Five NBA Things I may or may not have Liked: Streaked, Joking Around, Super Saiyan Sheppard, Queen Gambit, Dire Wolves
My favorite and least least favorite things from the NBA
An End to Streaking
For almost a full month, the Wizards could do nothing but lose. From October 26th to November 22nd, the Wizards rattled off a truly inspired 14-game losing streak. While they managed to squeeze in two close games over their streak, the vast majority were laughable affairs. A team rarely deserves to lose 14 games in a row, but the Wizards didn’t make you believe they deserved much better. Conversely, for almost a full month, the Detroit Pistons could do nothing but win. From October 29th to November 24th, the Pistons powered their way to a 13-game win streak, tying the franchise record set in 1989-90 and 2003-04.
As a general rule, all good things and all bad things will come to an end, and that’s exactly what happened to the Wizards and Pistons. On November 25th, the Wizards destroyed the Atlanta Hawks 132-113, and the very next day, the Pistons fell to the Celtics 117-114. For as much fun as long win streaks are, prolonged losing streaks are orders of magnitude worse. This felt like the basketball gods putting their fingers on the scale and restoring a semblance of order to the court.
Jokic Passes
There are a lot of incredible passers in the NBA, but no one is even in the same solar system as Nikola Jokic. The combination of creativity, vision, audacity, and sheer precision he whips on some of his passes can only elicit a hearty laugh. It’s not that his passes are hilarious; it’s that laughter is the default human response to experiences that cannot be processed in real time. In simpler terms, he breaks our brains, and here is the most recent Jokic-LOL-Dime.
For a split second, it looks like Jokic has spun too close to the sun and completely lost his handle. It wouldn’t be the first time a giant human tried to be a little too balletic and suffered a grave humiliation, but this is Jokic we’re talking about. Nope, he knows exactly what he’s doing, turning a spin move into a behind-the-back pass into a wide-open layup. Professional sports are so self-serious, but Jokic’s unique blend of skill and oafishness feels like the fourth wall has been broken as a gentle reminder of how fun and silly all of this is.
Reed Sheppard Breakout
There was a lot of hype surrounding Reed Sheppard entering the league. Although the 2024 draft was considered weak at the top, he was viewed as a potential All-Star due to his incredible college metrics and insane 3-point shooting accuracy. Unfortunately, his shot abandoned him during his rookie season, as he slumped to 33.8% from distance in limited minutes. In the wake of Fred VanVleet’s season-ending ACL injury, a lot was riding on Sheppard’s development, and he has absolutely delivered.
Over his past 14 games, Sheppard has averaged 25.1 minutes, 15.0 points, 3.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 turnovers per game on 45.5% 3-point shooting, 61.3% 2-point shooting, and an effective field goal percentage of 65.3%. He has a box plus/minus of 7.3 on the season, which ranks fifth in the entire league. Can he keep this up? I don’t think so, but he’s also excelling at all the things he was supposed to be great at. Many of the draft models had Sheppard as an elite prospect, and thus far, he’s making the nerds look smart.
The Queen Gambit
The Pelicans are a mess. They stink. They already fired their coach. And they traded away their unprotected first-round pick. However, while trading away that pick was an obvious unmitigated disaster, the player they secured, Derik Queen, has been pretty interesting. Since entering the starting lineup seven games ago, Queen is averaging 15.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in 26.4 minutes per game. His true shooting percentage of 56.6% is a bit below the league average, but his passing has been exceptional for a center. Look, the Pelicans are 1-6 in those games, and Queen’s defense is an adventure, but he at least looks like a real player. It remains to be seen if he can hold up defensively and how he will respond to teams actually start game planning for him, but right now, he’s having a promising rookie season. The Pelicans’ Queen gambit is unlikely to pay off, but there’s a chance Derik Queen is good enough that he won’t be haunted by it.
Dire Wolves
The Timberwolves are an unserious basketball team. While it’s ridiculous to write that about a team that has made consecutive Western Conference Finals, it is absolutely true. The Wolves have lost three consecutive games due to absolutely shambolic late-game execution. Against the Phoenix Suns, they blew an eight-point lead with 55 seconds left, not because of missed free throws, but because they surrendered an offensive rebound and turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions to allow the Suns to make it a one-point game.
The final turnover doesn’t even make the final cut because the Suns committed an offensive foul on the other end. Despite the shitshow, the Timberwolves still got to send Anthony Edwards to the line, up one, to at least put a regulation loss out of reach. He missed both, then the Suns hit a go-ahead jumper with six seconds left, and Julius Randle bricked a three at the buzzer. But that’s not all, folks.
Against the Sacramento Kings, the Wolves held a ten-point lead with 3:09 left in regulation. Flash forward 95 seconds, and the game was tied 99-99. The game would head to overtime, where the Wolves would be outscored 16-11 thanks to five turnovers and seven Kings free throws to the Wolves’ zero.
The Wolves’ final loss is the most defensible, considering it was on the road to the Thunder, but it has to sting nonetheless. Wth 3:41 left in the game, Donte DiVincenzo nailed a 3-pointer to knot it at 101-101. Then, the Dire Wolves formed a pack. From that point on, the Wolves would go one of four from the free throw line, commit two live-ball turnovers, and, to make matters worse, down 104-109, they committed a five-second violation.
The fact that this game was 105-104, with 1:01, makes the final score of 113-105 seem impossible, but that’s what the Wolves do. They make impossible late-game foibles a reality.
For any inquiries about work, discussion, and the like, you can email me at nevin.l.brown@gmail.com.