BLACK FRIDAY SALE | Basketball Intelligence for 11/22/23
25% off a yearly subscription! Plus, Orlando's defense, Pacers/Lakers clinch, and more
Folks, for the next couple of days we’ll be running a BLACK FRIDAY sale. Just $37.50 gets you dang near 365 emails per year. That’s about 10 cents a pop — not bad, right? Please support us as we cut through the clickbait and fake trade garbage to deliver the best news stories to you every day!
TEAM STORIES
WAS: Wizards Tyus Jones Mysteriously Absent in 4th Quarter vs. Bucks
David Harrison, Inside The Wizards
UTA: The Jazz were embarrassed by the Lakers on national TV and they deserved it
Sarah Todd, Deseret News
UTA: Keyonte George is the answer for the Utah Jazz
Sarah Todd, Deseret News
POR: Trail Blazers’ defense has no answers for Phoenix Suns during 120-107 loss: ‘That’s just an elite team’
Aaron Fentress, The Oregonian
PHX: Deandre Ayton's return to Phoenix confirms everything we knew about Suns' decision to trade for Jusuf Nurkic
Gerald Bourguet, PHNX
PHI: Sixers fade in OT against Cavaliers in In-Season Tournament matchup
Zach Ciavolella, Philly Sports Network
PHI: De’Anthony Melton’s offensive turnaround fueled by return to basics — and ribbing from 76ers teammates
Gina Mizell, Philadelphia Inquirer
De’Anthony Melton took a pinpoint transition bounce pass from Joel Embiid in stride, then threw down a one-handed slam to help punctuate the 76ers’ second-quarter run against the Brooklyn Nets.
Perhaps to the surprise of Embiid and fellow teammate Tyrese Maxey, who have playfully-yet-relentlessly razzed Melton in recent days about any glitch in his game.
“I’m just excited he can dunk,” Maxey said after Sunday’s game. “… Please, dunk the ball and make some layups. That’s all I ask.”
PHI: 76ers: Their biggest weakness that could silently sink them this season
Nicolas Kyle Pring, The Sixer Sense
ORL: Watch carefully: the Orlando Magic's defense makes opposing offenses disappear!
Mike Shearer, Basketball Poetry
In practice, Orlando combines size, activity, and a variety of schemes to keep opponents guessing. Their favorite tactic is to shade off the worst opposing shooters to a cartoonish degree, ensuring there is always at least one extra body by the rim ready to show early help. That willingness to leave weak or reluctant shooters completely alone to load up the paint gives them more margin for error at the point of attack, enabling their roving band of marauders to take risks and hunt steals.