Welcome to the inaugural Friendly Bounce Open Run. A la the And 1 Mixtape Tour open runs, this will be a semi-regular post–a pressure-free place to be creative and talk in short bursts about what happened in the Association last night.
Ricky Rubio is back and that is good: @jackhaveitall
Ricky Rubio being back is so great. He’s like Giannis in that he just brings this natural joy and enthusiasm to the game and you can’t help but smile when you watch him play. Plus, of course, he does incredible things on a regular basis.
Like, it didn’t even take him a whole half until he was throwing outrageous passes. Look at this.
That’s absurd. He just skipped into the air and then looked away for a good second before he threw that pass. And of course it’s right on the money with just the perfect little amount of spin on it. This guy was out months and is immediately dropping dimes like it’s no big deal.
What’s crazy is that wasn’t even the best pass! Later in the game he dropped this little number right between the legs of multiple Mavericks defenders. It’s as if he learned to use more than 10 percent of his brain while he was getting his ankle all healthy.
Glad to have you back, Ricky.
Russell Westbrook, an O-Town wrecking triple-double: @wcgoldberg
Every time a hyena kills a wildebeest it’s a metaphor for what Russell Westbrook did to the Orlando Magic Monday.
The Oklahoma City Thunder predator posted 25 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists and four steals in a 104-97 win against Orlando for his 10th triple-double of his career. But it’s not the stats that make him so dangerous, it’s how he freaking did it.
He got a steal, two points and the phone number of every Magic player’s girlfriend on this play.
He picks off Tobias Harris’ pass, crashes into Nikola Vucevic, maintains his body control and darts down to the other end of the court for the two-handed cherry popper. And just when you thought it was over…
In full holy-crap-here-comes-Westbrook-on-the-fast-break-what-can-I-do-should-I-hard-foul-or-just-get-out-of-the-way mode, Harris is about to go with the former before Russ Jedi mind tricks the sh-t out of him and finds a trailing Andre Roberson with a between the legs, ass backwards pass that results in Roberson reaching into the cookie jar. That’s just how Russ do.
The Bucks are tough: @jackhaveitall
So the Bucks went up to Toronto and beat the Raptors a few days after knocking of the Trail Blazers in Milwaukee. That’s four wins in a row now, they’re four games over .500, and have a four and a half game lead over the Heat for the sixth seed. It’s unlikely they’re breaking into the top five of Hawks-Raptors-Wizards-Bulls-Cavs, but the Bucks are going to the playoffs.
They only managed to score nine points in the fourth quarter last night, but they still won because they held the Raptors to 15 in that frame. Even without larry sanders¡ they have the second best defensive efficiency rating in the league. They held the Raps–who own the fourth best offensive efficiency rating in the league and average 105 points a night–to 75 points last night!
Even without Jabari and Sanders, the Bucks have started their turnaround a bit early–from worst record in franchise history to the playoffs. Don’t sleep on the Bucks. This isn’t just a product of beating up on the weaklings in the East, the Bucks are a legit team. And they’re going to make it very tough on which ever team they face in the first round.