Hey folks, Chelanga and Dylan here from the CnD NBA Podcast. We’re writing together to celebrate a Minnesota Timberwolves win on Friday and almost-win on Saturday. You can find the first article we wrote together here. Today, we’ll talk about how this weekend has given us hope for the rest of this season as Wolves fans. Then we’ll look around the association to check in on some of the really stupid news that has come out of the league this week.
Timberwolves Win (The Iceman Shooteth)
There’s a cold front brewing in the Minnesota Atmosphere brought by the ice in D’Angelo Russell’s veins. On Friday night, with the game tied at 103, DLo pulled up from Bemidji to hit a go-ahead 3 with 2.9 seconds remaining. This is what DLo can do. He can hit big shots in big moments. Russell was given four opportunities in the clutch with the ball in his hands, and they yielded five points. At 1.2 points per possession, this seems great, but for all the yum, let’s also remember the yuck:
[videopress y9cukX7F]This turnover was a perfect outlet pass to Justin Jackson that ignited a fast break for the Oklahoma City Thunder and gave an easy dunk on the other end to Darius Bazley. The biggest critique of DLol’s game is exactly this: His turnovers and misses lead to too many easy points in transition. If you subtract this dunk, DLo scored four points in five possessions with the ball in his hands or .8 points per possession. Ladies, gentlemen, and nonbinary: the yuck. Thankfully it was also just enough to squeak out the win.
The real star of the game was Malik Beasley, who went 6-12 from deep, helping us win yet another week in our fantasy league. Granted, we are the only ones in the league who bother to change our lineup — big flex.
Timberwolves Almost Win (The Jake L Redemption)
On Saturday night, the Wolves lost to the Thunder 120-118. The Wolves were down by as much as 26 in this game but stormed back with defense and a heroic effort by Naz Reid as he posted a career-high 29 points. But we couldn’t pay attention to any of that. All we saw was our sweet, beautiful Jake L (Jake Layman) coming in clutch in the fourth. Our not-so-secret crush had 10 points and four steals in the 4th Quarter. Behold, Jake L:
[videopress 4WKtUY1j](Music: www.bensound.com)
It was also nice to see Ryan Saunders finally pull Josh Okogie from the starting lineup after he clocked only 9:28 minutes on Friday. Since returning from his hamstring injury on Jan. 10th, Okogie has shot 28.3 percent from the field. Okogie has struggled offensively from day one, but this difficult stretch has us wondering Where in the World is Josh’s Shot-Diego?
For now, the Wolves are in limbo until the return of Karl-Anthony Towns (doubtful tonight against the Dallas Mavericks), so we thought we’d cover the crazy stories floating around the NBA. Time to catch up on some Real Stupid News…
D-Rose Rejoins Tom Thibideau
Well, we knew it wouldn’t be long before these star-crossed lovers found each other again. The New York Knicks traded Dennis Smith Jr. and a 2021 second-round pick (via the Charlotte Hornets) to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Derrick Rose. Watching Thibs try to relive his glory days with the Chicago Bulls is like watching your dad try to squeeze into his letterman jacket while he tells you, “It’s supposed to fit this way.”
Kevin Durant Possibly Exposed to COVID-19, or Was He?
Last Thursday, Durant was expected to miss a game against the Toronto Raptors due to health and safety protocols. He was in “close contact” with someone who had “inconclusive COVID test results.” Except he didn’t actually miss the game. Somehow, Durant joined his team and checked in with 4:13 left in the first quarter. He was then sent to the locker room during the third quarter because those “inconclusive” test results turned out to be conclusively positive.
This whole NBA season belongs as an episode of E!’s Botched. Here’s a look at the trailer:
“I’m not sure what [Adam Silver] was trying to do [about COVID this season].”
NBA and NBPA Vote to Host All-Star Game
And we’ve arrived at the stupidest of the stupid news, the All-Star game.
The NBA will host the annual All-Star game on March 7th in Atlanta. Somebody call Adam Silver and tell him no one cares about the All-Star game. The NBA doesn’t please anyone by putting their players at risk so that fans can watch them play a bad game of basketball.
Except for us. We love All-Star Weekend so much that we got courtside seats. A pair of Antifa like us would stick out sitting courtside, so we’re going to cosplay as a celebrity couple who would fit right in.
You can hear more from Dylan and Chelanga on the CnD NBA Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
