Good morning! Paul George has made his return to the Clippers as the Lakers continue to plummet in the standings. Plus, we’ve got some interesting news from Bill Simmons.
PG-13 is Back!
Paul George made his return to the Los Angeles Clippers last night after missing months of action, and he did not disappoint. In a rematch of the Western Conference Semi-Finals against Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and the Utah Jazz, George dropped 34 points in a 25-point comeback win.
The Clippers are now the 8th seed in the Western Conference, with a record of 37-39. Overall, the team has done a great job staying afloat without George and other wing superstar Kawhi Leonard. There have been some rumors that Leonard could be back for the start of the playoffs; could you imagine the Phoenix Suns or Memphis Grizzlies having to play George, Leonard, and the Clippers as a first-round matchup? When healthy, this team is a title contender. These playoffs are going to be interesting.
Time Lord Out
Robert Williams has suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee, and will be out indefinitely. There currently isn’t a timetable for his return, but we know he’ll be out for at least the rest of the regular season and some of the playoffs.
This injury comes at the worst possible time for the Celtics, who have had one of the best records in the NBA, and the best defense. This is in large part due to Williams, who forces opponents to shoot 35.5% from the field, well below the league average of 46%. Williams actually has been playing well enough to be considered a DPOY candidate, and with him on the floor, the Celtics were considered title sleepers. While they do have Daniel Theis and Al Horford on the roster, it’s going to be difficult to replace the impact Williams has on the team, if not impossible. The team isn’t going to rush him back for this year, as their core is young and they want to be in this for the long haul.
Get better soon, Time Lord.
Bill Simmons Goes Full Woj on Us
This comes about a month late, as am I very behind on watching my episodes of the Bill Simmons Podcast. However, on February 28th, Simmons dropped a huge piece of news for us. “I have some intel,” said Simmons. “I think the league is going to expand to Vegas and to Seattle. And I think the leading contender to get that Vegas team is the Fenway Sports Group, that has Liverpool, they bought the Penguins. They’ve been circling different NBA teams for a while, I think they looked at Minnesota. I think they’re the leading contender to Vegas.”
Wow! Two more NBA franchises does make perfect sense for the league. The NBA is so full of talent right now, more so in the past decade. That could easily be spread out over two more teams. Plus, with 16 teams in each conference (presumably), exactly half of the conference would make the playoffs, and half would be sent home. Right now, eight teams are sent to the playoffs, and seven go home, which seems a bit in-balanced. This probably won’t happen for at least a few years, but it’s worth keeping in the back of your head.
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