Jayson Tatum is playing the best basketball of his career right now. He’s a two-way superstar leading the defending champion Boston Celtics to what should be a second consecutive season with 60-plus wins.
And yet, he is not a factor in the NBA MVP conversation.
ESPN NBA writer Tim Bontemps released Wednesday the results of his third and final league MVP straw poll this season. It includes 100 voters, many of whom actually have a real MVP ballot this season. Therefore, it’s a pretty good representation of how the final vote tally will play out.
Based on this poll, it looks like Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will win his first MVP, edging out Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who has won three of the last four MVPs.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is in a distant third place, with Tatum right behind him. No other player had more than 100 voting points in Bontemps’ poll.
Nikola Jokic, DEN: 760 points (23 first-place votes)
Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL: 381 points
Jayson Tatum, BOS: 363 points
Donovan Mitchell, CLE: 93 points
Gilgeous-Alexander leads the league in scoring at 32.8 points per game and the Thunder own the league’s best record at 63-12. Jokic is averaging a triple-double with 29.7 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game. He posted the highest-scoring triple-double in league history (61 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
If Jokic hadn’t won three MVPs in the last four years and there was no voter fatigue, he’d probably win the award almost unanimously this year. The fact that he’s averaging almost a 30-point triple-double while shooting 57.5 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from 3-point range and might not win MVP is truly crazy.
Tatum is having a great season, too, averaging 27.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and a career-high 5.9 assists per game. He leads the Celtics in all three categories. Tatum won’t win league MVP, but there’s a more important trophy he’s chasing that gets handed out in June — the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award.
In the immediate afterglow of helping the Boston Celtics secure their 18th title, with champagne-soaked goggles still perched atop his head, Jrue Holiday tried to put into words what it meant to help Al Horford secure that elusive NBA crown.
“[Getting Horford a title] was one of the ultimate goals of [the 2023-24] season,” said Holiday. “I’d run through a brick wall for him.”
Now, as Horford continues to stiff-arm Father Time, and the Celtics prepare to chase another championship, we wondered what it is about the 38-year-old big man that particularly inspires fellow NBA veteran Holiday.
“I think sometimes you just have those people that bring that out of you,” said Holiday. “They’re great humans, they want the best, not only for you, but everybody around them. They’re selfless. They think about other people before themselves. And they do everything for everybody else and then don’t expect credit. I feel like people like that, you want everything great for them.
“And then you also see his career, what he’s done and how he’s been the best player on his team, and then how he handles a situation like this, where there’s so much talent. He’s for sure a Hall of Famer, and I’m pretty sure Al could really be like strutting his stuff and he doesn’t. He’s so respectful, he’s so humble.
“Guys like that, you just want to run through a brick wall for.”
Some wondered if Horford might ride off into the sunset after raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy in Year 17 of his NBA career. The way he’s playing, the more appropriate question now may be whether he can play until the same age as his jersey number (42) — or beyond.
Horford scored a season-high 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting while knocking down six 3-pointers in Boston’s 117-103 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, capping the first 6-0 road trip in team history. It was Horford’s biggest regular-season scoring output since February 2021.
Horford’s uptick in scoring output helped the Celtics go 14-1 in March, and the team is playing some of its best basketball right before the playoffs arrive. No one seems to highlight this team’s ability to shift to another gear in big moments quite like Horford, who routinely saves his best basketball for when the lights are the brightest.
In typical Horford fashion, he is appreciative of Holiday’s run-through-a-wall remarks, but the big man is certain he’d do the same for any of his teammates.
“It’s a great compliment. But more than anything, I think that we’re all in this together and we understand the opportunity we have in front of us,” said Horford. “So, it’s nice that they say that about me, but we know that we’re playing for — something bigger, and what being a Celtic is all about. I feel like that’s my mindset, that’s our focus.”
Horford seems particularly invigorated to have his son, Ean, around the team this season. Horford’s father, Tito, was a consistent presence during the team’s title run last season, and now a third generation has a front-row seat for the quest to repeat (literally; Ean has sat on the bench during road games and delivered an emphatic chest bump to Derrick White during a recent stop).
