If you’re growing weary of the two leading political blowhards trading barbs, perhaps you can turn your attention to James Harden and Giannis Antetokuonmpo trading verbal jabs at one another.
As every team in the NBA tries to catch up or keep pace with the inimitable Milwaukee Bucks, playoffs loom within the next 23-25 games, and you have two guys who have won the last two MVP awards, eventually the blabber is going to heat up.
(NOTE: Neither of these guys have anything on Gary Payton’s trash-talking … but it’s fun to watch).
“I wish I could just be seven feet and run and just dunk. Like that takes no skill at all. I gotta actually learn how to play basketball and have skill.”
— Houston Rockets guard James Harden
“I’m just trying to do my job which is win games and go back to my family and my kids. If that’s what he believes, that’s what he believes.”
— Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokuonmpo
| El Chapo | 35.2 ppg | 6.4 rpg | 7.3 apg | 44.3 percent |
| The Greek Freak | 29.7 ppg | 13.7 rpg | 5.8 apg | 55.3 percent |
There’s no question that both players have unique skill sets. Harden can score in bunches, but sometimes at the risk of shooting more shots than half the players on the court. Antetokuonmpo’s athleticism is like a smaller guard, but in a bigger frame so his athleticism allows him to grab twice as many rebounds and initiate fast breaks.
Because of his height, yes, Antetokuonmpo is shooting a higher percentage from the field, while Harden should probably be dishing out double the assists that Antetokuonmpo, yet is only 1.5 dimes higher than the Greek Freak on average.
Disrespected in this fracas of words is Russell Westbrook, who was the MVP prior to Harden and Antetokuonmpo. Westbrook is averaging 27.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.2 assists while shooting 47.0 percent – in some areas, better than Harden.
Memphis’ Ja Morant recently said of Westbrook, “I still feel like he’s highly disrespected. People take his play for granted. I mean, he averaged a triple double for the the last three or four years.”
Personally, I love what each unique individual brings to the game for his respective team.
But if you ask me to choose, I’m going to choose Antetokuonmpo over Harden, simply because shooting 12-of-44 isn’t a skill; it’s a numbers game. Harden thinks four steps is allowed because it’s called a EuroStep and he doesn’t understand that there’s no exchange rate in basketball like there is in currency. And flopping is not a skill … as Jon Lovitz would say, “It’s …
Let’s play basketball and leave the mudslinging to the politicians …
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Minnesota Timberwolves 125
Orlando Magic 136
After a 35-35 first quarter tie, the Orlando Magic began to peel away from the Minnesota Timberwolves and quarter by quarter, they ran the lead to a final margin of 11 to take the home win. Aaron Gordon had a triple double performance, and Terrence Ross and Nikola Vucevic combined for 60 points at the Magic increased their lead by four, three, and four to get to 11. D’Angelo Russell led the Wolves with 28 points, as the newcomers to the Timberwolves seem to be enjoying rejuvenations in the wild. Juancho Hernangomez is experiencing a jump in field goal percentage at 45.7 percent (up from 34.5), three point percentage (48.6 vs. 25.0), and has scored more points in eight games as a starter with Minnesota (112) than he did in Denver through 34 games and no starts (107 points). Not as significantly as Hernangomez, but Malik Beasley’s numbers have improved as well. Things may not turn around with Minnesota this year, but the thaw may be coming soon.
| TIMBERWOLVES (17-41) 14th in the West | MAGIC (27-32) 7th in the East |
| D’Angelo Russell 28 points – three rebounds – seven assists – one steal – one block | Terrence Ross 33 points – five rebounds – three assists – two steals |
| Juancho Hernangomez 18 points – 13 rebounds – five assists – two steals – one block | Nikola Vucevic 27 points – 10 rebounds – five assists – one block |
| Malik Beasley 17 points – four rebounds – one assist – one steal | Aaron Gordon 17 points – 11 rebounds – 12 assists – two blocks |
NEXT GAMES
Orlando at San Antonio – Tonight
Dallas at Minnesota – Sunday
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Brooklyn Nets 118
Atlanta Hawks 141
After the Brooklyn Nets came out and put a 36-29 first quarter on the Atlanta Hawks, John Collins, Cam Reddish, and Trae Young decided to let the Nets know whose house they were in and how they weren’t about to be disrespected in their own crib. Atlanta would go on to embarrass the Nets by 13 in the second quarter, four more in the third, and by another 13 in the fourth quarter to stack up a 23 point victory over the Nets as a warm up to the Portland Trailblazers tonight. Reddish’s 26 points was a career high for the talented rookie; he scored 17 of those in the third quarter. Spencer Dinwiddie led the Nets with 24 points and 13 assists, while Joe Harris and Caris LeVert dropped 18 apiece. It was Brooklyn’s third consecutive loss. The Nets head to South Beach tonight to face the Heat.
