Subjective direction emits Cade's ejection
We can do better than litigating to whom a finger was pointing at.
About last night…
Cade Cunningham and Devin Booker were going back and forth in their Sunday matinee matchup. The Suns were clearly outpacing the Pistons (as they should), but watching Cunningham blossom against one the best guards in the NBA was a joy. Booker flew in for a nasty one-hand tip dunk in the third quarter. The very next play, Cade came down and dunked on Jalen Smith's head — and then got ejected.
If you watch close, Cade immediately points in the general direction of either Jalen Smith, Devin Booker, or the Pistons' bench. The ref gives him his second technical foul, he tries to figure out what's going on, and then he goes over to dap up Monty Williams and leaves.
Well, who was he pointing at?
It's a bizarre situation. I don't think refs should be in the business of handing out T's to players who are not celebrating in an offensive manner — especially the only player in which every Detroit fan came to see. (They don't have too much else going on over there.)
Cade might get fined, the Pistons may have lost, but all of us are winners for another one of the great NBA memes of 2022:
Rudy Gobert returned to the lineup for Utah. Guess what? They won! And it wasn't because of this shot:
That's a more-than-three-quarters-of-the-court one arm baseball throw off the glass. Gobert went 7-7 from the field for 18 points and 19 rebounds. He played good defense on Nikola Jokic, only holding him to 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 14 assists.
Scores, stats, & notes
Suns 135, Pistons 108 — Satisfying box score alert: Booker had 30, McGee and Payne each had 20, and Bridges and Paul each had 10. Cunningham and Cory Joseph each led Detroit with 21.
Rockets 118, Kings 112 — The formerly suspended duo of Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr. scored 23 each to beat the Kings. Check out Terence Davis, with the coast-to-coast crush:
Timberwolves 119, Warriors 99 — This is the Karl-Anthony Towns I want to see every night:
Jazz 125, Nuggets 102 — I've said it so many times. The Jazz get so much production. Their offense shines in games when Gobert (who had a plus-minus of +36) plays. Rudy might not be able to guard good centers, but boy, does he shut the game off for perimeter players in the paint. Ever since Jazz-Nuggets went crazy in the Bubble, I've been itching to see it again.