Horford, who agreed to shuffle to a reserve role last season in order to maximize Boston’s glut of talent after adding Holiday before the start of the season, has quietly started 40 of the 57 games he’s appeared in this season.
Horford held down the fort with Boston’s starting group while Kristaps Porzingis recovered from offseason surgery at the start of the season, and Boston has rarely been at full health since. For the season, Horford is averaging 8.9 points and 6.1 rebounds over 27.7 minutes per game.
Ironically, Horford’s season-best performance against Memphis on Monday came in a reserve role, with Horford selflessly coming off the bench to allow rarely-utilized backup big man Xavier Tillman to start against his former team.
Sacrifice is a perpetual theme with Horford, who never puts his personal desires ahead of what can help the team.
“You have to sacrifice at different points in order to to get something that you want,” said Horford. “I feel like, as a player and for me personally, I feel like I’ve done that throughout my career.
“Last year was probably even more of a step, in that sense. But, for me, ultimately I understood the opportunity that was in front of us and what we have here with the group that we have. And it was something that, it was tough, but it was the right thing. So that’s what it’s all about.”
I’m more excited this year than last year. Just very determined to get this done.
Al Horford on his mindset entering the playoffs
Positioned with a chance to chase another title, and knowing just how rare it is to even be in that position, Horford seems insanely motivated by the opportunity in front of this team now.
“We understand it,” said Horford. “But, more than that, I’m really driven. I really want this for our group and for the Celtics organization. So it’s one of those things that I’m more excited, I feel, this year than last year. So just very determined for us to get this done.”
Holiday knows a little too well about how a championship can motivate Horford. Holiday laughs recalling how Horford’s Florida squad defeated the UCLA team that Holiday would soon commit to during the 2006 national title game, and then again in the national semifinals in 2007.
“I watched Al beat UCLA so — that was rough,” said Holiday. “So I’ve watched Al for a while. But even through his career, just him always being, for one, true to himself — I think that’s probably the most important part.
“Especially in the type of business that we’re in, sometimes you can get a little carried away. But Al’s always been himself. He’s believed in himself and had his faith and that’s obviously something that I stand on and think is very respectable.”
Holiday, too, has sacrificed his individual stats to help his teams succeed throughout his career. But even after arriving in Boston last season, watching Horford do the same made it that much easier to embrace.
“I like to win,” said Holiday. “I like to win and I feel like, when it comes to winning, you have to do whatever is necessary. Sometimes if you want to and sometimes if you don’t. But I think a lot of the times you get a certain gratification if you are the handyman or doing the dirty work.
“He’s no longer the underdog, babyface assassin,” Jay Williams said Wednesday morning on “Get Up.” “He is the villain now. I think he is embracing being the villain. The beautiful thing about this is he’s the petty king. This is the scariest thing we’ve ever seen Steph Curry be at level-wise. He’s entering a similar phase to when Kobe was Black Mamba. I think you’re entering a dark Steph phase, where little things like this, look how he just runs up in the face of Desmond Bane.
“If it’s ‘night night,’ if it’s the trash talking that he does, if it’s with Jimmy Butler, if it’s with Draymond Green — this is the next iteration of Steph Curry that’s trying to win a [championship] in the next two years.”
"He's no longer the underdog baby-faced assassin. He is the villain now. … This is the next iteration of Steph Curry that's trying to win a chip in the next two years."
Curry finished the game with 52 points on 16-of-31 (51.6 percent) shooting from the field and 12 of 20 (60 percent) from 3-point range, adding 10 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and one block in 36 minutes.
The Warriors and Grizzlies haven’t been too fond of each other in recent years, and as much as some players might try to downplay it, it’s a rivalry. Tuesday was proof of that.
While Green or Butler are the vocal leaders who typically chirp at opponents on the court, Curry expressed his frustrations during a heated encounter with Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane.
