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Three Things to Know is NBC’s five-day-a-week roundup of the night before the NBA.Check NBCSports.com Every weekday morning, you’ll find out what you missed the night before, as well as the rumors, drama and dunks that make the NBA a must-see.
1) Should the NBA move to overtime goal scoring?
Overtime should not only determine the winner of the game, but also provide intense drama for fans. It should be tense, nail-biting minutes. The NFL and NHL do this with their sudden death, score and you win system (the NFL’s system is slightly modified, but still works).
NBA overtime often lacks that tension, that intensity.
The league may have found the answer in this season’s G League experiment — setting target points and making teams play for them. Wouldn’t NBA overtime be more dramatic and fun if “the first team to 12 points wins” instead of just five minutes?
It’s an idea that could come up in the next few years — reports from the D-League say their goal scoring is popular among front office, coaches and fans. Since the NBA uses the G-League as its petri dish to experiment with new ideas, and this kind of ending thrives there…don’t be shocked if this shows up in the NBA in the next few years.
The NBA has been using Elam Endings — or what they call goal-scoring endings — for several years. Fans will recognize this from the All-Star Game, which had 24 more points on target than the leading team at the end of the third quarter (Kobe Bryant 24, so if the West leads 110-100, then The target score is 134, the first team to reach that number wins). It works well and adds a bit of drama to a generally lackluster game that lacks intensity.
So why not take it to overtime in the NBA regular season? As mentioned, the NBA tried it this season in the G League — the first team to go eight wins — and the response was great. John Hollinger summed it up nicely on The Athletic After the D-League showcase in Las Vegas on Christmas Eve.
The change has been applauded by the NBA staff I spoke to, who agreed that the NBA’s overtime period is now too long, quelling the drama from the end of the fourth quarter. Goal scoring also eliminates the chances of multiple overtimes and the crazy player minute situations they can create. The D-League staff all love it, too.
For NBA overtime, this number needs to be higher than 8 points, and the teens are reasonable. Hollinger points out that the New Ending creates its own strategy in the Old Testament.
If your opponent is only three points away from the goal, do you foul to eliminate the loss of the three-pointer? Admit layups do the same? (I’ve seen several teams embrace all shooters in this situation and leave big holes in the street).
It should just be a regular-season thing — going into the playoffs, I want the potential drama of multiple overtimes, and the intensity of each possession is already there. Think of it like the NHL, in the regular season they play 3-on-3 hockey in overtime for 5 minutes and then if no one scores, they go to penalties. In the playoffs, however, it’s regular 5-on-5 hockey and sudden death — the first team to score wins. There’s no reason the overtime rules for the regular season and playoffs have to be the same.
Also, that doesn’t mean the NBA should set a target score at the end of the fourth quarter — keeping it at 48 minutes. Don’t disrupt the regular four-quarter game. But overtime in the NBA often lacks the drama it deserves — a goal score could help change that.
2) Jokic, Denver beat Boston, and… are the Nuggets the best team in the West?
In an open Western Conference, why not the Denver Nuggets?
Denver showed how dangerous it can be on Sunday night as Nikola Jokic had a triple-double of 30 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists as the Nuggets beat the Boston Celtics 123-111 every time. Conference number one.
30 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists… Nikola Jokic didn’t hesitate to record his first triple-double of 2023 👀@Nuggets home win pic.twitter.com/k4x0At3PrW
— NBA (@NBA) January 2, 2023
It was one of the can’t-miss nights for the Nuggets, shooting 57 percent from the field and 17 of 30 from beyond the arc. The Nuggets have been shooting for some time, 12-10, and more importantly, over the past dozen games, their bottom-five defense before this round ranks 12th in the league .
Jaylen Brown There are 30 and Jayson Tatum 25, but the Celtics went 9-for-33 (27.3 percent) from 3-point range on the night.
The game is characterized by a long delay robert williams The III dunk knocked one of the hoops sideways, and a crew of six, plus a couple of ladders and levels, had to come out and straighten things up.
Nuggets players play rock-paper-scissors with fans during 38-minute delay 😂💙 pic.twitter.com/0L3qL0jJPt
– Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 2, 2023
Even after that, Brown wasn’t happy.
“There was no communication. They spent so much time trying to fix it, but when we got back, it still looked uneven to me. So we just wasted all that time,” Brown said, via the Associated Press. The game has an impact. That’s how things like injuries happen. Luckily, that didn’t [happen], but this is not good. In my opinion, the whole process was mishandled and that also had an impact. But luckily, no one was hurt. “
The Nuggets, when they defend like this, are legit. They could be out of the West this season.
3) i morant Scored 35 points in Grizzlies win, then made it a day for young fans
Ja Morant scored 35 points as his Grizzlies opened the fourth quarter to beat the Sacramento Kings 118-108 on Sunday night, keeping the Grizzlies afloat.
Toss, dunk, do it all 🐻
Ja Morant starts 2023 with 35 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 @memgrizz win! pic.twitter.com/48m4TsgCoM
— NBA (@NBA) January 2, 2023
The highlight of the night, however, was Morant gifting young Grizzlies fans his game shoes for the day after the win.
Dillon Brooks Added 15 for the Grizzlies, while steven adams 23 rebounds tied his career high.
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