Orlando Magic

ATLANTA (AP) &mdash; Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each scored 31 points and the Boston Celtics led nearly the entire way, holding off the Atlanta Hawks for a 129-121 victory Sunday night and commanding 3-1 lead in the opening-round playoff series.
The Celtics can deliver the clincher Tuesday night when the series returns to Boston for Game 5.
Tatum and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1650310469616541696">Brown</a>&nbsp;combined to score Boston's final 16 points.
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Brown, who has been wearing a protective mask after sustaining facial contusions in February, took off the device after making only 1 of 7 shots. He went 11 of 15 the rest of the way.
Boston never trailed after grabbing a 4-3 lead on Derrick White's basket just over a minute into the game.
Tatum delivered a huge 3-pointer off a loose ball with two minutes remaining, pushing the Celtics to a 118-106 lead.
After Trae Young swished a long 3 to provide Atlanta's last gasp, Brown knocked one down from beyond the arc seal it for the Celtics.
Marcus Smart added 19 points and Derrick White 18 for the Celtics.
Young had another big game for Atlanta with 35 points, but it wasn't enough. De'Andre Hunter chipped in with 27 and DeJounte Murray had 23.
Hunter ripped off eight straight points, including a couple of 3s, and then delivered a thunderous dunk that brought the Hawks within 53-49.
But Boston closed the first half on a 12-4 spurt, capped by Smart's 3-pointer that sent the visitors to the locker room with a 65-53 lead and sapped a lot of energy from the home crowd.
The Celtics tenaciously protected their edge throughout the third period.
Young hit a long 3-pointer that brought the Hawks within three, but Boston got the last shot and put the ball in Smart's hands. The Celtics cleared the middle of the court so he could blow by Bogdan Bogdanovic, laying it in for a 92-87 lead heading to the final quarter.
<a href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1650305380743016448">Smart</a>&nbsp;was in the Celtics lineup and looked just fine after a hard fall near the end of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-celtics-hawks-b1bad21fe5037dc5302acca397777122">Game 3</a>.
He landed on his tailbone while battling for a rebound, prompting Boston to list him as a game-time decision. But coach Joe Mazzulla&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-playoffs-celtics-hawks-marcus-smart-57ce5b2a6513ecda63ec158026f87cb9">declared his guard "good to go&rdquo;</a>&nbsp;well ahead of tipoff.
KEEPING IT CLEAN
The first week of the playoffs has been marred by flagrant fouls, ejections and suspensions.
There have been no major issues in the Celtics-Hawks series, though Young did pick up a flagrant foul for grabbing Tatum's arm on a drive through the lane in the third quarter.
&ldquo;I think it's been a clean series,&rdquo; Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. &ldquo;Physicality isn't necessarily wrong. It's part of the game. You can be physical. I think the word is &lsquo;aggressiveness&rsquo; as much as anything. Both teams have done that.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Celtics: After getting outrebounded 48-29 in Game 3, Boston came out much more determined on the boards. They held a 19-9 edge at the end of the first quarterback, 32-20 at halftime and finished with a 53-52 edge.
Hawks: Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins missed his second straight game as commentator on the Hawks regional telecast because of an illness. He is expected to return for Game 5.

The Boston Celtics led nearly the entire way, holding off the Atlanta Hawks for a 129-121 victory Sunday night and commanding 3-1 lead.

Brown, Tatum each score 31, Celtics beats Hawks for 3-1 lead

ATLANTA (AP) &mdash; Trae Young scored 32 points in his best game of the playoffs and the Atlanta Hawks gave themselves a glimmer of hope, beating the Boston Celtics 130-122 Friday night to close the gap to 2-1 in the opening-round series.
<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/Trae%20Young%20scored%2032%20points%20in%20his%20best%20game%20of%20the%20playoffs%20and%20the%20Atlanta%20Hawks%20gave%20themselves%20a%20glimmer%20of%20hope,%20beating%20the%20Boston%20Celtics%20130-122%20Friday%20night%20to%20close%20the%20gap%20to%202-1%20in%20their%20opening-round%20series.%20Young%20hit%20a%20step-back%203-pointer%20from%20the%20corner%20with%202:21%20left%20and%20knocked%20down%20another%20huge%20basket%20on%20a%20floater%20in%20the%20lane%20with%2045%20seconds%20remaining%20after%20Jaylen%20Brown%20missed%20a%203-pointer%20that%20would've%20tied%20it%20for%20the%20Celtics.%20The%20seventh-seeded%20Hawks%20will%20try%20to%20even%20the%20series%20against%20the%20second-seeded%20Celtics%20in%20Game%204%20Sunday%20night%20at%20State%20Farm%20Arena.%20Jayson%20Tatum%20scored%2029%20points%20to%20lead%20Boston,%20which%20was%20barely%20challenged%20in%20the%20first%20two%20games%20of%20the%20series." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Young hit a step-back 3-pointer from the corner</a>&nbsp;with 2:21 left and knocked down another huge basket on a floater in the lane with 45 seconds remaining after Jaylen Brown missed a 3-pointer that would&rsquo;ve tied it for the Celtics.
The seventh-seeded Hawks will try to even the series against the second-seeded Celtics in Game 4 on Sunday night at State Farm Arena.
Jayson Tatum scored 29 points to lead Boston, which was barely challenged in the first two games of the series.
Young was under fire after making just 14 of 40 shots in Beantown. He was much better in Game 3, connecting on 12 of 22 attempts and doling out nine assists.
Dejounte Murray had another big game for the Hawks, scoring 25 points, including a 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining that helped Atlanta protect a puny lead.
Unlike the first two games in Boston, where&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/,%20White%20was%20forced%20to%20the%20bench%20for%20much%20of%20the%20opening%20half.%20He%20played%20only%209:58%20in%20the%20first%20two%20quarters." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Celtics pushed out to big leads</a>&nbsp;and cruised to a pair of 13-point victories, the Hawks finally put up a fight.
With Derrick White forced to the bench in the early going with two quick fouls, the Hawks took advantage of a chink in the Boston defense to get things rolling. Atlanta knocked down 30 of 46 shots (65.2%) in the first half.
Pumped up by a standing-room-only crowd, the Hawks built a 14-point lead &mdash; their biggest of the series &mdash; late in the first half.
But the Celtics responded with eight straight points and went to the locker room down 74-67.
It was Atlanta&rsquo; first victory over Boston this season. The Hawks dropped all three regular-season meetings.
TIP-INS
Celtics: White played only 9:58 in the first half after being whistled for a pair of fouls before the game was five minutes old. ... Marcus Smart landed hard on his lower back with about 2 1/2 minutes left, but stayed in the game, He finished with 24 points.
Hawks: Bogdan Bogdanovic took a shot to the face on Malcolm Brogdan&rsquo;s lay-in early in the fourth quarter. Bogdanovic kneeled over in the pain and was subbed out during a timeout. ... Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins felt ill before the game and did not serve as an analyst on the Hawks regional telecast. Brian Oliver took Wilkins&rsquo; usual spot alongside play-by-play announcer Bob Rathbun.
LONG ODDS
The Hawks still face long odds. They are 0-26 in playoff series over the franchise&rsquo;s 74-season history history when losing the first two games.

The Hawks gave themselves a glimmer of hope, beating the Celtics 130-122 Friday night to close the gap to 2-1 in the first-round series.

Trae Young scores 32, Hawks beat Celtics 130-122 to close to 2-1

For the second time, the NBA will have an international player as its scoring champion.
It will be the second time in as many years.
Philadelphia&rsquo;s Joel Embiid &mdash; who was born in Cameroon &mdash; is on the cusp of becoming a back-to-back scoring champion, though he and Dallas&rsquo; Luka Doncic might take that race down to the wire.
Embiid opened up a bit of breathing room on Sunday, when he had 28 points in the 76ers&rsquo; loss to Milwaukee while Doncic &mdash; who is from Slovenia &mdash; scored 28 in the Mavericks&rsquo; overtime loss to Atlanta.
Embiid now has 2,110 points in 64 games; that&rsquo;s an average of 32.97 per game. Doncic has 2,096 points, also in 64 games; that&rsquo;s an average of 32.75 per game.
Philadelphia has four games remaining, Dallas has three. No NBA games were being played Monday, with the league taking off the day of the NCAA men&rsquo;s Division I championship game.
Portland&rsquo;s Damian Lillard is third in the scoring race at 32.2 points per game. He&rsquo;ll finish at that average, because the Trail Blazers have shut him down for the rest of the season given that they are out of playoff contention.
Technically, Lillard could still move ahead of Embiid and Doncic, but it&rsquo;s highly unlikely &mdash; even if Embiid and Doncic both play in a game and are held scoreless, their averages still wouldn&rsquo;t dip below Lillard&rsquo;s.
This could be the closest scoring race in more than a decade. The last time the scoring title was decided by less than a half-point per game was 2011-12, when Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Kevin Durant edged the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; Kobe Bryant by 0.17 points per game; Durant averaged 28.03, Bryant averaged 27.86.
Embiid held off Milwaukee&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo to lead the league in points per game last season to become the first official international scoring champion. Dominique Wilkins also won a scoring title; he was born in France but played for the U.S. and is considered an American player.
(It should be noted that Embiid&rsquo;s average of 30.6 points last season was barely ahead of LeBron James&rsquo; 30.3 per game, but James did not officially qualify for the NBA leaderboard because he did not appear in enough games.)
WHO&rsquo;S IN
East: Milwaukee, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and New York have secured playoff spots. Brooklyn, Miami and Atlanta have secured no worse than a play-in tournament berth and Toronto is locked into the play-in tournament. Chicago and Orlando still could make the play-in field, though the only way the Magic get there and bump the Bulls out is if they go 4-0 while Chicago goes 0-4.
West: Denver, Memphis and Sacramento have secured playoff spots. Phoenix, the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State can&rsquo;t do worse than making the play-in tournament, and all enter the final week of the regular season in position to secure playoff berths.
WHO&rsquo;S OUT
Detroit, Charlotte, Indiana and Washington have been eliminated in the East; Houston, San Antonio and Portland have been eliminated in the West.
RACE FOR WEMBY
While we won&rsquo;t know until May 16 who gets the No. 1 pick in the draft &mdash; spoiler alert, unless some incredible trade happens, the lottery winner will select Victor Wembanyama &mdash; we do know there&rsquo;s a 42% chance that the top pick will go to Detroit, Houston or San Antonio.
The Pistons, Rockets and Spurs are assured of finishing in the three bottom spots of the league this season. But there&rsquo;s still some odds that can be &ldquo;improved,&rdquo; in that the team that finishes with the worst record is assured of not leaving the lottery with worse than the No. 5 draft pick.
Detroit is almost assured of having the worst record; the Pistons are 16-62, well &ldquo;ahead&rdquo; of Houston (19-60) and San Antonio (20-58).
There&rsquo;s a lot of jostling that will happen this week for lottery odds as well. Charlotte is locked into finishing with the fourth-worst record, but the fifth- through eighth-worst spots are all up in the air &mdash; with Portland, Indiana, Washington and Orlando all currently having either 33 or 34 wins. And the worse a team&rsquo;s record is, the better chance it has of winning the lottery and the Wembanyama sweepstakes.
3 WITH 32?
Should Embiid, Doncic and Lillard all finish with averages of at least 32 points per game, it&rsquo;ll make NBA history.
There never has been a season where three players had such an average. There have been two players averaging at least 32 points on four previous occasions &mdash; Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain did it in 1960-61, 1961-62 and 1962-63; Bryant and Allen Iverson did it in 2005-06.
0 WITH 60
Unless Milwaukee goes 4-0 this week, there won&rsquo;t be a 60-win team in the NBA this season.
And that&rsquo;s relatively rare.
It didn&rsquo;t happen during Milwaukee&rsquo;s 2020-21 championship season, when there was a 72-game schedule &mdash; and no team had a winning percentage that year that would have been equivalent to a 60-22 &ldquo;regular&rdquo; regular season anyway.
After that, the most recent time there wasn&rsquo;t a 60-win team (or equivalent win percentage in a shortened season) was 2000-01, when San Antonio went 58-24 to lead the league. Before that, one has to go all the way back to 1978-79, when Philadelphia went 54-28 to top the standings.

Associated Press writer Tim Reynolds highlights storylines to watch for in the final week of the 2022-23 season.