We have seen time and time again what a ticked-off Curry can do on the hardwood. We saw it Tuesday night. And Williams believes we’ll see a lot more of it as the four-time NBA champion enters his villain era.
Ja Morant might be in trouble with the NBA … again.
The league is “looking into” the Memphis Grizzlies star point guard’s use of finger gun motions toward the Golden State Warriors‘ bench in the final seconds of Tuesday’s matchup between the rivals, ESPN’s Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon reported Wednesday, citing sources.
The NBA is looking into Memphis' Ja Morant using finger gun motions toward the Golden State Warriors bench last night, sources tell me and @espn_macmahon.
Things got chippy with 20 seconds remaining and the Warriors up by five as double-technical fouls were assessed to both Morant and Warriors guard Buddy Hield, who also appeared to make a gun gesture toward Morant. Several other Warriors players stepped in and notified the officials of Morant’s gesture.
Morant was suspended twice for flashing a gun on Instagram live videos in 2023, with the first being an eight-game suspension for having a gun at a Denver nightclub. The second video happened over the summer, when he flashed what appeared to be a gun in a car and had to serve a 25-game suspension.
Steph Curry’s latest move up the NBA’s all-time scoring list was an extra special milestone.
The Warriors guard scored a whopping 52 points in Golden State’s 134-125 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday at FedExForum, and in doing so, passed Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West (25,192) for 25th all-time.
Making moves ⚡️
Stephen Curry has passed Jerry West for 25th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list pic.twitter.com/1D311naCbI
Curry was asked after the game how special it was for him to move ahead of West, who passed away last June at 86.
“I got a little emotional about that, that’s special, obviously in our memory and what he meant to the league, to the world of basketball, to our organization when he worked here,” Curry said. “And my relationship with [Warriors Senior Director, Pro Personnel Jonnie West]. I got to talk to him after the game, just to share a moment of what it meant for me, my family, the entire West family. So that is special. Just understanding what his career was, that’s The Logo, so very special. I’ll keep that ball and put it in a good place.”
Decades after his 14-year NBA career ended, West served as an executive board member and consultant for the Warriors front office from 2011 to 2017 and played a key role in constructing Golden State’s dynastic trio of Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
One of whom eventually would supplant him on the all-time scoring list.
Apr 1, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) drives to the basket against Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) in the fourth quarter at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
In what has been his best statistical season, Nikola Jokic had one of the best games of his career Tuesday night—a career-high 61-point triple-double. It was a virtuoso performance.
Jokic joins James Harden and Luka Doncic as the only players in NBA history with a 60-point triple-double, and it was his 31st triple-double of the season.
It wasn't enough.
In one of the wildest and best games of the season — a game that went to double-overtime and saw eight lead changes in the second overtime alone — the Minnesota Timberwolves beat Denver for the sixth straight time, 140-139.
Denver took a 139-138 lead on a Jokic free throw with 17.7 seconds remaining in the second overtime. Minnesota had the ball but Anthony Edwards turned it over under pressure, leading to a fast break led by Russell Westbrook. With Denver already ahead, all Westbrook had to do was either slow the play down, wait for Minnesota to foul, then hit his free throws. Or, he could attack the rim and make a shot. Westbrook chose the second option — he drove went for the bucket on a pass from Christian Braun, but Westbrook missed the lay-up giving the Timberwolves one last chance.
Minnesota got the ball to their star Anthony Edwards, but when the defense collapsed on his drive, he passed to Nickeil Alexander-Walker open in the opposite corner. Alexander-Walker went up but missed the corner 3-pointer—except Westbrook fouled him on the closeout. Alexander-Walker went to the line, hit two free throws, and that was the game.
AN INSTANT CLASSIC DESERVES A WILD FINISH
Timberwolves get the rebound, push it down court, and draw the foul on the 3PA!
Nickeil Alexander-Walker drills two CLUTCH free throws to secure the win for the Timberwolves pic.twitter.com/CSkEnU1rj9
The Timberwolves escaped with a 140-139 win. Edwards led the Timberwolves with 34 points, scoring 24 of those in the fourth quarter or overtime.
