The Bounce: Making sense of Lakers and Clippers. And was this Wemby's best dunk?

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We had an actual NBA fight over the weekend. It happened between maybe 6-foot Jose Alvarado and 7-footer Mark Williams. The Pelicans point guard got tangled up with the Suns center, and they actually threw punches. Well … NBA punches. Alvarado got a two-game suspension, and Williams received a one-game suspension.

NBA Stock Report

L.A. teams are going opposite directions

Every Monday, we walk right into the heart of the NBA trends. We stand around in the middle of the floor, look up at the big screens with lots of numbers in green or red fonts, and then we assess whether teams are headed up or down in the league. Let’s dive into the NBA Stock Market:

📈 Clippers (10-21). Don’t look now, but the Clippers have won four straight games! Their wins are legitimate too. They’ve beaten the Lakers, Rockets, Blazers and Pistons — a good week for anybody, let alone a team that’s struggled this much. They’re getting back to their defensive identity. In their last four games, the Clippers have the fourth-best defense in the NBA. It’s a stark contrast from the 26th-ranked defense they showed in their first 27 games. That’s impressive when you remember that Ivica Zubac has missed three of these games with an ankle injury. The Clippers are blitzing opposing offenses and forcing the highest turnover rate in the league during this stretch.

📉 Lakers (20-10). JJ Redick does not seem cheery during this holiday season. This team has the defensive resistance of a saloon door. The Lakers have lost four of their last seven and have been smoked in a few of those. L.A. is 27th in effective field-goal percentage allowed and eighth in opponent turnover rate. Basically, if the Lakers don’t force a turnover on their defensive gambles, they’re giving up a bucket. They are one of the best teams at preventing a high free-throw rate. Why? Probably because they’re rarely close enough to foul their opponents.

📈 Warriors (16-16). Things were looking pretty bleak for Golden State before it rallied with a great week. The Warriors beat Phoenix, Orlando and Dallas at home before an overtime loss in Toronto. Things are not fixed, but they’re getting back to homeostasis. The important thing during this small stretch is that this isn’t just about Steph Curry carrying the team. He hasn’t been anything special by his absurd standards. Jimmy Butler is scoring almost 20 points per game with incredible efficiency, and role players like Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody and rookie Will Richard have stepped up.

📉 Thunder (27-5). OKC is just 3-4 in its last seven. The most confusing thing about this stretch is that it has come with the Thunder finally being healthy. The lineup of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein isn’t dominating the way we expected. They’re giving up a defensive rating of 116.7 points per 100 possessions and are 1-4 with that starting group. Obviously, this is just a glitch in the matrix, but it’s still stunning.

📈 Keyonte George. Through his first two seasons, George was looking good in how he created shots — until we saw the result. He shot 39.1 percent from the field in each of his first two campaigns. But over his last 18 games, the Jazz guard has been lighting up opponents. He’s averaging 25.7 points on 47.7/42.4/88.6 shooting splits during that stretch. That’s good for a 63.9 percent true shooting. Just to put that into context, Curry had a 64.8 percent true shooting during his dominant 2014-19 stretch. George has finally arrived.

📉 Houston’s defense. Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen a massive drop-off in how the Rockets defend. It’s incredibly out of character for a team that was fifth in defense last season and ranked second in defense through its first 21 games this season. Over the last two weeks, the Rockets are just 3-4 because they’ve posted the 21st-ranked defense. Only Sacramento, Cleveland, Atlanta, Utah and the Lakers have been worse defensively during the last two weeks. Houston has been one of the worst teams at forcing turnovers, keeping opponents off the free-throw line and, most importantly. preventing shots from going in.

(Check out the full NBA standings here, and read the extended version of the NBA Stock Report every Monday in my NBA Rewind.)

The last 24

Giannis is back and ready to fight

🦌 Get scrappy. Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the lineup for the Bucks. And he’s got his hands dirty.

🏀 Tanks for nothing? The NBA has new proposals to fix tanking. Is this a strategy even worth pursuing? Three reporters from The Athletic discuss.

