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Happy Birthday!
Malice at the Palace turns 20!
I still remember Mike Breen delivering this line 20 years ago today. I wasn’t watching live, but I knew to set the TIiVo for this Pistons–Pacers game that day. These were the two best teams in the East. The Pacers were loaded. The Pistons were loaded and literally sporting title belts as the defending NBA champs. And, on a random League Pass night, I set the DVR to record. I went to a game at Arco Arena with my friend to watch the Kings host the Grizzlies. We had a great time at the game.
And when I got home to my apartment, my roommate delivered the news. Remember, this was back before text notifications and social media. On our long ride home, we had no idea that the Malice at the Palace had even happened. My roommate, Dan, said, “The Pacers fought the fans.” What? Which fans? “All of them.”
We fired up the TiVo, fast-forwarded through the entire game and got to the incident. The hard foul between Artest and Ben Wallace. The shoving. Artest lying on the scorer’s table. And then, all of a sudden, Artest and Stephen Jackson were in the stands. Punches were being thrown. Cups were being thrown. Jermaine O’Neal punched a guy, who everybody says looks like Turtle from “Entourage.” Shoutout to Jerry Ferrara! Absolute chaos was ensuing, and Breen was letting us know everything he could. It would lead to the longest on-court incident suspension in NBA history: Artest being suspended the rest of the season and playoffs (86 games in total). Jackson got 30, and O’Neal got 25. Some Pistons got a few games too.
If I may break the fourth wall of this newsletter, I want to tell you my internal struggle writing this. This entire event was dangerous and got out of hand, and it was something that really damaged the image of the NBA and its players for a long time. It was unfair. It was serious. And I’ve been trying to find a tactful and responsible way for an hour to tell you that I absolutely love this moment in history. I loved it at the time. I love it every time I watch it. I loved the Netflix documentary produced by O’Neal about it. I’ve never been able to get enough of the Malice at the Palace.
You’re not supposed to say that, right? That night, it blew my mind. Completely unprepared for the chaos that awaited me at home. And I loved it. I still love it. I don’t know how to reconcile that. The Malice at the Palace, while a really, really bad look for all involved, was also one of the most exciting moments in NBA history. Terrifying but exhilarating. It probably helps that I watched it from thousands of miles away in the comfort of my own place, but alas.
It also changed the course of the NBA. The 2004-05 season was the introduction of new rules to open up the game. Hand-checking above the free-throw line was gone. Defensive three seconds was implemented. The NBA was trying to open things up and get away from the physicality and games that would total 150 points between the two teams. The Malice at the Palace gave the NBA a chance to crack down on a lot of this culture, while also avoiding an exodus by sponsors.
Eventually, we got to a game today that makes us pine for more physicality than what currently exists. And while the NBA made some tweaks halfway through last season, the league will never allow it to get to a place that could result in another incident like this.
The Last 24
Pat Riley is getting a statue
???? Cooper Flagg breakdown! In John Hollinger’s latest, he did a prospect breakdown of the projected top pick in 2025. Spoiler: he’s real good.
???? Pat Riley statue! No, don’t worry. It won’t be the Miami Heat contracting his statue. The Lakers are giving him one.
???? The Knicks are mad. They issued a statement about the NBA reportedly poking around assistant coach Rick Brunson’s promotion as potentially circumventing the salary cap. https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/1858723971224723734.
???? Pete Maravich comes in at No. 81 in “The Basketball 100.” Read about his unique path to hoops lore. Buy the book, yeah?
???? Don’t miss this game tonight. Cavaliers (15-0) at Celtics (11-3), 7 p.m. ET on TNT. The Cavs are undefeated and face the defending champs. This is the game tonight.
NBA Cupdate
NBA Cup returns tonight; things are tight
We’re heading into our third night of NBA Cup group play, and it’s headlined by a marquee matchup we would not have anticipated until recently. The Cavaliers head to face the Celtics tonight. Three weeks ago, this would have been a fun, semi-interesting game. Now that the Cavs bring a 15-0 record to the house of the defending champs and current title favorites, this meeting has different stakes.