With the win, combined with a Memphis loss Tuesday, the Timberwolves are now tied with the Grizzlies for sixth in the West (and the chance to move out of the play-in). Denver remains third in the conference, but the surging Lakers are just half a game back. It's going to be a wild final week in the West.
As he began to describe why he returned to the court at the tail end of a dreadful, injury-stuffed Sixers season, Kyle Lowry could’ve been any age.
“It’s always fun to play basketball,” he said.
That’s still true at 39 years old with a team piling up late-season losses (and boosting its NBA draft lottery outlook). So Lowry, who’d been sidelined since Feb. 9 with a nagging right hip injury, played Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
“Listen, we’re privileged and we’re honored to play the game of basketball,” he said in the visiting locker room after the Sixers’ 105-91 defeat to the Knicks. “I love this game at the highest level. It’s provided for me and my family, my friends with everything that I could ask for.
“I wanted to try to go out there and play, and just have fun. You don’t know how long this game is going to last for each individual, so just go out there and enjoy the process. Just enjoy being out there and in the game.”
Lowry logged 16 minutes and only attempted one shot. His corner three-point attempt early in the fourth quarter popped in the hoop and then spun out.
The night did feature a few Lowry staples, though. He shared his two cents with teammates at every stoppage; grabbed a sneaky steal from OG Anunoby; craftily drew a whistle against Josh Hart and then immediately wondered why it wasn’t a shooting foul.
“You could see him directing a lot of traffic out on the floor,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said.
Of course, Lowry was also vocal during his months on the bench as a quasi-assistant coach.
“Kyle’s one of those guys where if you’re going to go out there, play hard and play the right way, he’s probably going to try to help you,” Nurse said. “But if you’re not, he’s probably not. That is leadership, right? That’s part of who he is and how to lead people.”
The generational gap between Lowry and the nine other available Sixers was striking.
Rookie wing Justin Edwards was 2 years old when Lowry made his NBA debut. Lonnie Walker IV, 26, was the second-oldest active Sixer.
“It was great,” Walker said. “I took a tough layup and he told me just about being aware — passing the rock, making the right decisions. He’s a leader, he’s a vet and I think for the most part, even if you don’t want to hear it, it’s best to listen because he knows the game. He’s been playing for 19 years. The respect, it wasn’t given, it was earned. He’s been a hell of a player, an All-Star player. You name it, he’s done it all.
“To have a player like that on this team and to be able to listen to him and grow, see what you can get better at, it’s a very grateful moment.”
On Lowry’s end, he was glad to dish out on-court feedback again.
“My job is to help these guys get a little bit better, get some more experience,” he said. “But it’s just fun to play basketball. It’s just fun to have some new faces and new thoughts. It makes my brain work a little harder to try to figure out what these guys have to do and what I can help them get better at.”
There’s six games left for the 23-53 Sixers. It’s clear Lowry hopes his hip stays healthy enough to play them.
And after that?
“We’ll get there when it gets there,” he said with a smile.
The Utah Jazz were punished after sitting Lauri Markkanen. <br>Photograph: Rob Gray/AP
The Toronto Raptors aren’t new to losing. But they are new to whatever this is.
After taking over as the Raptors’ president of basketball operations in 2013, Masai Ujiri refused to embrace the blatant, in-your-face tanking that Sam Hinkie and the “process” Philadelphia 76ers were busy popularizing during that same era, instead opting to build from the middle. “I’m not sure the karma is great when you do stuff like that,” Ujiri said about tanking. “We’re not doing that here,” he later added.
The Raptors made history in 2019 by becoming the first team to win an NBA Championship without a single lottery pick. But after Toronto missed the playoffs in three of the last four seasons and were rewarded with just one top 10 draft pick, Ujiri finally decided to follow in a long line of teams who are taking advantage of the NBA’s incentive structure that means bad teams have better odds of landing a top pick in the draft.