🤔 What’s wrong? The Sixers finally have their three main guys back. So why aren’t they winning?

😡 Ruh roh. The Hawks keep losing with Trae Young. And they just had a players-only meeting.

Stream the NBA on Fubo (__try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass__.

BIDS score

Wemby puts up massive poster dunk

If you’ve subscribed to The Bounce for the past couple of years, you know we love to share ridiculous Victor Wembanyama highlights. Whether it’s incredible blocks or things that vindicate the “Alien” nickname, Wemby is a big-time favorite here. In Saturday night’s game against the Jazz, Wemby may have completed the best dunk of his career.

In the fourth quarter, Wembanyama pump-faked Lauri Markkanen on the perimeter and then drove down the middle of the lane. Kyle Filipowski tried to rotate over in time, but it didn’t matter. Wemby dropped the hammer and gave us a monster dunk to score with our Bounce Index Dunk System (BIDS).

Convulsion/jump scare: 10/10. The second he got past the free-throw line, I moved to the edge of my seat. Then he took the contact and hung in the air (as much as a 7-foot-7 man can) before bringing the dunk home with authority.
Bench reaction: 9/10. The bench guys could have been more hyped, but they’re trying to hold themselves back from running on the floor. They also might’ve been checking that his legs were OK with the awkward landing. Carter Bryant (who was in the game) had a great reaction too.
Dunker reaction: 9/10. He flexed. He screamed. He dapped up the teammates as he just sat on the ground. Visceral!
Where is the damn replay? 10/10. Even though the foul happened and we immediately got to the replays, it wasn’t quick enough. We demanded it instantaneously.
Witness protection scale: 8/10. Filipowski didn’t totally commit to the rotation, so he missed some of the severity of what it could be.
Total BIDS score for Wemby: 46/50.

This was one of two poster dunks on Filipowski in the game. Dylan Harper posterized him in the third quarter. And yes, the Spurs ended up losing this game to Utah, after winning three times in 12 days against OKC. Wait. Hold on a second. On the Wemby dunk, I want to recognize the crowd reaction and focus on two specific Spurs fans.

Right in the middle, we have someone in a black ski mask and a white robe. Just chilling in the crowd, celebrating the Wemby dunk. But then right next to this person? A shirtless man wearing a Spurs jacket and jorts. I have so many questions about both people. Are these people together? Did they just walk into the arena like this and not get stopped with any questions? Is this normal Spurs fan attire in 2025? No, seriously, are these two people together??

Kawashed?

Leonard drops 55 on Pistons, adds to confusion

Would you consider Kawhi Leonard to be washed? The 34-year old Clippers star isn’t the most reliable superstar when it comes to availability, but we’ve seen some pretty good results from him since the beginning of last season. It’s why I found a conversation with my favorite group chat last night to be so fascinating.

Kawhi dropped a career-high 55 points last night on the Pistons. That’s one of the best teams and defenses in the league. In the third quarter, he hit them for 26 of his 55 points, and he just peppered them all night with midrange jumpers and footwork. It led to this text exchange:

Friend 1: I just can’t tell if he’s washed or not.

Friend 2: He’s not, but his team is.

Friend 3: It’s interesting. It calls into question the whole meaning of washed. You can’t count on him at all.

Me: He’s my emergency contact.

Friend 3: But you base that on whoever eats the most apples.

Me: That’s what I need in an emergency.

Friend 3: A well-appled man. I kind of think Kawhi is washed. But almost a new kind of washed.

Me: Kawashed

Friend 3: He’s Kawashed!

Friend 1: He almost decides when he wants to be washed, which might be the most powerful washed.

In 21 games this season, Leonard is averaging 27.5 points on 62.4 percent true shooting with 6.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.1 steals. It’s the third-highest scoring average of his career (so far) and the second-highest efficiency of his career. And yet, the Clippers only recently started winning, and you’re still not sure what you’re getting from him. Maybe “Kawashed” is a real thing?

RETRUI