The Blazers Beat the Thunder Two Days in a Row

– via SFGATE

It’s not enough that Steph Curry actually speaks out on things that are said about him or his wife Ayesha but on Wednesday afternoon he did just that. Curry took to Instagram to call out Gilbert Arenas, Nick Young, and Emmanuel Acho of the “We Said What We Said” podcast. Last Saturday on their podcast, the hosts said this about Ayesha, who will be starring in a Roku Christmas movie, Second Chance Holiday, that premiered last week.

“The only blemish in the family is the wife in the sense because she doesn’t act like the other superstars’ wives. [Michael] Jordan’s wife, Cookie [Johnson], that’s Magic’s [Johnson’s] wife, Savannah [James], right, where we don’t want to hear you. She hasn’t been the American wife that the public knows.” – Gilbert Arenas, ‘We Said What We Said’ podcast

Curry in his response not only defended his wife but called out the way women are often spoken about negatively in the media.

“I’ve been hearing a lot of noise and usually the noise doesn’t bother me, doesn’t bother Ayesha but, this one in particular when you try to step on the accomplishments of my wife and you know, obviously, leading podcast tapings and topics, giving opinions on somebody else’s wife.

Nick, Gil, Emmanuel [Acho] and anybody else who feels the need to want to have to jump in and give an opinion on something you really don’t know about. Something that kind of speaks to a bigger conversation on how you view women in this world and what they’re allowed and what they’re not allowed to do, even the ignorance behind how acting works, obviously I tried to laugh this off but something needs to be said.”
– Stephen Curry, via Instagram

For what it’s worth, both Gilbert Arenas and Nick Young apologized later Wednesday afternoon following Curry’s Instagram post.

One of the best surprises so far this season has been the Portland Trail Blazers who are now at 8-3 following Tuesday and Wednesday night wins over the Thunder.

OKC, who have been hit with multiple injuries, just couldn’t keep up late as Portland pulled away in the fourth quarter with clutch buckets from Damian Lillard (18pts/3a/3r) and Deni Avdija (28pts/6a) to help end it. The Thunder shot just 11-36 (31%) from three and committed 15 turnovers for 23 Blazers points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31pts/2a, 9-20 FG) was only really able to do damage from the free throw line (13-14) but Portland’s ability to limit him to just two assists was a huge disruption. Outside of Isaiah Hartenstein (20pts/11r/6a, 10-14 FG) no one on the Thunder had more than 3 assists.

Nique Clifford (5pts/3r) made his Thunder debut with an impactful 16 minutes, it’s hard to imagine he won’t continue to get more opportunities sooner rather than later.

Really though, this stretch is about the Blazers announcing themselves as a team to be taken more seriously than people may have expected. In this two-game stretch vs. the Thunder, they’ve missed just three total free throws and hit a combined 38 threes vs. the Thunder defense. Damian Lillard continues to look better and better while Deni Avdija has thrived, looking just as good as he did during last season’s breakout. Add in Toumani Camara (14pts), Jrue Holiday (19pts/5a), and Sidy Cissoko (19pts) making plays on both sides of the court and it’s clear this Blazers team is one to watch.

Nikola Jokic vs. the Grizzlies: 27 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists
After a slow start, the Nuggets have now won five of their last seven games, never trailing on Wednesday vs. the Grizzlies. Nikola Jokic had another great all-around game but I want to specifically highlight is that he had just 1 turnover for the game. On the season he’s averaging 3+ per night so if he can keep that number down, it makes the team that much better. Plus, it’s amazing what a difference Cam Johnson (23pts/4r, 4-7 3PT)) can make when he’s hitting shots and how it helps Jokic and the rest of the offense find room to work.

