Grayson Allen, stuck in the middle
After a long history of tripping, pushing, and shoving, why won't Grayson Allen lean into being the villain?
About last night...
Grayson Allen's flagrant foul on Alex Caruso last night was ugly. Unless you remember who Grayson Allen is, and then it's just another smudge on his record:
Some would give Allen the benefit of the doubt. He doesn't explicitly try to take Caruso out of the air. Oh wait, he actually did. That other arm comes in and pulls Caruso to the ground, slamming him down in what looks closer to a WWE finishing move than a basketball play.
I have always loved Grayson Allen as a basketball player. The tripping, the shoving, the "I didn't do what you think I just did even though every replay shows I did exactly what you think I did," I could live without that stuff.
For as long as we've known Grayson Allen, he's always been stuck in the middle. He's either the nice guy who's just trying to do his job, or the dude who goes to the most extreme limits to win — and trying to injure other players isn't beneath him.
The main issue with Allen being stuck in the middle between two on-court personalities is that he won't commit to either one. He plays clean just for long enough to make you forget his past, then he roundhouse kicks an opponent in the balls and table-tops a big man in weak-side help, then he redeems himself until we forget, and the cycle starts anew.
He'd be better off being a consistently dirty player, telling the media he idolized Bill Laimbeer growing up, and never apologizing for his recklessness. It's clear that's who he wants to be — so why keep running from it?
The MVP race is the NBA's premier telenovela. When we count Steph Curry out, he pulls something so grand that we can't help but bring him back into the light:
Steph's having a down year, but it's important that he's in the MVP conversation.
Let me remind you that Steph Curry on fire is still the NBA's premier run-to-the-closest-TV moment (although Ja Morant's in-air acrobatics and the Sixers in "Feed Embiid" mode have been close lately). It just doesn't happen as often, and that's okay. For now, we can celebrate Steph's game-winner as another moment of joy. His numbers may be down, but he's still among the NBA's best bucket fillers.
Scores, stats, & notes
Hornets 121, Thunder 98 — PJ Washington went 6-10 from the field, all threes. Josh Giddey eclipsed a new career-high of 21 points on 10-17 shooting! We will be spewing Giddey propaganda for eternity, I believe.
Lakers 116, Magic 105 — Where does LeBron rank among centers in the NBA? He played the second half exclusively at the five, leading the comeback to beat Orlando with 29 points.
Clippers 102, Sixers 101 — Morey's comments about improving the roster around Embiid hit even harder. 40 and 13 for Embiid, and the Sixers gave up a 24-point lead in the second half to lose to a beaten-down Clippers squad.
Hawks 110, Heat 108 — Don't look now. Atlanta's won three in a row, and held on to this one after almost blowing an 18-point lead. 28 for Trae, and the Hawks narrowly escape with the dub.
Trail Blazers 109, Celtics 105 — Grant Williams' layup with 7:20 left in the game was Boston's last field goal. They made two free throws over the last seven minutes of the game, coughing up the game to Jusuf Nurkic (29 points, 17 rebounds) and the Blazers.
Raptors 109, Wizards 105 — Scottie Barnes looked awesome in 40 minutes of action: 27 points, 12-19 from the field, eight rebounds. Beal led Washington with 25 points and eight assists... and has decided to not sign an extension with the Wizards!
Bucks 94, Bulls 90 — You know those hand glove things that boxing trainers use with their fighters? That's Tyler Cook. Giannis hit him again, and again, and again, on his way to 30 points and 12 boards. DeRozan led all scorers with 35.
Nets 117, Spurs 102 — It's so cool when dudes get opposing triple-doubles. Harden's 37-10-11 looks a bit better than Dejounte Murray's 25-12-10, but both guys were on one. Here's out-of-shape James Harden on Jakob Poeltl:
Grizzlies 122, Nuggets 118 — Morant and Jokic. Electric. That's four straight triple doubles for Jokic, who posted a line of 26-11-12. Meanwhile, Morant erupted for 38 points on 15-26 shooting. A mix of floaters, pull-ups, and acrobatic finishes:
Jazz 111, Pistons 101 — Cade Cunningham is earning the Franchise Player title, and Detroit is on track to draft his perfect sidekick. He's the man. Look at this shit:
Warriors 105, Rockets 103 — The last two of Steph's 22 was by far the most important. Jalen Green finished 0-11 and made three free throws.