I was born and raised in Southern California but went to school on the east coast and worked in NYC for four years. Yet, I will never, ever get used to the sports schedule out here — I’m currently in Brooklyn with my in-laws. First football game at 1 p.m. on Sunday? Did I just sleep in all morning? Basketball games starting at 10 p.m. and ending past midnight?! Lord have mercy! Ball is life, though, so I trudge through. Easy for me to say since I don’t have to wake up at 7 a.m. to go to work. I salute all you east coasters. And I hope everyone has a happy New Year!

Here are my thoughts from the past week:

Injury roundup

We had some big ones recently. The injury gods need to provide us with a sacrifice list, like reverse Santa Claus.

Ivica Zubac suffered a Grade 2 left ankle sprain and will miss several weeks. Brook Lopez has filled in admirably, averaging 32 minutes over three games and providing plenty of points, treys and blocks. The Clippers have won three straight with Lopez starting, and they weren’t cheapies either — Houston, Portland and Detroit. The sample size is small, but the Clippers are first in offensive rating and ninth in defensive rating over that span. The ability of Lopez to space the floor has been a boon for both James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, who just dropped 55 points on Sunday. If Lopez is somehow available, you scoop him up for sure. There have been tons of trade rumors regarding Zubac, so it’s within the range of outcomes that Lopez is a thing for the remainder of the season, but I wouldn’t put too high of a probability on it. Just something to make us go hmmmm …

Cameron Johnson hyperextended his right knee and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Playing alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, much was expected from Johnson from a fantasy perspective, but he has disappointed. Johnson is still converting 42% of his attempts from downtown, but the overall shooting volume is way down. Last season, he attempted 13.1 shots per game and is down to 8.8 this season, the lowest mark since 2020-21. We always have to give players a grace period when they move to a new city and join a new team, and Johnson looked to have been starting to get comfortable at the end of November, but alas, here we are. received the start in the past two games without Johnson, with coming off the bench. Hardaway averaged 37 minutes, 15 shots and 19.5 points. Brown averaged 27.5 minutes and provided some rebounds, assists and steals. If only we could combine the two! If you want points, Hardaway is your guy, but he’s not going to contribute much else.