just rolled ‘em in.

New York pushed until its end, there was a note in his pocket and the handwriting read “Henry Ellenson (sp?),” but this was Cleveland’s turn to arouse.

Cavaliers: 15-47, No. 14 in the East.

Knicks: 13-49, No. 15 in the East.

Philadelphia 108, Oklahoma City 104

With Paul George resting his sore shoulder, the Thunder decided to start Markieff Morris in the MVP’s absence. In rejoinder, Philly ran up double-figures before Markieff could race off the floor in favor of Dennis Schröder, who still plays a lot like Dennis Schröder.

Joel Embiid also sat for the Sixers and the clubs did well to compare drawn straws. Dennis and Russell Westbrook had their woes finding the right shots, Philly rarely had as much trouble — where once stood Wilson Chandler, now stomps Tobias Harris.

Or Mike Scott, OKC. Cover Mike Scott. All he does is Mike Scott, people.

FEELS LIKE SUMMER

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GOOD MORNING PEOPLE!!

Golden State 125, Sacramento 123

It’s clear that the break done spoiled these players, pampered these coaches. It’s nearly impossible to spend a long weekend amid the all free towels and room service pot stickers and not develop an attitude of sorts.

Dave “Looks Like a James” Joerger had it out with Buddy Hield late in the contest, chafing at his star for missing defensive designs dab in the middle of Buddy’s attempt to keep the Kings alive. Hield hit a couple of desperation threes late in the contest but passed up on a deep three to win it on the game’s final possession, spiraling into a two-point miss with Joerger echoing off the egg crates.

The Kings were fantastic, Sacramento hung with the champs and gave us a season series to teeheehee over.

De’Aaron Fox ran unbowed and Marvin Bagley (28 points, 14 rebounds) was capable of playing crucial two-way minutes. Willie Cauley-Stein kept his wits and Corey Brewer (who is on the Kings) hit three three-pointers. Draymond Green typically does terrible things to Harrison Barnes, but the ex-GSW ran for 13 points and two clutch buckets late.

Steve Kerr had to spray DEATHLINEUP all over the Kings in the second quarter, the sometimes-smiling Kevin Durant went nuts in the second and third quarters, Stephen Curry ran a beacon all evening:

Nemanja Bjelica (DNP-CD) is out of Sacto’s rotation in the wake of the Barnes acquisition.

Bogdan Bogdanovic starts at small forward now, Sacramento has an uneasy luxury on its hands moving forward with the ascension of Harry Giles (eight rebounds on Thursday) and Bagley. Yogi Ferrell is also averaging an all-time low in minutes per game, this is just primo soap opera s**t.

Warriors: 42-16 (tops in the West)

Kings: 30-28 (1.5 games out of the playoff bracket)

Milwaukee 98, Boston 97

Players creep carefully around probable playoff opponents, the skulk takes on even more stealth around teams that have met each other before. It’s instinct, nobody wants to upset anyone else this early, particulars just wanna to lap up a drink from the standing water and wait until spring brings its spots back.

The Celtics ran without Gordon Hayward (sprained right something) and it showed, BOS could have used another playmaker and spacer, the Celtics shot just six free throws all night. Jaylen Brown was keen to be a part of a real game again, he was a sprinter and hit 6-9 shots with five bench boards.

Jayson Tatum wasn’t bad and Al Horford compiled mental notes (alongside 8-21 shooting, 17 rebounds, five assists, 21 points, two blocks and three steals) to contend with in May. Kyrie missed two-thirds of his shots but came on late, wasn’t enough.

Nah, Ersan Ilyasova (4-4 shooting) lost his mask over the All-Star break and Malcolm Brogdon (15 points) wanted to make damn sure he was counted as “part of this.” Khris Middleton hit his fair share of answers on the way toward a 15-point night but the routine was run by Giannis Antetokounmpo.

He’s such a thrill to watch, and then he’ll end your evening. Giannis gotta be the last one standing.