James Harden vs. the Knicks: 32 points, 4 assists, 5-7 3PT
It has been an extremely down year so far for Harden who notched his first 20+ point performance of the season. It came at the perfect time as the Cavs picked up a win vs. the Knicks, a team that has already beat them once this year. Coming into Wednesday, Harden was shooting 36% from the field, 35% from three and averaging 15.3 points per game. Against the Knicks he went 5/7 from deep, scored 32, and shot 9/14 from the field overall. He may not be able to do this type of thing every game but if he can keep the efficiency a bit closer to these levels, Cleveland is a completely different type of team.

The Entire Brooklyn Nets Team vs. the Pelicans
The Nets put up 81 first half points en route to a huge 145-111 victory over the Pelicans. Eight Nets scored in double figures, the team shot 57% from the field, 49% from three, and committed just 13 turnovers. They outrebounded the Pels 42-28, and just all around dominated the matchup. It’s been a bad stretch for the Pelicans who have now lost by 51 vs. the Warriors and 34 vs. the Nets in back to back games.

Pascal Siakam vs. the Wizards: 28 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists
Injuries have contributed to a slow Indiana start on the season but I’ll be damned if I don’t look and see consistent strong performances next to Pascal Siakam’s name every night anyways. What I love most about his game is how he connects the guards to the front court on both sides of the court. He can make plays for others, challenge defenders, cover for teammates on defense, it’s incredible to watch how easy he makes everything look. Shoutout to Andrew Nembhard (17pts/10a) who helped handle the playmaking but man, Pascal just feels so underrated, especially when Indy is dealing with injuries and a bit more low key.

Franz Wagner vs. the Jazz: 38 points, 8 rebounds
Wagner tied his career-high with 38pts, his third straight 30+ point performance to help Orlando hand Utah their 10th straight loss. This was a back and forth game all night until an 18-3 run by the Magic that included two Wagner buckets, two Wagner free throws and an assist on a Desmond Bane three that put them ahead for good. This week has been a very solid stretch for Wagner who has seemed to find his scoring touch just in time as the team is battling multiple injuries to guys like Paolo Banchero and Tristan de Silva.

I hate to have to keep doing this so early in the season but we had a few more potentially serious injuries pop up on Wednesday as well as updates on a few other key injuries throughout the league.

– Stephen Curry exited the Warriors’ loss to the Rockets after just five minutes in the first quarter. The Warriors are calling it an abdominal strain but it doesn’t sound great.

“Concern is high, but I have no idea the extent of the injury,” Steve Kerr on Steph Curry.

– Austin Reaves left the Lakers’ 7th straight win with a heel injury, x-rays came back negative and coach JJ Redick ruled out any Achilles’ issue but Reaves will have further imaging tomorrow.

– Bulls’ rookie Caleb Wilson left Wednesday’s loss vs. the Spurs with a hand injury in the third quarter and the team had no update, saying more will come Thursday. Injuries to both hands impacted Wilson’s time in college so the injury is especially concerning for Bulls fans hoping for good news.

– Pacers’ All-Star Tyrese Haliburton will miss at least 10 more days as he recovers from a hamstring strain.

– Jazz F Lauri Markkanen to miss at least 1 month with a fractured hand

Really hoping for the best case scenarios for all these guys, we need to see them back on the court doing what they do best!

– “I’m not a loser” – Darius Acuff Jr. speaks candidly on Kings’ 1-10 record

– The Celtics ran what looked like a perfect transition play vs. the Raptors

– Joakim Noah saw Derrick Rose while he was doing commentary and passed Rose the headset live on air

– The Detroit Pistons will honor the 20th anniversary of the 2006 Detroit Shock’s WNBA Championship on November 20th

– The Celtics overcame a 22-point deficit to beat the Raptors

– TJ McConnell got up on his own but his Pacers teammates weren’t having it

– “Have to look at yourself in the mirror” – Zion Williamson on Pels’ blowout losses

Pistons at Wizards

Raptors at 76ers

Mavericks at Timberwolves

Hornets at Suns

Thank you so much for reading today’s HOOPS, I hope you enjoyed it. More importantly, I hope everyone reading this is doing well and enjoying their week so far. See you back here tomorrow, take care.