This Week In Basketball can only say, once again, that we love it in the afternoon
I'm testing out a new format with one of my go-to column presentations. Input is welcomed and encouraged
Do you like a 2:30 tipoff?
That was the question posed to me Sunday afternoon by American Airlines Center public address announcer Sean Heath.
For myriad reasons: Very much so, Sean.
An afternoon tip ...
🏀 Feels more like a playoff game …
🏀 Often creates more of a window to virtually meet up with Chris Haynes for an evening podcast …
🏀 Generally leads to an appetizing dinner (since I'm already out) …
🏀 And in the case of Heath's beloved Mavericks ... make that two consecutive Sunday 2:30 PM local starts that have delivered absolutely absorbing games with ridiculously taut finishes.
On March 17, Dallas played host to Denver in a nationally televised duel that was unforgettably decided by Kyrie Irving's lefty running fling over Nikola Jokić from beyond the free throw line that probably ranks as the most stunning buzzer-beater that I've ever seen live. Then the Mavericks, on the first Sunday in April, followed it up by falling into a 22-point hole against the Houston Rockets ... only to claw out of their despair and formally eliminate the Rockets from playoff consideration with a 147-136 win in overtime.
An OT victory, to be more precise, that was achieved only after Dallas' Dante Exum hit a right-wing triple right at the regulation buzzer ... and after A) 83% free throw shooter Jabari Smith Jr. missed two in a row from the stripe to set up Exum's heroics and B) Houston failed to foul before a double-teamed Luka Dončić managed to get the ball to a wide-open Exum.
Irving (48) and Dončić (37) combined for 85 points and P.J. Washington sank two clutch 3s in the extra period, but it was the latest exhibit that Exum — with his ballhandling, two-way play, size and much-improved shooting from distance — is one of the most important players for a team that happens to be on a 14-2 surge that has lifted Dallas from the eighth seed to No. 5 in the West.
Exum, remember, is in Year 1 of a two-year, $6.2 million contract that he earned after spending two seasons in Europe, including last season’s stint with Partizan Belgrade in Serbia, to try to re-establish himself as a player NBA teams covet. The former No. 5 overall pick (2014 draft) is the 289th highest-paid player in the league this season, tied with San Antonio's Julian Champagnie and Toronto's Jordan Nwora at $3 million among the 502 players found in the database of my pal Keith Smith (
As for yours truly ...
Just waiting for my next 2:30 PM tipoff. Eagerly!
On now to the rest of the week-in-review roundup that I've begun publishing on Sundays.
Stories of the Week (published here)
Monday: When the week began — before the Rockets followed up a stunning 11-game winning streak with a five-game losing streak — #thisleague was on course to feature 19 teams with winning records at season's end for the first time in league history. Which is exactly the sort of statistical novelty that I love to discuss in the Monday Musings.
Tuesday: The Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza focused on the worst teams in the league managing to tighten up sufficiently on the defensive end in the second half of the season to ensure that 2023-24 won't go down as a historical embarrassment for the likes of Portland, San Antonio, Washington and Detroit.
Thursday: I participated in a survey assembled by my longtime colleague Royce Webb in which he asked various writers across NBA Substack to pinpoint the things they've hated about the 2023-24 regular season.
Friday: This is Part 2 of Royce's survey featuring the things that I (and several other scribes) have loved about this season.
Games of the Week (that I attended)
Thursday: Mavericks 109, Hawks 95
Friday: Mavericks 108, Warriors 106
Sunday: Mavericks 147, Rockets 136 (OT)
Podcasts of the Week (that I co-hosted)
Tuesday with Turner Sports' Chris Haynes:
Radio Show of the Week (that I hosted)
The Saturday Stein Line on 97.1 (FM) The Freak:
Plus my Radio Guest Spot of the Week with Sportsnet 590 AM in Canada:
Sick Burn of the Week
A friend in Los Angeles was watching the NBA TV buildup to Rockets at Mavericks on Sunday afternoon and couldn’t wait to razz me after the enclosed scene blipped onto his TV screen:
"Journalist or security guard?" read the text message.
Ouch.
Cameras really are everywhere.
Tweeted Factoid of the Week
With two more points Sunday, Kyrie Irving would have forced an addendum to this above list.
Meal of the Week
Miznon Dallas, as covered in this cyberspace last Sunday, has been open for about a week now. (I'm not sure I'm ready to reveal how many times I've been there in that short span.)
But I couldn't resist devoting this section to more of my predictable-yet-scrumptious dining there.
Coffee(s) of the Week
I am also completely unable to resist ordering multiple coffees in one sitting from a coffee house I love.
Witness the proof from this visit to The Berni Bean Coffee Company also found in Deep Ellum, Texas:
That's a café con leche on the left and a cortado on the right.
Quote of the Week
"He's a tremendous player. Him and Jokić are the best duo in the league and it's tough to guard them."
— Atlanta’s Bogdan Bogdanović on Denver’s Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray.
This quote jumped out at me for two reasons:
It was Murray’s first game back after he missed the previous seven thanks to a strained right knee. The Nuggets throttled the Hawks, 142-110, and have had to play without Murray in 23 of their 78 games this season. Yet they remain deadlocked atop the West with Minnesota at 54-24 entering the season’s final week … with the Nuggets playing host to the Timberwolves on Wednesday and Karl-Anthony Towns-less ‘Sota holding a 2-1 lead in the season series.
The Hawks played in Dallas immediately before playing in Denver … meaning that Bogdanović had just gotten a look at the duo of Luka and Kyrie before making this proclamation.
Final Word(s) of the Week
As I've mentioned often previously, I loved loved LOVED This Week In Baseball in my youth and have frequently compiled what I have referred to as TWIB Notes on this Substack to pay homage to the great Mel Allen and that life-changing show which debuted in 1977. Now my goal is to make it more of a roundup every Sunday of what I wrote, said, did, saw and maybe even ate, bought, etc., in a given week … with categories that I suspect will evolve as I get a better handle on what this piece should look like. Your feedback is welcome and appreciated in the comments section below.