NBA winners and losers: De’Aaron Fox joins Kobe and Wilt, Luka Doncic falls asleep, refs blow crucial calls

Nothing typifies the rapid vacillation between “winner” and “loser” than Jayson Tatum’s whirlwind couple of days this weekend. On the final possession of the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, Tatum worked himself into a wide-open, potential game-winning midrange jumper from just above the free throw line. Unfortunately he missed it by about two feet to the left, shockingly striking nothing but backboard. LOSER!

Luckily, redemption is spelled J-A-Y-S-O-N. He made up for his earlier faux pas as the overtime buzzer sounded by absolutely drilling a step-back 3-pointer from well-beyond the arc to bring home the victory for the Celtics. WINNER!

Alas, success is a fickle mistress. Less than 24 hours later, the NBA ruled that Tatum had in fact traveled on the final possession prior to the game-winner (we’ll get to that later) so it certainly takes some of the luster off of his shining moment. LOSER! But also, kind of a winner because they still won the game.

Anyway, as you take a look at some of the best and worst from this weekend, remember that life is just a series of peaks and troughs, and you don’t know whether you’re in a trough until you’re climbing out, or on a peak until you’re coming down. Do you know which “philosopher” said that? David Brent.

Here are this weekend’s winners and losers.

Not trying to be insulting here, but basic statistics say that most of you reading this haven’t even scored 109 total points in your basketball careers. De’Aaron Fox did it on back-to-back nights … in the NBA. He dropped a career-high 60 on Friday against the Timberwolves, in a curious trend of NBA players losing high-scoring games, then followed it up with 49 in Saturday’s win over the Jazz.

Our Jack Maloney broke down all the pertinent numbers from Fox’s ridiculous outburst, but the biggest thing to know is that the only players in NBA history to score more points on consecutive days are Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain. Sheesh. And here’s the thing — Fox has a chance for another huge number on Monday night against the Hawks, the eighth-worst defense in the NBA.

It’s certainly rare to find Luka Doncic in the “loser” category of any list, but this one was pretty egregious. On the Jazz’s final possession of regulation on the NBA’s lone game on Thursday night (we’re stretching the weekend to count this contest), Doncic picked an extremely inopportune time to fall asleep — perhaps literally, we’re still unsure. As Jordan Clarkson dribbled out the clock, Doncic stood at the free throw line extended facing the sideline, while John Collins, presumably his man, just hung out behind him. Clarkson and Collins both noticed that the basket was WIDE OPEN with Mavs big man Dereck Lively II guarding his man at the 3-point line. Collins then literally took one step toward the basket, received a rifle pass from Clarkson and dunked home the game-winning basket. Doncic stared blankly as if he wasn’t even aware the game was underway.

Just look at Clarkson’s face when he realizes what is happening. Priceless. You can also see Mavericks Quentin Grimes and Naji Marshall throwing their hands up in a combination of disbelief and disgust.

Doncic is one of the best young players the game has ever seen, but lapses like this simply cannot happen.

Winner: Running up the score

Say what you will about the existence of the In-Season Tournament NBA Cup, but there’s one thing we can all agree on: Running up the score is awesome. For those not familiar, the first tiebreaker in the group stage of the tournament is point differential, so teams with a lead in the final minutes have every incentive to increase their point total rather than boringly dribbling the clock out. I mean, what’s more fun than watching the undefeated Cavs going full-court in fewer than seven seconds to get a Jarrett Allen dunk that pushes the lead from 16 to 18?

Last season Warriors coach Steve Kerr expressed his desire for teams to play until the final whistle all the time, making some solid points: “I actually prefer it. I have no idea why people get offended in the NBA when you shoot at the end. Both teams stop playing. Twenty-point game and you turn it over two straight times at the end. Why? Why are we doing this? Is it really that offensive? Somebody shoots a ball? We have these weird unwritten rules, so I’m glad those go out the window.”

Loser: Ray Allen

Records are made to be broken, but for Hall of Famer Ray Allen, something has to feel … I don’t know … cheap? … about James Harden passing him for second on the NBA’s all-time 3-pointers list on Sunday. It was one thing when Allen relinquished the No. 1 spot to Steph Curry two years ago — the man is literally the greatest shooter to ever live. But Harden? A career 36% 3-point shooter who relies on ungodly volume to game the system?

It took Allen, a career 40% 3-point shooter, 7,429 attempts to get to his total of 2,973 makes. Harden, by contrast, needed 8,189 attempts to reach 2,974 — and he did it in 214 fewer games! Give Harden his flowers for the accomplishment, but there has to be a bit of a sour taste in Allen’s mouth this morning.

Winner: 1948-49 Washington Capitols

One unforeseen benefit of the Cleveland Cavaliers racing out to a 15-0 start is the fact that the 1948-49 Washington Capitols have re-entered (or more likely entered for the first time) the collective NBA consciousness. I mean, who can forget their epic three-game series win over the Knicks in the BAA Eastern Division Finals of 1949? Instant classic.

The Capitols, like this season’s Cavs and the 1993-94 Houston Rockets, won their first 15 games to start the season. Here’s a quick look at some of the incredible names on this roster:

• Bones McKinney
• Kleggie Hermsen
• Johnny Norlander
• Sonny Hertzberg
• Leo Katkaveck

With Hermsen their tallest player at 6-foot-9, the Capitols basically invented small ball. They also went 38-22 while only breaking 100 points twice. Old school. Respect.

Also, little known fact: The team was coached by none other than future Celtics legend Red Auerbach.

Loser: Crunch-time referees

Look, every ref misses calls. You’re human, we get it. All we ask is that you buckle down in the most important moments of the game. This weekend? Not so much. First, officials called what Bucks head coach Doc Rivers called a “phantom foul” on Giannis Antetokounmpo when LaMelo Ball simply tripped over his own two feet during Saturday’s matchup. Ball went on to hit the free throws and win the game for the Hornets.

Then, just hours later, refs missed a clear pitter-pattering of the feet by Jayson Tatum prior to his game-winning 3-pointer against the Raptors.

To even things out, the league also admitted that the refs missed a clear and obvious tackle by Toronto guard Davion Mitchell on the final play.

In both instances the NBA acknowledged the error afterward, but that’s not much consolation for the losing teams. Complaining about officiating is as important a part of sports as the game itself, and blown calls like this in crunch time only add fuel to the fire.

Any time you join Michael Jordan on any list, you’re winning at life. On Friday, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels became the first player since the GOAT to register at least 15 points and five steals in four straight games. Do you know how hard it is to register FIVE steals in a game? Only six players last season had five steals in two straight games, and this guy just did it four times in a row. Take a look at his stats over the run:

Not to be overlooked: Great Barrier Thief is one of our game’s best nicknames (Daniels is Australian). Unfortunately the streak came to an end on Sunday when Daniels registered a measly two steals in a 114-109 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Slacker. 

That inexcusable performance aside, he’s having a tremendous season with averages of 15 points, four rebounds and three assists to go along with his league-best 3.8 steals per game (nearly DOUBLE the closest competitor). Just 21 years old, Daniels came over in the Dejounte Murray trade and is looking like a key piece of Atlanta’s future.

Loser: LaMelo Ball

In a postgame on-court interview, Ball uttered a phrase that should be removed from our collective lexicon. It’s not funny. It’s not cute. It’s not quirky. It’s anti-gay and it’s hurtful. Intent and context are irrelevant when the words themselves are inherently and unambiguously offensive. Expecting Ball to apologize is probably a fool’s errand, but let’s hope that players are done using this kind of idiotic language in forums that give young fans the idea that it’s acceptable.