Starting 5, Feb. 14: Shaq honored in Orlando; Jayson Tatum & Anthony Edwards keep rolling
“In basketball, I want to be remembered as one of the most dominant players ever. In real life, I want to remembered as ‘he was a nice guy.’”
– Shaquille O’Neal, on the night his No. 32 was retired by Orlando
THE LINEUP
Suns outlast Kings out West
️ Roundup: Six game night
Shaq’s jersey retirement
3️⃣ Clips & Dubs x 3-point history
Pass The Rock: Tyrese Haliburton
ESPN Doubleheader: After having their nine-game win streak snapped on Monday, the Cavs will look to start another when they host the Bulls (7:30 ET, ESPN). The Warriors go for their sixth straight win (would be their longest streak in two years) when they host the Clippers (10 ET, ESPN, See Section 4).
❤️ Valentine’s Day Love: Kevin Love will play on Valentine’s Day for only the second time in his career when the Heat visit the Sixers in the City of Brotherly Love (7 ET, NBA App). Last time: Love had 12 pts and 11 reb in a Wolves loss to the Blazers in 2011.
Pascal back in the North: Siakam returns to Toronto for the first time since being traded to Indiana (7:30 ET, NBA App). During his seven-season run in the 6, Siakam earned two All-Star and two All-NBA honors, won Most Improved Player and the NBA title in 2019, and rose into the top 10 in nearly every statistical category for the franchise.
1. SUNS OUTLAST KINGS IN WEST SHOWDOWN
☀️ The Suns and Kings entered Tuesday’s game sitting sixth and seventh in the West, respectively, separated by just a half game. The Suns widened that gap with a comeback win at home to even the season series 2-2 with one more game to play in April. | Recap
- The run: After trailing by 11 midway through the third quarter, the Suns used a 36-15 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to build a 10-point lead and held on for the 130-125 win
- The clutch: The teams traded the lead six times down the stretch, going basket for basket, and three for three, before the Suns closed the game at the free throw line, making six free throws and grabbing a key offensive rebound on their one miss
- The numbers: Kevin Durant (28 pts, 11 reb), Devin Booker (25 pts, 9 ast) and Eric Gordon (23 pts, 4 3s) combined for 75 points to offset standout games from De’Aaron Fox (40 pts, 9 reb, 6 ast) and Domantas Sabonis (35 pts, 18 reb, 12 ast)
Sabonis 1 of 7: Sabonis posted his third straight triple-double (the 50th of his career) while becoming the seventh player in NBA history with at least 35-18-12 in a game. He joins: Wilt Chamberlain (6x), Elgin Baylor (2x), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Alvan Adams, LeBron James and Oscar Robertson.
Book it: While Sabonis matched Adams, Booker passed him to become Phoenix’s second all-time leading scorer (13,918). He now trails only Walter Davis (15,666).
2. ROUNDUP: OKC KEEPS MAGIC AT BAY
Thunder spoil Magic celebration: Behind a combined 65 points from Jalen Williams (17 of his 33 pts in the fourth) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (15 of his 32 pts in the third), the Thunder took down the Magic 127-113 before Orlando retired Shaq’s No. 32 postgame. | Recap
- Pizza rolls on the menu: Williams’ OKC teammates couldn’t resist crashing his postgame interview. “We’re all young and bond over everything,” said Williams
- 2022’s Top 2 picks: Paolo Banchero had 23 points, including dueling baseline fadeaways with SGA. Chet Holmgren (13 pts, 9 reb, 5 blk) had his seventh game with 5+ blocks this season
Tatum drops 41 on Brooklyn: Jayson Tatum (41 pts, 14 reb, 5 ast) posted his 25th career 40+ point game to lead the Celtics to a 118-110 win over the Nets. Tatum had 31 in the first half; Boston never trailed after the first quarter. Larry Bird (47) is the only Celtic with more 40+ point games than Tatum. | Recap
Edwards also scores 41: Anthony Edwards erupted from the opening tip, scoring 18 of his 41 points in the first quarter to lead the Wolves past the Blazers to maintain their lead at the top of the West. Minnesota won the first quarter by 12, the fourth by nine and the game by 12. | Recap
Balanced Heat drop Bucks: Bam Adebayo (16 pts, 12 reb, 11 ast) posted his second triple-double of the season and was one of three Heat players with eight buckets – along with Nikola Jovic (career high 24 pts, 5 3s) and Duncan Robinson (23 pts, 6 3s) – in their 123-97 win over Milwaukee. | Recap
Lakers starting 5 impresses again: L.A.’s new-look starting five of LeBron (25 pts, 8 ast), Anthony Davis (20 pts, 14 reb, 6 blk), D’Angelo Russell (21 pts, 4 3s), Austin Reaves (15 pts, 6 ast) and Rui Hachimura (15 pts, 70% FG) combined for 96 points to lead the Lakers to the fifth win in the last six games. Spencer Dinwiddie had six points and seven assists off the bench in his Lakers’ debut. | Recap
3. SIGHTS & SOUNDS FROM SHAQ’S JERSEY RETIREMENT
First No. 1 pick in franchise history.
