How about that night of basketball huh? The Champions Classic was beautiful (not just because I swept the bets I gave out) and the NBA In-Season Tournament games were entertaining enough to make it a solid night of sports.
Every single weekday, the guys from Section 400 will be providing a rundown of everything that happened in the world of sports the night before.
Let’s dive into it.
Rock Chalk
We learned three things from the Champions Classic in Chicago last night.
- Kansas is clearly the best team in the nation
- Kentucky is better than its ranking indicates
- Michigan State has a scoring problem
The biggest takeaways came from the second game, where Antonio Reeves, Rob Dillingham and Kentucky gave No. 1 ranked Kansas all it could handle.
The Jayhawks ultimately prevailed due to their physicality and size wearing down the wildcats in the second half (which I told you would happen), but the fact this game came down to the final possession shows you how good this Kentucky team can be.
I talked earlier in the season about how the USC Trojans have the best backcourt in the nation with Isiah Collier and Boogie Ellis. I am willing to say I was wrong. Antonio Reeves and Rob Dillingham are going to be a problem for opponents all year.
The first game of the doubleheader wasn’t as entertaining, as the Duke Blue Devils led the Michigan State Spartans end-to-end. Tom Izzo is now 3-14 in his career against the Blue Devils. More concerningly, his team has a huge issue scoring the basketball.
Guard Tyson Walker once again was responsible for over a third of the Spartans points and pretty much single-handedly kept Michigan State in the game throughout the second half.
Forward Malik Hall did his part, but If Michigan State hopes to do anything this season, A.J Hoggard, Jaden Akins, and the rest the supporting staff need to make shots.
Pacing the group.
The Indiana Pacers are one of the best teams in basketball.
Tyrese Haliburton and his young (and fun) supporting cast improved to 2-0 in the In-Season Tournament after a 132-126 road win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
The aforementioned Haliburton turned in another incredible performance, dropping in 33 points to go along with 15 assists in the win.
Tyrese Haliburton went OFF tonight in the Pacers W 🔥
33 PTS 7 REB 15 AST 7 3PM
He has 32 assists over his last 2 games without a SINGLE turnover, the most in that stretch without one in NBA history 🤯 pic.twitter.com/jkh2ZUorGe
— NBA (@NBA) November 15, 2023
Indiana is now 7-4 on the young season and in the driver’s seat of “East Group A”.
The Miami Heat, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Los Angeles Lakers all picked up wins to improve to 2-0 in their respective groups as well on Tuesday.
Before this tournament we jokingly said this is something the Heat would win because Jimmy Butler and Co. would try the hardest, and while it seems all teams are taking this thing fairly seriously, our take still looks on point.
@views.from.400 The #nba mid season tournament starts tomorrow. Which begs the question… why? New #podcast out now on Youtube! Link in bio!
Trojan Horses.
I picked the USC Trojans as one of my favorite sleeper teams this season because of an electric backcourt that I now believe is the second best in the nation (see above).
The issue is if this team is going to compete at the top of a loaded PAC 12 conference, that backcourt needs to be healthy. They were not on Tuesday Night, and USC’s lack of inside help and depth led them to get upset by UC Irvine at home.
Super-senior Boogie Ellis and junior Kobe Johnson missed this game, creating a variety of issues on the offensive end for USC. Freshmen Isiah Collier tried his hardest to carry the load with 23 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Trojans to overcome their woes.
This team is only going to go as far as Collier, Boogie Ellis, Kobe Johnson, and eventually Bronny James, take it.
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