| NETS (26-32) 8th in the East | HAWKS (18-43) 13th in the East |
| Spencer Dinwiddie 24 points – one rebound – 13 assists – one steal | John Collins 33 points – 13 rebounds – two assists – one block |
| Joe Harris 18 points – three rebounds – three assists – one block | Cam Reddish 26 points – four rebounds – one assist – one steal – one block |
| Caris LeVert 18 points – three rebounds – three assists | Trae Young 22 points – two rebounds – 14 assists – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Brooklyn at Miami – Tonight
Portland at Atlanta – Tonight
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Charlotte Hornets 99
Toronto Raptors 96
If the Toronto Raptors’ game (and loss) versus the Milwaukee Bucks the other night was a measuring stick, last night’s loss to the visiting Charlotte Hornets was a wake up call. The Raptors let their guard down in the second quarter, and got stung with a 27-18 run by the Hornets and never fully recovered. All five Charlotte starters hit in double figures. Terry Rozier was at the free throw line for the game icing points, where he finished three for three on the night. Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 24 points, but Kyle Lowry had the nicest line of the night with his 21 points, six rebounds, six assists, two steals, and two blocks in the loss.
| HORNETS (21-38) 10th in the East | RAPTORS (42-17) 2nd in the East |
| Terry Rozier 18 points – six rebounds – six assists | Pascal Siakam 24 points – nine rebounds – four assists – two steals – one block |
| Devonte’ Graham 18 points – four rebounds – five assist | Norman Powell 22 points – one rebound – three assists |
| Miles Bridges 17 points – five rebounds – one assist – three blocks | Kyle Lowry 21 points – six rebounds – six assists – two steals – two blocks |
NEXT GAMES
Milwaukee at Charlotte – Sunday
Toronto at Denver – Sunday
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Cleveland Cavaliers 104
New Orleans Pelicans 116
An 18 point first quarter runout was all the New Orleans Pelicans needed to vanquish the Cleveland Cavaliers at Smoothie King Arena last night. The Pelicans’ youth movement had a little dash of veteran leadership in it as Jrue Holiday pushed Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson to their best combined game to date, the frontcourt duo hitting for 53 combined points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Cleveland’s youth movement included second year man Collin Sexton – who led all scorers with 31 – and Darius Garland and Kevin Porter, Jr. combining for another 31 in the loss. That trio – if they can ever get in step with a productive Kevin Love and Andre Drummond – could be nice. Just need some time. New Orleans is making the best use of their remaining 23 games. They are a half game ahead of the Portland Trailblazers and in sole possession of the ninth spot in the Western Conference, and only two games back of Memphis for the eighth. Portland plays at Atlanta tonight.
| CAVALIERS (17-42) 15th in the East | PELICANS (26-33) 9th in the West |
| Collin Sexton 31 points – four rebounds – three assists – one steal | Brandon Ingram 29 points – six rebounds – seven assists – one steal |
| Kevin Porter, Jr. 16 points – five rebounds – five assists – two steals | Zion Williamson 24 points – three rebounds – two assists – two steals |
| Darius Garland 15 points – two rebounds – three assists – one block | Jrue Holiday 22 points – two rebounds – six assists – two steals – one block |
NEXT GAMES
Indiana at Cleveland – Saturday
Los Angeles at New Orleans – Sunday
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Dallas Mavericks 118
Miami Heat 126
Miami turned up the Heat in the second and fourth quarters to turn away the Dallas Mavericks last night. So much for a festive birthday for Luka Doncic, who was outscored by teammates Seth Curry and Kristaps Porzingis, as well as Miami’s Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson. The Mavericks seem to be mired in that seventh spot in the Western Conference, while Miami seems to arguably have two alternating squads that can carry them. It seems Butler and Kendrick Nunn take turns leading the veteran squad (Butler) and the younger Heat (Nunn, Tyler Herro, Chris Silva, Bam Adebayo). Nunn and Adebayo still got their licks in last night at 16 points and 14 points, respectively, but the Heat may be too much for many teams in the East come April. They were too much for Dallas last night. Happy birthday anyway, Luka.
