OKC Unveiled The WEMBY STOPPER…

Nikola Jokic doesn't take crap from anybody. The Thunder got themselves another giant to fight Wimby. And we got the first drama surrounding the Sixers. So let's start in Utah where the Jazz were running circles around the Nuggets on both set up play for DP because he was right in that dunk spot. Just a great executed play. Played his college ball at Kansas. Another short shot clock forced it up. Are you kidding me? Knocks it. Wow. Especially with a double team almost. He just goes up with ease over Jokic. Playing like a block. That's what Jackson Hayes is known for. Jackson Hayes sends the floater by Jokic into the third row. And the Jazz continued messing up Nikola's highlights when… The Joker flips a nice behind the back pass to Brown but Triple J says hell nah. They have plenty of pieces this season that can finally turn things around. Darren Peterson, the second overall pick in the draft, led his team with 23 points on 56% shooting from the field. This leads us to the breaking point of the game when Jokic got infuriated for not getting the call. And that was kind of a, I'm gonna get you back. Jackson clearly pushed away Nikola here who waited to hear the whistle. But when he realized he's not getting it, he took justice into his own hands. The Joker showed us throughout the years that he's not taking crap from anybody. And from that point on, the Nuggets took over. Jokic orchestrated the offense to perfection near the end of the half, taking a 6-point lead. And in the second half, Julian Strother with 10 and Cam Whitmore with 14 points made sure to secure the win for Denver. Whitmore is looking great at the moment and if he can get into his rocket shape, he'll be a nice boost for the Nuggets this season. And speaking of that, Zion looks stronger than ever. Williams exploded for a one-handed throwdown in the first minute of the game. And he showed the range that he's been working on later in the second half, knocking down a corner three. In 16 minutes on the floor, Z scored 11 points on 67% shooting. But the real story of the game was OKC's new giant, Adei Mara. Did you see where he took off from? Mara rejects Derek Queen on one end and then sprints out to finish the play, taking off just one step inside the free throw line. A minute later, he gets a missy as well. Next, he showcased his post moves. Herb Jones was looking like a little kid here against the big Spaniard. Then we saw the play of the game. A half-court alley-oop from McCain to Mara for the utmost pleasure of the crowd. The 7-3 rookie was ruling the paint in the second period, coming up with yet another defense-to-offense sequence. He put Queen into his little pocket on both ends of the court. Adei Mara bowed out in his Thunder debut, posting 12 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks on a perfect 5 of 5 from the field. And the Big 3 was loving every move he made. He definitely gives this team a real upgrade and a potential rematch against Wimby in the Spurs. Yaxel Endeborg is another rookie that should immediately step into a big role with the Warriors, especially after seeing what he did to the Lakers last night. Yaxel put his head down in the first quarter time and time again, looking too strong for the defense. In the second, he bowed out the sniper. The Brandon Williams shot was too strong for the defense, while Lendeborg swishes back-to-back triples to give the dubs a 20-point lead before the half. And speaking of threes, the chef cooked up a special. The Rook and the Vet led their team to a dominant win at the end, scoring 17 and 16 points respectively. But the play of the game belonged to a Laker. A dude Thiero is one freak of an athlete, and Yaxel experienced that first-hand. That was a monster jam. Moving on to Charlotte, where Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. took turns on the Hornets. They surprised me with the back-to-back times to each other, to be honest, cause I'm expecting their offense to be like, your turn, my turn when the season starts. MPJ racked up 16 points in 16 minutes on 67% efficiency, while Randle was right behind him. Julius was too strong for his former teammate Nas Reed on a couple of possessions, stripping the ball away from him and finishing the slam. He finished his Nets debut with 13 points on 57% shooting. Good enough for the easy win at the end. And last but not least, we got LeBron James posting an IG story to defend Joel Embiid after Mike Breen said this during their game against the Knicks. I trust Mike Breen 100% on this one, but what LeBron is trying to do here is not make Embiid look too bad for taking a lesson from the new guy. And the newest guy on the Pistons, John Collins, got into a heated confrontation with Dylan Brooks yesterday. Click right here to check it out if you missed it and I'll talk to you in the next one. Peace out.