Bucks: 44-14 (tops in the East)

Celtics: 37-22 (No. 5)

Portland 113, Brooklyn 99 (Thursdays on NBC)

Each team took ages to prime the pump but Portland outlasted its hosts in this victory, an impressive and intriguing start to a road trip that will keep the Blazers outta PDX for a fortnight.

Enes Kanter entered, he sure did, compiling 18 points and nine rebounds and sloppy defense off the Blazer pine: Meyers Leonard and Zach Collins sat all evening.

Kanter supplied the blow for Jusuf Nurkic, who needed a little time in a seat to survey the floor and get used to the idea of not letting players from the other team touch the ball (after he threw it).

Jusuf recovered from his five turnovers long enough to trod beastly, even cramming on Jarrett Allen, 27 points and a dozen boards with three blocks. Portland’s offense was wack, its timing shot to hell, the boys needed every one of these lay-ins.

Even with Kanter whiffing, the Nets didn’t have enough bodies to lean in with. Caris LeVert (12 points on 11 shots) still needs time to work his tail off and BKN clunked 29 of 36 three-pointers in the loss.

D’Angelo Russell was made to look weary, 4-16 shooting, Shabazz Napier had to finish so many plays and this sometimes (2-11 shooting) went well (11 assists).

Portland capitalized on random clangs and touch from beyond, on a night when Dame Lillard blurped 16 of 21 field goal attempts.

Different heroes are going to have to stand in and all over this trip, Seth Curry (ohfer three) and Evan Turner (missed all five shots) can’t look so bloody ordinary out there if the Blazers want to turn corners.

Trail Blazers: 35-23 (No. 4 in the West)

Nets: 30-30 (No. 6 in the East)

Philadelphia 106, Miami 102

Working without MVP candidate Joel Embiid (bum knee), the Sixers went with the next-best thing:

Marjanovic’s impact waned as the evening moved along, spirits having already soared.

Miami made it back because its bench was the drug: Derrick Jones Jr. and Rodney McGruber and Bam Adebayo all crashed toward necessary scores, Dwyane Wade hit 8-18 shots in his role as the guy that kind of keeps things interesting until he runs out of breath.

The Sixers responded with the crush: Ben Simmons was a load all night in the post, even against Miami’s phalanx of tatted arms. Tobias Harris (Sixer-high 23 points) picked his spots and Jimmy Butler worked diligently as a shooting guard asked to play point guard.

T.J. “A Little Annoying” McConnell ran toward five assists in a dozen minutes, Mike Scott was not paying attention. J.J. Redick missed 7-10 shots but had the legs to nail a clutch three-pointer late, he’s going to have those wheels now that opponents are charged with chasing Butler and Harris around for 44 minutes.

76ers: 38-21 (No. 4 in the East)

Heat: 26-31 (No. 10)

Cleveland 111, Phoenix 98

The Cavs enjoy playing alongside each other, and the Suns are still figuring out if that’s the case. Throw in the road setting, All-Star break estrangement plus Kevin Love’s return and you had all the tools to make the visiting Suns look way worse than the rebuilding Cavaliers.

Phoenix isn’t way worse, suck hits a saturation point with tanking teams, but the Cavs had the competence advantage.

Cedi Osman returned to complete Cleveland’s circle, five assists and 19 points and a fine floor game for the punters to appreciate. Ante Zizic had his way finishing inside, missing two shots in nine tries, while Love had an elbow under it — 16 points and three three-pointers to go with 11 rebounds.

Matthew Dellavedova pitched 11 assists, David Nwaba gave good minutes and Marquese Chriss got to boast unconvincingly to the Phoenix bench after each of his two field goals.

Phoenix was paced by Devin Booker’s 30 points and 28 terrible decisions, he’d finish with nine turnovers. DeAndre Ayton managed five offensive rebounds and 13 points but otherwise looked like a rookie in October.

Cavaliers: 13-46 (Nope.)

Suns: 11-49 (Nooo.)

THEME FROM BULLITT

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