It’s Embiid vs. Doncic for scoring title in NBA’s final week

The NBA officially announced the four players who will compete in the 2023 Slam Dunk Contest during NBA All-Star Saturday Night in Utah.
The following players are participating:
&bull; K.J. Martin, Houston Rockets
&bull;&nbsp;Trey Murphy III, New Orleans Pelicans
&bull;&nbsp;Jericho Sims, New York Knicks
&bull; Mac McClung, Philadelphia 76ers
The four dunkers will compete in the two-round competition. The NBA also announced that this year's Slam Dunk Contest will be judged by Karl Malone, Dominique Wilkins, Harold Miner, Lisa Leslie and Jamal Crawford.
The Slam Dunk Contest will air on TNT on Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. ET.
Last year, New York Knicks forward Obi Toppin won the 2022 Slam Dunk Contest in Cleveland.
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The AT&amp;T Slam Dunk participants ⬇️ Event format and rules: <a href="https://t.co/ablHEJiuxU">https://t.co/ablHEJiuxU</a> <a href="https://t.co/mPI2q9c0Hd">pic.twitter.com/mPI2q9c0Hd</a>
&mdash; NBA Communications (@NBAPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1625647256551424000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2023</a></blockquote>

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The NBA officially announced the four players who will compete in the 2023 Slam Dunk Contest on NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

NBA announces Slam Dunk Contest participants, judges

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Jimmy Butler took the last free throw of the night, then bent his knees a bit and almost seemed unsure what would happen as the ball made its way to the rim.
Turns out, it was perfect &mdash; and so was Miami on Tuesday night.
The Heat set an NBA record by making all 40 of their free throws, the last of those coming on Butler's three-point play with 12.9 seconds left, and rallied in the final moments to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-111.
Miami topped the 39-for-39 effort by Utah against Portland on Dec. 7, 1982.
&ldquo;It's just a normal Tuesday night for the Miami Heat," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;I think this is when we feel most alive, when everything just happens and when all of our competitive juices get out there. That's the team we all can relate to. That's the team I like."
Here's just some of what happened Tuesday &mdash; the Heat played without six injured players, including four starters; backup Heat center Dewayne Dedmon was ejected after arguing with his own team and smacking a massage gun onto the court during play from the sideline; Miami had a six-point possession in the fourth quarter; and Josh Giddey had a triple-double for the Thunder.
Oh, and the record from the line.
&ldquo;Credit them, first of all, for that," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. &ldquo;That's impressive."
Butler scored 35 points and was 23 for 23 from the line, tying the second-most makes without a miss in NBA history. James Harden made 24 without a miss for Houston on Dec. 3, 2019, and Dirk Nowitzki made 24 without a miss for Dallas in a playoff game against the Thunder on May 17, 2011. Dominique Wilkins also went 23 for 23 in a game in 1992.
&ldquo;We won," Butler said. &ldquo;Complete team effort. I'm proud of my guys."
Max Strus scored 22 points and Victor Oladipo had 19 for Miami. The Heat were without four regular starters &mdash; Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin &mdash; because of injuries.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points for the Thunder. Giddey finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, getting the triple-double on an assist setting up Aaron Wiggins&rsquo; dunk for a 111-106 lead with 1:28 left.
Miami scored the final six points.
&ldquo;Whatever it takes to win," Butler said.
Miami led 89-88 going into the fourth, and with Butler on the bench &mdash; he had played the entire third quarter &mdash; the Thunder took advantage. They scored the first six points of the final period, taking their first lead of larger than three points when Tre Mann connected on a jumper with 9:20 left for a 94-89 lead.
But a six-point possession gave Miami the lead back. Oladipo made a steal and Thunder center Eugene Omoruyi was called for a clear-path foul. Oladipo made both free throws, and on the continued Miami possession, Gabe Vincent made a 3-pointer while getting fouled by Mann. Vincent made the free throw, and just like that, a 96-91 deficit was a 97-96 lead.
&ldquo;We always talk about finding a way to win. ... This is a good start to that," Butler said.
TIP-INS
Thunder: Oklahoma City reached the midway point of this season at 18-23. Even without the injured No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren, it's progress &mdash; the Thunder were 15-21 at the midpoint of the 72-game season two years ago, and 14-27 midway through last season. ... Gilgeous-Alexander had 15 of his points in the final 6:26 of the second quarter, after having only two points previously.
Heat: Udonis Haslem was the only available Heat player who didn&rsquo;t get into the game. ... Orlando Robinson started at center for Adebayo, making him the 13th player to start for Miami this season and the 202nd to start a game in team history.
MANY LINEUPS
Oklahoma City used its 20th starting lineup of the season in 41 games. Miami used its 18th in 42 games.
&ldquo;I think there&rsquo;s a hidden benefit to kind of some instability in your rotations and in your lineups,&rdquo; Daigneault said. &ldquo;It forces your own team to become very adaptive and to really not make excuses ... and I think it becomes hard to adjust to.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

The Heat set an NBA record by making all 40 of their free throws and rallied to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-111.

Butler, Heat set NBA free throw record, beat OKC 112-111

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Brooklyn got another win. Now the Nets have to hope for good news on Kevin Durant.
Royce O'Neale's putback with 3.2 seconds left put Brooklyn to stay, and the Nets beat the Miami Heat 102-101 on Sunday night in a game where Durant left in the third quarter with a right knee injury.
&ldquo;Right knee, he'll get evaluated tomorrow and then hopefully I'll have some more info," Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. &ldquo;Most likely it will include imaging, just to make sure we're good."
Durant was awaiting his teammates after the big finish, giving them all fist bumps as they walked into the locker room. Vaughn said he did not ask Durant how he was feeling, though Kyrie Irving said his friend was in good spirits.
Durant left with 36.6 seconds left in the third quarter, not long after he appeared to get hurt on a drive by Miami's Jimmy Butler. Durant grabbed at his right knee after Butler, who had just driven to the basket, landed with his back to Durant and fell into him.
&ldquo;Those plays are scary, because when someone&rsquo;s not looking what&rsquo;s going on, anything can happen in those moments,&rdquo; Irving said. &ldquo;So I&rsquo;m grateful for all that time he&rsquo;s put in the weight room putting his body in a great position, and his body was able to save him from something worse.&rdquo;
Durant took two big hits in the second half. He also grabbed at the knee after being called for an offensive foul on a drive where he collided with Miami's Kyle Lowry with 7:57 left in the third.
&ldquo;You never want to see him go down like that," Vaughn said. &ldquo;Any player, for that matter. Pretty hard collision, but you've got to give our group credit for staying with it."
Irving scored 29 to lead the Nets, who have won 18 of their last 20 &mdash; after winning only nine of their first 20 games. Durant had 17 before departing and Seth Curry scored 14 for Brooklyn.
Nic Claxton had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets.
Butler scored 26 for Miami, which got 24 from Tyler Herro. <a href="https://twitter.com/BallyHEAT/status/1612260290938257408?s=20">Butler missed a contested shot at the rim on the game&rsquo;s final play,</a> and Herro was shaken up on it as well before limping off &mdash; replays showing he may have slipped.
&ldquo;Jimmy made the absolute right play," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, after the team argued for a foul to no avail.
Spoelstra said Herro indicated postgame that he was fine, but the team will know more Monday. Bam Adebayo was limited in the second half because of a right hand contusion &mdash; X-rays were negative &mdash; and scored 10 for Miami, as did Max Strus and Haywood Highsmith.
Brooklyn led 66-64 at the half, with Irving leading the Nets with 24 and the teams both shooting well &mdash; 54% for Miami, 57% for Brooklyn.
And then in the third, the defenses showed up.
Brooklyn shot 28% in the quarter, Miami 25%, and the Heat outscored the Nets 18-13 in the period to take a three-point lead into the fourth.
Miami led by as many as nine in the final quarter, went up 101-100 on back-to-back baskets by Butler late, but couldn't corral the rebound on Irving's missed 30-footer in the final seconds. <a href="https://twitter.com/YESNetwork/status/1612258949243482117?s=20&amp;t=Xj7MNRicRcfWvztP6dv1tw">O'Neale got the rebound and turned it into the eventual winner.</a>
&ldquo;I was just right there to finish it," O'Neale said.
TIP-INS
Nets: Claxton blocked three shots and has at least three blocks in six consecutive games. Only the Lakers&rsquo; Anthony Davis has done that this season, and no Nets player has done that since Shawn Bradley had two separate 11-game streaks in 1996.
Heat: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was in attendance, as was DJ Khaled. ... Caleb Martin (left quadriceps strain) was out. ... Lowry and Victor Oladipo each were 2 for 10. ... Miami is 21-20 at the season's midway point.
DURANT MILESTONE
Durant needed just two points to pass Dominique Wilkins (26,668) for 14th on the NBA's career scoring list. With 17 on Sunday, Durant is up to 26,684.
He's 26 points away from No. 13 Oscar Robertson (26,710).
&nbsp;

Kevin Durant left with an injury but the Brooklyn Nets got a Royce O'Neale putback with 3.2 seconds to beat the Miami Heat 102-101.

Nets top Heat 102-101, lose Durant to right knee injury

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Brooklyn forward Kevin Durant left in the second half of the Nets' game in Miami on Sunday night with a right knee injury.
Durant appeared to be hurt when Heat forward Jimmy Butler fell into the Nets' forward on a drive late in the third quarter.
Durant grabbed at his right knee after Butler, who had just driven to the basket, landed with his back to Durant and fell into him. Durant stayed in the game briefly, then went into the locker room for evaluation. The Nets quickly determined that he would not return to the game.
Durant had 17 points in 30 minutes. Earlier Sunday, he passed Dominique Wilkins for No. 14 on the NBA's career scoring list.

Durant appeared to be hurt when Heat forward Jimmy Butler fell into the Nets' forward on a drive late in the third quarter.

