It’s Thursday, Feb. 28 – here’s what to watch the rest of the week
1. A Commentary on Some of the New Jerseys This Year
Ever since Nike took over as the official jersey provider of the NBA, every team has at least 20 different uniforms. It’s kind of like when Disney bought Marvel – Marvel knew it had some incredible assets to exploit, but they didn’t quite understand the golden goose they were sitting on until Disney came along.
Inevitably, some of these jerseys are terrible. I don’t know what’s going on in Detroit. I guess the two stripes down the middle are supposed to represent the racing stripes on the hood of a Ford Mustang? On the bright side for Nike, in this picture your focus will inevitably shift to Andre Drummond’s shoulder hair. And it will stay there.
Also, I’m sorry, but Minnesota’s “purple” jerseys are atrocious. I get that they’re supposed to honor the late, great Prince, a Minneapolis hometown hero. But these jerseys are pink, not purple. They look much more like the jerseys that the NFL trots out in October to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Which is a fantastic cause, don’t get me wrong. Everybody loves breasts. There are so many different shapes and sizes and they’re all fantastic. I’ll never forget my first…wait, what were we talking about?
One more for good (bad?) measure – Charlotte needs to stop trying to make the “Buzz City” nickname stick. It’s cool that the Hornets are the only team in the NBA with the Jumpman logo instead of the Nike swoosh, thanks to the team owner. But that’s enough, the rest of it is just dumb. You don’t see “Cheesesteak Country” on the 76ers jerseys, nor do you see “Big Ol’ Women” stitched across the Spurs jerseys. No word on whether Nike is mulling a “Cocaine Weigh Station” jersey for the Miami Heat.
But let’s instead focus on what Nike absolutely hit out of the park. I believe they debuted last season, but man are the Miami Vice jerseys beautiful. They come in black, white, and pink. Also, Milwaukee absolutely nailed these, and I love these return-to-retro Nuggets garbs. My favorite might actually be the gorgeous trim on these Nets jerseys, in a likely homage to Biggie and his signature Coogi sweaters.
2. A Tale of Two Cities
Two teams, two different directions.
As we approach 20 games left for each team, I wanted to focus in on two teams that are (surprisingly) trending in different directions. I never would’ve seen it coming a few months ago.
On the plus side of the things, the Pistons have been balling recently, led by their big three of Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, and Reggie Jackson. Reggie Jackson has been nothing short of a disappointment since coming over from Oklahoma City, but over his last 11 games, he’s averaging 19.7 points and 5.6 assists, while shooting 43.9% from three. They have a serious shot at knocking the struggling Nets out of the sixth seed in the East, thanks to their current 7-1 run.
Over in the other conference, the San Antonio Spurs are in serious trouble and sinking fast. They just had their worst Rodeo Road Trip in franchise history, going 1-7. In fairness, the stretch began with trips to Sacramento, Golden State, Portland, and Utah consecutively. But on the other hand, they lost to the NEW YORK $#@!ING KNICKS, in what was the Knick’s first home win since December 1. For perspective, newspapers that morning covered George H.W. Bush, who had passed away the day prior.
The Spurs, always a well-coached and diligent team, are dead last in the NBA in defense over the last 21 games. And it’s starting to look like the unthinkable might happen – we might see a postseason with San Antonio on the sidelines. The Spurs have made the playoffs in 21 consecutive seasons, an absurd feat. They’re currently barely holding on to the eighth seed in the West at 34-29, and it’s going to be a battle with the Kings, Clippers and Lakers the rest of the way.
Speaking of the Lakers…
3. Checking in on Our Los Angeles Friends
Last week, in this very column, I declared that the Los Angeles Lakers would in fact make the playoffs. At the time, the team was 28-29 coming out of the All-Star break. I highlighted their nightmarish remaining schedule, but said screw ESPN’s BPI giving the Lakers a 5.8% chance of making the playoffs. LeBron’s gonna will them into the eighth seed.
I felt like a genius when they came charging out of the gate with a beautiful comeback victory against the Rockets to start things off. But then they dropped back-to-back games to the Anthony Davis-less Pelicans and the anybody-less Grizzlies before pulling out a win in a rematch against the Pelicans last night in LA. Not great.
