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Welp. Last week’s NBA Game of the Week featured what was to be an Eastern Conference Finals preview, pitting the tenacious Boston Celtics against the beleaguered defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. This game was supposed to showcase the susceptibility of the champs and serve as Exhibit A that the King’s reign over the Eastern Conference was finally coming to an end. Instead, Lebron James reminded us for the fifty eleventh time, (to borrow a phrase from the Ying-Yang Twins), why he is best in the world. Given that he is chasing ghosts, few can question James when he said he is not the one to get caught up in the regular season. That being said, if a 36 point, 10 rebound, 6 assist performance in a 114-91 rout of the second-best team in the conference is not “getting caught up”, then the rest of the Eastern Conference is in trouble. Again.
KD is back. Slim Reaper. Durantula. The Servant. Okay, scratch that last one, but whatever you call him, Kevin Durant returned to action for the Golden State Warriors in a 123-101 win over the New Orleans Pelicans last Saturday. Durant finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists while playing a team-high 31 minutes. Kerr has stated that Durant will not be under any minute restriction and will get all he can handle in terms of playing time for the remainder of the season. Less than a month ago, the Warriors looked vulnerable but with Durant’s return, the deflector shields will be quite operational when teams arrive to Oracle Arena for the play-offs.
The play-offs are here. Speaking of the play-offs, this time next week Off the Glass will have the early returns on the first round of NBA play-off action. In the meantime, get your play-off pregame on with this piece written by Joseph Thiel on the surprise teams in this year’s pro basketball tournament. Also, while you wait on that new Kendrick Lamar album to drop, treat your ears to the latest NBA Outlet podcast where we cover our latest rankings and preview the upcoming play-off match-ups. If you are still waiting on the release of Dr. Dre’s Detox, unfortunately we do not have enough podcasts recorded to tide you over.
More human than human. Okay, ready for this? Last week, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook.... (wait for it)….messed around and got a triple-double! Ha! We are certainly not the first basketball rag to use that line, and we will not be the last, but we’re okay with that. Anyway, Westbrook set a single season record for most triple-doubles with 42, which is literally a triple-double every other game. Basketball-analytics-hipster guy will downplay that feat, while not fully appreciating that getting 10 of anything in an NBA game is pretty freaking hard. That’s okay, Russ. We see you.