Kevin Durant leaves Nets game in Miami with right knee injury

It's admittedly fun to ride the small-sample-sized wave of early NBA seasons.
We've already witnessed 58 individual 30-plus-point performances in eight days of action from dozens of different players. The Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers are tied with the Memphis Grizzlies atop the Western Conference standings. And early breakout games have dotted the league's landscape, making fans of all 30 teams (well...) hopeful for what could be on the horizon.
But while it's encouraged to enjoy success in the moment, as analysts, how do we temper expectations and forecast the future? Some players are bound to return to earth, while for others, this first week might truly be the start of something special.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Here are five players who have caught fire so far, and whose environments make sustaining these heat waves a plausible reality:
LAURI MARKKANEN, UTAH JAZZ
We start with everyone's favorite "What the heck is happening right now?" team in the Jazz, who are 4-1 despite being a projected basement-dweller/Victor Wembanyama suitor/whatever you'd like to tactfully call a bad basketball team.
Markkanen is leading the charge in the box score with his 22.0-point, 8.8-rebound, 3.0-assist per-game averages. Two of those would be career highs (he averaged 9.0 rebounds per game in 2018-19), and his 64.2% two-point clip would be a career best by far. That's also despite him canning just 24.2% of his threes.
Markkanen turned heads at the end of the summer with his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/6-players-who-stood-out-from-eurobasket-2022-lauri-markkanen-alperen-sengun-lorenzo-brown-sasha-vezenkov-dzanan-musa-simone-fontecchio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EuroBasket onslaught for Finland</a>. We saw the 25-year-old in a primary scoring role during the tournament, and that's sort of translated to Utah. Markkanen's usage rate (22.6%) and drives per game (6.0) are his highest figures since 2018-19. He's making a stunning 68.4% of his shots when he drives to the basket &mdash; bound to recede, but definitely a positive sign when you look at the above footage.
And yet! He's also been used creatively without having to be individually creative, as highlighted by Mat Issa:
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Reason #1: Lauri Markkanen (cont.) And while he has made some strides as a self-generated scorer, he's doing a lot of his damage playing off of his teammates as a shooter, roller, and cutter. 71 of his 86 shot attempts (82.6%) have come off 2 dribbles or less. <a href="https://t.co/xrAUBCbGGm">pic.twitter.com/xrAUBCbGGm</a>
&mdash; Mat Issa (@matissa15) <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1585651902473068544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Regardless of how the Jazz progress as a team, Markkanen is going to be a featured player barring any sort of trade. He's also an easy bet to return to form as a perimeter shooter. Markkanen currently sports a 29.2% clip on catch-and-shoot threes; he typically hovers around 35%.
There's no one standing in the way of Markkanen leading the Jazz in shot attempts, and he's shown signs that he can take on such a responsibility.
TREY MURPHY III, NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
A literally perfect, 22-point, 8-for-8 shooting effort from Murphy helped the Pelicans win a game against the Dallas Mavericks without Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones. The second-year forward is shooting a lights-out 68.4% from long range and re-establishing himself as a premier young shooting talent in the league.&nbsp;
However, it's been his aggression attacking closeouts that has really helped Murphy propel his offensive game forward.
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We all know Trey Murphy is an amazing shooter. But him attacking closeouts like this is going to make him incredibly deadly <a href="https://t.co/AmJd9RiGfw">pic.twitter.com/AmJd9RiGfw</a>
&mdash; Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) <a href="https://twitter.com/FearTheBrown/status/1585139430259855360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/trey-murphy-iii-wants-to-announce-presence-new-orleans-pelicans-zion-williamson-brandon-ingram" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Murphy explained to me this summer</a> that he's really worked on anticipating and absorbing contact. That showed up in NBA Summer League, and it's manifesting so far as you can see in the above clips. Murphy is only 3-for-8 on driving attempts so far, but that's already better than his abysmal 21.4% rate as a rookie. He's also been one of the most frequent transition finishers in the NBA, and is even averaging a league-best 1.92 points per possession in transition.
New Orleans hasn't gotten out and running too much, but they project as a team that can capitalize on fast breaks. Murphy is an improved at-rim finisher and can always leak out for threes. It makes him yet another unique weapon for the Pelicans' offense.
JAYLEN NOWELL, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Want to talk about a dark-horse candidate for Sixth Man of the Year? Nowell is putting up 16.2 points in just 21.8 minutes per game for the Timberwolves and has effectively filled Malik Beasley's spot in the rotation. The 23-year-old is knocking down just 32.1% of his threes, but he's a proven threat from distance who I expect to improve.
Mark Schindler has been all over the Jaylen Nowell breakout for practically the entire calendar year, so both deserve their flowers:
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Jaylen Nowell Hooper <a href="https://t.co/kIKFnyToFn">pic.twitter.com/kIKFnyToFn</a>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) <a href="https://twitter.com/MG_Schindler/status/1584985123782811648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The third-year guard is prolific in the short-mid-range areas like above; this year, he's made a ridiculous (and unsustainable) 62% of his total mid-range looks. But he's been trading some of those shots in and getting even closer to the basket. Per Cleaning the Glass, Nowell's short-mid-range shot frequency has dropped by 12%, while his at-rim rate has climbed by 13%. That's a great sign since he's a capable scorer in both zones.
Nowell's per-game scoring average is fourth among NBA players with multiple games off the bench. The three in front? Christian Wood (a probably eventual starter), Bennedict Mathurin (a rookie and probable eventual starter) and Keegan Murray (same boat as Mathurin). It's entirely plausible that by the end of the year, this three-level bucket-getter emerges as a leading contender for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
NICK RICHARDS, CHARLOTTE HORNETS
A third-year center and former second-round pick, Richards has grinded away as a reserve for a Hornets team desperately in need of stopgaps in the frontcourt. Through four contests, he's averaging 13.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game on a crisp 71.4% field goal clip (all twos).
According to Second Spectrum, Richards has either grabbed an offensive board or tipped one to a teammate on two-thirds of his offensive rebound chances &mdash; tied for fourth-best in the NBA among high-volume rebounders.
Within that pristine field goal percentage, Richards is 8-for-9 in scoring chances as a roll man. Now, we're really digging into some small samples here. But he's shooting 78% at the rim in total, which lines up with 75% from last year, and some of the plays look promising. Nothing too crazy, but Richards has finished with soft touch and some power over two of the better interior defenders in the league in Clint Capela and Jakob Poeltl:
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Richards' success is the most extreme small-sample-size bet in this notebook. He just has barely seen an NBA floor, so even looking at past seasons gets sketchy. I'm optimistic for two reasons: Charlotte has an obvious hole he is filling at center, and the team has some elite guard playmakers in LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier who he can work off of.
DEVIN VASSELL, SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Like Markkanen and the Jazz, Vassell and the Spurs are unburdened by expectations, which hopefully gives them the freedom to experiement throughout the season. Fans of the 2020 No. 11 pick have waited for Vassell's glimpses of pull-up prowess and overall scoring to coalesce, and 2022-23 might be the year.
Vassell is putting up 19.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while firing threes at a career-high volume (8.3 per game) and efficiency (39.4%). The long-range marksmanship has come and gone in waves, and yes, it's probably too early to assume Vassell has fully arrived as a pull-up powerhouse.
However, there's still a lot to love about his start &mdash; especially that assist number.
Vassell's 19.6% assist rate more than doubles either of his prior two seasons, while his 5.2% turnover rate is actually a career-low. There are 72 NBA players averaging more than 8 drives per game this season; Vassell's 15.9% assist rate on drives ranks ninth.
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He's not some highlight-reel passer, but Vassell displays some really impressive floor vision. He can enter a drive in attack mode and still have the wherewithal to monitor how the defense shifts and how his own teammates get open.
Vassell is off to a shaky start as a driving scorer &mdash; he's made just 28.6% of said shots &mdash; but he has a past history with better efficiency. I bank on that returning, and, coupled with his improving vision and enticing perimeter scoring, Vassell could really terrify opposing defenses as a young playmaking engine.
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THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Bennedict Mathurin has been electric as a rookie for the Indiana Pacers, and if you're wondering why his start feels unusually great, that's because it is:</li>
</ul>
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Bennedict Mathurin is only the fifth NBA player since 1980 to score at least 72 points in his first three career games&mdash;and the first since 1995: Isiah Thomas Dominique Wilkins Michael Jordan Jerry Stackhouse Bennedict Mathurin
&mdash; Zach Kram (@zachkram) <a href="https://twitter.com/zachkram/status/1583998848946827265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Synergy's Todd Whitehead has posted a ton of these starting lineup visualizations on his Twitter, and this one in particular caught my eye:</li>
</ul>
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17 teams in the league had 2 or 3 "homegrown" starters in their opening game last week. 6 teams had 4. 3 teams had 0. There are 8 players who made their NBA debut with the Lakers who are starting for somebody else this year, more than any other team. <a href="https://t.co/Kl9Qg0Oa0j">pic.twitter.com/Kl9Qg0Oa0j</a>
&mdash; Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1584621844522729472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>This week's check-in on the Los Angeles Lakers (technically missing one game, but they shot 26.7% as a team, so I doubt this visual changes much):</li>
</ul>
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Dorktown: Los Angeles Lakers! <a href="https://t.co/c3JvICgyJm">pic.twitter.com/c3JvICgyJm</a>
&mdash; Secret Base (@secretbase) <a href="https://twitter.com/secretbase/status/1584584367283654662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Lauri Markkanen, Devin Vassell and Nick Richards are among the players Ethan Fuller believes can sustain their early success.

NBA Stats Notebook: 5 players who can sustain their early breakouts

NBA, ATLANTA HAWKS AND MILWAUKEE BUCKS TO HOST SERIES OF YOUTH ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS AS PART OF LEAGUE&rsquo;S FIRST GAMES IN ABU DHABI
- League&rsquo;s First &ldquo;Jr. NBA Week&rdquo; in the Middle East Will Engage Nearly 2,000 Youth Basketball Players and Coaches Through Clinics, Camps and Showcases
- Events Will Feature Appearances by Hawks and Bucks Players and Coaches, and NBA and WNBA Legends
- The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2022 Will Feature the Hawks and Bucks Playing Two Preseason Games on Oct. 6 and 8 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island
LONDON AND ABU DHABI &mdash; The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced a series of youth basketball engagement programs that will be hosted in collaboration with the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks as part of The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2022.&nbsp;
The week of activities, which will include the league&rsquo;s first Jr. NBA Week in the Middle East, will run from Monday, Oct. 3 &ndash; Sunday, Oct. 9 and will reach nearly 2,000 youth, coaches and basketball stakeholders from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and across the Middle East and Europe. Jr. NBA Week will be comprised of youth basketball clinics, camps and showcases focused on teaching the game of basketball, promoting health and wellness, and empowering the next generation of female players and coaches. The events will feature appearances by Hawks and Bucks players and coaches, NBA and WNBA legends, and USA Basketball Head Coach/Coach Director, Youth &amp; Sport Development, Don Showalter.&nbsp;
The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2022 will feature the Hawks and the 2021 NBA champion Bucks playing two preseason games at Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, Oct. 6 and Saturday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. GST, marking the league&rsquo;s first games in the UAE and the Arabian Gulf. The games are part of a groundbreaking multiyear collaboration between the NBA and the Department of Culture and Tourism &ndash; Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) that earlier this year saw the launch of the first Jr. NBA Abu Dhabi League, a youth basketball league for 450 boys and girls ages 11-14 from schools across Abu Dhabi. The collaboration also includes a variety of interactive fan events featuring appearances by current and former NBA players, a series of NBA FIT clinics promoting health and wellness, and an NBA 2K League exhibition event.
Below please find an overview of the week&rsquo;s activities:&nbsp;
Atlanta Hawks Youth Programming&nbsp;
On Oct. 3 as part of Jr. NBA Week, Hawks players and coaches will lead three simultaneous youth development events at the NYU Abu Dhabi campus&rsquo;s three-court facility, including basketball clinics for boys and girls from the first Jr. NBA Abu Dhabi League and the Abu Dhabi Special Olympics program, as well as an NBA FIT clinic for local youth that will focus on the importance of living a healthy and active lifestyle with an emphasis on mindfulness, nutrition, rest and recovery. The Jr. NBA Abu Dhabi League participants will then attend the game on Oct. 6.&nbsp;
NBA Coaches Clinics&nbsp;
On Oct. 3 and 4, Hawks assistant coaches Joe Prunty and Mike Longabardi and Bucks assistant coaches Mike Dunlap and Vince Legarza will each host Coaches Clinics for more than 300 male and female basketball coaches from across the UAE. The clinics will teach coaching techniques and best practices for team and player development at any level.&nbsp;
Milwaukee Bucks Youth Programming&nbsp;
On Oct. 4 as part of Jr. NBA Week, Bucks players and coaches will lead players from the NBA Basketball School in Dubai and the Jr. NBA Elite Training Camp through a series of basketball drills, skills stations and challenges at the NYU Abu Dhabi campus.
Jr. NBA School Clinics&nbsp;
On Oct. 4 and 5 also as part of Jr. NBA Week, the NBA will conduct eight Jr. NBA clinics for boys and girls at local schools across Abu Dhabi, two of which will be attended by NBA Legend Dominique Wilkins and WNBA Legend Ticha Penicheiro (Portugal). The clinics will focus on basketball skill development with an emphasis on teamwork, positive attitude and effort, and healthy habits.&nbsp;
NBA Hoops For Troops Meet &amp; Greets&nbsp;
In collaboration with the United Service Organizations (USO), the NBA will host members of the U.S. Military for meet and greets with NBA legends at both games.&nbsp;
NBA Basketball School Showcase&nbsp;
On Oct. 4 and 5, youth athletes from the NBA Basketball School in Dubai, the only full-time basketball program in the UAE for boys and girls ages 6-18, will travel to Abu Dhabi to participate in a multi-day basketball development program, including a training session on Oct. 4 led by Showalter and culminating with a showcase at the NYU Abu Dhabi campus on Oct. 5. On Oct. 6, the league&rsquo;s first NBA Basketball School Workshop will convene NBA Basketball School partners and operators from across Europe and the Middle East to collaborate and share best practices.&nbsp;
Jr. NBA Elite Training Camp 
From Oct. 4-9 as part of Jr. NBA Week, the NBA will host 25 of the top boys and girls from Jr. NBA leagues across Europe and the Middle East, and the NBA Basketball School in Dubai, at an Elite Training Camp in Abu Dhabi. The athletes, who come from 11 countries and were selected following a Jr. NBA Elite Camp in Rome in May, will participate in training, practices and competitions against the NBA Basketball School from Dubai and the UAE under-18 Men&rsquo;s National Team, as well as life skills programming and cultural activities in the local community.
NBA District Youth Basketball Clinics&nbsp;
On Oct. 5, 7, 8 and 9, the league will host nine youth basketball clinics at NBA District, an immersive, interactive fan event that will be held at Manarat Al Saadiyat in conjunction with The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2022. Part of Jr. NBA Week, the clinics will feature a range of basketball programming for local youth and Jr. NBA League, NBA Basketball School and Special Olympics players.
Make-a-Wish Experience&nbsp;
In collaboration with DCT Abu Dhabi and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the NBA will host four local children and their families at the Oct. 6 game. The children will receive goody items and participate in a meet and greet with an NBA legend.&nbsp;
Her Time To Play Clinic&nbsp;
On Oct. 8 as part of Jr. NBA week, the NBA will host a &ldquo;Her Time To Play&rdquo; clinic at the NYU Abu Dhabi campus for 70 girls from the Jr. NBA Elite Training Camp and the NBA Basketball School in Dubai. Participants will engage in a basketball clinic and conversations focused on female empowerment and opportunities for women in sports and leadership, highlighted by a Q&amp;A with Penicheiro. Her Time To Play is an initiative dedicated to championing girls and women through sport and providing them a forum to connect, collaborate, and actively engage with the game of basketball and one another.&nbsp;

The NBA announced a series of youth engagement programs that will be hosted in collaboration with the Hawks and Bucks.

