Basketball is not a sport, it's a way of life.

All-Star selections, PG God mode, Bruce Brown's a skeleton key...

QUICK HITS

• I’m a little concerned that Paul George hit "God Mode" a bit too early into the season. His numbers for the year have been predictably impressive (23.9ppg, 5.5rpg, 3.7apg, 46.8%fg, and 42.1%3pt), but after scoring just nine points and having to leave the game early with groin soreness during a Dec. 12 match-up against the Kings, an injury that caused him to miss the subsequent game against Golden State, George has been playing at an absolutely elite level. In the 15 games since, George is averaging: 26ppg, 4.9rpg, 3.2apg, 1.5spg, and shooting 50.2% from the field, including an insane 46.9% from behind the arc on 4.5 makes per contest—first in the NBA over that stretch. The numbers tell quite a tale, but it’s how that story fits within the greater narrative of the Clippers' surprisingly successful season that really impresses. George has been an absolute monster of a defender of late, particularly in the 4th quarter, where he has returned to form as one of the best shutdown on-ball defenders in the league. Yet despite the particularly dynamic play lately, it’s George’s health that has really been the best surprise of the year. He’s appeared in 38 of the first 40 games the Clippers have played this season, his most since only missing one game through the first 40 for Oklahoma City in the ’19 season. George is also averaging his most minutes per game (34.8) since that same season in Oklahoma. The hope is that since the arrival of James Harden has significantly lightened the ball-handling responsibilities for George, meaning that he can find more windows of rest while on the floor, the Clippers' versatile wingman—who is already in his 14th season—can continue to function as the highest-level three-and-d player in the league without fear of wearing himself out the way he has with a heavier burden in season’s past. Essentially, this is the version of PG we got to watch finish top-three in MVP voting in that same ’19 season with the Thunder.

• Has anyone else heard of this Victor Wembanyama guy? Because it turns out he might be pretty good, particularly now that we have been able to watch the French phenom operate in his natural habitat. Through his first 19 games—when Pop was playing the rookie at power forward alongside Zach Collins—Wemby was averaging a healthy 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.6 blocks, and 1.3 steals, on 43.2% from the field, and a woeful 26.5% from three. But since Pop has relented on some of his perplexing positional re-shuffling and started Wemby at his natural center spot, the much-ballyhooed rookie has taken off. Over the 17-game span, Wembanyama’s numbers are gaudy: 21.1ppg, 10.5rpg, 3.5apg, 3.8bpg, .8spg, on 49.6% from the field, and a much more respectable 33.3% from three. Those 3.8 blocks per game lead the entire league over that stretch, while the improved shooting efficiency is a clear combination of Wemby getting a shot diet that feels more familiar, and a savant-level player starting to really figure out where he can be most lethal. None of this is surprising. We haven’t seen a single thing this season to even slightly erode the mountain of praise that Wemby’s game comfortably rests upon. Yet, oh my, is it fun to watch a player of this caliber already figuring out how he is going to dominate the league.

• I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, but whatever the hell Isaiah Hartenstein’s was, it’s working. Since ringing in the year with a New Year’s Day victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Hartenstein, for the month of January, is averaging (rankings are amongst players leaguewide having played more than 5 games in the month): 8.0 points, 13.4 rebounds (4^th), including 3.9 offensive boards (3^rd), 1.8 blocks (13^th), 1.7 steals (tied for 13^th), while shooting 66.0% from the field (12^th). The former Oregon Duck, who has long been one of the best backup centers in the league, has performed admirably as a starter since Mitchell Robinson went down Dec. 8^th, but he has really been playing his best basketball in 2024. Hartenstein’s impressive play has been just as large a part of the Knicks 9-2 record during January as the much-discussed addition of OG Anunoby.

• Maybe it’s the home cooking, maybe it’s the increased pace, maybe it’s that the proverbial lights of Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena aren’t quite as blindingly bright as those of Madison Square Garden’s, but whatever it is that has helped spur RJ Barrett’s improved play, the Raptors' faithful have to be thankful for it. Barrett, who came to Toronto 11 games ago in the OG Anunoby deal, has been on a tear, averaging 20.2 points on a scorching 54.5% from the field and 39.1% from behind the arc. Barrett has looked really confident, which we have seen in these types of hot streaks with him before. But what may augur a more sustainable measure of offensive success is how aggressive Barrett has been since coming to Toronto. The Raptors' wing-heavy roster means that the lane is not nearly as clogged as it was in New York, and Barrett is taking advantage of this space with the heaviest diet of drives of his career. His 11.6 points scored in the paint per game since becoming a Raptor are a career-high, and a 3.1 points per game increase over his average this season with New York (8.5). Additionally, he has the highest percentage of points scored in the paint of his career (57.7%). The Raptors have also made smart usage of getting Barrett going downhill before he touches the ball, often running opposite side screens for the fifth-year forward to get a full head of steam going toward the rim. And Barrett is making the most of those quick-decision opportunities, as since coming to Toronto, he is shooting 58.0% on shots in which he touches the ball for less than 2 seconds. Now, we have seen these types of tantalizing runs from Barrett before, only to watch the efficiency fall precipitously, sending Barrett’s confidence plummeting with it. The hope is that the emphasis on getting Barrett downhill and seeing the ball go through the rim with high percentage opportunities will continue to bolster his confidence. I hope it does, because in the windows in which Barrett has played like this, confident and aggressive, he displays all the talents that made him the 3^rd pick in the 2019 draft.

• In many ways, it’s a shame that Bruce Brown is such a universal fit. His ability to be consistently additive no matter what the requirements—in Brooklyn, he was a short-rolling power forward; in Denver, a back-up point guard; in Indiana, a rim-running defensive stopper on the perimeter—has made him a player in enough demand that he has become a bit of an NBA nomad (Toronto is his 5^th team), robbing local fan bases from hitching their fanaticism to the kind of hard-nosed, fun-loving, do-it-all type of player that tends to be a local favorite. But if not locally, then Brown deserves praise nationally for his ability to continue to step into whatever role is asked of him and to do so at such a consistently high level. Early-on in Toronto (he’s played in 2 games since being traded for in the Pascal Siakam deal Wednesday), it appears that Brown will play more of an off-ball role offensively, running inverted pick and rolls with Scottie Barnes—much as he did with KD in Brooklyn—and using his high basketball IQ to get open on cuts or spotting up on the opposite side of actions. While his ability defensively to be disruptive roaming the perimeter and to switch against all positions will fit in perfectly with the Raptors' aggressive switching defense. Of course, this is assuming that Toronto doesn’t flip Brown at the trade deadline to any one of a bevy of teams that would love to add him.