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Good morning. Let's basketball.
BAN TENDONS: Wesley Matthews is done for the season with a torn Achilles. Ban tendons, ban ligaments, ban knees, ban everything. I'm so sorry, Portland.
MORE LIKE E'TWON MORE: E'Tauwn Moore sunk a huge three to set up a crucial Bulls win over the Thunder on national TV. You are forgiven if you did not realize that E'Tauwn Moore is currently a Chicago Bull. It was a beautiful play by Chicago, and the touch pass out of the post from Pau Gasol was perfection. But you need the guy at the end to hit the shot, and Moore did that ... right over Russell Westbrook ...
... who stepped out of bounds on the ensuing possession, gifting the game to the Bulls. Westbrook did finish with 43 points, seven assists, eight rebounds and at least three Steve Smith yelps. OKC is now tied in the loss column with New Orleans for No. 8 in the West.
SMALL CONSOLATION: Despite losing Matthews, Portland did crush the Mavericks in the late game.
WELL YES: The NBA acknowledges that James Harden was fouled in that crucial possessions in Memphis-Houston on Wednesday. I wrote about Harden's reliance on whistles and how that may make things more challenging in the postseason. Ethan Rothstein replied in a sense on The Dream Shake, but I would caution that "deserve" means nothing in sports or life.
MY GOODNESS: Steve Kerr is out here shredding the Rockets, Daryl Morey and Harden's MVP case for no reason but his own entertainment. It's both glorious and silly.
SPEAKING OF KERR: Interesting comments on small ball and defense from the Warriors coach.
[NODS]: Zito Madu on Russell Westbrook as the NBA's Terminator.
CRAIG SAGER IS BACK! I really enjoyed Lars Anderson's Bleacher Report piece on his family's hard journey.
GORANWATCH: Inside Goran Dragic's trade and transition.
PACERS UP: Rob Mahoney on how Indiana has bounced back.
YIKESVILLE: Jason Thompson is about to become the career leader in games played for the Sacramento Kings. And he sounds outright depressed about that fact.
BECAUSE HE'S OLD, GET IT? Video of a 50-year-old Kenny Smith riding a Lark around the Inside The NBA set.
MMMHMM: The case for Karl Towns, by Jonathan Tjarks.
THIS WILL END WELL: The general counsel for the players' union called the league's age minimum racially biased during a sports law conference.
I'M NOT TOTALLY SURE WHAT THIS MEANS: Jeanie Buss says there will be changes in the Lakers franchise if her brother Jim doesn't make good on his promise to have L.A. back in the Western Conference Finals in three years. Are they going to replace Mitch Kupchak with Chaz or something?
NIQUELANTA: Lang Whitaker on Dominique Wilkins as the heart of Atlanta.
Happy Friday. See you next time.
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1ElSw0f
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