Frauds Emerging - Lakers Hold Off Label For One Game

Fraud - everyone not named Giannis (34/18/7) on Milwaukee.

Ultra Fraud - Grizzlies. 2nd in the West in 2022. The exact same roster. Not a prayer at winning a game vs OKC.

Lakers play a desperate game and hold off the Wolves for a 85-94 win. Minnesota’s lowest offensive output of the season. Teams combine to shoot a bricktastic 11-54 from deep.

Radical Wrigley night game produces Cubs walk-off over the Dodgers. Byron Buxton saves the Twins. Nats slap crosstown rival Orioles 7-0. Nat Slap!

More below: Max Scherzer reads his scouting report from 2008. Just how bad did the Bucks waste Giannis and is he destined to be a Knick (or Rocket or mystery team)?

If we’re going to talk that Thunder Talk, we should walk that Cavalier Walk. A 15 game win streak to start the season topped by another 16 game win streak later. The league’s best offensive rating (122.9). Probable first team all-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell paired with likely first team all-defense big Evan Mobley. This is a balanced, complete roster that combines size, space, and depth.

Cleveland deserves credit for building a contending roster in the post-Lebron and Kyrie era. How many franchises get stuck in the basement after a window of success? Charlotte, Washington, the post-Kawhi Raptors. Without an excellent Evan Mobley selection, a deft Lauri Markannen-Donovan Mitchell trade, and filling out the roster with Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, Ty Jerome and more, the Cavs could have fallen back to their cellar dwelling ways.

Is this a different era and a different roster than the late 2000’s Hawks? Iso Joe Johnson made six straight All-Star games. Josh Smith played like a modern stretch four. Mike Bibby steered the ship and the Hawks made the 2nd round of the playoffs three years in a row. No one remembers them. Their existence might be a bright spot in Atlanta, but they aren’t considered in Serious Basketball Circles as a team of Impact. The East has a way of producing complete basketball teams, but not always compelling playoffs. Lebron’s dominance over the Hawks and then the Raptors (Kyle Lowry and Derozan) limited the volume of competitive and awesome playoff games. Since his move West, the Celtics-Heat games are the East’s best.

Could that be changing? The Cavs and Knicks have to challenge Boston. The Magic and Pistons are serious basketball teams but maybe a year or two away. These playoffs will go a long way in determining the gap between Boston and the rest of the conference. If it’s smaller than it appears (or if Boston loses), then we could be primed for a new, competitive, deep East.