Good morning. Let's basketball.
JUST KEEP GIVING, JUST KEEP GIVING: Whoa! We're at $3,965 in the Sleep Train Foster Kids fundraiser extraordinaire! Cheers to our Wednesday donors Dario Vismara (grazie!), Tom Hinkes, Chris White, Alex Wong, Sean McGoey, Tyler Dishaw, Cam Bennett, Brennan Lewis, Michael Coke, Chris Johnson, Dan Devine and one anonymous donor. High fives all around! You can join the club by donating any dollar amount between now and Dec. 25.
SCORES SCORES SCORES ...
BOS 105, CHI 100
CHA 99, MIA 81
HOU 109, WAS 103
MEM 93, DET 92
TOR 97, SAS 94
LAC 109, MIL 95
MIN 123, LAL 122
PHX 107, ORL 104
UTA 106, NYK 85
ATL 98, DAL 95
DAJ DON'T HURT 'EM: Oh no. DeAndre Jordan has claimed another victim. We wish your pride well in its recovery, Greg Monroe, who was smited by DAJ on Dec. 9 in the year of our Basketball Lords 2015.
CHARLOTTE! No. 2 seed in the East and only a game out of No. 1. How about that? (Meanwhile, Al Jefferson got suspended for violating the drug policy. A five-game suspension typically means a third failed drug test for something soft like marijuana.)
BWAHAHA: Down two, Matt Barnes grabs the defensive board with just under six seconds to go. He dribbles up the court. His coach is screaming for a timeout. Instead, Barnes heaves a halfcourt shot with time left and ... nails it. Memphis wins. What a world.
CHECK OUT D'ANGELO RUSSELL! He hit a clutch shot for the Lakers and got dap from Kobe! The Lakers lost.
SPEAKING OF D'ANGELO: Nice Michael Lee piece on the kid's struggles to adapt in a bizarre environment.
PEOPLE LOVE FREE STUFF, PART 1003: There was serious drama over free chicken sandwiches at Knicks-Jazz.
EASY EVAN: Extremely casual (and thus impressive) 360 dunk from Evan Turner. Meanwhile, Steph Curry's layup line 360 is slightly less casual but just as cool, especially in slow-motion.
SUPER DERRICK: Derrick Favors is coming alive!
IN PRAISE OF DALA: Yaron Weitzman on the impact of Andre Iguodala. PLUS! Steph says the Warriors' brand of small ball is inimitable. He's right.
THIS IS NOT BASKETBALL: Alex Siquig frames the Nets as a dadaist art.
THIS KID CANNOT EVEN: Kevin Durant donates a grip of money to a school for homeless children, visits the students and makes a kid feint fainting.
AN IMPRESSIVE TRIBUTE: I would not shave a likeness of Kobe's face into the back of my head, but I'm glad this gentleman did.
HEY MAN: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar still goes hard in the paint.
TONIGHT TONIGHT: Your TNT doubleheader features Clippers at Bulls followed by Knicks at Kings. Before those, one of the single least attractive matchups of the year: Nets vs. Sixers. [shudders]
Happy Thursday. See you next time.