The Vacation Meter has arrived! Plus, can a team pry LeBron James from the Lakers?

 

How many of you tried to make a 13-game night part of your Valentine’s Day celebration?

Vacation Meter

Last night had big vacation vibes

There’s an infamous joke about a team, on the brink of its season ending, just giving up and accepting fate. Down 3-0 in a playoff series? Giving a sluggish performance in that do-or-die situation of pushing a boulder up a hill? You’ll hear commentators and fans joke about huddles ending with, “1, 2, 3! Cancun!”

This also applies to the games right before the All-Star break. With only a couple matchups scheduled on the Thursday before the celebratory weekend, Wednesday night is heavily loaded with players not involved in the upcoming weekend eyeing their departing flights to a multi-day beach vacation with drinks flowing. It’s the perfect time to bust out The Vacation Meter, which is a scale of 1-5 vacation emojis for how eagerly a team appeared to be looking to start its non-refundable trip.

Clippers 130, Warriors 125: No Kawhi Leonard for the Clippers (36-17, third in West). Paul George fouled out. Golden State got 41 points from Steph Curry, but the Warriors (26-26, 10th in West) collapsed by giving up a 44-point fourth quarter. Unfortunately, they have a semi-important game tonight at Utah, which is just behind them for the final Play-In spot. Vacation Meter: Clippers 🏝️🏝️ | Warriors 🏝️🏝️

41 PTS tonight for 30.@verizon || Reliable Moments pic.twitter.com/hGVPUSCqXp

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 15, 2024

Celtics 136, Nets 86: The Celtics (43-12, first in East) recorded their second 50-point win this season, which ties the record for most in one season. Brooklyn (21-33, 11th in East) was on vacation in the first quarter. Vacation Meter: Celtics 🏖️ | Nets 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️

Hornets 122, Hawks 99: The Hawks (24-31, 10th in East) gave the Hornets (13-41, 13th in East) their first double-digit win of the season.

Vacation Meter: Hornets 🍹 | Hawks 🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹

Pelicans 133, Wizards 126: The Pelicans (33-22, sixth in West) gave up 43 points to Deni Avdija. Even with the win over the Wizards (9-45, 14th in East), that’s a vacation look-ahead game over the worst team in the NBA. Vacation Meter: Pelicans 🧳🧳🧳 | Wizards 🧳🧳

Suns 116, Pistons 100: A friend of mine who is a Pistons fan thought it was their worst game of the season in the first half. That would’ve been impressive. Phoenix (33-22) is three games behind Denver for fourth. Vacation Meter: Suns 🩴🩴 | Pistons 🩴🩴🩴🩴🩴

Mavs 116, Spurs 93: It’s hard to tell with the Spurs (11-44, last in West) because they get spanked a lot. But that 32-14 third quarter they gave up just screams “Tulum!” Dallas (32-23, seventh in West) is a game behind sixth. Vacation Meter: Mavs ⛱️ | Spurs ⛱️⛱️⛱️⛱️

Cavs 108, Bulls 105: Both of these teams were ready as Coby White nearly sent it to overtime. Donovan Mitchell notched another 30-point performance for the Cavaliers (36-17, second in East). The Bulls (26-29, ninth in East) are two games ahead of 10th. Vacation Meter: Cavs 🌴 | Bulls 🌴

Magic 118, Knicks 100: The Knicks (33-22, fourth in East) are very banged up, but they gave up 63 percent from the field to a bottom-seven offense in the league. The Magic (30-25, eighth in East) have won seven of 10. Vacation Meter: Magic ✈️ | Knicks ✈️✈️✈️✈️

Lakers 138, Jazz 122: LeBron skipped out on playing Utah yet again, but the Jazz (26-29, 11th in West) looked like they’re tapped out, giving up 36 to Rui Hachimura. Unfortunately, they play tonight again. The Lakers (30-26, ninth in West) are two games behind eighth. Vacation Meter: Lakers 😴😴 | Jazz 😴😴😴

Kings 102, Nuggets 98: Denver (36-19, fourth in West) sat two starters, but both teams were pretty locked in for this one. The 31-23 Kings (eighth in West) finished strong in this one. Vacation Meter: Kings 👋 | Nuggets 👋👋

Pacers 127, Raptors 125: Pascal Siakam’s return to Toronto (19-36, 12th in East) had both teams really trying in this one. He finished with 23 points, and RJ Barrett just missed sending it to OT. Indiana (31-25, sixth in East) is half a game up for the last playoff spot. Vacation Meter: Pacers ⛵ | Raptors ⛵

