Dropping Dimes is back and in a new guise: After almost all teams have managed the first quarter of the season more, sometimes less well, it is time for precious metals in the form of the SPOX Awards. One of the surprising findings was that there are indeed curry haters.
SPOX in the first edition of Dropping Dimes answers the really important questions that have arisen so far in the 2021/22 season: What was the best game of the young season? Why do the Kings fans feel like puke? And why doesn’t anyone listen to Mama Morris?
NBA: The best performance of the first quarter of the season
STEPHEN CURRY
50 points in one game? What the heck, the chef has already set off such fireworks ten times in his career. Nine threesomes? Pff, please. Curry already has 38 such games in his account. Plus two MVPs, three championships, safe Hall of Famer. “With this summary, what’s big about having 48 or 50 points. I don’t get it”, lamented Hawks commentator Bob Rathbun. At the end of a blowout bankruptcy in Atlanta, he took refuge in bitterness. That’s what Wardell Stephen Curry II is doing to people these days.
His 50 burger against the Hawks in mid-November is still the current season record, and he not only extended his lead in the 9-threesome explosions – 38: 9 (!!!) compared to the runner-up in this ranking James Harden – but also distributed 10 assists. As the oldest player with a 50/10 game, the 33-year-old converted a 15-point deficit into his own blowout win.
“I would like to say that I’ve never seen anything like this, but I’ve been seeing it for seven years now,” said Dubs coach Steve Kerr, confirming the, well, ordinaryness of this event. In contrast to Rathbun, he then made a jubilation aria: “It still remains unbelievable! That was a breathtaking performance by Steph.” Sorry, Rathbun, but here we go with Kerr.
Runner-Up: Giannis unscrews the Lakers – Young catches fire against the Bucks – Rubio kills the curtsey
SPOX Awards: The best beef of the first quarter of the season
JOKIC BROTHERS VS. MORRIS TWINS
“The NBA has gone 0 days since being unnecessarily dramatic.” In the first quarter of the 21/22 season, the Twitter universe didn’t feel like posting this meme every time it was appropriate. There was a lot of beef, and we could have continued the runner-ups at will. When awarding the award, however, you cannot avoid the Stewart-LeBron tumult and the Jokic family vs. the Morris family. After twelve rounds, the points win goes to the last-mentioned dispute, which may not have been put to the files yet.
The short version: Heat-Forward Markieff Morris fouls Nikola Jokic when the game has actually already been decided. The Joker takes revenge with a nasty nudge in the back of his opponent. This is followed by scuffles, nasty words, bad blood, ejections, an angry heat team waiting for Jokic in front of the Nuggets booth, and bans. Quite classic actually.
If it weren’t for the hot-blooded Jokic brothers Nemanja and Strahinja. The Serbs are not a blank slate in NBA beef circles, already in the playoff series against the Suns 2021 they were apparently ready for their brother to snap their fingers properly to go into battle. And you really don’t want to mess with the Jokic brothers. Would you like an example? Nemanja is a successful MMA fighter.
The Morris twins did it anyway, Marcus joined the argument online. Then the Jokic brothers set up their own Twitter account – which unfortunately no longer exists, but its authenticity depends on the Denver Post was confirmed (yes, seriously) – to leather against Marcus Morris. Mama Morris had warned against social media. “Don’t talk so much on social networks anymore, Mom said. There you have it”, wrote Morris later. If he would have listened to her once.
It could be exciting again on Tuesday night. Then it’s the second leg, this time in Miami. The Jokic brothers are said to have already secured tickets.
Runner-Up: Stewart vs. LeBron – NBC Sports Boston vs. Westbrook – Cleveland vs. Kuzma – Chicago Sky vs. WNBA-GOAT Diana Taurasi
NBA: Worst “teammate” of the first quarter of the season
WASH BALL
Speaking of unnecessarily dramatic: For a long time it was relatively quiet around the ball family head LaVar. Until the weekend when the screamer publicly messed with the Charlotte Hornets. As a reminder: The Hornets are the team for which the youngest ball offspring LaMelo is quite successful in the NBA and for which the middle ball offspring LiAngelo plays in the G-League.
But that’s exactly where the dog is buried. “I gave them a superstar in the G-League, but they don’t know what to do with him,” added LaVar TMZ Sports against the franchise. “You don’t know what’s wrong with him. You have to let my boy off the leash and play.”
LaVar wouldn’t be LaVar if he didn’t already have a detailed plan for his son’s future career. “I wanted to have him with the Lakers, but then they gave Zo (Lonzo, editor’s note). Then I said Charlotte and now I have a new destination: LA Clippers, let’s go!”
LiAngelo has put on an average of 9.3 points and 1.5 rebounds at 57.7 percent from the field in four appearances for the Greensboro Swarm. After 22 points in the first game, Ball’s minutes and yield decreased more and more. In the past four games he only stewed on the bench with a DNP CD.
Runner-Up: MJ has had enough of his players – Pippen has had enough of MJ – Simmons has had enough of the Sixers – Davis is fed up with Howard
SPOX Awards: The best news of the first quarter of the season
THE NEW RULES ARE A BLESSING
“The best the league has done in recent history,” applauded Kyle Kuzma. “I love it, the game has become more authentic again,” said Warriors coach Kerr. And Draymond Green called it “satisfying to be able to watch basketball without those awful calls”. As long as you don’t ask James Harden or Trae Young, the rules introduced for the new season are a complete success.
Even with a large number of fans, it is well received that stealing contact, for example to force free throws, is no longer punished after the rule changes in the offseason. In the first few weeks of the season, the refs allowed a more physical style of play, which benefited the attractiveness and the flow of the game.
Such scenes now end in an offensive foul or strange “throwing attempts” like this one end up as an airball. The NBA’s goal over the summer was to remove “abnormal, abrupt, or overtly non-basketball plays” from the game. As a neutral basketball fan you can only welcome that – as well as fewer free throws in general.
“That’s fantastic,” said Green, summarizing the new features. We like it too. The only appeal to the NBA: Now the take fouls in the switching game must also disappear! The league is reportedly already working on it.
Runner-Up: After all, not the whole world has conspired against Harden – Hornets commentator Eric Collins is an NBA sanctuary
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