Every night the NBA can be a cold hard reality — there are winners, there are losers. It’s the nature of the game. We know you are busy and can’t keep up with every game, so we’re here to bring you the best and worst of the NBA each week night. Here’s what you missed while thinking maybe Ariana Grande’s ego has gotten a little too big...
Kobe Bryant. Say what you will about Kobe — he remains the most divisive player in the league — passing Michael Jordan on the NBA’s all-time scoring list is a serious accomplishment. Something Kobe did Sunday night from the free throw line. It speaks to playing at a high level for an extended period of time, it speaks to a guy working hard to get the most out of his natural ability. Nobody has worked harder at their craft, nobody has gotten more out of themselves than Kobe Bean Bryant. Oh, and by the way, he scored 26 on the night to lead the Lakers to their third straight win.
Sacramento Kings. They didn’t even play Sunday yet they made the list because after an 11-13 start — which most considered ahead of expectations, especially since DeMarcus Cousins missed the last nine games — they fired coach Mike Malone. This was a philosophical thing — owner Vivek Ranadivé and his trusted advisor Chris Mullin wanted a more up-tempo offense than Malone gave them. Fair enough, the owner should be able to guide the team’s direction that way. But then why hire Malone in the first place — this was a guy that helped design an offense in Cleveland to get LeBron James to play slow down ball. You hired him then are shocked he didn’t want to run more? This feels like they have a guy in mind (George Karl?) and were clearing the decks early. (Tyrone Corbin will coach the Kings the rest of the season but he may want to have that resume updated for next summer.)
Golden State Warriors. They are the team with the best backcourt in the NBA but on Sunday they ran into a Pelicans team where the backcourt was out to make up for the lack of Anthony Davis in the lineup — Tyreke Evans had 34 points, eight rebounds, five assists, while Jrue Holiday had 30 points and nine assists. That was enough to push Golden State to overtime but that’s where Stephen Curry scored eight of his 34 points and the Warriors picked up their 16th straight win. Klay Thompson had 29 points also, but where the Kings really get teams is their role players doing well — Draymond Green had 11 points and 13 rebounds, Shaun Livingston had a dozen off the bench.
Russell Westbrook. He had 14 points in the first quarter as the Thunder pulled away early from the Suns and blew them out — with that win the Thunder are just half a game out of the eight seed in the West. That didn’t take long. Westbrook finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. He did it all — he even beat Suns’ center Alex Len on a jump ball.