Hawks, Bucks to host youth programs as part of NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2022

Young players who enter the NBA go through an adjustment period. The competition is highly skilled and uber-athletic, and their lifestyle changes drastically. As a result, it usually takes a season (or two) for top picks to get acclimated.&nbsp;
So, when a top pick suffers a season-ending injury before their rookie campaign begins, it&rsquo;s obviously less than ideal. At best, it costs their team a year of development. At worst, it&rsquo;s an omen of things to come.
The Oklahoma City Thunder&rsquo;s prized rookie, Chet Holmgren, recently suffered a Lisfranc injury to his right foot while defending LeBron James on a fastbreak at The CrawsOver Pro-Am in Seattle. Holmgren doesn't have an alarming injury history, but any seven-footer who weighs less than 200 pounds is going to raise certain red flags.
While we&rsquo;ve yet to see Holmgren compete regularly against NBA players, he certainly looked like the real deal last season at Gonzaga and in this year's Summer League. He&rsquo;s fluid on the offensive end, where he can handle the ball and shoot from just about anywhere. And defensively, Holmgren is a menace. His absurd 7-foot-6 inch wingspan enables him to erase shots that are launched anywhere in his vicinity.
To summarize, Holmgren&rsquo;s injury is a real bummer for everyone involved. Sure, the Thunder will suffer &ndash; and maybe get into the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. (Wouldn&rsquo;t that be something?!) But alas, it&rsquo;s always darkest before dawn. Holmgren is not the first lottery pick to miss his entire rookie season, and there are numerous examples of these players returning to their dominant pre-injury form.
While guys like Larry Bird, Jerry Lucas and David Robinson all missed their rookie seasons for non-injury reasons, we're focusing on players who were sidelined after getting hurt. Julius Randle was also left off this list since he technically played 14 minutes prior to his season-ending injury as a rookie.
Let&rsquo;s look back at several high-end lottery picks who had to postpone their NBA debut for a full year.
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Joel Embiid
Embiid is the most obvious example. His foot injury cost him his first two seasons in the NBA. He underwent surgery prior to the 2014 NBA Draft and had another surgery on that same foot the following offseason.
The Philadelphia 76ers were patient with Embiid, allowing him to miss the 2014-15 season and 2015-16 season. Once he was healthy, Embiid returned for 31 games in 2016-17, averaging 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. He also connected on 36.7% of his three-point attempts.
Now, Embiid's injury issues are mostly behind him. He played in 68 games this past season, leading the league in scoring (30.6 points) while also averaging 11.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.
While he&rsquo;s suffered a few injuries in recent years, he&rsquo;s been far more durable than expected. Embiid is a five-time All-Star who has been named to four All-NBA teams and three All-Defensive teams.
Blake Griffin
Griffin&rsquo;s pre-rookie-year injury was tough to stomach because he fractured his kneecap in the final preseason game, meaning it wouldn&rsquo;t have happened had he sat out that last exhibition game.
Like Embiid, Griffin hit the ground running once he returned. He was a refreshing mix of power, skill, size and speed not seen since Shawn Kemp or Dominique Wilkins. He averaged 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game in his first NBA season, winning Rookie of the Year and never looking back.
Griffin is a six-time All-Star, and he&rsquo;s been named to five All-NBA teams. He managed to revamp his game after his athleticism dwindled, making an impressive transformation.
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Ben Simmons
Simmons was the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, and he entered the league with plenty of hype.&nbsp;
Simmons' career got off to a slow start thanks to a broken foot suffered before his rookie season. The nature of Simmons' injury was less concerning than that of Embiid or Griffin. However, the 76ers' fan base was still awaiting the return of Embiid from his pre-rookie-year injury, so they were understandably frustrated when another top prospect was sidelined.
Fortunately for all involved, Simmons came back with a vengeance. He averaged 15.8 points, 8.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game in his rookie season, teasing fans with his unique mix of size and speed. While he's yet to completely reach his full potential, Simmons was obviously unaffected by his foot injury. He won Rookie of the Year in 2017-18, and he's now a three-time All-Star.
Nerlens Noel
Before Embiid landed in Philadelphia, there was Noel. Noel was projected to be a top-three pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, but then a collision with the basket cost him the end of his freshman season at Kentucky. Noel was ultimately drafted No. 6 overall by New Orleans, with the understanding that he'd miss a considerable amount of time. Noel was eventually dealt to Philadelphia as part of the Jrue Holiday trade, which was Sam Hinkie's first move in Philadelphia.
Noel rehabbed his torn ACL with the 76ers and missed the 2013-14 campaign. The following year, he returned and played 75 games. While Noel lacked a jump shot, he made an immediate impact, averaging 9.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 30.8 minutes for the 18-64 76ers.
Noel's career never reached the heights that some hoped, but that has little to do with his ACL injury. He's grown into an impactful&nbsp;backup center, capable of starting for stretches for a playoff-caliber team.&nbsp;
Michael Porter Jr.
After being ranked the top high school player in the country, Porter suffered a back injury that required spinal surgeries in 2017 and 2018. Despite only playing three games at the collegiate level, Porter was still selected No. 14 in the 2018 NBA Draft based on his high-school dominance and potential.
Porter was viewed as a risky selection for the Denver Nuggets. After all, the Los Angeles Clippers' team doctor had <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-michael-porter-jr-became-a-star-after-career-ending-diagnosis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">written a report</a> projecting that Porter may never play again.
After missing the entirety of the 2018-19 season, Porter returned the following year and played 55 games. In 2020-21, he had a breakout campaign, averaging 19.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.8 threes per game.
Unfortunately, his back issues would surface again last season, as he needed another back surgery that caused him to miss all but nine games.&nbsp;
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Greg Oden
Oden's story is the saddest of the bunch. He was projected by many to be a generational talent. He was taken No. 1 overall in the 2007 NBA Draft, one pick before Kevin Durant.
After one Summer League game, his knees were already a problem. He underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee before the season began. At the time, he was the first No. 1 pick to miss his entire rookie year since David Robinson in 1987.
Oden played in only 105 games across three NBA seasons, suffering season-ending injuries in 2007-08, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13. He retired with career averages of 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.&nbsp;
***
Lottery picks are supposed to play. They are young and vibrant, and they represent hope for a team&rsquo;s future. While incredibly scary, season-ending injuries can be more of a bump in the road than a demolition. Holmgren seems to have a very bright future, so let&rsquo;s hope his injury is more of the former.

Chet Holmgren's season-ending injury is unfortunate, but he's far from the first lottery pick to miss the entirety of his rookie year.

Chet Holmgren isn't the first NBA lottery pick to miss rookie season

In 2022, the end of the season might feel like 1978.
If we&rsquo;re lucky.
Let&rsquo;s go back to the greatest scoring race in NBA history, one that was decided 44 years ago, the epic to-the-last-day battle between David Thompson and George Gervin.
Each had a game on April 9, 1978, that season&rsquo;s final day. Thompson&rsquo;s game was first; he scored 73 points for the Denver Nuggets to take the scoring lead. Gervin, playing a few hours later, would need 58 points to reclaim the top spot.
He scored 63 for the San Antonio Spurs. The crown was his, 27.22 points to 27.15 for Thompson.
Imagine such a scene playing out this season on April 10 &mdash; the scoring title once again going down to the season&rsquo;s final day. Only this time, with three players in the race.
It could happen.
Entering Tuesday, the NBA finds itself on pace for the closest three-man scoring race in league history. LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is atop the list averaging 29.96 points (which would round up to 30.0), Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers is second at 29.83, and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks is third at 29.80.
The last time a race ended up that close between the top three spots was, well, never. The closest three-way race was in 1985-86, when Dominique Wilkins averaged 30.3 points &mdash; a half-point better than both Adrian Dantley and Alex English. And a decade ago, Kevin Durant, then with Oklahoma City, held off the Lakers&rsquo; Kobe Bryant by one-tenth of a point, 28.0 to 27.9 for the second-closest head-to-head race ever.
Obviously, the numbers will change. Embiid might get a game or two more off down the stretch to rest his body. If the 76ers have nothing to play for on the season&rsquo;s final day, one wouldn&rsquo;t expect him out there with only a scoring title at stake. Same goes for Antetokounmpo; if the Bucks are locked into a seed, it would seem foolish for Milwaukee to play the reigning NBA Finals MVP much, if at all. And the Lakers&rsquo; only path to the playoffs is through the play-in, which means James might be called upon to play big minutes &mdash; and potentially put up big numbers &mdash; all the way to the end.
&ldquo;At the end of the day,&rdquo; James said, &ldquo;all I care about is wins and losses.&rdquo;
A scoring race, though, would add just an extra dimension to the end of the season, just another reason to tune in and pay attention to what&rsquo;s happening.
The Western Conference race will long be over by then; realistically, it is now, since there&rsquo;s no way barring unthinkable, cataclysmic collapse that Phoenix won&rsquo;t be the No. 1 seed. The Eastern Conference race is considerably tighter, and the potential is quite high that regardless of who ends up seeded where the first-round series on that half of the bracket will be slugfests.
But anything involving James is certain to be intriguing. Same goes with Antetokounmpo. Same goes with Embiid. Put them together, and the intrigue levels skyrocket.
The only downside to all of this is that it could have been a four-man race.
Brooklyn&rsquo;s Durant is fourth in the league in scoring, four-tenths behind James and two-tenths behind Antetokounmpo and Embiid at 29.6 per game. But Durant basically can&rsquo;t win the scoring title since he won&rsquo;t meet the NBA&rsquo;s minimum &mdash; 58 games in an 82-game season &mdash; to qualify.
So, unless somebody gets really, really hot down the stretch, the scoring race is down to three.
Trae Young, Luka Doncic, DeMar DeRozan, Ja Morant and Jayson Tatum are all within 3.0 points of James&rsquo; average right now (as is Kyrie Irving, who obviously won&rsquo;t meet the minimum games-played threshold). If any of those guys go on an absolute spree &mdash; not unheard of in this day and age &mdash; they could make a run at the title as well.
The potential is there for a thrilling finish, just like the league had in 1978.
It would be the perfect appetizer to the playoffs.

Entering Tuesday, the NBA finds itself on pace for the closest three-man scoring race in league history.