So here we are, four games later and still one game under .500. ESPN says the Lakers playoff odds have dropped slightly from 5.8% to 5.2%. Frankly, that might be generous – the Lakers really needed those games against Memphis and New Orleans because of the aforementioned stretch coming up. To remind you, still on the slate are: Bucks (x2), Nuggets, Celtics, Raptors, Jazz (x2), Thunder, Warriors, Trail Blazers. Weeeeeeeeee.
I suppose this is where you’d expect me to walk back my prediction, complete with an apology and an admission of my testicular inferiority. Well how ‘bout this – I’m doubling down. The Lakers will make the playoffs. Guaranteed.
They currently sit three games out of the eighth spot, same as last week. But the seventh seed (Spurs) and eighth seed (Clippers) both have the same record at 34-29. Say San Antonio continues its slide right out of the playoffs, as discussed above. And say the 31-30 Kings, currently occupying the ninth spot, have a late-season collapse – they’ve been overperforming all season, and it wouldn’t shock me to see a young, inexperienced, ahead-of-schedule team falter down the stretch. That cracks the door open just enough for the currently-tenth seeded Los Angeles LeBrons to wedge their way through.
We’ll continue to revisit this over the final few weeks of the season. And if they do end up missing the playoffs, my editor has promised to Venmo $100 to each of you reading.
4. And While We’re at It…
I quite enjoy revisiting some of the picks I’ve previously made. So let’s catch up with the rest that I made last week.
- Regardless of all the drama recently, the Celtics represent the East in the Finals
Looking questionable. The Celtics have lost all four of their games since the All-Star break, and their 118-95 loss to the Raptors on Tuesday was their first 20-point loss of the season. Points have been hard to come by for Boston, as they failed to crack the 100-point line in three of those four losses. The one exception was their 126-116 loss to an unspeakably awful Bulls team (except for Lauri Markkanen, who’s playing like an absolute stud).
It’s at least worth noting that the recent struggles haven’t affected them too much in the standings. They sit comfortably at fifth in the East, with a 5.5-game cushion above the Nets, who are having their own struggles which we’ll get to shortly. But this team clearly isn’t gelling right now, and reports out of the locker room are backing that up. I think a lot of this is stemming from the uncertainly that Kyrie has manufactured around his future with the team. But Brad Stevens is good enough to turn anything around.
- The Wizards make the playoffs – they absolutely love playing without John Wall
The ‘Zards are 1-2 coming out of the break, but wisely chose to have their one win against the Nets. They sit three games back of the eighth seed, with the Hornets, Magic, and Heat in the way. Those are not good teams.
Remaining match-ups include the Wolves (x2), Mavs, Hornets (x2), Kings, Magic, Grizzlies, Bulls (x2), Heat, Suns, and Knicks. Let’s get it.
- Denver goes out in the first round of the playoffs
Still smells fine to me.
- James Harden does not repeat as MVP – I’d say it’s Giannis’ to lose
Call this a lock.
- The Nets finish the season on a terrible run and they miss the postseason
The Nets have surprised everyone this season, and throw Kenny Atkinson up there as one of the leading candidates for Coach of the Year, along with Nate McMillan in Indy and Mike Malone in Denver. Brooklyn has a nice young core with D’Angelo Russell, Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jarret Allen and Joe Harris. And they’ll have a mountain of cap space to play with this offseason.
But that doesn’t mean they’re making the playoffs this year. They’ve looked like a shoo-in the last month or so, holding tight to the sixth seed. But the Pistons are surging behind them in the seventh seed, as are the ninth-seeded Magic, winners of seven of their last 10.
Brooklyn is 4-7 in their last 11. Like I said earlier, never trust a young team ahead of schedule down the stretch.
5. Did You Know?
Steven Adams is known for being just absolutely massive. The New Zealander stands at seven feet tall and 270 pounds of muscle, and is frequently mentioned among the strongest players in the NBA.
But did you know that he is only one of 18 siblings in his family? His father, the six-foot-eleven Sid Adams, fathered 18 kids with five different women. Adams’ brothers average six-foot-nine in height, and his sisters average six feet. One of his sisters, Valerie Adams, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a four-time world champion in shot-put. She’s six-foot-four, and 246 pounds.
Adams is the youngest of the 18. Imagine growing up in that household.