Now, the Raptors find themselves in the middle of an embarrassing and unwatchable multi-team tank-off that has come to define the 2024-25 NBA season.
“As a purist of the league, a purist of basketball, we play every game to win,” 15-year veteran and vice-president of the National Basketball Players Association, Garrett Temple, tells the Guardian. “[But] the way the rules are set up, it’s advantageous to be the worst team in the league record-wise. I don’t think it’s a great look for the NBA.”
And the Raptors have given bad looks this season. After leading playoff-bound Orlando Magic by double digits in the fourth quarter on 4 March, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic pulled the plug by sitting starters Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl and RJ Barrett, leaving about $100m in salaries on the bench and less than $10m in rookies and two-way players on the floor. “All I could do was laugh,” Barrett said.
While Rajakovic explained that “for us, it’s very, very important now to take a look at different players and young guys and to develop those guys, to give them important minutes,” the reality was that the Raptors were as close to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings as they were to a playoff spot. Even though about a third of the regular season was still to be played at that point, the team had already decided to prioritize managing its lottery odds over making a push for the playoffs.
And they are not the only ones.
“Right now there are nine teams tanking,” one league executive told ESPN. “And next year’s draft is going to have maybe more franchise players than this year’s draft. A year from now, you may still have nine teams tanking.”
That’s almost one-third of the league that exists somewhere on a spectrum from being comfortable with mediocrity to coming up with increasingly creative ways to lose games. Teams are sitting their best players due to “rest” and quiet-quitting by pulling starters late in games, causing upwards of 20 star players to be in street clothes on any given night in March and April, making the quality of late-season basketball worse than ever.
“Teams can put whatever they want on their injury report, and the league has not policed injury reports,” NBA writer Brian Windhorst said on the Hoop Collective podcast. “So you have situations where guys are truly injured, but listed as out. And other situations where stars are not really injured, but they’re listed as out. And so the credibility is all over the place, and the league has let that go down the block and around the corner … it’s just a mess.”
While it makes sense for teams to take advantage of the NBA’s incentive structure so long as they can get away with it, the popularization of tanking has created a lose-lose situation for the league, the fans who pay large sums to attend games or watch on TV, the players who are missing out on crucial developmental reps and, most importantly, the NBA’s TV partners, who recently signed an 11-year agreement worth $76bn.
People have been trying to come up with creative solutions to solve the NBA’s tanking problem for more than a decade, ranging from flattening the draft lottery odds so that every non-playoff team has an equal chance of getting the No 1 overall pick, to creating a “play-out” tournament where the worst teams compete for better draft odds at the end of the season, to replacing the draft with rookie free agency.
But each so-called solution comes with unintended consequences, such as teams on the playoff bubble tanking to get in the lottery if the odds are flat or if there is a play-out tournament, and the best rookies hurting parity by signing in big markets in free agency.
We know that the NBA doesn’t approve of tanking because it has a long history of railing against it. The league pressured the 76ers to get rid of Hinkie in 2016, and fined Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $600,000 for admitting to tanking in 2018.
The question, then, is how does the NBA keep a similar incentive structure but discourage the blatant, unethical tanking that has become popular in recent years? The obvious answer is to start by seriously penalizing anything that goes against the integrity of the game.
After all, we usually have a pretty good idea about who the worst teams are by the 50-game mark, with the league sorting itself into tiers of contenders, playoff teams and bottom-dwellers. But at a certain point, some teams rest veterans or quiet-quit to increase their lottery odds. The rest of the bottom-dwellers have no choice but to follow suit, and bam! Unmitigated, unethical tanking ensues.
“When I first came in the league, I don’t remember this happening as much,” Temple, who has been around the NBA since 2009, says. “People are trying to take advantage of situations and have their team be the best team they can be. At the end of the day, no team is doing this in order to have a bad team. They’re trying to make their team better.”