| MAVERICKS (36-24) 7th in the West | HEAT (37-22) 4th in the East |
| Seth Curry 37 points – two rebounds – two assists | Jimmy Butler 26 points – five rebounds – three assists – one block |
| Kristaps Porzingis 24 points – 13 rebounds – two assists – one block | Duncan Robinson 24 points – five rebounds – one assist – one steal |
| Luka Doncic 23 points – four rebounds – 10 assists | Goran Dragic 16 points – four rebounds – five assists – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Brooklyn at Miami – Tonight
Dallas at Minnesota – Sunday
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Oklahoma City Thunder 86
Milwaukee Bucks 133
This was what people expected to see in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s scoring column this season. They’ve had a marvelous ‘rebuild,’ but I had bigger expectations of them that a 47 point ass whipping after their 37-22 start. Dare I say, I was thinking upset. Well, it was. Just in the other direction. To say it was Oklahoma City’s worst loss of the season is an understatement. Giannis Antetokuonmpo outscored the Thunder’s top two scorers, 32-29, and had seven more rebounds than Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined. They should be thankful Khris Middleton had a sore neck and sat out. Might have been a 60-65 point margin of victory. Yeah, the Thunder were that bad. For all the praise I heaped on them in yesterday’s column, yes, they were that bad. They have three days to shake this one off before Paul George brings his Los Angeles Clippers the Chesapeake Energy Arena. They’ll need it.
| THUNDER (37-23) 6th in the West | BUCKS (51-8) 1st in the East, NBA |
| Chris Paul 18 points – three rebounds – five assists – one steal | Giannis Antetokuonmpo 32 points – 13 rebounds – six assists |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 11 points – three rebounds – two assists | Wesley Matthews 14 points – six rebounds – three assists |
| Abdel Nader Nine points – two rebounds – two assists – one steal | George Hill 14 points – five rebounds – six assists – one steal |
NEXT GAMES
Milwaukee at Charlotte – Sunday
Los Angeles at Oklahoma City – Tuesday
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Sacramento Kings 104
Memphis Grizzlies 101
Quietly, and slowly but surely, the Memphis Grizzlies are losing their grip on the eighth position in the Western Conference. They’ve now lost their last five games in a row and have the New Orleans Pelicans breathing down their necks, salivating over what they’ve held as their own for the last three weeks. Sacramento is trying to inch up the ladder as well, and are just three games back of the Grizzlies after last night’s win on Beale Street. De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 25, and Harry Giles III and Buddy Hield combined for another 30 points after Hield failed to show up in OKC earlier this week. Dillon Brooks led all scorers with 32 points and Jonas Valanciunas was a monster on the glass with a career high 25 rebounds.
| KINGS (25-34) 11th in the West | GRIZZLIES (28-31) 8th in the West |
| De’Aaron Fox 25 points – four rebounds – five assists – two steals | Dillon Brooks 32 points – two rebounds – one assist – one block |
| Harry Giles III 16 points – five rebounds – two assists – one steal – one block | Ja Morant 20 points – three rebounds – 11 assists |
| Buddy Hield 14 points – four rebounds – two assists – one steal | Jonas Valanciunas 13 points – 25 rebounds – one block |
NEXT GAMES
Los Angeles at Memphis – Tonight
Detroit at Sacramento – Sunday
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Detroit Pistons 113
Phoenix Suns 111
The Phoenix Suns shot a blistering 60 percent on their home floor … and lost. You wouldn’t think those two things would be in the same sentence with the Suns – or any team, but it was and give the Detroit Pistons credit. Their six point margin in the third quarter was all the cushion they needed to weather the storm. Detroit outshot Phoenix from downtown and from the charity stripe, and doubled the Suns up on the offensive glass, despite not having a viable big man since trading away Andre Drummond and letting Markieff Morris walk. Derrick Rose led all scorers with 31. The win snaps a seven game losing streak for the Pistons.