Analysis: NBA scoring race could end up as one for the ages

I&rsquo;ve had the privilege of being around some great players, including some guys from the NBA&rsquo;s 75th&nbsp;anniversary team.
In Boston, I was teammates with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. In Miami, I had Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal and Dwyane Wade showing me how to become a champion. I played with Chris Paul in New Orleans, coached LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, and was fortunate to have other guys like Antonio McDyess, Nick Van Exel and Steve Francis show me what success at the NBA level looked like.
I&rsquo;ve been around the game for a long time and, even though the game has changed, one of the constants has been players of the older generation telling the younger players they couldn&rsquo;t cut it &ldquo;back in the day.&rdquo;
Charles Oakley became the latest to make those kinds of comments earlier this week when Oak said that Giannis Antetokounmpo wouldn&rsquo;t even be a starter if he played back in the 1980s or 1990s.
I wouldn&rsquo;t necessarily say that I agree with Oak, but to be honest with you, I understand why he would feel that way. To go even further, I understand why most of the older players feel that way about the younger players in general.
There&rsquo;s always going to be people on either side of the argument, but one thing we can all agree on is the fact that the game is way different now than it was 30 years ago.
On a personal level, I feel like I&rsquo;m kind of caught between the two generations. I grew up watching Scottie Pippen and people compared me to him. I was drafted in 1999, but I was shown the ropes by guys like McDyess and Nick the Quick, who more so came up in those times. At the same time, I played 12 years and I think I saw that transition happen right before my eyes. Things just slowly evolved.
Truth be told, I think there&rsquo;s a lack of respect on both parts.
Older players like Oakley look at younger players and, for the most part, don&rsquo;t really think they&rsquo;re tough. Today, the league is more about protecting offensive players, protecting shooters and encouraging high-scoring games than it was back in the 1990s. Go back and watch some tape and you&rsquo;ll see. If Michael Jordan played by today&rsquo;s rules, for example, he could probably average 50.
Meanwhile, if Steph Curry went back to the 1980s and had to play against Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Bad Boys, and if he was seeing that kind of competition every night, if he wasn&rsquo;t encouraged to shoot 15 three-pointers every game&hellip; Would he have become the same player?
Maybe he still would have. I&rsquo;m just saying, that&rsquo;s where the arguments come from. Older players just think that the league has become soft, and they don&rsquo;t respect how players exaggerate contact and go out of their way to draw fouls the way it&rsquo;s become so common in today&rsquo;s game.
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On the other hand, one of the things I&rsquo;ve heard a lot from younger players and people who think guys like Giannis and Steph could go back and dominate is the &ldquo;lack of skill&rdquo; that some of the older players had, and I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s true at all.
In recent times, we began to equate a guys&rsquo; skill with his flash. Guys like Dr. J, George Gervin and Dominique Wilkins got accolades and attention, partially because of the things they could do, but so many other guys &mdash; guys like Charles Oakley &mdash; simply played the game in a no-nonsense type of way.
Guys like Oakley focused on fundamentals and on being able to perform their jobs well on the court, and I think the current generation of players and fans &mdash; when they look back at those guys &mdash; try to act like they weren&rsquo;t &ldquo;good&rdquo; because they weren&rsquo;t doing flashy dunks or crossing people over.
Even worse, a lot of the time we try to act like a lot of what we see today isn&rsquo;t a result of evolution. Guys like Giannis and Steph were either watching the previous generation or were taught by the guys who came before them. Would we have gotten Giannis if we never had Kevin Durant? Would we have had KD if we never had Dirk? Would we have had Dirk if we never had someone like George Gervin or Ralph Sampson?
I grew up being taught to respect my elders, and I think we should remember to do that.
At the same time, the older generation needs to understand that the game has changed and is just played differently. There&rsquo;s no reason to think that someone like Steph wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to get buckets against someone like Isiah or Derek Harper or whoever. He would&rsquo;ve had to adjust and find ways to be effective, just like he did in his earlier days when he was squaring off against other tough defenders.
The whole thing actually got me thinking: if I had a time machine and could make an imaginary pickup game with today&rsquo;s players against players from the 1980s and 1990s, which matchups would I like to see?
Ultimately, I think the winning team would be decided by which set of rules the imaginary pickup game was played under. If you were playing with today&rsquo;s rules, Isiah would probably get called for three hand-checking fouls on Steph in the first five minutes of the game.
If we were playing in the 1990s, though, Anthony Davis would probably get caught with an elbow from Karl Malone and need some time to recover. Worse for AD? There probably wouldn&rsquo;t even be a foul called on the play.
If I could have it my way, I&rsquo;d take one player from each position and two wildcards.
At point guard, as I&rsquo;ve already hinted at, I&rsquo;d like to see Chris Paul vs. Isiah. Both are all-time great point guards and both guys are tough competitors.
At shooting guard, I&rsquo;d take Reggie Miller and James Harden. Two of the greatest shooters ever, and also two of the best actors, haha. I&rsquo;d be interested in seeing how well Reggie would be able to keep up with and stay in front of James and also whether James could be effective without necessarily getting a bunch of free throws.
I&rsquo;d obviously have to put MJ and LeBron in there. Even though MJ is a shooting guard, I&rsquo;d have to cross-match them. It&rsquo;d be great to see whether MJ could score on LeBron at will the way he pretty much did against everyone else.
Karl Malone and Anthony Davis is an interesting one. Malone was as tough as they come, and AD doesn&rsquo;t really have that type of reputation. That said, AD is a superior offensive player and one who can score from almost anywhere. I&rsquo;d definitely want to see how The Brow managed to hold his own against The Mailman.
At center, I&rsquo;d take Shaq and Joel Embiid to go at it. Embiid reminds me of Shaq a little just because he&rsquo;s so dominant, but so agile. Because Shaq was so strong, people really don&rsquo;t give him the credit he deserves for being a great defender (when he tried) and for being able to move without the ball and see his teammates.
For my two wildcards, so to speak, I&rsquo;d want to cross-match Kevin Durant and Larry Bird and Steph Curry and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Durant and Curry are probably the superior talents, but Bird never saw a challenge he couldn&rsquo;t meet. He also never saw a player quite like KD, though, so it&rsquo;d be interesting. Curry would obviously have to be in this matchup, and the reason I&rsquo;d pick Abdul-Rauf is mainly because I think he&rsquo;s someone who isn&rsquo;t talked about enough. He definitely wasn&rsquo;t on the level of Steph, but he was a great scorer and someone who could control a game. And even if Steph was lighting him up, he wouldn&rsquo;t be asking for any double-team. If Abdul-Rauf played in this generation, I think his entire career would have been different.
So that would be my ultimate pickup game:
Isiah Thomas, Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, Larry Bird and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf vs. Chris Paul, James Harden, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry.
Just writing out those names for the new-school team makes me wonder how on earth the old-school team would be able to stop them from scoring&hellip; But I think Isiah, MJ, Malone and Shaq would band together to find a way&hellip; Or at least go down swinging. Probably literally, too.
The game has definitely changed. Some people may like the changes, some may not. Either way, one thing is for sure: no matter what era you&rsquo;re from, it&rsquo;s not easy to succeed in the NBA. We all deserve each other&rsquo;s respect, and whether or not you agree with Oak and his assessment of Giannis, we can&rsquo;t take away the fact that the Greek Freak is the reigning Finals MVP.
Whether in 1980 or 2021, that trophy has always carried the same weight. That&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;d challenge my old-schoolers to always keep in mind.
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James Posey discusses the changes he's witnessed in the NBA over the last decades, and describes his ultimate pick-up game matchups.

Going back in time for a 7-on-7: NBA Stars of Today vs. Team 1990

CLEVELAND (AP) &mdash; Karl-Anthony Towns gave big men everywhere something to shoot for.
Minnesota's 7-footer became the first center to win the 3-Point Shooting Contest, defeating seven guards during the NBA's All-Star Saturday and providing a memorable moment on a night the dunk contest barely got off the ground.
Towns, who has spent his entire career proving doubters wrong about his range, posted a 29 &mdash; the highest total in the competition &mdash; during the final round to defeat Atlanta's Trae Young and Luke Kennard of the Los Angeles Clippers, who tied for second with 26 each.
New York's Obi Toppin won the four-person dunk contest, scoring a 47 out of 50 in the final round by putting the ball between his legs in the air, touching it off the backboard and re-directing it through the rim.
Golden State's Juan Toscano-Anderson was second as the dunk contest, once a marquee event that at times trumped the All-Star Game, fell flat.
A trio of Cleveland Cavaliers, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, won the Skills Challenge.
After his surprising 3-point win, Towns accepted his trophy at mid-court and immediately turned toward Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal sitting courtside in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
&ldquo;I told you Shaq,&rdquo; Towns said. &ldquo;Vegas got the odds wrong.&rdquo;
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Towns was considered, well, a long shot among a field of shot makers that included Young, Kennard, New Orleans' CJ McCollum, Brooklyn&rsquo;s Patty Mills, Toronto&rsquo;s Fred VanVleet, Chicago&rsquo;s Zach LaVine and Memphis&rsquo; Desmond Bane.
&ldquo;I wanted to prove I was the best shooting big man in the world, and now I got the trophy to prove it,&rdquo; Towns said.
There have been other big men crowned 3-point champions, but Kevin Love (2012) and Dirk Nowitzki (2006) are considered power forwards.
&ldquo;I think this is a nice little thing to put on that r&eacute;sum&eacute;,&rdquo; Towns said. &ldquo;Big man hasn&rsquo;t won in 10 years, and, of course, 10 years ago, a decade ago, who won it? The Wolves. It&rsquo;s coming back home where it belongs.&rdquo;
The dunk contest started with some promise and fizzled fast.
Orlando's Cole Anthony caused a stir when he swapped his sneakers for a pair of Timberland boots and then dunked in them with an assist from his father, former NBA guard Greg Anthony.
Toppin said all the participants are great dunkers who wanted to put on a show, and they all were encouraging each other.
&ldquo;When Cole missed those two first ones with the Timbs on, I was like no those Timbs are heavy," Toppin said. &ldquo;I was like, we got to boost his energy up. I was trying to get everybody on their feet.&rdquo;
It worked, momentarily.
But Anthony couldn't complete his second dunk in three tries and he was eliminated along with Houston's Jalen Green, who also struggled while trying to impress a panel of Hall of Fame judges &mdash; Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins.
The hometown Cavs added another moment to their impressive season by winning the re-formatted Skills Challenge, which pitted teams and not individual players.
Garland, Mobley and Allen teamed up to outperform Team Antetokounmpo &mdash; MVP Giannis and his brothers Thanasis and Alex &mdash; and a rookie trio of Detroit's Cade Cunningham, Toronto's Scottie Barnes and Oklahoma City's Josh Giddey.
Mobley, a leading candidate for rookie of the year honors, sealed the win by making a half-court shot on his first attempt, allowing the Cavs to close the segment of the contest in 5.5 seconds and defeat Team Rooks.
The Cavs started the shooting competition off target as Allen, hardly known for his outside touch, made just two shots in 30 seconds. However, Garland brought Cleveland back &mdash; and brought their crowd to life &mdash; scoring 21 points.
However, the Cavs came out of the relay portion tied with Team Antetokounmpo for second place and needed Garland to win a shoot-off with Thanasis to place Cleveland in the final.
After Cunningham drained his 47-footer in 9.9 seconds, Mobley calmly stepped into his winning shot.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of a kind,&rdquo; Allen said of his 20-year-old teammate. &ldquo;Defense, offense and now half court. The whole league knows Evan by now. If they&rsquo;ve ever driven to the paint, they definitely know him, so the NBA should know him by now.&rdquo;

Karl-Anthony Towns posted a 29 during the final round to defeat Atlanta's Trae Young and Luke Kennard of the Clippers.

Center of attention: Towns wins All-Star 3-Point Contest

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Anfernee Simons had a career-high 43 points and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame an NBA season-best 56 points by Atlanta's Trae Young, snapping a four-game losing streak in a 136-131 win over the Hawks on Monday night.
Young shot 17 for 26 from the field, 7 for 12 from 3-point distance and 15 for 15 from the line for his career-high scoring total, and added 14 assists. His 56-point game eclipsed Kevin Durant's 51-point performance for the Nets at Detroit on Dec. 12. Golden State's Stephen Curry and Boston's Jaylen Brown have had 50-point games this season.
Young became the first player with 50-plus points and 14-plus assists in a game since James Harden with the Houston Rockets on Dec. 31, 2016. 
Simons had a career-high nine 3-pointers, the most for a Portland player this season. After missing Portland's last game, Simons started in place of All-Star Damian Lillard, who was out because of injury management. 
Portland trailed at the start of the final quarter, but took a 112-107 lead after Ben McLemore's layup and Nassir Little's 3-pointer with 7:43 left. Simons' floater extended the lead to 118-111, but the persistent Hawks kept it close down the stretch. 
Young came down hard on the court after an attempted layup with less than a minute left, but recovered to make a pair of free throws that closed the gap to 127-125. 
Jusuf Nukic made a layup and added a free throw to make it 130-125 and Portland held on for the win. 
Atlanta coach Nate McMillan entered the league's health and safety protocol on Saturday. But six Hawks players were available to return from protocols for the game against the Blazers, including Sharife Cooper, Danilo Gallinari, Kevin Huerter, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Onyeka Okongwu and Delon Wright. 
Five Hawks, including Bogdan Bogdanovic, remain in the protocol. At one point, Atlanta was without a league-high 12 players. 
Joe Prunty took over in McMillan's absence. The Hawks were coming off a 121-118 win in Cleveland on Friday that snapped a three-game losing streak. 
The Blazers were without Lillard because of abdominal tendinopathy, which has bothered him since the Olympics. The team was also still missing backcourt teammate CJ McCollum because of a collapsed lung. 
But Nurkic, the starting center, returned from the protocols for the game against the Hawks, <a href="https://twitter.com/bosnianbeast27/status/1478141321630023683">announcing his availability personally via Twitter. </a> He finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. 
Blazers coach Chauncey Billups also was back on the sideline after missing three games. 
Portland jumped out to a 18-7 lead midway through the opening quarter. Atlanta perked up after its sluggish start, taking a 37-36 lead on Delon Wright's 3-pointer. 
The Blazers reclaimed the lead and went up 58-46 on Nassir Little's 3-pointer. Portland led 70-65 at the break. 
Young had 29 points and nine assists in the first half. He has scored 29 or more points in 16 straight games to tie Dominique Wilkins’ team record, set between December 1985 and January 1986. 
The Hawks took a 91-90 lead on Huerter's layup and held on for a 105-100 lead going into the final quarter. 
TIP INS
Hawks: Atlanta is in the midst of a season-long six-game road trip. ... Young's streak of games with 25 or more points is the longest in the NBA this season. ... Young is the first NBA player to reach 29 points and nine assists in the first half of a game this season. 
Trail Blazers: Portland's Dec. 23 game against the Brooklyn Nets that was postponed has been rescheduled for Jan. 10 at the Moda Center. 
UP NEXT
Hawks: Visit the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. 
Trail Blazers: Host the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. 
___

Trae Young scored 56 points, but the Atlanta Hawks fell to the Portland Trail Blazers, 131-136.