First Rookie of the Year in franchise history.
First All-Star in franchise history.
First All-NBA player in franchise history.
First broken baskets in franchise history.
First genie in franchise history.
First Superman in franchise history.
First global superstar in franchise history.
And on Tuesday … first jersey retired in franchise history.
- The No. 32 will never be worn by a Magic player again. Including Shaq, five players have worn the number in franchise history. How many can you name? The list is at the bottom of this section
- Shaq received a warm welcome from the Orlando fans as he was introduced to begin the postgame ceremony that included nearly two dozen former teammates and coaches along with family and friends
- Penny Hardaway: “It’s a Magical night”
Seated at a throne while a montage of his Magic highlights played and former teammates touted his brilliance, Shaq stepped to the mic and not only thanked the Magic organization for the recognition, but brought his teammates up next to him – Nick Anderson, Penny Hardaway and Dennis Scott – to celebrate them and suggest they should be similarly honored.
Shaq: “I have many wonderful Magic memories, there’s no other place I would have wanted to start my career. Orlando will forever hold a special place in my heart.” Watch his full speech
When the speeches were finished, all that was left to do was to raise the No. 32 to the rafters. Watch the best moments of the night in 60 seconds
Three’s company: Shaq — who has his No. 34 retired by the Lakers and his No. 32 retired by the Heat — became the third player to have his jersey retired by three franchises, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Pete Maravich.
Magic all-time No. 32s: Otis Smith (1990-1992), O’Neal (1993-1996), Jeremy Richardson (2009), Justin Harper (2012) and C.J. Watson (2016-2017).
4. CLIPPERS & WARRIORS x 3-POINT SHOOTING
When the Clippers and Warriors tip off tonight (10 ET, ESPN), four of the top 12 3-point shooters in NBA history will share the court.
- Stephen Curry (GSW): 1st with 3,631 career 3styre
- James Harden (LAC): 3rd with 2,886
- Klay Thompson (GSW): 7th with 2,368
- Paul George (LAC): 12th with 2,172
Only seven active players have at least 2,000 career 3s. Four will be in this game. The others: Damian Lillard, LeBron James and Kyle Lowry.
On Monday, George became the Clippers’ franchise leader in 3-pointers made (739).
Lucky 13: The Clippers are 24-5 (.828) this season when making at least 13 3s in a game. They are 11-12 (.478) when making fewer than 13 3s.
40 Percent: The Warriors’ line of demarcation is based on percentage rather than volume. When the Warriors shoot at least 40% from 3, they are 16-4 (.800). When they shoot below 40% they are 10-21 (.323).
Head-To-Head: The Clippers lead the season series 2-1 and made exactly 13 3s in each of their two wins. The Warriors have yet to shoot 40% from deep against the Clippers. Both teams hold their opponents to 35.6% from beyond the arc.
Warriors Streak: Are the Warriors breaking through? They enter Wednesday’s game on a five game win streak that has them averaging 121.8 points per game and shooting 41.8% as a team from 3-point range, including a blistering 46.1% from Curry, who is averaging 6.4 made 3s during the streak.
5. TYRESE HALIBURTON: PASS THE ROCK
As the basketball world arrives in Indianapolis this week for NBA All-Star, they will see Tyrese Haliburton’s face everywhere.
As the lone All-Star from the host city, the fourth-year guard is the face of the event.
Signage at the airport. Billboards throughout the city. Posters affixed to every All-Star hotel downtown. Commercials promoting the events.
Tyrese. Tyrese. Tyrese. Tyrese.
There was no better time to drop Haliburton’s episode of ‘Pass The Rock’ to get to know the two-time All-Star a bit deeper and understand his journey to this moment.
- It Started With His Family: Haliburton’s drive to compete comes from growing up with three brothers who competed in everything from basketball to video games
- Midwest Roots: Born and raised in Oshkosh, Wisc. before playing his college ball at Iowa State, just a six-hour drive from home
- The Draft: Tyrese was at home with his family during the remote 2020 NBA Draft. They watched as 11 names were called before the Kings selected Haliburton with the 12th overall pick
- The Trade: After a year-and-a-half in Sacramento, an unexpected trade from the Kings to the Pacers stunned Haliburton. After the initial shock and disappointment of being traded, Tyrese saw the silver linings, including a return to the midwest and a fresh opportunity
- The Motivation: Haliburton’s drive was never about proving his doubters wrong but proving himself right. After what he called his “revenge tour” last season, Haliburton is back to playing with joy every night
- The Breakout: After earning his first All-Star selection as a reserve last year, Haliburton is a starter for the East and should draw a huge hometown ovation when he is introduced on Sunday. The league’s assist leader led the upstart Pacers to the championship game of the In-Season Tournament and has them in position to snap a three-year playoff drought
- The Episode: Watch his story here
See ya tomorrow.
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