Cleveland is playing a lot like Boston did last season. Much like those Celtics, most of us outside of Cleveland are seeing the dominance early and responding with something along the lines of, “Well, let’s see if you can still do this consistently in the playoffs.” Would a win in Boston tonight start getting the collective “we” to believe in the Cavs? Or would the caveats still hang over their heads like a judgmental guillotine? If Cleveland loses, will they be wholly dismissed as not on Boston’s level? Let’s find out tonight!
Maybe the most insane part of the NBA Cup standings for East Group C is neither the Cavs nor the Celtics lead it. Both of those juggernauts are chasing the Hawks, who sit atop the group at 2-0 after beating Boston and Washington already. I wrote about the NBA Cupdate of each team’s position, who is in the driver’s seat and who might be done already.
Here’s what’s being played for tonight, outside of Cavs-Celtics:
Hornets (5-8) at Nets (5-9): If the Hornets lose tonight, they’re out. They’re already minus-25 in point differential after one game, and a close win might not really help them. They need to win big. Brooklyn is 0-1 but just minus-2 in their loss.
Nuggets (7-5) at Grizzlies (8-6): You can’t really advance with two losses, and both of these teams are 0-1 to start group play. It’s a must-win. Both teams need their stars back.
Pelicans (4-10) at Mavericks (7-7): New Orleans is 1-0, and Dallas is 0-1, so the Pelicans could essentially put the Mavericks out of the race to single-elimination.
Thunder (11-3) at Spurs (6-8): OKC is 1-0 with the biggest point differential in the group at plus-16. It can all but knock San Antonio (0-1) out here.
Jazz (3-10) at Lakers (9-4): The Lakers (plus-5) are also 1-0, but they have to keep pace with the Thunder before matching up for West Group B supremacy.
About Last Night
Bucks may have accidentally saved their season
The Bucks (5-9) were up 14 halfway through the third quarter, and then, all of a sudden, with less than five minutes to go in the game, they trailed the Rockets by five. Everything about the Bucks’ season says they would lose this game, but then three things happened to help secure the 101-100 win.
First, Dillon Brooks missed some shots in the final minute. Secondly, Brooks gave up a drive and layup by Damian Lillard with two seconds left to go up one. Third, the Bucks did absolutely everything wrong on this final defensive possession but got bailed out by Alperen Şengün’s butter fingers. Giannis, what were you doing?
Bulls 122, Pistons 112: Nikola Vučević, Coby White and Zach LaVine combined for 79 points to keep the Pistons from getting to .500 this deep into the season for the first time since 2018.
Heat 106, 76ers 89: Philly lost another game with Joel Embiid and Paul George as Jimmy Butler had 30-10-5. The 76ers (2-11) had a team meeting for about an hour after the game.
Knicks 134, Wizards 106: Jalen Brunson contributed 26 points and 11 assists. Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in 24 points and 12 rebounds. And the Knicks had a very balanced attack to beat the Wizards. https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1858682715853213807.
Raptors 130, Pacers 119: RJ Barrett led the way with 39 points as Jakob Poeltl added 3 and the Raptors finally snapped their seven-game losing streak. I foolishly contend Toronto is better than its 3-12 record.
Magic 109, Suns 99: Franz Wagner had 32 points and eight assists to fuel Orlando to its sixth straight win. All of this without Paolo Banchero! The Suns lost their fourth straight and really need Kevin Durant and/or Bradley Beal back.
Hawks 109, Kings 108: De’Aaron Fox still had a good game (28 points on 11-of-23 shooting), but he didn’t have enough help outside of Keon Ellis (33 off the bench). De’Andre Hunter scored 24 off the bench for Atlanta, Trae Young dished out 19 assists and Dyson Daniels got his only steal on the final play of the game.
Clippers 102, Warriors 99: This one wasn’t pretty, but the Clippers survived a couple of game-tying attempts by the Warriors on the final possession to knock Golden State a half-game behind OKC for first in the West.
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(Top photo: Allen Einstein / Getty Images )