Trae Young scores NBA season-best 56 points, Hawks fall to Blazers

LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; One day after quietly celebrating his 37th birthday at home with his family, LeBron James put on an age-defying performance.
James became the oldest player in NBA history to have a game with at least 40 points and 14 rebounds, scoring a season-high 43 on Friday night as the Los Angeles Lakers rolled to a 139-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
According to Sportradar, the oldest player to have a 40-14 game was Larry Bird, who was 35 when he had 49 points and 14 boards for the Boston Celtics in 1992 (which coincidentally also came against the Trail Blazers).
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&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel like I have been in the league 19 years. When I am daily reminded of it, I feel it sometimes," James said after his 67th 40-point game of his career and sixth in four seasons with the Lakers. &ldquo;Sometimes you do have to remind people you can still do what you can do at a high level.&rdquo;
James was 16 of 26 from the field and made five 3-pointers in a game where the Lakers led throughout.
&ldquo;If that&rsquo;s what our team needs to win, I&rsquo;m OK with that,&rdquo; said James, who during the last seven games &mdash; including Friday &mdash; is averaging 36 points and has made 57.8% of his shots from the field. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a guy who goes out and sees if I can jack up a bunch of shots. The streak I have been on with my scoring I have been efficient. I take pride in that as a player.&rdquo;
His seven-game streak is not an anomaly: He's done it four other times. But this is the first since he was with Miami Heat in February 2013. James&rsquo; longest stretch is 10 with the Cleveland Cavaliers late in the 2005-06 season.
The Lakers were up 69-54 at halftime on 27 points from James, who went coast-to-coast for a dunk to give Los Angeles a 53-37 advantage midway through the second quarter. He topped the 40-point mark on a 3-pointer from 27 feet out with 8:25 remaining to put the Lakers up 109-84.
Los Angeles' largest lead was 35 in the game&rsquo;s final minute.
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&ldquo;This is just LeBron James playing at a superior level more than what is happening around him,&rdquo; Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. &ldquo;While (Anthony Davis) is out, he is intent on doing everything he can to pile up wins and play at an extra-high level.&rdquo;
Malik Monk scored 18 points, Carmelo Anthony added 16 points and Russell Westbrook (15 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists) recorded his ninth triple-double this season for the Lakers, who had dropped six of their last seven coming into the game.
Portland's Ben McLemore came off the bench to tie his season-high with 28 points in his first game back after clearing the league's health and safety protocols. Damian Lillard added 18 points for the Trail Blazers, who have dropped four straight and 11 of their last 13.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we played with enough force. They dictated the start,&rdquo; said Portland assistant coach Scott Brooks, who is directing the team while head coach Chauncey Billups is in the league's COVID-19 protocols. &ldquo;They were attacking on both ends of the floor and we were back on our heels. You can&rsquo;t do that against good teams. We gave them too much respect.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Portland had a season-high 21 offensive rebounds. ... McLemore&rsquo;s 16 points in the first quarter were a season-high for a player coming off the bench during the first 12 minutes of a game this season. ... Lillard hit a 3-pointer late in the second quarter to tie Paul Pierce ninth on the all-time NBA list with 2,143.
Lakers: Los Angeles made a season-high 19 3-pointers ... The team's 43 first-quarter points were a season high. ... With his second field goal of the night, Anthony passed Dominique Wilkins for 15th place on the NBA&rsquo;s all-time field goals made list. ... Vogel was back on the Lakers&rsquo; sideline after missing six games after testing positive for COVID-19.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Host Atlanta on Monday to begin a four-game homestand.
Lakers: Host Minnesota on Sunday.
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LeBron became the oldest player in NBA history to have a game with at least 40 points and 14 rebounds, as the Lakers beat Portland.

James scores season-high 43, Lakers beat Trail Blazers

This is excerpt from Jon Finkel&rsquo;s new book &ldquo;Windmills &amp; Tomahawks: Nine Chapters on Dominique Wilkins,&rdquo; which is available Amazon <a href="https://amzn.to/3rmFUEs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> or as a PDF on Gumroad <a href="https://jonfinkel.gumroad.com/l/ztFyb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. 
You know those moments in boxing matches when you can tell by the way a fighter is sitting in his corner that he&rsquo;s out of gas? His shoulders are rounded. He&rsquo;s sweaty but somehow dry-looking. His legs are heavy and far apart.
As his chest heaves and the trainer screams &ldquo;stick and move&rdquo; while smothering his eyebrows with Vaseline, the fighter stares straight ahead. He&rsquo;s not dazed, but he&rsquo;s not all there either. Then the bell rings and he rises, summoning the will to roll back into the ring.
This was Dominique Wilkins heading into the fourth quarter of game No. 81 of the 1985-86 NBA season. &rsquo;Nique was in a decimal-point duel with the Utah Jazz&rsquo;s Adrian Dantley and the Denver Nuggets&rsquo; Alex English for the season scoring title. Dantley was sitting at 29.83 points per game and English at 29.8, mere tenths of a point from crossing that magical 30-points-per-game threshold and, in this case, winning the scoring crown.
Dantley was, in today&rsquo;s parlance, a bucket. The guy averaged 30 points per game for four-straight seasons from 1981 to 1984. He&rsquo;d won two NBA scoring titles and had been in the top five several times. Alex English, a.k.a. &ldquo;The Blade,&rdquo; led the league in scoring in 1983. He, too, was a bucket.
What this means is that heading into the final few games of the &rsquo;86 season, &rsquo;Nique wasn&rsquo;t trading jabs with some chumps for the scoring title &mdash; he was battling heavyweight scoring champions.
Accordingly, he knew exactly where he stood heading into that 81st game against the New Jersey Nets. He knew what he had, and he knew what he needed to grab the scoring crown. The only people standing in his way were 6-foot-11, 250-pound Mike Gminski; 6-foot-9, 230-pound Jeff Turner; 6-foot-8, 250-pound Buck Williams, and the rest of the Nets frontcourt.
Didn&rsquo;t matter.
Throughout the &rsquo;86 season, Dominique Wilkins had seen a million defenders&hellip; and he&rsquo;d dunked &rsquo;em all. (h/t Bon Jovi).
He scored 32 in the season opener against the Washington Bullets and 40 in the fourth game against the Boston Celtics. He cruised at altitude through most of November, bouncing between 30-point games and 20-point games, and then hit the stratosphere starting in December. He had 10 games of 30 points or more from early December to early January, including this run from December 19 to January 7 with games of 29, 49, 35, 36, 32, 27, and 37 points.
The 49-point game came against the Houston Rockets, back when Hakeem Olajuwon was Akeem. The final bucket in that contest was a game-winning three-pointer with eight seconds left. It was a career high for Wilkins at the time, and it nudged him into third place in the scoring race behind English and Dantley.
&ldquo;If that&rsquo;s not an All-Star performance, I want to see the other guys in the league,&rdquo; Hawks coach Mike Fratello said.
After a two-game &ldquo;drought&rdquo; of scoring in the mid-20s following that game-winner, Wilkins laid the smack down in January, crushing defenses like Bruce Lee&rsquo;s fist through slabs of concrete. Bam. Bam. Bam.
Thirty-six against the Celtics.
Thirty-three against the Bucks.
Thirty-six against the Knicks.
Thirty-five against the Warriors.
Thirty-eight against the Nets.
The run included scoring 30-plus points in nine of 11 games and was capped off by setting the Arco Arena record with 43 points against the Sacramento Kings on February 13.
By early 1986, &rsquo;Nique was just about done polishing off his superstar CV. He&rsquo;d already won the dunk contest in &rsquo;85. He won the NBA&rsquo;s Player of the Month for January of &rsquo;86. He was named to his first All-Star game and scored 13 points in 17 minutes playing alongside his idol, Dr. J.
Check. Check. Check.
With two months to go, Wilkins was in third place in the scoring race behind English and Dantley, and to paraphrase Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men, he wanted that scoring title&mdash;he needed that scoring title.
Everyone who followed basketball knew that Wilkins could dunk and score, but to officially be the league&rsquo;s best dunker AND best scorer &mdash; damn, that was rarified air. Up to that point, that distinction had been occupied by one man: Julius Erving. (Yeah, I know Dr. J&rsquo;s scoring titles were in the ABA&hellip; so what.)
And there was another wrinkle.
After winning a measly 34 games in &rsquo;85, the Hawks were staring down the barrel of a potential 50-win season, one of only a handful of times the franchise had a legitimate shot of reaching that number since the team moved to Atlanta.
Add it all up and, beginning on February 21, 1986, Dominique Wilkins cracked his knuckles, rolled his shoulders, bounced his head from side to side and went full Mortal Kombat on the entire NBA.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/ns_lg.jpg" alt="" width="690" height="346" />
Thirty-point games were nothing. Thirty-five-point games became normal. Forty-point games seemed to happen every week.
One night he&rsquo;d drop 38 on the Pacers, and a few days later he&rsquo;d hit the Spurs for 36. In a rare home-and-home against the 76ers in early March, he dropped 32 in the first game and 37 in the second game.
Was he tired yet?
No.
Two nights later he pasted the Bulls for 42. It was a tight game, but the Hawks won 112-108, despite Chicago throwing everything at Dominique.
&ldquo;They were really pushing me inside and played hard,&rdquo; he said afterward. &ldquo;Those 42 points, yep, we needed every one of them.&rdquo;
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Seven days later, he hit up the Celtics for 42 in a tough loss. The &ldquo;L&rdquo; halted a feel-good winning run for the Hawks that mirrored Dominique&rsquo;s onslaught. The team had won 12 of 13 games since the All-Star break and was positioning itself nicely for a top playoff spot.
At the beginning of April, the Hawks were four wins away from hitting fifty, and &rsquo;Nique was neck-and-neck-and-neck with English and Dantley for the scoring title.
Both of his goals were in his grasp.
Could he go up a level?
Would he go up a level?
Yes and yes.
On April 4 and 5, the NBA scoring lead changed hands for the 17th and 18th times that season. English had been (barely) holding on to the top spot since February, but lost it when he had an off night against Sacramento and only scored 18 points. This dropped his scoring average to 29.62. On the same night, Dantley poured in 42 against the Clippers, raising his average to 29.75 and giving him the lead.
Meanwhile, Dominique smoked the Washington Bullets for 33 and 46 in back-to-back games. The 33-point game put him in second place with a 29.64 average and his 46-point effort put him in the lead for the first time all season with a 29.9 points-per-game average. He also set another arena scoring record, tying the 46 points that Elgin Baylor put up at Capital Centre 11 years earlier.
So, with four games to go, &rsquo;Nique was in first place by a fraction of a point and the Hawks had 47 wins. After scoring 28 in a loss to the Bulls, neither &rsquo;Nique nor his squad had any wiggle room left. It was do or die. Atlanta needed to win out to hit the magic number of 50, and &rsquo;Nique likely needed to score 35 per game (at least) to capture the scoring crown.
In game No. 80, Wilkins scored 37 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, to help secure the win. With two games remaining, here&rsquo;s where things stood:
Hawks&rsquo; win total: 48
&nbsp;
Scoring leaders:
Wilkins: 29.93 PPG
Dantley: 29.78 PPG
English: 29.70 PPG
Now we&rsquo;ve caught up to where we started this chapter &mdash; game No. 81 against the Nets and their defensive bullies.
With the 50-win total in sight and the scoring title on the brink, Wilkins shifted his car into no-more-bullshit gear and eviscerated the poor New Jersey Nets.
He scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first quarter, and by the end of three quarters he had 41 points. It was a scoring onslaught, but the game remained tight and the scoring race was tighter. When the buzzer sounded to start the fourth quarter, &rsquo;Nique shook off the fatigue and became a hoops version of Muhammad Ali, floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee, and draining buckets. He reeled off nine points in less than five minutes, including a hard lay-up, a dunk off a pass from Spud Webb, and a few jumpers. This gave him a career-high 50 points.
He was on fumes, but he wasn&rsquo;t done.
He hit a powerhouse baseline slam to get to 52 and then a double-clutch reverse dunk that completely emptied his tank and gave him 54 points. After the dunk, you could see it on his face. He was cashed out. His adrenaline was gone. His legs were spent. He needed a break, and coach Mike Fratello took him out for a breather.
When he returned four minutes later, he was out of rhythm. Still, he managed three more points on a jumper and a foul shot, giving him 57 on the night.
It was a new personal best.
It broke the scoring record for The Omni (52 by Nate Archibald in 1973).
It tied Bob Pettit&rsquo;s franchise record from back in 1961 when the team played in St. Louis.
Most importantly, his record game helped give the Hawks their 49th win with one game to go and put Dominique firmly in the lead for the scoring title.
His scoring average was now 30.285, a few tenths of a point ahead of English and Dantley.
&ldquo;I tell you, all these guys were looking out for me tonight,&rdquo; Wilkins said after the game. &ldquo;They were really great to me. I can&rsquo;t tell you how much I owe them.&rdquo;
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As for how he felt?
First, he was exhausted, acknowledging that he was dead tired by the end of the game.
&ldquo;I had to come out,&rdquo; Wilkins said, joking that on a tired scale of one to 10, he was an 11. &ldquo;I was tired and trying too hard.&rdquo;
And yet, one game remained.
One game to get to 50 wins.
One game to secure his scoring title.
Two days later, the scoring title was Dominique&rsquo;s when both English and Dantley conceded and sat out their final games. After crunching the numbers, even if Wilkins had somehow scored zero points in his last game, Dantley would have needed 68 points in his final game to overtake &rsquo;Nique and English would have needed 70. Wilkins&rsquo; 81st-game output was too overpowering.
&ldquo;I never thought I would be this far ahead going into the last game,&rdquo; Wilkins joked.
Rather than a three-way battle for the scoring title on the final day of the season, game No. 82 against Indiana was all about the Hawks getting their 50th win. As he&rsquo;d done all season, Wilkins said, &ldquo;I got this,&rdquo; and continued his one-man assault on the NBA&rsquo;s defenses. By the time the Pacers looked up, &rsquo;Nique had 25 points at the half, putting him on pace for back-to-back 50-point outings. The Hawks won easily, 108-91, and with the franchise-tying 50th win in hand, he took his foot off the gas and finished with 34 points.
In the end, he won the scoring title by half a point.
He averaged 30.333 points per game, Dantley averaged 29.829, and English averaged 29.802.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take it any way I can get it,&rdquo; Wilkins said after the game.
The season-long performance also earned one final commendation when Dominique finished second in the MVP voting to Larry Bird. Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Charles Barkley finished third through sixth.
***
This was an excerpt from Jon Finkel&rsquo;s new digital biography Windmills &amp; Tomahawks: Nine Chapters on Dominique Wilkins. Buy it on Amazon <a href="https://amzn.to/3rmFUEs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> or buy the PDF on Gumroad <a href="https://jonfinkel.gumroad.com/l/ztFyb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. 
Finkel&rsquo;s books have been endorsed by everyone from Spike Lee and Kevin Durant to Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Cuban. His most recent books are 1996: A Biography and Hoops Heist: Seattle, the Sonics and How a Stolen Team&rsquo;s Legacy Gave Rise to the NBA&rsquo;s Secret Empire. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/Jon_Finkel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

