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Giannis Antetokounmpo’s incredible start to the season continued Monday, but The Greek Freak wasn’t the only impressive player on a stacked basketball night.
Here’s what you missed if you didn’t tune in.
Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid should scare you
Here’s Ben Simmons:
.@BenSimmons25 on his way to his fourth-straight double-double with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in the first half. #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/dn2XQlOBjS
— NBA TV (@NBATV) October 24, 2017
Here’s Joel Embiid:
Joel Embiid is getting busy early! #HereTheyCome
— Basketball Society (@BBallSociety_) October 23, 2017
(via @clippittv) pic.twitter.com/wmoaG85dod
And here’s what Philadelphia’s future looks like with them working together:
this is an incredible pass from ben simmons. the vision and the execution to put it at a spot where only embiid could catch it pic.twitter.com/2Y3JR5X8k6
— nbaayy (@nbaayy) October 24, 2017
.@BenSimmons25 with the slick dish to @JoelEmbiid for the three! #TrustTheProcess #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/UIYeJhj5CS
— Chat Sports (@ChatSports) October 23, 2017
Simmons finished the night with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists to give Philly its first win of the season. He joined Oscar Robertson and Hambone Williams as the only players in NBA history to record a triple-double in one of the first four games of their careers.
And he does it without shooting jump shots because he doesn’t have to.
That’s nuts.
Draymond Green is disrespectful
First, Green stopped Dennis Smith Jr. at the rim — although he fouled him to do it — before turning around and calling him a baby:
Then, when Mavs rookie Gian Clavell checked into the game, Green was legitimately trying to figure out who he was:
Draymond Green asking the Mavs "hey, who is this?" when rookie Gian Clavell enters the game pic.twitter.com/HkXFzi41Uz
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) October 24, 2017
Move over Patrick Beverley, there’s a new bully in town.
The Grizzlies defense is very good
First, Memphis beat the defending champions by 10. Then on Monday night, the Grizzlies held the high-powered Houston Rockets offense to only 90 points, including just 33 points in the second half and 14 in the final quarter.
The Grizzlies are now one of only four undefeated teams in the NBA, and they’ve had the toughest teams on their schedule during opening week.
LaMarcus Aldridge shoved Serge Ibaka, then fouled him out
After a little jostling back and forth apparently went too far, LaMarcus Aldridge and Serge Ibaka got into a shoving match in the fourth quarter of the San Antonio Spurs’ matchup against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
They were assessed double technical fouls and play continued, but the two big men went at each other late in the fourth quarter. And after Aldridge came up with all glass on one end, and a nice pass by Ibaka led to a missed three on the other, the Spurs’ star sealed the deal with a bucket that put the game on ice:
The Spurs went on to win, 101-97. How they’ve beaten the Timberwolves, Bulls and now Raptors without Kawhi Leonard is something I will continue scratching my head at. (Hi, Pop.)
Skal Labissiere dunked on his teammate
I mean, this is just a crime:
Skal!!!! pic.twitter.com/Ne0XiRqOFc
— NBCS Kings News (@NBCSKings) October 24, 2017
Jordan Bell left Kevin Durant speechless
With the Warriors up 25, Bell did what any person trolling his opponent in NBA 2K18 would do and threw himself an alley-oop off the backboard:
!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/0QA0f2wUrX
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) October 24, 2017
Just look at Durant’s face:
Giannis keeps Giannis-ing
OK, “Giannis-ing” isn’t a thing and never will be. That’s fair. I’ll accept that.
But after getting off to the best three-game start in Bucks history since Ray Allen, Giannis Antetokounmpo just kept going. He had 32 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists in Milwaukee’s 103-94 win over Charlotte on Monday.
And he made everyone look like an infant along the way:
32 PTS, 14 REB, 6 AST....W.
— NBA (@NBA) October 24, 2017
Giannis continues his red hot start for the @Bucks! pic.twitter.com/GeSh0TgFuK
Antetokounmpo’s monstrous Monday night gave him a total of 147 points, 43 rebounds, and 21 assists through the first four games. No one in NBA history has that stat line through four games, according to NBA.com stats, and his 147 points surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s mark of 146 points set with the Bucks in 1970:
More Giannis:
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) October 24, 2017
His 147 points through 4 games are the most in @Bucks history, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's total of 146 (1970-71). pic.twitter.com/tlMBBRmYIy
Abdul-Jabbar is also known as the man who’s scored more points in NBA history than anyone else, ever, in life. And if Giannis is already checking Kareem off his to-do list, the league should be scared.
The Suns finally won a game
After losing their first three games by a combined 92 points — including two 40-point losses and the worst opening night defeat in NBA history — then firing their head coach, who was the least of their worries, the Phoenix Suns beat the Sacramento Kings by two.
In related news, here’s Phoenix’s upcoming schedule:
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2-14, anyone?
Monday’s NBA scores
Grizzlies 98, Rockets 90
Bucks 103, Hornets 94
Spurs 101, Raptors 97
Warriors 133, Mavericks 103
Suns 117, Kings 115