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YEERRRRRRR! What’s good, folks? It’s the homie Sykes and you are locked in for another edition For The Win’s Layup Lines newsletter.
Yes, that’s right. They let me come back to send another one of these things off despite me absolutely needing to be jailed somewhere for making a “cha ching” noise on a sneaker unboxing video about Kawhi Leonard’s new shoes. You don’t need to watch it. Just know it was really bad.
…Maybe still go watch it, though. Anyway, let’s jump in.
The Tip-Off
Highlighting some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network
When it comes to breaking down the tape on upcoming prospects and young players around the league, our guy Bryan Kalbrosky is an absolute wizard (no, not those Wizards. He’s actually good).
He gave us another gem with this recent breakdown of Jordan Poole and his spectacular March so far. Bryan says he should be the NBA’s most improved player and I can’t say I disagree — no disrespect to Ja Morant and the other guys in the discussion.
But, uh, anytime you’re mentioned with Nikola Jokic and LeBron James, you’re doing something right.
That was during the first game he played in March and he has since averaged 25.5 points per game. He has reached 30 points on three separate occasions and there are only two players in the Western Conference who have scored as many total points in March: LeBron James and Nikola Jokic.
That dude is on fire.
One to Watch
(All odds via Tipico)
76ers (-1.5, -125) vs. Bucks (+102), O/U 230.5, 7 PM ET
This is must-see television right here, folks. Not only are there two MVP candidates clashing here in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid, but it’s also the tiebreaker between these two as they’ve both already beaten each other once. You smell that, y’all? That smells like playoff implications!
The stakes are high, folks. It’ll be an excellent game. There’s always a lot of scoring between these two sides so I’m pounding the over here.
Who’s in and out?
—Big news! Paul George is officially listed as “questionable” for the Clippers’ game against the Jazz tonight. Barring a setback, he should play for the first time since December.
—Speaking of the Jazz, Donovan Mitchell is off their injury report completely. Rudy Gobert and Bojan Bogdanovic are both listed as questionable.
—Both LeBron James and Anthony Davis are still listed as doubtful on the Lakers’ injury report for their game against the Mavericks.
—X-rays were negative on Evan Mobley’s sprained ankle but it’s unclear when he’ll be coming back for the Cavs. That could mean a lot for the East’s standings.
Shootaround
—This is the sort of investigative journalism we need more of today. A fan found that the Lakers weren’t including LeBron James‘ picture on any of their tweets after a loss and I’m still cackling about this.
—The NBA’s most random feud is between Ty Lue and Daryl Morey and I’m so confused about it. It gets pretty vicious!
—Speaking of LeBron, here’s a look at him through two decades of video games from Hoopshype. The dude looked like a straight-up box in 2004.
—Austin Krell of Sixers Wire explains why the 76ers have a backup center problem they need an answer to ASAP. He also spells out why Deandre Jordan is absolutely not it.
And we’re out! Thanks for reading. We’ll see you tomorrow.
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