But what if there was a way to pressure teams to play out the entire season the way they play the first 50 games? That way, the lottery order would sort itself out naturally, and the worst teams would get the best odds without the need to ever lose on purpose.
It may sound extreme, but that’s exactly what happens in the NHL, where a culture of competitiveness and power at the hands of head coaches keeps teams from resting players in order to lose on purpose. Instead, the NHL employs a different, more ethical form of tanking where the worst teams choose to offload veteran players at the trade deadline and naturally lose out as a result.
The NBA can’t expect the culture to change naturally given that teams have learned how to exploit the system, but the league can make it a significantly harder system to game. This would require the NBA to get serious about discouraging tanking, penalizing teams who are found guilty of resting healthy players with significant fines or the removal of future draft picks in order to get the best players to play all season.
In March, the NBA fined the Utah Jazz $100,000 for violating the league’s player participation policy for sitting star Lauri Markkanen for nine straight games when he appeared to be free of significant injury. But the standard $100,000 fine that the league levied against the Jazz this year, the 76ers last year, and Mavericks the year before is a drop in the bucket for team owners like Ryan Smith, who has an estimated net worth of $2.6bn. And when Markkanen did return the following game, he played just 19 minutes and sat the entire second half, showing how seriously the organization took the penalty.
“These next few weeks,” one NBA executive told ESPN. “Could be the worst tanking stretch we’ve ever seen.”
What the NBA needs is a new set of rules specifically designed to discourage tanking – a “Shame Doctrine” that clearly lays out a set of increasingly significant penalties that will be levied against teams for tanking, with each infraction setting them back millions of dollars and future draft picks.
Of course, it can be complicated to police injuries when almost every player is banged up by the end of the season. But the league already has its own doctors to determine whether a player is healthy enough to play, and enforcing it would be similar to what the NFL does in order to satisfy football’s integrity (and the NFL’s betting partners).
Plus, common sense should apply here. If a team pulls its starters in the fourth quarter as the Raptors did, they should be penalized. If the Jazz refuse to spread out Markkanen’s minutes so that he only plays in the first half, so should they.
The solution isn’t to come up with a different incentive structure besides the lottery because they all have flaws. Instead, it’s time for the NBA to be proactive and get serious about penalizing tanking violations. Otherwise, teams will continue to find creative ways to game the system, and the product will continue to suffer.
Steph Curry leaned to his left, slowly walking out of frame from the bottom left corner as he watched the ball perfectly splash through the net.
The 3-pointer gave him a dozen on the night, also awarding him with 50 points to put the Warriors ahead by one point as only three minutes remained on the clock in an eventual 134-125 win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night at FedExForum, pushing Golden State to the No. 5 playoff seed in the Western Conference.
Curry scored 52 points on 16-of-31 shooting and made 12 of his 20 3-point attempts, adding 10 rebounds, eight assists and five steals as an exclamation to his latest heroics. The 37-year-old was the star of the show, the leading man for all of us to still marvel at in his 16th season. His 12th and final triple of the night also highlighted why the Warriors believe they have the right 35-year-old co-stars around him.
Draymond Green caught Brandin Podziemski’s pass from the left wing and didn’t have to think twice. Playing his 13th season as Curry’s running mate, Green knew exactly where he’d be and when. As Green hauled in Podziemski’s pass, he already was in his own passing motion for Curry, who was sprinting through the paint to reach the left corner for three points.
It was who was next to him, and his subtle nuance of basketball smarts, that deserves recognition and appreciation. Jimmy Butler, running along the baseline, looked to be right in step with Curry. Maybe even in his way. But Butler gets it. He sees things. He knows what the right play is, nearly every time.
And in this instance, the right play was making room for Curry – clearing space by screening Ja Morant and getting in the way of Santi Aldama. Curry only needs a crack to let it fly. He had a whole lane, thanks to Butler.
Those are the kinds of plays that don’t show up in the box score, yet ultimately lead to winning.
