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Programming note: There will be no Bounce tomorrow in observance of Veteran’s Day — we’re taking today off from writing and editing. We’ll be back Wednesday. I want to thank my dad and all of the veterans who have served our country.
The Next Curry
Ant is shooting like Steph … seriously
During the first week of the regular season, everybody seemed to notice that Anthony Edwards was shooting a ton of 3-pointers – like, an absurd amount. The Timberwolves superstar took 40 3-pointers in the first three games. I’ll admit I dismissed the people defending this decision by saying, “Well, he’s making 37.5 percent of them,” which is above the 35-36 percent league average most seasons. Sure, that’s good, but we needed to wait for a bigger sample size to see if he’s making good decisions. About that …
It turns out: He is actually shooting 3s even better after 10 games. Edwards has taken 118 3-pointers through the first 10 games – 118! For the non-math majors out there, that’s 11.8 attempts each night. That’s really high. Only Steph Curry and James Harden have shot that many per game for a season (they both did it twice). After 10 games, we can really say Edwards is shooting 3-pointers like Steph. That isn’t hyperbole. That’s math.
In a loss to the Miami Heat yesterday, the 23-year-old Edwards went 4 of 14 from deep. That dropped his accuracy on the season down to 45.7 percent. That’s absurdly efficient and a ton of 3-point makes and attempts for a 10-game sample size. I’ve had concerns that Edwards isn’t driving enough — he isn’t putting enough pressure on the defense with his strength and athleticism. But instead, he’s turning his 3-ball into a strength. Edwards said he’s been imitating Damian Lillard to improve his footwork on shots. It’s clearly working.
Another way to look at it:
- Curry has the record for most 3-pointers made in a season with 402 (2015-16). Harden is second with 378 (2018-19). Curry also has the next four places on that list, and Klay Thompson has 302 makes in a season.
- Those are the only seasons in NBA history when a player has made at least 300 3s.
- Ant has played at least 72 games in every season of his career. If he keeps this pace and plays 72 games, he’ll make 388 3-pointers this season. That would almost double his career-high of 215.
That would be the second-most all time. If he keeps this pace and plays 75 games, Edwards will beat Curry’s record with 405 3-point makes. We obviously have a long way to go, but it’s wild we can even consider this as a remote possibility.
The Last 24
There are too many injuries
🩼 Chet Holmgren fractured his pelvis. The Thunder big man fell hard to the floor after contesting a shot last night and is expected to miss at least two months.
🩼 Zion Williamson is out with a hamstring strain. He’s sidelined indefinitely, which is either a little or a lot. The Pelicans (3-7) are adjusting.
🩼 Kevin Durant is out with a calf strain. The 8-2 Suns will miss him for at least two weeks. How do you replace KD?
🩼 Ja Morant is out with a hip injury. The Grizzlies star is week to week after an odd fall.
🏀 Norm Powell is ballin’ out! Can’t be all injury news. The Clippers guard is thriving as LA enjoys a 6-4 start.
🏀 Bronny made his G League debut. He didn’t have a very good game, but enjoyed a couple moments. Jovan Buha breaks it down.
📚 “The Basketball 100” is available soon. Let’s whet your appetite for this upcoming literary masterpiece with an excerpt on Jayson Tatum. He clocks in at No. 91.
📺 Does the streak continue? The Cavaliers (11-0) are at the Bulls (4-6) tonight to try to become the seventh team in NBA history to start 12-0. The game is at 8 p.m. ET on League Pass. More Cavs talk next!
Stock Report
The Cavs cannot be stopped
We’re into Week 3 of our NBA Stock Report, which lets you know who is heading in the right and wrong directions. The aforementioned Cavs still haven’t lost a game, the Nuggets are on fire and we’re seeing a bunch of teams suffer through injuries right now. Let’s take the temperature of the NBA market:
📈 Cleveland Cavaliers (11-0). The Cavs faced a big test at 9-0 on Friday night with the hot Golden State Warriors coming to town. Cleveland winning that one meant people might sit up and pay attention … and the Cavs were up 41 at halftime. People are paying attention now.
