Cooper’s Hooper of the Night: This goes to the MVP of that night’s slate.

Jalen Brunson

Jalen Brunson is just so fun to watch. In the past, someone his height had to be a freak athlete to make an impact, let alone lead a team in scoring. Jalen Brunson is obviously athletic since he is in the NBA, but he is not that top 1% type of athlete that you would expect out of a small guard with his scoring prowess. Brunson’s game doesn’t rely so much on athleticism, but rather timing. He often slow dribbles into the paint, taking rhythmic dribbles through the legs that make it hard to tell when he is going to attack. Then, right when he lulls your favorite defender to sleep like some sort of basketball hypnotist, he attacks. He drives on the defender, often towards the middle of the paint. If the opposing big man is late to help, he puts up a floater. If the bag man is there, he often picks up the ball and shoots a fadeaway. If both the big man and the original defender somehow manage to read his attack, he proceeds to make a series of pivots that would make Ross jealous.

Last Night was a Brunson masterclass, as Philly didn’t have an answer for his fancy footwork. The Knicks led early but let the 76ers get back in the game late. The Knicks were ahead by 2 with less than 10 seconds to go when the ball was inbounded to Brunson. The 76ers were looking to get a turnover but would be willing to foul and send Brunson to the line if it didn’t happen quickly. After Brunson catches the ball, the 76ers bring a swarming double team that results in 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey paying homage to legendary Bears corner Charles “Peanut” Tillman by performing his legendary peanut punch, forcing the ball out of Brunson’s hands. This led to a loose ball recovery by 76ers forward Paul George, which led to a Maxey layup attempt that resulted in a goaltending call on the Knicks, tying the game up and sending us to overtime. A lot of players in Brunson’s spot here would crumble, as they were 10 seconds away from the win and Brunson’s turnover is what led them to overtime. Good thing Jalen Brunson is not like most players. When overtime starts, Jalen Brunson proceeds to score or assist on 10 straight Knicks points, resulting in a 10-2 run that puts the pesky 76ers away for good. He put the turnover behind him, realized there was only 5 minutes left to win the game, and gave it his all right out of the gate. Even when he wasn’t scoring or assisting on Knicks OT possessions, his impact was still felt. The 76ers, in an effort to slow down Brunson, sent an immediate double team at him when he crossed halfcourt. This is another thing that makes Brunson special. He gets the ball to his teammate at the nail, AKA the middle of the free throw line, which leads to a 4-3 for the Knicks. This happened twice after the original 10-2 run, with both possessions resulting in easy layups for the Knicks, all due to Brunson’s unselfishness in getting the ball out early. Jalen Brunson finished with 38 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists on 14-22 shooting, including 3-6 from deep, which is why he was the Cooper’s Hooper of the Night.

The “Holy Shit” Play of the Night.

Ja Morant Baptizes Victor Wembenyama

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Well, if this play is any indication, the unstoppable force wins. Ja Morant has built a reputation up to this point as being one of the most ferocious dunkers in the NBA. However, he had yet to dunk on Victor Wembanyama, the 7’5 phenom on the Spurs who leads the league in blocks, including the EIGHT BLOCKS he had that night. None of this was going to intimate Ja, as he plays a fearless style of basketball that reminds me of a prime Russell Westrbrook. There was an off ball foul on this play, so the basket didn’t count, but who fucking cares. The dunk Ja pulled off over Wemby is one that will live in the minds of basketball fans for a long time, truly bringing back the poster dunks of old. Which picture would you hang on your wall, number 1 or 2?

“Teach Your Kids to Play Like This Guy” Player of the Night: Player who may or may not have a ton of points, but impacts winning.

Keaton Wallace

The Hawks were without 5 rotation players last night against the Chicago Bulls, so nobody would have blamed them if they lost. Between the 5 players, there was a combined 82 points that were not on the floor, so where was the scoring going to come from? The reason why Keaton Wallace is my “Teach Your Kids to Play Like This Guy” Player of the Night is because he had previously spent most of this year in the G-League, the NBA’S developmental system. When he did appear for the Hawks, which was only 16 times entering last night, he only averaged around 15 minutes a game, with most of that being in garbage time when the result of the game was already decided. I saw him play in Summer League this past year and knew the talent was there, he just needed an opportunity. Wallace seized the opportunity by the balls last night, putting up 27-6-6 with 4 steals while shooting 10-18 from the field, including 4-7 from deep. He was huge for the Hawks on both sides of the ball, getting stops and key turnovers on one end while nailing catch and shoot 3s and performing simple dribble drives on the other end. For youngsters looking to up their scoring, this would be a great game for them to watch. Keaton Wallace played defense, which helped lead to fastbreak opportunities that led to easy shots due to having a numbers advantage. He shot 3s when he got catch and shoot opportunities, shots that require little energy to set up since you are already squared up facing the rim. Once you hit a couple of those, defenses have to close out harder when you catch the ball, which leads to easy opportunities to pump fake, dribble, and either drive to the basket or take a simple jump shot from the mid-range. You can also now cut backdoor after making a few shots since the defense is having to play you tighter, something Wallace did a couple of times for easy layups. It was all on display for Keaton Wallace, who will likely be getting more minutes going forward after a performance like that. Great job by Wallace and the Hawks to come out with a win despite being so depleted.

Numbers Sometimes Lie Player of the Night (could be good or bad): Player who’s stat line least matches tier actual impact.

Jaren Jackson Jr.