Grizzlies 121, Rockets 113: Houston badly needed the break. The Rockets (24-30 overall, 12th in West) are 6-14 in their last 20 and just gave up 121 points to the worst offense in the league. Memphis (19-36, 13th in West) is just 6-20 at home. Vacation Meter: Grizzlies 🚤🚤| Rockets 🚤🚤🚤

Heat 109, 76ers 104: Philadelphia (32-22, fifth in East) just needs some rest without Joel Embiid. Miami (30-25, seventh in East) is half a game behind sixth. Vacation Meter: Heat ⛴️⛴️ | 76ers ⛴️⛴️⛴️⛴️

The Latest From Shams

Pistons’ Stewart arrested for altercationDetroit Pistons F/C Isaiah Stewart punched Phoenix’s Drew Eubanks in the face in the back tunnels of Suns arena yesterday. It’s unclear what sparked the altercation. The NBA is expected to receive footage to review.

Both Stewart and Eubanks were going chest-to-chest before a swing to Eubanks’ face connected, sources said. Both were separated, and there was police presence involved with the situation in Phoenix. Phoenix Police released a statement on Isaiah Stewart:

“Stewart was arrested for assault and issued a citation and released. The investigation remains active.”

We’ll keep you updated as more details unfold.

Can You Get LeBron?

Do teams think they have a chance?

Remember LeBron James’ hourglass emoji tweet a couple weeks ago? Do you recall him wearing a Knicks towel on his shoulders at Madison Square Garden during a postgame interview? LeBron doesn’t do anything that isn’t calculated because he knows the weight of his actions start a conversation. Those events, along with reports the Lakers weren’t likely to make a big move at the trade deadline, apparently led to some teams reaching out to the Lakers and LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul, about his availability right before the trade deadline.

 

In Sam Amick’s latest, there were a few pretty interesting aspects to a soft pursuit of the nearly 40-year old super icon.

1. Draymond Green, Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr, and even owner Joe Lacob reached out about LeBron’s trade availability. Apparently, Green reached out to Paul about the chances of LeBron joining Golden State. Dunleavy made a call to Rob Pelinka. Maybe Lacob and Jeanie Buss had a quick conversation? That’s three levels of inquiry!

2. The Knicks have no plans to inquire about LeBron? Maybe the organization is still burned by not being picked by James in 2010 free agency, but it hasn’t even thought about adding LeBron to this impressive core? The Knicks haven’t even thought about asking LeBron for Julius Randle and picks? Look, I’ve DM’d Rihanna before, knowing it wasn’t likely she’d even respond. But you have to ask, right?

3. Jonathan Kuminga is untouchable. Kuminga is averaging 18.6 points over his last 31 games, shooting 56.2 percent from the field and looking like their most reliable second option. His emergence might be the key to them taking a leap next season.

4. LeBron’s requests haven’t brought in what he wants. He wanted Damian Lillard in 2021 but got Russell Westbrook instead. LeBron wanted Kyrie Irving in 2022 and 2023 yet never got that reunion. Prior to last week’s deadline, he was in favor of Dejounte Murray and Zach LaVine moves. They remain with their respective teams. So, I guess the Lakers don’t allow LeBron to have juice anymore?

Shooting Whoas!

Steph Curry sets even more history!Despite the Warriors’ loss to the Clippers last night, Curry’s ridiculous 3-point accuracy continued in his 41-point effort. He increased his lead on Ray Allen (2,973) for all-time 3-point makes by hitting 9-of-19 from deep, putting Curry 667 3-pointers ahead of Jesus Shuttlesworth. He’s 750 ahead of James Harden (2,890), who is third on the all-time 3s list.

Curry is enjoying another unprecedented stretch, though. This was his fourth straight game making at least seven 3s. Six players in NBA history have three straight such games with seven or more 3-point makes, but Curry is the only one with multiple such streaks (he’s done it five times, but you get it).

Over this four-game span, Curry has made 36 3-pointers at a clip of 53.7 percent. That doesn’t even make sense. He keeps setting 3-point records that will never be touched.

(Also, can you name the other five players who did three straight games of seven 3-point makes? Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Duncan Robinson, Mike Miller, and George McCloud.)

Steph 💥

📺 @NBCSAuthentic https://t.co/edOBHX348h pic.twitter.com/UYUigjiXjX

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 15, 2024

STEPH’S GOT 8

📺 @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/kvzsa4z3GK

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 15, 2024

Steph SPLASH

📺 @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/s7raZa7ktd

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 15, 2024

Bounce Passes

Adam Silver: Las Vegas is “definitely” on the NBA’s expansion list.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker has become huge for the Wolves.

Is the NBA’s 65-game rule working for getting stars to play?