📉 The East. Everybody not in Cleveland or Boston (9-2) is having a rough go of it to begin this season. The Indiana Pacers (5-5) are the only other East team without a losing record. They’re third in the conference. They would be 11th in the West.
📈 Denver Nuggets (7-3). Remember the panic there was about the Nuggets in the first week? (Definitely not from you and me. It was just other people who were panicking. You shouldn’t look for any evidence that we panicked.) Well, the Nuggets have won five straight games and Nikola Jokić is destroying everybody. Just beat OKC and Dallas, too.
📉 New York Knicks (4-5). The Knicks are just 1-3 in the last week, and, while their offense has been good, their defense has been bad. Tom Thibodeau has almost no bench to call on right now. They avoided a winless week by beating the Bucks, but they also lost to the Hawks.
📈 NBA beef. The Bucks (2-7) were up 17 in the second quarter on Boston last night and ended up losing 113-107 despite 43 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo. There was one play in the second quarter when Giannis caught Jaylen Brown with an elbow, and it was called an offensive foul. Giannis held out his hand as a “no hard feelings” gesture, and then this happened.
Brown called Antetokounmpo “a child” when asked about this moment after the game. This also could be symbolic of the support Antetokounmpo has shown his last three coaches. Are you siding with Brown or Antetokounmpo here? Let us know.
📈 Jalen Green revenge. Speaking of beef, Green was the second pick behind Cade Cunningham back in the 2021 NBA Draft. Green has since talked about not wanting to be in Detroit, and he seems pretty happy in Houston. That doesn’t mean there isn’t some drama between him and the Pistons big guard. After Amen Thompson picked Cade clean yesterday, Green detonated on him.
My goodness! I wonder if Cunningham tapping Green’s face after a dunk in high school has been on the latter’s mind at all? 👀
NBA Cup Cometh
Let’s get you ready for Tuesday!
The second annual In-Season Tournament gets going for the NBA tomorrow night. The name was changed to the NBA Cup, but it’s the same madness we saw a year ago when the league first integrated this into the schedule. The courts are different from typical regular-season games. And it encourages running up the score during group play because point differential matters. Here’s what you need to know:
So, when exactly is the NBA Cup? Every Tuesday and Friday between Nov. 12 and Dec. 3 will feature NBA Cup group play action. To break it down further, it’s the next four Tuesdays and the next three Fridays. Then, we’ll have the tournament portion of the NBA Cup starting Dec. 10 and 11. The tournament heads to Las Vegas again on Dec. 14, with the championship on Dec. 17. The NBA Cup champ gets a banner and a trophy, and each player on the roster grabs $500,000 for winning it all.
How does it work? We have six groups of five teams. Three groups in the East, three groups in the West. Each team will play four games within its group. The winner of each group will advance, as well as one wild-card team from each conference. Here are the six groups:
- East A: Knicks, Nets, Magic, 76ers, Hornets
- East B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors, Pistons
- East C: Celtics, Bulls, Cavaliers, Hawks, Wizards
- West A: Wolves, Clippers, Kings, Rockets, Blazers
- West B: Thunder, Suns, Lakers, Jazz, Spurs
- West C: Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors, Grizzlies
Tiebreakers will depend largely on head-to-head record within group play and point differential. So. when you see teams running up the score at the end of these group-play games, it’s actually what they’re supposed to do. That’s eight teams advancing to the knockout tournament portion of the NBA Cup. And yes, all of these NBA Cup games still count for regular-season standings.
What’s your prediction for the whole thing? Give me the Knicks, Pacers and Celtics to win their groups in the East with the Cavs grabbing the wild card. I’ll take the Kings, Lakers and Warriors winning their groups with the Mavericks as the wild card in the West. Let’s go Lakers over Kings and Celtics over Pacers in the semifinals. Then give me the Lakers over the Celtics for the NBA Cup title. I’ve only known the Lakers to be NBA Cup champions, so I’ll pick them until someone else wins it.
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(Top photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images )
