Is Giannis Antetokounmpo the MVP?
After Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar might just have made his final case.
Even with Joel Embiid logging a triple-double in the game in Pennsylvania, It was Antetokounmpo who stole the show and the game for Milwaukee, 128-122.
The Bucks star put up a line of 45 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks. He was dominant, even going three-of-five from the 3-point line. To boot, four of Antetokounmpo’s five blocks came against Embiid himself.
Via Twitter:
That performance outmatched Embiid’s triple-double of 34 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists, three blocks, and two steals. Even further, the win helped Milwaukee secure home court advantage throughout the playoffs and put an exclamation point on a season in which Philadelphia was one of the teams slated to win the Eastern Conference.
The Bucks are now the most powerful team in the Eastern Conference, and despite a lack of playoff success thus far, it’s still smart money to bet on them going deep into the postseason now that LeBron James is no longer in their way.
The Phoenix Suns are having a hard time these days. They have now shut down several players, including Devin Booker and Tyler Johnson. The Suns are not a well-run franchise, and they are slated to end the year at the bottom of the NBA yet again.
Perhaps no better example of their ineptitude came on Wednesday as the Suns were taking on the Utah Jazz. As the teams switched floors, Dragan Bender was whistled for aninexplicable travel even though he was dribbling the basketball.
Via Twitter:
I don’t even know what to say about Phoenix anymore. No doubt the league would rather Robert Sarver sell the team and have the whole organization start over from scratch at this point.
In the meantime we will have to make do with clips like this which belong in one of those old “NBA Inside Stuff” blooper VHS tapes with Ahmad Rashad.
Utah beat the Suns, 118-97.
Chris Paul has been known to complain to NBA officials from time to time. That’s putting it lightly.
The Houston Rockets star is one of the most grating players for fans, largely because of his performance in the ears of NBA referees. Of course, sometimes Paul isn’t so deft in his approach, like when the Rockets took on the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.
Unhappy with how things ended heading into halftime, Paul was seen on camera mocking veteran official Kenny Mauer. Mauer and Paul then stepped to each other, having a conversation at very close quarters.
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Paul definitely gets the benefit of the doubt from refs, and Mauer is no stranger to being at the end of his complaints. During the Western Conference Finals last season, Paul famously got upset with Mauer after no foul was called on a drive to the hoop and instead CP3 was whistled for a turnover.
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I wonder if the NBA will put Mauer on Rockets games this postseason? It could make up for some spicy playoff watching.
Houston beat the Clippers, 135-103.
The end of March and the beginning of April has been a bit of a snoozer in the NBA. It seems like the past 12 games or so have been crawling by, with everyone wanting the start of the playoffs to just be here already.
Apparently the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers feel the same way.
On Thursday night as the Sixers took on the Bucks in Pennsylvania, things got a bit heated between Joel Embiid and Eric Bledsoe.
On a play early in the first quarter, Bledsoe was upset with Embiid as the two jostled for a rebound. Embiid was pushed in the back by the Bucks guard, and the Sixers big man retaliated by throwing the ball at Bledsoe.
Bledsoe then threw the ball right back at Embiid, which earned him a quick ejection.
Via Twitter:
That’s a pretty weird sequence, and frankly one where you would expect referees to bend to the will of perceived pressure and give Embiid a technical foul as well. The Sixers got to shoot technical free throws, but the Bucks did not.
Meanwhile, Bledsoe got an early shower and the game went on.
Just get us to the postseason, already. Milwaukee and Philly are ready for it!
For the first time in eight years, the NBA Finals will take place without LeBron James in them.
For the first time since 2005 — when “Hollaback Girl” was the hit stuck in everybody’s head — LeBron will not be in the playoffs.
Stephen Curry, whose Warriors have faced off against LeBron in the Finals the past four seasons, it does seem a little strange. But at shootaround before the Warriors took on the Lakers Thursday (without LeBron, who has been sidelined for the rest of the season), Curry said he expects LeBron to be back at the top next season. From Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“It’s different, but what is it? [Eight] straight Finals he went to?” Curry said at the Warriors’ morning shootaround… “I’m sure it’s a different experience for him, for better or worse…
“Obviously the rest of the league continues to go, a lot of talent, a lot of great storylines, people chasing championships,” Curry said. “But he’s had an amazing run. Pretty sure he’ll be able to reset for next year and regroup. It’s just different [with James not in the postseason].”
Do not doubt that LeBron James will be back at peak form next season. He was never right after coming back from that groin injury, but it will heal this summer, have the longest off-season rest he has had in more than a decade (he is not playing in the World Cup), and come back the full LeBron.
Whether he has a good enough team around him in the West next season to make noise is the real question.