The Bounce Newsletter 
LeBron James scored 17 points in a Lakers win over the Clippers last night. When you combine the regular season and playoffs, LeBron is now at 49,999 for his career. He’s the first player to ever reach 49,999 combined points. He’s also the betting favorite to be the first player to get to 50,000 points.
Stock Report
Once again, the Cavs can’t be stopped
Every Monday, we check in on the NBA Stock Market to see what you need to be tuned into. Right now, we’ve got Cleveland rolling over everybody again and the Lakers pushing everybody out of the way in the West. And the Bucks are trying to climb back up into the contenders conversation. Here’s your NBA Stock Report!
📈 Cavaliers (50-10): For the third time this season, the Cavs have won at least 10 games in a row. Cleveland won its first 15 games of this season. Then, after the Cavs went “just” 6-4 over their next 10 games, they won 12 straight. After that streak, they went 7-6 in their next 13. Now, have another double-digit win streak going. The Cavs can’t be stopped on offense. Their defense is destructive. They could easily push this run to 15 or 20 straight.
📉 Hornets (14-45): First-time head coach Charles Lee tried really hard early on to get this team to establish a more serious culture. Unfortunately for Charlotte, this is just a team full of unserious players. After winning three straight games in January, the Hornets have gone 3-17. This season, they got swept by the Wizards. That’s four losses in four games against Washington. Three of them were by at least nine points. I don’t care what the records are; the Hornets are the worst team this season.
📈 Lakers (38-21): Don’t look now, but the Lakers are on fire. They’re still trying to figure out everything with Luka Dončić on the court, and they’re trying to get him back into the rhythm on offense we’re used to seeing. Los Angeles has won 18 of its last 22 games and is up to second in the West. The Lakers went from being in a Play-In battle a month and a half ago to now trying to get home-court advantage against anybody not named the Thunder.
📉 The Clippers (32-28) are in danger of sliding into the Play-In Tournament. They are just 1-5 since the All-Star break. Their offense is still atrocious, but now their defense isn’t performing well either. All of these struggles have been road defeats, even the two games against the Lakers at the old arena both teams once shared. They really need Norman Powell to be healthy right now.
📈 The Bucks (34-25) have won five of their last six games since the All-Star break. (It’s really six of seven if we include the game before the break.) Milwaukee has the third-best defense in that span. I don’t know if it’ll work in the playoffs, but maybe staunch defense with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard saving the day on offense can create a deep playoff run.
📉 Timberwolves (33-29): Minnesota did pick up an important win against the Suns (28-33) on Sunday, but it only brought the team to 3-6 in its last nine games. A lot of this has been with injuries throughout the rotation. Donte DiVincenzo missed time. Rudy Gobert hasn’t played since Feb. 12 due to a back injury. Julius Randle finally got back to the court, which is generally hit or miss. A healthy Wolves squad looks a lot better, and we are seeing the young guys on the roster inject some life. But Minnesota just isn’t out of the woods yet.
The Last 24
The Sixers, Magic can’t catch a good break
🏀 Memphis blueprint. The 76ers (21-38) have shut down Joel Embiid. Their next move should mirror the Grizzlies.
🩼 More Magic injuries. Orlando guard Jalen Suggs is having knee surgery. He’s out indefinitely.
🏀 Lakers secret weapon. Los Angeles is rolling, and its defense has been great. This is all about DFS.
📺 Don’t miss this game tonight. Rockets (37-23) at Thunder (49-11), 8 p.m. ET on NBA TV or Fubo (try it for free). This is easily the best game of the night.
📺 League Pass option. Kings (31-28) at Mavericks (32-29), 8:30 p.m. ET on League Pass (get it here). Both teams are banged up, but each needs this one.
How Was Your Weekend?
Steph Curry dunked for first time in six years
Warriors legend Steph Curry is done dunking in NBA games … we think. This comes after Saturday night, when Curry went above the rim for the first time since 2019 against the Kings. That’s not an exaggeration.
Over the weekend, against the 76ers, Curry got a rare chance to be alone on a fast break. He couldn’t help himself and had to get up for the one-handed throwdown. Actually, it was more of a rim-grazer. Well, it was more like a power layup of sorts. But watch Curry get up, throw it down and then point at the Warriors’ bench:
Curry was pointing to Warriors assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse. Apparently, Stackhouse had challenged Curry earlier that day to dunk in a game. It was perfect timing by Stackhouse there.