This excerpt from "Windmills & Tomahawks" by Jon Finkel explores how Dominique Wilkins captured the NBA scoring title in 1985-86.

Windmills & Tomahawks: How Dominique Wilkins led NBA in scoring in '86

There are certain things you can count on every NBA season. One of them is a week-long debate in late January surrounding which players should and shouldn&rsquo;t have been named All-Stars.
We can&rsquo;t even agree on who the top-12 players in each conference are, so how on earth were we supposed to somehow figure out who the top 75 NBA players in history were?
Fact of the matter is that we never were.
On Thursday night, the NBA completed its three-day-long process by which it named the members of its 75th anniversary team. It&rsquo;d been 25 years since the league named its 50 greatest players in history in 1996, so &mdash; as has been tradition since the league named its 25 greatest players in 1971 &mdash; it was time to serve up some honors.
Heading into the season, it was unclear whether the league would simply add 25 more names to its top-50 list or effectively start from the beginning. Although there would have been significant overlap, starting anew would have given more players from previous generations a chance at cracking the list.
It wasn&rsquo;t meant to be, though.
As it turns out, the NBA 75 included all 50 of the NBA&rsquo;s Top 50 Players and 26 more (due to a tie).&nbsp;
Bob McAdoo and Dominique Wilkins were the only two nominated players who were snubbed from the top-50 list, with Dennis Rodman and Gary Payton making the cut this time. The other 22 are contemporaries, the great majority of which are no-brainers.
Of the 22 contemporary players named to the 75th anniversary team are 14 with whom the general public can&rsquo;t take issue: Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, James Harden, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade.
To varying degrees, credible arguments could be advanced against the eight others: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Reggie Miller, Paul Pierce and Russell Westbrook. And for Giannis, Davis, Leonard and Lillard, the arguments against them are mostly with respect to their pitch count, which a voter could reasonably decide to go either way when determining whether that should be a factor or not.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
At the end of the day, we ended up with a list of players who can rightfully lay claim to being one of the top 75 in history.&nbsp;
As is always the case, there are some notable omissions, with Vince Carter and Dwight Howard being the two contemporary players who have the best argument as snubs. That&rsquo;s just the way the cookie crumbles. And that&rsquo;s kinda the point.
Whether it&rsquo;s All-Star selections or where a player is drafted in the All-Star draft, the conversation and controversy that surrounds these lists and distinctions is what has made the NBA a multibillion dollar industry. And that&rsquo;s not to say that there&rsquo;s any nefarious or malicious intent on the part of the NBA for bestowing these honors &mdash; the league named 25th, 35th and 50th anniversary teams before the 75th team &mdash; it&rsquo;s just a fact. Our opinions are formed mostly by what we see and a bit of what we hear. As a basketball community dispersed across the world, we have varying degrees of values and exposures that help us formulate our opinions.
It&rsquo;s important that we keep that in mind.
Somewhere in Barcelona, there&rsquo;s a 24-year-old basketball fan who&rsquo;s shocked that Pau Gasol didn&rsquo;t make the cut. RJ Barrett and Dillon Brooks are probably texting Vince Carter as we speak. Chris Bosh is probably looking at his career profile on Wikipedia and comparing it to Reggie Miller&rsquo;s and trying to make sense of it all&hellip; Klay Thompson came out and posted an IG story wondering why he didn't make it. It&rsquo;s the nature of the beast.
Where we can all find common ground and some understanding when it comes to these kinds of exercises is that the league itself doesn&rsquo;t unilaterally bestow any honor &mdash; it doesn&rsquo;t choose its own MVP or name its own All-Stars, so it certainly wouldn&rsquo;t take the liberty of keeping a responsibility with this magnitude to itself. As it always does, the league carefully selected a panel of 88 individuals to vote for their top 75 players and Ernst &amp; Young LLP &mdash; the independent accounting firm the league entrusts most of its matters to &mdash; tabulated the results.
Those entrusted with votes included former NBA and WNBA greats, select members of the media and team personnel. As a class, they can rightfully be entrusted to know the game of basketball, and at the end of the day, this was the most fair way to come to a conclusion, even if Tracy McGrady, Chris Webber or Grant Hill don&rsquo;t like it.
As the NBA begins the 75th season in its long history, the game has continued to thrive and has grown tremendously. Three of the league&rsquo;s teams have received <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nbas-projected-revenue-and-franchise-valuations-reach-alltime-highs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">valuations north of $5 billion</a> and the league is hoping to leverage our curiosity, attention and willingness to watch and debate into another television deal that may see its revenue <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nbas-projected-revenue-and-franchise-valuations-reach-alltime-highs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">triple once again</a>.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
If you go back and evaluate the tenure of the late, great David Stern, it will become obvious that his desire was to help the league expand and to grow the game of basketball. When he took over the league in 1984, it had 23 teams. By the time he stepped down as Commissioner in 2014, it had increased to 30, including expansion into Canada.
For Silver &mdash; whether his intention or not &mdash; the hallmark of his reign has been the expansion of the league&rsquo;s bottom line. Merely months after assuming his role, he came out in support of legalized sports gambling in the United States and shortly thereafter oversaw the league&rsquo;s negotiation on a TV deal that tripled the league&rsquo;s television revenue.
From minimizing the back-to-back games to reducing travel schedules and revising the All-Star game to implementing rule changes, Silver&rsquo;s tenure has seen the league focus on improving the quality of games and making them more fun to watch. We as fans win.
So does the league&rsquo;s bottom line.
In the end, to a large extent, pro sports will continue to be about debating. That didn&rsquo;t begin with the NBA&rsquo;s 75th anniversary team, and, obviously, it won&rsquo;t end with it, either. We&rsquo;ll continue to talk about it, and for sure, we&rsquo;ll continue to argue among ourselves. Just like the league intends.
It's no coincidence that Silver kicked off his annual start-of-season presser by saying, "In terms of our 75th anniversary, we look forward to celebrating the players and teams, both past and present, that have helped shape the league... Many of you I know have created your own lists, and several of them I&rsquo;ve been reading. There&rsquo;s no doubt that the various rankings will generate a season-long debate and conversation among fans and all of you."
Somewhere, Silver is smiling, even if Vince Carter isn&rsquo;t.

The NBA released it's 75th anniversary team and there were snubs, such as Dwight Howard and Vince Carter. But isn't that the point?

There were major snubs from NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, as expected

