Ed Choi

10 takeaways from tonight in the NBA: 1) About damn time. Toronto finally switches up their starting lineup, replacing Dennis Schroder with Gary Trent Jr. Of all lineups who've played at least 200 minutes, the Raptors starters have an NBA-worst -1.9 net rating. They started -8 in the first 7:22 with the new lineup, Schroder checked in, and they immediately closed on a 15-1 run. Then it got really ugly. Raps win by 30. They finished with 43 assists (1 short of the franchise record)! Darko says the changes were thought about for a while and that nothing is set in stone. I guess if you're planning a lineup change, no better time to try things out than against the Wizards on the second leg of a back-to-back. 🙌 2) Goga Bitadze turned his ankle after playing 2 first-half minutes. Looked like Wendell Carter Jr. might finally have a path to full minutes but Goga returned with 7:45 left in the 4th. Again, WCJ plays just 22 minutes. He's been back for 5 games and hasn't touched 24 minutes yet. Gotta give Jalen Suggs some love real fast. He's clearly still playing through a wrist injury. He was seen grabbing it the entire game. Still finished with 20 points on 77% TS. 👏👏👏 3) After playing just 17 minutes (4 points, 2 rebounds) on Christmas Day, Paul Reed drew the start again for Joel Embiid and this time, decided to show up (15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 stocks). Sixers get their first win of the season without Embiid. Maxey (34 minutes, 22.7% usage, 23 points, 6 rebounds) barely played in the first after picking up 2 early fouls but got going once the second quarter started. 4) Everyone I know took some version of a Mikal Bridges under. You gotta give credit where credit is due. Once Gallagher and Dink gave their thoughts on what would happen (it happened) with the Nets rotation on the ETR Injury Show, shit spread faster than Covid. You couldn't find a book that offered a Bridges line. Mikal, Cam Thomas and Royce O'Neale played just one quarter. Congrats to everyone who got some free money courtesy of the ETR boys. Truly no one better at what they do. "My thought was getting a feel and pulse of the game. Mikal played 40 minutes last night and so the thought was it wouldn't be wise for me to continue and go down this path and have him play 40 minutes again... Just envisioned at the end of the night that I didn't want them touching 40 minutes again." - Jacque Vaughn "Not a fan." - Mikal Bridges 5) So how did the Brooklyn kids do? Pretty fucking good. It was actually a competitive game. Don't let the score fool you (144-122). It unraveled the final 4-5 minutes. Dennis Smith Jr. - 14 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds Jalen Wilson - 21 points, 10 rebounds (first Nets rookie with a 20/10 game since Mason Plumlee in 2014) Trendon Watford - 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists 😍 6) Giannis (calf, injury management) was questionable coming into this game. Once the Nets announced their intentions, thought the Bucks would follow suit but nope. Good thing they didn't cause they absolutely needed him in the win. He finishes 2 assists shy of a triple-double (32 points, 10 rebounds, 29.7% usage) in 30 minutes. Khris Middleton had season-highs of 17 points and 10 assists (30.4% usage) in 31 minutes. His 3rd straight game scoring 20+ btw. Dame on the other hand had a night to forget scoring just 12 points on 4-10 shooting (3-9 3PT). 7) Maybe Eric Gordon was right? Days after asking for more touches and shots in the Suns offense, he got his wish and ... maybe proved a point (39 minutes, 27 points, 10-15 FG, 7-11 3PT, 15.8% usage)? Kevin Durant (24.1% usage) notches his 18th career triple-double, which included 16 assists (ties a career-high). Also, looks like Udoka Azubuike has overtaken Drew Eubanks as the Suns backup center. 8) The Rockets lost Jabari Smith Jr. in this game to a sprained ankle. Hope I'm wrong but it looked bad. Rockets called a timeout right when it happened and he went straight to the locker room. Wasn't long after, he was ruled out for the rest of the game. Just awful timing for the Rockets considering Dillon Brooks hurt his oblique (no timetable) yesterday. 9) It's still crazy to think that the Thunder drafted Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams in the same draft. J-Dub scores a career high 36 points ON 90% TS. Chet did his thing with 22 points and 4 blocks. And last, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has 10 straight games with 25+ points and 2+ steals. He joins Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson as the only other players to accomplish this feat since steals were officially first tracked (73-74). OKC had only 4 turnovers 😂. It's unfair how fun this team is. Thunder beat the Knicks 129-120 and are now 7-1 vs the East. Julius Randle has scored 20+ points in 15 straight games. First Knick to do so since Carmelo Anthony. 10) Playing without Donovan Mitchell for the 4th straight game, Cavs come back from 20 down to steal a win in Dallas. Luka had 29 points in 19 first half minutes, only to finish with 39 (43.8% usage, 14-29, 3-10 3PT). Jarrett Allen was an absolute monster. First player in franchise history to put up 20+ points, 20+ rebounds and 5+ assists (24 points, 23 rebounds, 6 assists, 26.6% usage). Even more impressively, he did an incredible job guarding Luka on the perimeter late in the game. You had to know he'd go off against this Mavs frontcourt.