Except, I have a theory that it thwarted the Warriors’ comeback against the Sixers. Golden State was down 13 in the fourth quarter before starting to find its way back. Curry’s dunk with 7:14 left cut the deficit to five points, giving him 29 points on the night. The Warriors would even cut it down to a one-point deficit moments later thanks to a couple of turnovers and quick scores. But Curry did not score the rest of the game as the Warriors lost by seven. Here is what he said about his latest dunk:
“I will only lay the ball up. It took everything out of me to get up there.”
The Cavs turned Jayson Tatum into a meme: We were all geeked up for the Cavs and Celtics game on Friday night. Their season series had been brilliant up until that point, and this was the last time these two will play until a possible playoff matchup in the conference finals. Early on, it did not deliver on the hype. In fact, the Celtics went up 25-3 in the first quarter. The dominance in the first 4:49 of the game was so emphatic, Jayson Tatum had some choice words for the Cavs.
For you non lip-readers at home, he said. “Get the fun out of here.” Boston was crushing and outclassing the Cavs … until it wasn’t. Cleveland came back in an epic game as Donovan Mitchell scored 41 and Tatum finished with 46 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists. The Cavs dominated the second half to win, 123-116. I’m sure this GIF of Tatum won’t come back to haunt him.
The Nuggets ended the Pistons’ win streak: We’ve been celebrating the Pistons’ recent stretch of success, and we’re very happy Detroit has a winner to cheer for again. Sometimes, though, you run into Nikola Jokić without much you can do. The Pistons brought an eight-game win streak against Denver on Friday and left with an L. But we’re still celebrating!
Quentin Grimes had a career night: Hey, remember that Curry dunk and failed Warriors comeback above? Well, it just so happened that Quentin Grimes was the big story in that game, which didn’t have Embiid or Jimmy Butler. It did have Grimes, who went off. He finished with a career-high 44 points on 18-of-24 shooting from the field. Everything went right, except at the free-throw line. Going 2 of 8 from the stripe kept him from reaching 50.
The Celtics learned their lesson against the Nuggets: Boston had a big game against Denver on Sunday, and once again built a 20-point lead against a potential playoff foe. This game wasn’t quite as pretty as the early stages of Cavs-Celtics on Friday night. Denver came back and cut it to a three-point game with 1:15 left in the fourth, but it never got closer. Progress? 🍀
The story of the greatest players in NBA history. In 100 riveting profiles, top basketball writers justify their selections and uncover the history of the NBA in the process.
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And the Oscar Goes To …
The Bounce had thoughts on the Academy
Like you fine readers out there, we here at The Bounce contain multitudes! We have plenty of interests around the world that go beyond basketball. Some of mine include hanging out in public with my dog, Boogie, or learning about the science of outer space, or loving both good and bad movies. Sunday night, the 97th Academy Awards hit many of our televisions, and I was locked in for it.
1) Conan O’Brien might be my favorite comedic personality ever. 2) One of my best friends, Ian Karmel, was a writer for the night! I had to tune in and support two of my favorites. With that said, I’m not sure my unfiltered thoughts on the night are what you’re looking for. But what if I put it into basketball terms? Let’s try it.
Best Supporting Actor, Kieran Culkin for “A Real Pain”: Russell Westbrook winning his MVP in 2017. He’s very comfortable being him and doing his own thing. He’s a tour de force that couldn’t be denied.
Best Supporting Actress, Zoe Saldaña for “Emilia Perez”: Clyde Drexler winning an NBA title in 1995. Saldaña has been in all the big-budget successes (“Avatar,” Marvel, “Star Trek”), but hadn’t had the big award yet. Drexler had Phi Slamma Jamma, a great Blazers career and an Olympic gold medal. He finally got his NBA championship ring with Houston in 1995.
Best Actor, Adrien Brody for “The Brutalist”: Dirk Nowitzki winning the championship and Finals MVP in 2011. It’s not quite the same timeline, but Brody hadn’t won since 2003. Maybe people thought he was relegated to “Predators” movies. He dominated out of nowhere for the historic win.
“Anora” winning for Best Actress (Mikey Madison), Editing, Screenplay, Best Director (Sean Baker) and Best Movie: With the way the night went for “Anora,” this was the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors unexpectedly destroying the league, Curry winning MVP, Steve Kerr securing Coach of the Year and the team eventually notching the championship. Unfortunately, this turns Demi Moore (Best Actress nominee for “The Substance”) into James Harden and the Houston Rockets at some point.
Best Out of Place Sight Gag: The sandworm from “Dune 2” played the piano and the harp. The Worm, Dennis Rodman, wrestled in WCW from 1997 to 1999.
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(Top photo: Winslow Townson / USA Today Sports )
