Cody puts down the rock and pauses to share his love for everyone struggling right now before dishing out the highlights from another epic NBA weekend.
I have been writing the Weekend Rebound for many weeks now. I usually start out with a statistical trend or something interesting that has caught my eye. Instead of that, I want to start today by wishing people well.
Like millions of people. So many are staring down so much. Waves of tragedy continue with COVID entering year two and disasters like the fires in California and the ice in Texas. That’s not to mention the ever present specter of institutional racism that claims lives every day.
Mental health challenges are skyrocketing as our worlds acts like they are shrinking. Please, be kind to one another in any way you can muster. If you have the strength to seek help, please try. If you can donate to relief efforts, thank you. If you can’t, thank you too.
It can be overwhelming when all we hear about are the mostly white male leaders propped up by intentionally broken systems shirking their true responsibilities. That’s why for me, it is important to remember that there are good people doing good work to support their communities. Thank you to those people that show up every day to stick out a hand, even if that hand has to be digital or distanced right now. If you’ve read this, thank you for letting me vent for a moment. I am holding you all in the light as much as I can.
For the trivial little slice of escapism that it brings, a thank you to sports. Let’s look at some numbers.
Joel Embiid punished the Bulls for 50-17-5-3. Jamal Murray also dropped 50 against the Cavaliers. This marks the first time two guys scored 50 on the same day since…earlier this season. I just have to say that Embiid is unstoppable right now. It’s everything I’ve wanted from him as a basketball fan and dreaded as a Celtics fan.
Chris Paul dished 19 assists on Friday when the Suns dismantled the Pelicans. That’s the most assists by a player this season.
Chris Paul is also leading the league in FT% for players taking more than 2/game (and playing minimum 15 minutes in 10 games). He’s hitting 97%. Second place? His teammate Dario Saric at 96%.
Giannis had 29-19-8 and 3 BLK against the Thunder. His numbers are just routine at this point. It’s kind of unfortunate that we’ve become numb to his greatness as a consequence of his playoff struggles.
Draymond Green got two technical fouls with 9 seconds left against the Hornets on Saturday. That’s not good. To make it worse, the Warriors were up 2 at the time. Terry Rozier tied it and then sunk the fall away game winner to stun Golden State. That can’t be a fun plane ride home.
The Heat, after making the finals last season, have clawed back into the play-in game in the East. They squeaked out a win against their finals foe, the Anthony Dav-less Lakers, on Saturday.
The Boston Celtics were up 24 points over the New Orleans Pelicans in the third quarter on Sunday and somehow lost. Led by Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, the Pelicans just swallowed up the Celts. They certainly earned it, but the Celtics are a mess right now.
The Orlando Magic have won 4 of their last 5 and Nikola Vucevic put up stat lines of 37 PTS, 12 REB, 2 BLK and 30 PTS, 16 REB, 10 AST.
The Nets won their sixth straight game by beating the Clippers on Sunday. Their last four of which have been without Kevin Durant and against playoff bound west teams in the Clippers, Lakers, and Suns. As for the Clippers game, that game winning flop by Harden was so annoying.
