標籤: mocks

The Los Angeles Lakers recorded their seventh consecutive win by defeating the Houston Rockets 124–116 at the Toyota Center.

The Lakers swept the Rockets in their back-to-back contests, with Luka Doncic and LeBron James combining for their best performances of the season.

Doncic had a near triple-double of 40 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists, while James added 30 points, missing only one of his 14 attempts. He also had five rebounds and two assists.

Doncic had seven three-pointers, including a dagger in the final minute, giving them a nine-point lead. After the game, Lakers coach JJ Redick was asked what Doncic said after hitting the shot. In response, Redick told a joke.

“I’m very excited to go to Miami,” Redick said, per Benjamin Royer of the OC Register.

There is no time to rest for the Purple and Gold as they face the Miami Heat on Thursday at Kasia Center.

Redick has talked about his busy schedule this season and reiterated that he has to deal with it and do his job as a professional.

The 27-year-old Doncic has been poor in his recent win streak, averaging 38.7 points. He has reached 40 points for the third time in seven matches. He is on his way to winning his second scoring title.

At the risk of spoiling it, it looks like the Lakers are peaking at the right time. With great play from Doncic and James, Austin Reeves regaining his form, Deandre Ayton learning to buy in and Marcus Smart playing his role perfectly, they will pose a real threat in the playoffs.

This is not a joke.

San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet has been a constant for the team throughout the season, stepping up in the absence of Victor Wembanyama. He found himself starting for the All-Star big man on several occasions this season, which he jokingly talked about white noise podcast.

“Vic was out for a while and then he was back on minutes restriction and coming off the bench,” Kornett said. “And we were doing pretty well. And nobody really asked me how I felt about it. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Wally Pipp. It was fun too because there was the All-Star thing going on and it felt like I was the starter on the team. I saw a lot of votes going the other way.”

Wembanyama returned to the Spurs lineup this season after playing only 46 games in the 2024–2025 season due to deep vein thrombosis. He made one appearance earlier this season in his third year in the league, but was slightly derailed by a calf strain. After being out for a few weeks, he returned in time for the in-season tournament and Christmas Day games versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the Spurs coaching staff moved him off the bench out of an abundance of caution. Instead, Luke Cornet began managing Vembanyama’s minutes following the injury.

The Spurs were actually able to remain competitive in the Western Conference without Wembanyama, posting a 10–5 record in 15 games without him this season. Kornet certainly played a role, averaging 6.7 points and 6.2 rebounds on 65% from the floor.

Bam Adebayo has been the talk of the town after owning the second-highest scoring game in NBA history after recording 83 points in a 150-129 win for the Miami Heat over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. Adebayo is a career 16 points per game scorer, averaging just under 19 for the season entering Tuesday night, making him a fairly unlikely player to surpass Kobe Bryant’s 81-point masterclass.

But amid all the celebration of Adebayo’s historic effort, there are some who are putting the game under the microscope. Some are downplaying the 83-point night because it came against the hapless Wizards, a team that never stopped fouling Adebayo (Adebayo took 43 free throws and made 36 of them).

Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka wondered how Adebayo, who is not one of the best scorers of all in the NBA, can score 83 – Which says a lot about the Wizards defense.

“The first thing you think of is, not because of him, but because of the way he played. I saw he only made six threes but 40 free throws or something like that, that tells the story right there… and the Washington Wizards,” Udoka said in his postgame presser via @big_business_ on Twitter.

Ime Udoka on Bam Adebayo’s 83-point night:

“The first thing you think about is how … not because of him but because of the way he plays. I saw he only made 6 threes but 40 free throws or something, that tells the story right there and … the Washington Wizards.” pic.twitter.com/PScqMKHBPv

– Ahmed/The Ears/IG: bigbizthegod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) 11 March 2026

(Contrary to what Udoka said, Adebayo made seven threes.)

Wizards’ defense was really suspect in Bam Adebayo’s 83-point night

Adebayo deserves all the credit in the world for all the buckets he made. He went 20-43 from the field and made 36 free throws. But how did the Wizards allow the Heat star to take so many free throws in the first place?