| PISTONS (20-41) 12th in the East | SUNS (24-36) 13th in the West |
| Derrick Rose 31 points – three rebounds – four assists – two steals – one block | Devin Booker 26 points – six rebounds – six assists – two steals |
| Christian Wood 19 points – nine rebounds – five assists – three steals – one block | Deandre Ayton 20 points – 10 rebounds – three assists – one steal – two blocks |
| Brandon Knight 19 points – two rebounds – four assists – one steal | Ricky Rubio 16 points – six rebounds – 13 assists – two steals |
NEXT GAMES
Golden State at Phoenix – Tonight
Detroit at Sacramento – Sunday
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Washington Wizards 119
Utah Jazz 129
A big third quarter put the Utah Jazz in sync and they danced all over the Washington Wizards after that, taking a much needed 10 point win to pep up their recent slumping ways. Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Jordan Clarkson combined for all but 58 of the Jazz’s 129 points last night, while the not-benched Mike Conley, Joe Ingles, Rudy Gobert, Tony Bradley, and Royce O’Neale made up the majority of the rest. A total team effort was something the Jazz had been missing during their recent four game slide. Washington, despite the loss, is creeping up the sub-.500 yet playoff consideration Eastern Conference, now just five games back of the 25-32 Brooklyn Nets, who got hammered by Atlanta last night. Bradley Beal continues to put up All Star numbers, but doesn’t have help at his talent level like most teams do. Though John Wall was looking good when I saw him in Atlanta (pre-game) a month ago, don’t count on him coming back in 2019-2020. I’d like to see the Wizards ink DeMarcus Cousins for the remainder of the season.
| WIZARDS (21-37) 9th in the East | JAZZ (37-22) 5th in the West |
| Bradley Beal 42 points – five rebounds – 10 assists – two steals | Donovan Mitchell 30 points – eight rebounds – three assists |
| Thomas Bryant 16 points – two rebounds – three assists | Bojan Bogdanovic 21 points – one rebound – three assists |
| Rui Hachimura 15 points – seven rebounds – three steals | Jordan Clarkson 20 points – eight rebounds – two assists – two steals |
NEXT GAMES
Washington at Golden State – Sunday
Utah at Cleveland – Monday
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Denver Nuggets 103
Los Angeles Clippers 132
If there ever was a litmus test for the Denver Nuggets, it was last night … and I think they found they have a long way to go if they want to improve on last year’s playoff performance/disappointment. With the L.A. win, both teams ended the night at 40-19, and while Denver is still in second place in the Western Conference despite the tie, they’d better come up with better showings than they did last night because they may see these Clippers in the playoffs at some point. While the season series was evened up, it was Denver’s worst loss of the season. Paul George is effectively working his way back to the level of superstardom he had in Oklahoma City, scoring seven points against the Grizzlies, 11 against the Suns, and then leading all scorers last night by calling his old number with 24. Six other Clippers joined him in double digit scoring, including Kawhi Leonard (19) and Ivica Zubac (10) from the starting lineup and four off the deep Clipper bench – Montrezl Harrel (18), Lou Williams (17), Landry Shamet (12) and Reggie Jackson (10). Nikola Jokic led Denver with 21 and nine. Denver head coach Mike Malone called the Los Angeles Clippers “flawless.”
| NUGGETS (40-19) 2nd in the West | CLIPPERS (40-19) 3rd in the West |
| Nikola Jokic 21 points – nine rebounds – two assists – one steal | Paul George 24 points – four rebounds – two assists |
| Jerami Grant 20 points – four rebounds – two assists – two steals – one block | Kawhi Leonard 19 points – two rebounds – five assists – two steals |
| Will Barton 18 points – four rebounds – four assists | Montrezl Harrell 18 points – 10 rebounds – four assists – two blocks |
NEXT GAMES
Toronto at Denver – Sunday
Philadelphia at Los Angeles – Sunday
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SATURDAY’S LINEUP
(All Times Eastern)
| 5 p.m. Chicago Bulls New York Knicks NBC Sports Chicago | 7:30 p.m. Portland Trailblazers Atlanta Hawks Fox Sports Southeast | 7:30 p.m. Brooklyn Nets Miami Heat YES |
| 8 p.m. Indiana Pacers Cleveland Cavaliers Fox Sports Indiana | 8 p.m. Los Angeles Lakers Memphis Grizzlies Fox Sports Southeast | 8:30 p.m. Houston Rockets Boston Celtics ABC |
| 8:30 p.m. Orlando Magic San Antonio Spurs KENS (San Antonio) | 9 p.m. Golden State Warriors Phoenix Suns NBC Sports California |
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Tracy Graven is a Senior NBA Analyst for BackSportsPage.com.
He has written the NBA, and done NBA radio, for the last two decades for HoopsWorld, Swish Magazine, and HoopsHype, the Coach Scott Fields Show and NBARadioShow.com, and is also tackling the NFL, NCAA, and will be pinch-hitting on some Major League Baseball coverage for BackSportsPage.
He’s spent 20 years in locker rooms in
- Orlando
- Boise (G League)
- San Antonio
- Phoenix
- Denver
- Oklahoma City
- Atlanta
A corporate trainer by day, he currently resides in SEC Country near Knoxville, Tennessee.
Reach him on Twitter at @RealTMoneyMedia
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