The NBA released the remaining 25 players of the league's 75th anniversary team Thursday night on TNT.
Here is the official release from the NBA, which lists all 75 players that made the team and the people that voted on the NBA's top 75 players of all-time team:
"A total of 158 NBA championships and 730 NBA All-Star selections. &nbsp;A combined 110 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Awards and Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Awards. &nbsp;More than 1.5 million points scored.
Those are just some of the collective accomplishments of the players who comprise the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, which was announced across TNT and ESPN from Oct. 19-21 as the league tipped off its landmark 75th Anniversary Season.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team was selected by a blue-ribbon panel of current and former NBA players, coaches, general managers and team and league executives, WNBA legends and sportswriters and broadcasters. &nbsp;Voters were asked to select the 75 Greatest Players in NBA History without regard to position. &nbsp;Panelists did not rank their selections. &nbsp;Current and former players were not allowed to vote for themselves.
As a result of a tie in the voting, the 75th Anniversary Team features 76 players. &nbsp;Team highlights include:
&bull; Eleven active players have been named to the 75th Anniversary Team: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook.
&bull; All 50 members of the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, which was named in 1996, have been selected to the 75th Anniversary Team.
&bull; The 75th Anniversary Team includes four players who played in the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951 (Paul Arizin, Bob Cousy, George Mikan and Dolph Schayes), the first winner of the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award (Bob Pettit for the 1955-56 season) and the first winner of the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award (Jerry West for the 1969 NBA Finals).
&bull; Bill Russell joins Cousy, Mikan and Pettit as the only four players who have been named to all four NBA Anniversary Teams: the 25th Anniversary Team (10 players named), 35th Anniversary Team (11 players named), 50th Anniversary Team and 75th Anniversary Team. (The 25th Anniversary Team was the only one of the four teams that did not allow for the inclusion of active players at the time.)
&bull; Six international players from six countries and territories have been selected to the 75th Anniversary Team: Antetokounmpo (Greece), Tim Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands), Patrick Ewing (Jamaica), Steve Nash (Canada), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany) and Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria).
&bull; The five NBA legends who are serving as ambassadors for the 75th Anniversary Season are part of the 75th Anniversary Team: Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson, Nowitzki, Pettit and Oscar Robertson. Representing different eras of the league&rsquo;s history, the ambassadors will make appearances throughout the 2021-22 season and have a significant presence at NBA All-Star 2022 in Cleveland.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team is listed below in alphabetical order, followed by the list of voters. &nbsp;The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst &amp; Young LLP. &nbsp;For player profiles on each member of the 75th Anniversary Team, click here and visit NBA.com/75."
<table style="width: 95.7926%; height: 464px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 27px;">
<td style="text-align: center; width: 149.879%; height: 27px;" colspan="4" width="691">NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Clyde Drexler</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Damian Lillard</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Scottie Pippen</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Ray Allen</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Tim Duncan</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jerry Lucas</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Willis Reed</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Giannis Antetokounmpo</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin Durant</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Karl Malone</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Oscar Robertson</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Carmelo Anthony</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Julius Erving</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Moses Malone</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">David Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Nate Archibald</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Patrick Ewing</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Pete Maravich</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dennis Rodman</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Paul Arizin</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Walt Frazier</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob McAdoo</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Russell</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Charles Barkley</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin Garnett</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kevin McHale</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dolph Schayes</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Rick Barry</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">George Gervin</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">George Mikan</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Sharman</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Elgin Baylor</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Hal Greer</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Reggie Miller</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">John Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave Bing</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">James Harden</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Earl Monroe</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Isiah Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Larry Bird</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">John Havlicek</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Steve Nash</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Nate Thurmond</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kobe Bryant</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Elvin Hayes</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dirk Nowitzki</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Wes Unseld</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Wilt Chamberlain</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Allen Iverson</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Hakeem Olajuwon</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dwyane Wade</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob Cousy</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">LeBron James</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bill Walton</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave Cowens</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Magic Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Robert Parish</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jerry West</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Billy Cunningham</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Sam Jones</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Russell Westbrook</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Stephen Curry</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Michael Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Gary Payton</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Lenny Wilkens</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Anthony Davis</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Jason Kidd</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Bob Pettit</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dominique Wilkins</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 23px;">
<td style="width: 27.0755%; height: 23px;" width="173">Dave DeBusschere</td>
<td style="width: 27.5653%; height: 23px;" width="173">Kawhi Leonard</td>
<td style="width: 19.6609%; height: 23px;" width="173">Paul Pierce</td>
<td style="width: 75.5776%; height: 23px;" width="173">James Worthy</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="width: 97.1703%; height: 798px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; width: 170.677%;" colspan="4" width="719">NBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM VOTING PANEL</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Tim Duncan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Jack McCallum</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">David Robinson</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Marv Albert</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">David DuPree</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Brian McIntyre</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Russell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">David Aldridge</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Wayne Embry</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Ann Meyers</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bob Ryan</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Sam Amick</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Julius Erving</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Yoko Miyaji</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Simmons</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Giannis Antetokounmpo</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Patrick Ewing</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Earl Monroe</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Sam Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Steve Aschburner</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Walt Frazier</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Steve Nash</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Stephen A. Smith</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Charles Barkley</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">George Gervin</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Rachel Nichols</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Marc Spears</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Rick Barry</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Russ Granik</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dirk Nowitzki</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Erik Spoelstra</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Howard Beck</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Becky Hammon</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">John Stockton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dave Bing</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Elvin Hayes</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Robert Parish</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Hannah Storm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Sue Bird</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Ernie Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Candace Parker</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Sheryl Swoopes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Carol Blazejowski</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Magic Johnson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Chris Paul</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Isiah Thomas</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Mike Breen</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Sam Jones</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bob Pettit</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rod Thorn</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Doris Burke</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Michael Jordan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Scottie Pippen</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rudy Tomjanovich</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Jerry Colangelo</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Steve Kerr</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Gregg Popovich</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Peter Vecsey</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Doug Collins</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Bob Lanier</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Shaun Powell</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Bill Walton</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Cynthia Cooper</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Kara Lawson</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Ahmad Rashad</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Rick Welts</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bob Costas</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Lisa Leslie</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Willis Reed</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Jerry West</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Dave Cowens</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Nancy Lieberman</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Tim Reynolds</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Michael Wilbon</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Billy Cunningham</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Zach Lowe</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Bill Rhoden</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Lenny Wilkens</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Stephen Curry</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Jerry Lucas</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Pat Riley</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">James Worthy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Clyde Drexler</td>
<td style="width: 24.8663%;" width="180">Jackie MacMullan</td>
<td style="width: 24.5989%;" width="180">Oscar Robertson</td>
<td style="width: 96.613%;" width="180">Jeff Zillgitt</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Some notable snubs include Tracy McGrady, Bernard King, Alex English, Vince Carter, Tony Parker, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Bob McAdoo, and Pau Gasol to just name a few. This list was part of the NBA's marketing campaign for the league's historic 75th season and will surely spark a conversation/debate amongst NBA fans all over the world.

The NBA released the final 25 players of the 75th anniversary team Thursday on TNT.

Final 25 members of NBA's 75th Anniversary Team announced

76ers fan Marc Lamont Hill discusses the Ben Simmons situation, potential trade scenarios and whether a reconciliation is possible.

Marc Lamont Hill: The 76ers coddled Ben Simmons, then turned on him

One week from now, we will know who is playing in the NBA Finals. It appears it will be the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, but we should have learned by now to never count out the resilience of the Los Angeles Clippers.&nbsp;
And the Atlanta Hawks? Just ask anyone from Philadelphia or New York whether that team should be underestimated.
This is somewhat uncharted territory for Adam Silver and the NBA, who have grown accustomed (along with all of us) to having all eyes glued to LeBron James or Steph Curry at this point of the season.
Also, our NBA body clocks are saying &ldquo;draft, draft, draft.&rdquo; But due to the pandemic, we've all had to readjust to this slightly different schedule. So the end of the Finals are still quite a ways down the road, the draft and free agency are going to happen at the end of the July and beginning of August, respectively. The Olympics are looking like a walkover for a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jerami-grant-to-join-team-usa-james-harden-to-withdraw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loaded Team USA</a>... but we have seen that movie before, and the ending is not always a certainty. FIBA competition usually takes care of that.
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No matter which two teams make the Finals, though, it will be the first time in a long time (or ever) that the Bucks, Clippers, Suns and/or Hawks got that far.
So let&rsquo;s refresh everyone&rsquo;s memory. Or, let&rsquo;s fill in the younger generation on what folks in the four finalists' cities have endured over the years.
PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are one victory away from making the championship round for the first time since 1993, back when Charles Barkley was playing against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. It was the summer before Jordan decided he wanted to change professions and become a Major League baseball player.&nbsp;
The Bulls won Game 1 and Game 2 in that 1993 series, and battled in a classic Game 3 that went three overtimes before the Suns won and chopped the series lead down to 2-1. Chicago won Game 4 at home, but the Suns took Game 5 in Chicago (the format was 2-3-2 at the time) and the series returned to Phoenix for Game 6 on June 20. The Bulls were going for a three-peat under Phil Jackson with a roster that included Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant and John Paxson. Barkley was flanked by Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, Kevin Johnson, Cedric Ceballos and Danny Ainge.
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Barkley and Jordan were friendly, but the edge in competitive streak was in favor of Jordan. Back then, fraternization on off days was common, and Barkley and Jordan were fewer than two years removed from being teammates on the original Dream Team. The way the story has been told, Jordan took Barkley out to Majerle&rsquo;s bar on the night of June 19 after everyone traveled, and the drinks flowed freely... except the drink of choice for Jordan was water.
Then, on the night of June 20, the Bulls were ahead by eight entering the fourth quarter, but then went cold. In the first 6:09 of the fourth, the Bulls didn&rsquo;t score. They committed three shot-clock violations in that span, and Phoenix was ahead 98-96 with 14 seconds left. But the Bulls had the ball, and Grant found John Paxson open at the three-point line for a shot that Paxson drilled. Prior to that, all nine of the Bulls&rsquo; fourth-quarter points had been scored by Jordan. Phoenix had the final possession, but Barkley rolled to the basket off the inbounds play and Phoenix did not get the ball to him. Instead, Kevin Johnson attempted a runner from the lane just before the final buzzer, and Grant blocked it. Game over. Bulls 99, Suns 98. And Phoenix has not hosted an NBA Finals game since.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS 
The Bucks are up 2-1 on the Hawks now after Khris Middleton was Mr. Everything last night in Atlanta except for being Mr. Airball, an award that will be retired in honor of Giannis Antetokounmpo for what he has been doing from the free-throw line the past few seasons, but especially this postseason. These teams will be back at it Tuesday night, and hopefully the referees will be briefed, too, on allowing a player shooting a three-point shot to have enough space to land without turning an ankle because an official was too close. Are there enough ace bandages in "The A" to wrap Trae Young tightly enough to give the Hawks a chance to even this series? Or is Milwaukee advancing to the Finals as a fait accompli currently maneuvering speed bumps?
Whatever the case, the Bucks are favored for good reason, and if they make it to the Finals, it&rsquo;ll be the first time it's happened for that franchise since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s sky hook was a lethal weapon. That was back in 1974, before Kareem decided he did not like living in Milwaukee following a 4-3 loss to the Celtics in the Finals and forced a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, a maneuver for which he was never forgiven in the city where Mike Budenholzer now calls the shots. The Bucks last won a title in 1971, and have not been back since despite being led at different times by Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Giannis, Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon, among others.
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They dropped four straight in the Conference Finals three years ago against the Toronto Raptors, and they went out in seven games in 2001 against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. All of the sports glory in the state of Wisconsin since then has belonged to Aaron Rodgers and Frank Kaminsky, and all those years of losing have been drowned out by beer, cheese, frozen custard, bratwurst and beer. The last time the Bucks won, the team was a member of the Western Conference and the Brewers were still adapting to the American League following the franchise&rsquo;s move from Seattle, where they were known as the Pilots. Al McGuire and Marquette provided a couple years of glory, but aside from the accomplishments of the Packers, there has not been much to celebrate.
But losing is never permanent unless your favorite team is the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Bucks are halfway to breaking through the organization's three-and-a-half decades of frustration. So stay tuned.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 
Ahead of a win or go home scenario in Monday's Game 5, Kawhi Leonard is once again unable able to play, and could be more seriously hurt than the franchise has let on. There are reports out there that he needs knee surgery and is upset with the Clippers' medical staff; one would think the league office would order the Clippers to provide some clarity on this matter, since Leonard is a pretty good basketball player whose health is a determining factor in whether Steve Ballmer&rsquo;s team has a snowball&rsquo;s chance in hell of being championship material.
The Clippers have never been to the Finals, before or since relocating to California from Buffalo, spending 1978-1984 in San Diego. They blew 3-1 leads in the conference semifinals in 2020 (to Denver) and 2015 (to Houston), and went out in six games against Oklahoma City in 2014. There is only so much that Paul George can do without his fellow superstar teammate, and if Leonard is truly done and legitimately unhappy in L.A., the offseason unrestricted-free-agency market just got a heck of a lot more interesting.
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Before they were the Clippers, they were the Buffalo Braves and joined the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1970 along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. Their Hall-of-Famers included Bob McAdoo and Ernie DeGregorio, and in one of the most interesting pieces of NBA cameo trivia, they had Moses Malone for a grand total of two games before trading him to Houston for a pair of first-round picks.
In 1975, the franchise made it to the conference semifinals, but were defeated by the Washington Bullets. Since then, the Clippers have a franchise history that everyone in the NBA outside of Minnesota can laugh at. Except Clippers fans, of course. And those poor folks deserve either our pity or our sympathy. But to Clippers fans and Timberwolves fans, we can only say: &ldquo;The Cubs eventually won, okay?&rdquo; Perhaps that will help.&nbsp;
ATLANTA HAWKS 
Dominique Wilkins was a heck of a hooper and had one of the greatest nicknames in the history of professional sports: &ldquo;The Human Highlight Film.&rdquo; But he never appeared in a single NBA Finals game, and his only championship came with Panathinaikos in 1996 when the &ldquo;Greens&rdquo; won the Euroleague championship.
The Hawks franchise has not won a title since 1958 when they were based in St. Louis, and they reached the Finals in 1960 and 1961 only to lose to the Boston Celtics. The closest they came since then was 2015, when they reached the Conference Finals but were swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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The Hawks are closer now than they have ever been, but when your entire team gets outscored by a single player in a single quarter (Khris Middleton had 20 points to the Hawks&rsquo; 17 in the fourth last night), you really have to dig deep for resiliency &ndash; although we would not put anything past Trae Young at this point. At the very least, the Hawks have two games remaining. In the first round, they bounced back from a Game 2 loss in New York and won the next three. Atlanta was down 2-1 against the Sixers last round and gutted out that series in seven games, winning three times on the road. The team has a terrific mix of young and old, and Nate McMillan has worked wonders with these guys.
A victory in Game 4 would turn this into a best-of-3, and we already know that hostile arenas do not faze them. Middleton had the hot hand in Game 3, and who is to say that Bogdan Bogdanovic or Kevin Huerter or Danilo Gallinari cannot be that type of player for Atlanta sometime in the coming week? Count the Hawks out at your own peril. Knicks fans and Sixers fans will tell you not to take them lightly.
We've got a big week ahead of us. Let&rsquo;s hope it brings more good stories than bad.
But the only thing we know for sure is that one of these four franchises will eventually end a very long drought.&nbsp;

Chris Sheridan refreshes everyone's memory and fills in the younger crowd on what folks in the four final teams' cities have endured over the years.