My unique plan was to put in writing about Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama going head-to-head on Thursday night time. These two skyscrapers, who had been born on the opposite aspect of the Atlantic Ocean, performed basketball just like the Empire State Constructing if Dr. Octopus’ metallic arms had been connected. These two had been spectacular in the course of the Milwaukee Bucks’ 125-121 defeat of the San Antonio Spurs. That was sufficient pleasure for one night time however a bonus was offered when Nikola Jokić buried a 39-foot 3-pointer on the buzzer to raise the Denver Nuggets to a 130-127 victory in opposition to the Golden State Warriors.
The Nuggets needed to go on a 25-4 run within the final half of the fourth quarter to get that victory. They shot poorly from the 3-point line for a lot of the night time, and 11 of their 23 whole free-throw makes an attempt had been within the closing quarter of the sport. The struggling Warriors had been dominant for the overwhelming majority of the night time, however they obtained caught from behind simply as they had been about to interrupt the tape.
TNT had not aired an NBA basketball recreation since Dec. 19, 2023. In 2021, the network ceded Thursday night to the soccer scraps that the NFL televises. To scoop up the viewers that it might probably, TNT has the Contained in the NBA crew work on Tuesdays from October till the beginning of the brand new calendar 12 months.
At first, I used to be upset that the NBA handed its featured night time to the NFL. However that was from my tinted fan goggles. For the 2023 season, the common viewership of NFL Thursday Evening Soccer on Amazon Prime Video was almost 12 million viewers. The NBA can not sniff these numbers till playoff time. Prime’s highest-rated telecast was Week 2 Philadelphia Eagles vs. Minnesota Vikings — the 29th most-watched primetime telecast of the year.
A recreation that, to me, shouldn’t be memorable. That Jokić game-winning three and Wembanyama blocking an Antetokounmpo dunk try are true moments in NBA historical past.
Nonetheless, not solely did the league quit Thursday to the NFL to start out the season, however from Dec. 23-Jan. 2 the one NBA video games aired by the league’s nationwide tv companions was Christmas Day on the Disney household of networks. The league ended the 12 months on the bus whereas school soccer video games obtained automotive service for bowl video games during which a lot of star gamers did not participate.
On Thursday night time, Wembanyama rejected a dunk try from Antetokounmpo’s hulking body and each gamers had monster fourth quarters. The Nuggets went on a ferocious late-game run to eke out a victory in opposition to the Warriors. Common-season information didn’t matter as each video games went right down to the wire. TNT went again into its conventional Thursday night time slot with two spectacular basketball video games, and the studio crew of Shaq, Kenny, Ernie, and Chuck had been firing on all cylinders even with Jokić’s disappointment in The Diesel’s failed try to talk Serbian.
Basketball was performed at its highest degree even with Khris Middleton solely on the ground one half for the Bucks, and Draymond Inexperienced not yet being reinstated from his indefinite suspension. These video games had been two of one of the best shows of athleticism on nationwide tv in weeks.
Sadly, when a schedule has 82 video games as a substitute of 17 or much less, lack of amount trumps high quality.