They couldn’t get possession on Adebayo all night, and even in the fourth quarter, they were hacking him almost every time they got the ball. Adebayo deserves all the praise, but the Wizards also deserve their fair share of jokers for their stellar defensive performance.

Alpern Sengun delivered an incredible dunk highlight during Monday night’s clash between the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz.

Sengun is in his fifth year of his NBA career with the Rockets. He has become one of the best big men in the league, helping the Rockets return to relevance.

His offensive skills, especially his play-making, often come to light. What isn’t often highlighted is his dunking tendencies. That part of his game was on full display during Houston’s contest with Utah. The highlight came in the third quarter when Sengun and Kevin Durant used pick-and-roll action to go it ahead. Durant passed the ball back to his co-star, who took a euro step to get past his defender and then leapt into the air for a reverse dunk.

Alpern Sengun with Euro for the Reverse Slam 😮‍💨pic.twitter.com/0OzVBcpvl7

– ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) 24 February 2026

Alpern Sengun, how the Rockets played against the Jazz

Successfully completing it was a big highlight for Alpern Sengun, helping the Rockets blow out the Jazz 125-105 at home.

Perimeter shooting and rebounding made the difference in this matchup. The Rockets won both categories after making 18 3-pointers and grabbing 53 rebounds. It wasn’t the same for the Jazz as they only converted eight triples and grabbed 36 rebounds.

Six players scored in double figures for Houston in the win, including Sengun. He finished with a stat line of 16 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, two blocks and one steal on 7 of 12 shooting from the field. Jabari Smith Jr. made a splash with a performance of 31 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Amen Thompson finished second with 20 points and seven rebounds, Kevin Durant had 18 points and 12 assists, Reed Shepard had 15 points and four assists, while Terri Eason provided 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Houston improved to a 35–21 record on the season and finished fourth in the Western Conference standings. They are one game up on the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves. However, they trail the Denver Nuggets on tiebreakers and the San Antonio Spurs by 5.5 games.

The Rockets will stay at home and await their next matchup. They will host the Sacramento Kings as tip-off takes place on February 25 at 8 PM ET.

While NBA commissioner Adam Silver is busy dreaming of a digital future, Brian Windhorst is ready to pull the plug on simulation.

The 2026 NBA All-Star Game at the Intuit Dome was a huge hit, drawing 8.8 million viewers, the league’s largest audience in 15 years. But while the new “USA vs. World” tournament format actually made the game competitive, Silver’s push for high-tech integration dominated the conversation off the court.

During the broadcast, Silver called AI “the most significant change” in sports presentation in his lifetime, speaking of “hyper-personalized” telecasts that could change the way fans watch sports.

However, Brian Windhorst isn’t exactly buying a ticket to the metaverse. On a recent episode of The Hoop Collective, the veteran reporter mocked the absurdity of the NBA’s obsession with AI.

“Why ban broadcasters? Why not AI commissioners? Why not AI referees? Why not AI coaches? Why not AI players?”. Windhorst asked with heavy sarcasm. “Why isn’t the whole thing just one giant simulation?”

Windhorst’s point hits home because the magic of this year’s All-Star Game was entirely human. No algorithm could have predicted that USA Stripes’ Kawhi Leonard would go completely nuclear in front of his home crowd. Leonard dropped 31 points in 12 minutes of round-robin play, shooting 6-7 from deep to eliminate Victor Wembanyama and Team World.

The human drama continued in the finals, where Anthony Edwards captured the MVP trophy. Edwards led the young USA Stars to an emphatic 47–21 victory over the experienced Stripes, totaling 32 points in the entire tournament. Even “Wemby” brought the intensity, leading the World Team with 33 combined points and eight rebounds, proving that fans still crave the unpredictable energy of a living, breathing superstar.

Silver may want to personalize the broadcasts, but as Windhorst pointed out, if the league leans too much into the “simulation” aspect, it risks losing its soul.