“Jimmy saved our season,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said to reporters in Memphis after the win. “The trade saved our season. Everybody knows that, but you watch what he did tonight – 12 for 12 from the line. Steph goes off the floor, we’re running everything through him. Just a big-time defender, big-time two-way player. … As Steph talked about, he wanted to play meaningful basketball again, and he’s getting to do that.
“We’re all getting to do that, and it’s a lot of fun.”
The spotlight and all the headlines belonged to Curry. Rightfully so. Butler also was fantastic, scoring 27 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and had six rebounds, four assists and three steals. He made all 12 of his free throws and now has made 10 or more free throws six times in the 23 games he has played for the Warriors. His basketball IQ down the stretch was off the charts.
First, he found a way to get NBA All-Star and 2022-23 Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. off the floor with two minutes to go in the game and the Warriors only up by one point. Knowing Jackson had five fouls, Butler baited him into a sixth mid-shot and then made both free throws to give the Warriors a three-point lead.
Then, not even a minute later, Butler’s swipe-down steal on Ja Morant led to Moses Moody’s game-sealing 3-pointer. Let the party in Grind City commence.
“Playoff Jimmy, ya know,” Kerr said. “It’s a real thing. He’s a big-time, big-game performer at both ends. So much of that comes down to IQ, your basketball IQ. Obviously he’s got a lot of gifts. Incredibly strong and really fluid athlete, but to me, it’s his brain that puts him over the top.
“The pump fake on Jaren was kind of the play of the game, to me.”
The dagger drained by Moody was off Green’s 12th assist of the game. Though he always does a little bit of everything, Green recorded his first triple-double of the season, totaling 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. He assisted five of Curry’s 12 threes, and his 12 assists accounted for 31 points.
The Warriors now are 31-2 all-time when Green has a triple-double.
Winning time is when dogs like Butler and Green are let off their leash. In the fourth quarter, Butler scored 10 points, made all six of his free throws and was a plus-10 in 10 minutes. Green was a plus-12 in just under 10 minutes, grabbing six rebounds and dishing four assists.
Any kind of curtain call was made for Curry. His co-stars, Butler and Green, could take a bow right alongside him.
The storylines are endless around Steph Curry’s 52-point explosion in the Warriors’ gritty 134-125 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night at FedEx Forum.
Curry finished the game with 52 points on 16-of-31 (51.6 percent) shooting from the field and a whopping 12 of 20 (60 percent) from 3-point range. He added 10 rebounds to pick up his ninth double-double of the 2024-25 season, with eight assists, five steals and one block. He was a plus-17 in plus/minus rating through 36 minutes.
Not only did he help will his team to a needed victory that jumped them into the Western Conference’s No. 5 playoff seed, but he made impressive NBA history all while in Year 16 at age 37.
Here are 10 mind-boggling stats from Curry’s unforgettable performance:
Steph Curry is the oldest player in NBA history to have a quarter with 15 PTS, 5 REB, & 5 3PM. pic.twitter.com/KIDE0nfntA
Since that date, Curry is averaging 25.5 points on 42.3-percent shooting from the field and 40.8 percent from beyond the arc, with 5.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals in 32.2 minutes through six games. The Warriors are 5-1 in such contests.
A lot of NBA talk has been about who will be the next face of the league. It might be best to sit back and appreciate what we are witnessing now, because Tuesday’s performance served as just another reminder that the Chef is still cooking.
Boise State makes 46.1% of its shots from the field this season, which is 2.3 percentage points higher than Butler has allowed to its opponents (43.8%). Butler scores 8.3 more points per game (74.2) than Boise State allows to opponents (65.9). TOP PERFORMERS: Tyson Degenhart is averaging 18 points and six rebounds for the Broncos.
Cincinnati scores 70.9 points and has outscored opponents by 5.3 points per game. UCF averages 8.7 made 3-pointers per game, 2.3 more made shots than the 6.4 per game Cincinnati gives up. Cincinnati has shot at a 44.9% rate from the field this season, 0.2 percentage points less than the 45.1% shooting opponents of UCF have averaged.