The stats weren’t pretty for JJJ last night, as he shot 8-24 from the field and only had 6 rebounds despite being a 7 footer. The reason why I chose him here is that despite such a poor shooting performance, he continued to play aggressively on both ends of the floor. As I mentioned earlier, the Spurs Victor Wembanyama had 8 blocks last night, but all of them came in the 1st half. The Grizzlies entered half time down by 11, with them only scoring 51 points to the Spurs 62. Jackson continued to stay aggressive though, a mindset that seemed to be contagious with the rest of the roster. He attacked Wemby multiple times in the 2nd half, driving right at him and not settling until he got deep in the paint. Wemby had 0 blocks in the second half en route to the Grizzlies scoring 78 points in the 2nd half. It felt like Jackson’s aggressiveness and persistence let the rest of his team know that they were still in this game, and that they weren’t going to just roll over and let the Spurs win. JJJ shot 6-13 in the 4th quarter, got 5 of his 6 rebounds and 2 blocks while leading the Grizzlies to a come from behind win, more on that later.

Clutch Player of the Night: Player who performed their best in the biggest moments.

Stephen Curry

The Warriors were up by 16 in the 1st half, heading towards what would eventually be a nice bounce back win for a team that had lost 4 of their last 5 games. Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves had other plans in mind though, not quitting and eventually getting this game to within 2 points after a Dante Divincenzo 3 with 3 minutes left. The Warriors were reeling, Draymond was out for this game, and Dennis Schroder had just fouled out about a minute prior to the big shot from DiVincenzo. This had all the makings of a great come from behind win for Minnesota, who had been playing some of their best basketball up until last night. But we’ve all seen this movie before with Steph Curry, right? Steph proceeds to hit 2 huge 3 pointers down the stretch, both times losing his defenders while the ball was in another player’s hands. Despite it being late in the game and Steph having to assume more ball handler duties than normal throughout the night, he still had the endurance to sprint away from his defenders, catch the ball in rhythm, and fire up 3s that he knew were going in before they did. I can sympathize with Timberwolves fans, as all 29 other teams have had this moment happen to them at some point or another through the past decade. Steph nails both shots and the Warriors hold on to win this one 116-115. Steph finished with 7 3’s on his way to 31 points, 8 assists, and a much needed win.

The Well-Oiled Machine Team of the Night: Team that played the best from start to finish.

Los Angeles Clippers

I will tell you right now that I didn’t watch this game. One, because the Clippers make you pay a separate subscription from an NBA league pass subscription in order to watch their games, something I despise, but two, the Clippers vs. Nets is not exactly a matchup that fires me up so to speak, mainly because the Nets are actively trying to lose games. But anytime one team beats another team by 59 points, you have to give them a shoutout. The crazy thing is that they were tied at 21 each after the 1st quarter, so they really outscored them by 59 through 3 quarters of basketball. It wasn’t due to any particular Herculean effort from any Clippers player, but 6 players scored double digits for them, while they clamped down a Nets team that seems to feature a lot of players who should be playing in the G-League at this point. Only 1 Clipper played more than 24 minutes in the game, s everybody got a chance to eat. Great win for the Clippers, who are quietly looking like a real threat now that Kawhi is back.

The Tom Petty “Won’t Back Down” Team of the Night: Team that fought hard in 2nd half to make game close or straight up win.

Memphis Grizzlies

As I mentioned earlier, the Grizzlies were down 51-62 at the half. The offense looked discombobulated and Victor Wembenyama and the Spurs were getting any type of shot they wanted on offense. The Grizzlies came out way more aggressive in the 3rd quarter, outscoring the Spurs 43-25, They got 5-5 combined 3s from reserves Jay Huff and Luke Kennard during this stretch, which was huge in the comeback effort. In the 4th, it was all about Jaren Jackson Jr. He plays with such a physicality that it seemed to take its toll on Wembenyama, who himself only shot 2-7 in the 4th. This was a great example of a never say die attitude, which is why they were my Tom Petty “Won’t Back Down” Team of the Night.

The “There’s Always Next Game” Team of the Night: Team that came out with no juice.

Orlando Magic

The Magic vs. Bucks game was probably the game I was most excited to watch entering the night, as both these teams are currently jockeying for position in the top of the Eastern Conference Standings. It became clear rather quickly that the Magic just weren’t ready for this one, getting outscored 34-16 in the 1st quarter on their way to a 122-93 loss. The defensive effort you typically see out of the Magic was not there at all, as Damian Lillard and the rest of the Bucks were able to get whatever looks they wanted en route to shooting 60% from the floor. On the other end. Orlando just seemed super out of sorts on offense. No off ball movement, a lot of iso ball from Paolo Banchero, and nobody being aggressive in getting to the paint. They went on to shoot 6-25 from the field in the 1st quarter, including just 2-14 from deep. Keep in mind, this is an Orlando Magic team that typically only shoots 37 3s a night and converts them at the lowest percentage in the league. Credit to the Bucks for coming out with a game plan and executing it to perfection, but the effort level from Orlando just was not there last night. Considering that this team prides itself on playing physical and scrappy, I expect them to come out next game on fire. For last night however, they could have just rolled out their G-League team and would have gotten the same result. Normally, after an Orlando Magic win, they play this cool song that they made in the 90s, which I am insisting that you look up if you never heard it before. Here is a section of the lyrics if you don’t believe me when I say this song is a banger.

Abracadabra, razzamatazz
Slam dunk sesame
Hocus pocus, alakazam
Gonna set the spirit free

Amazing, right? With last night’s effort, I think Magic fans left the arena singing the song “Hurt”, the Johnny Cash cover of a Nine Inch Nails song that is extremely depressing. Only thing more depressing than that song was the quality of play from Orlando on the basketball court.