What in the world is happening this holiday weekend in the Land of the Lottery?
In case you were too busy this holiday weekend inducing a food coma, copping the latest Air Jordan retro, or just can’t take a break from watching the newly released Star Wars movie teaser trailer over and over, The Lottery Mafia has you covered on the happenings of note around the (bottom of the) league.
The hot topic teams right now are the over-performing Milwaukee Bucks and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The two teams played each other this week, and it was a historic meeting, marking the first time that four teenagers played in the same NBA game: Andrew Wiggins, Zach Lavine, Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo. With all the young talent these two teams have amassed and the injuries Minnesota currently faces to their more veteran players, Punch Drunk Wolves takes a moment to look at the investment the team has in Wiggins and Anthony Bennett.
The Bucks have been the better team between the two this season based on record, and in their head-to-head meeting, they easily won in the first competitive Wiggins vs Parker matchup. Parker seemed to be forcing his play a little much in this game, and Wiggins came away as winner of most memorable highlight. Part of the Bucks strong start has to do with the revitalized play of Larry Sanders, who did a Q&A this week as he grows and faces the reality of being neither the bad guy nor the good guy. The final takeaway from what might have been the most “marquee” matchup that we will see from lottery teams this season points to what the Timberwolves can learn from the Bucks.
Outside the Midwest, the Utah Jazz continue to struggle in their quest for wins. They fell to the Chicago Bulls this week in what turned out to be one of the more entertaining and closely contested games of the season. But during that game, “Dr. Heckle” was in protest. Might his silence have cost the Jazz the game? The Utah plastic surgeon believes his heckling of Lebron in a previous game got him in trouble with the team. While they did play hard against the Bulls, they did get run by the mostly punchless Thunder this week, a discouraging game for the young Jazz team which has been generally competitive even in losing. Fans of the team might not be so thrilled with their efforts, and we can only hope that guard Dante Exum will adjust to the NBA quickly so that some lottery talent buzz can help carry them through a rough start to the season.
Speaking of frustrated fans, if the news of half-price pizza being made more easily obtained in Philadelphia didn’t ease the pain of losing, nothing about their 0-15 record is going to help it out. The question is already out there, but it has some new legs: is this 76ers team and their “rebuilding” project truly the worst in NBA history? Season ticket holders for the Philadelphia team recently voiced their displeasure at the product being put on the court. It is definitely a dark time in Philly, even Damian Lillard is shocked at how bad things are on the court.
Hang in there Sixers fans, and Jazz fans. And Wolves fans. At least you’re not in Detroit. Even Danny Brown wants them to get rid of Josh Smith…
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