WHY, LEBRON? | TMK #14

Today, on TMK:

The Jets hate their QBs, the weakest hat trick in Premier League history, and LeBron LeBrons.

Catch Up:

• Monday Night Football: The Jets Beat Themselves

• WILD Action as Chelsea Beat 9-Man Tottenham

• NBA: Highlights From 12 Games

The Main Event:

• Champions League Week 4

Extra Time:

• Quote of the Day

• Can’t Miss Moment

• Stat of the Day

• Video of the Day

🏈 Jets O-Line Tries To Kill QB Wilson, Succeeds

I’ll give you the least interesting part of this game first: the scoreline. The Chargers beat the Jets 27-6.

Now that we got this out the of way, let’s talk about one of the worst offensive line performances this season: Jets QB Zack Wilson was sacked 8(!) times and hit another 8 times. Before this game, I said that if Wilson can’t get it done tonight he should be out of the league, but he had no chance tonight. The Jets offensive line was obliterated by Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. Wilson somehow still finished with 263 yards on 33/49 passing, and I respect him for not retiring mid-game.

If I’m Aaron Rodgers, there is no way in hell I’m playing behind this offensive line. They already got him injured, but they might get him killed. Rodgers is not a 24-year-old who can take this sort of abuse anymore. He should either stay out or learn to self-sack like Brady used to do to avoid getting hit.

Let me put this atrocious performance from the Jets in perspective: The Jets defense was its usual brilliant self and held the Chargers QB Justin Herbert to 136 yards passing and 0 TDs. Herbert is one of the league’s better passers, and the Chargers would lose 99.9% of the games in which he gets shut down like this.

The Jets are the 0.01% that still manages to lose. That’s how bad the offense was today.

⚽ Chelsea Beats 9-Man Tottenham 4-1

The scoreline doesn’t do this game justice; you’d think Chelsea was dominant, but they were anything but. There is a lot to unpack.

The first 15 minutes were glorious Tottenham football. Fluid, attacking team play that resulted in a goal (albeit on a deflection) and another goal disallowed because of a minuscule Son offside. See for yourself:

Unfortunately for Tottenham, the game started to unravel from there. First, Udogie dives for a ball with 2 feet forward; boneheaded tackle, obvious yellow card. Then, Romero challenges a ball in the penalty box; he gets the ball but follows through and hits Enzo Fernandes’ ankle. He gets a straight red card, and a penalty is given for Chelsea.

According to the rules, it was a dangerous tackle and the red card is consistent with other reds we’ve seen this year. I grew up with the “as long as you get the ball first, you’re good” rule - so I don’t like red cards when the player gets the ball first. But times have changed, and a freeze frame of a foot stepping on an ankle is always going to be a VAR-approved red card.

Tottenham was down to 10 men after 33 minutes but didn't play like it at all. They kept the high-line defense and were at times more dangerous than Chelsea was. Until a second boneheaded tackle from Udogie earned him a second yellow, which left Tottenham with 9 players to Chelsea's 11 in the 55th minute.

It took Chelsea 20 minutes to break through and score a second goal to take a 2-1 lead. Heavily shorthanded, the Spurs’ high-line defense was exploited by Chelsea and Nicolas Jackson scored a tap-in. But Tottenham wasn’t done and kept attacking despite being short 2 players. They created opportunities for themselves and were refused the 2-2 on another offside before Son missed an opportunity to level the game in the 94th minute.

After missing that occasion, Tottenham was visibly deflated, and Jackson scored another tap-in at the 94’ and a 1 on 1 at the 97’. To top it all off, Jackson celebrated the weakest hat trick in Premier League’s history with Ronaldo’s SIUUU celebration.

The result is Tottenham’s first loss of the season, but Spurs fans can be proud of their team. They showed fighting spirit throughout and were better at times with 9 than Chelsea’s billion-dollar team was with 11. Chelsea took the three points, but this was a character-defining game for Tottenham.

One more good word for Tottenham: Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario looked like a worthy replacement for Spurs legend Hugo Lloris. A brilliant game from him kept the Spurs in the game to begin with.

Alright, moving on.

🏀 NBA

New York Knicks 111 - 97 Los Angeles Clippers

Imagine having 4 superstars on your team only to get outscored 35-21 in the 4th quarter by the Knicks. Of course, it was Harden’s first game for the Clippers, and there were some promising signs. The team made the extra pass and didn’t look as selfish as one would fear.

The issue for the Clippers is that it seems like there’s no one left to play defense. The Clippers were out-rebounded 48 to 31, outscored 26-6 in fast break points, and outscored 56-38 in the paint. This isn’t how you win games - especially when your “offense first” team only scores 97.

Philadelphia 76ers 146 - 128 Washington Wizards

I feel like I already gave too many compliments to the 76ers this year, but they keep on impressing. Embiid led the 76ers with 48 points; his 40th game with more than 40 in his 399th game. That’s a full 10% of his game played with more than 40 points. Tyrese Maxey added 22, and the 76ers looked good with the recently added players in the wake of the Harden trade.

Miami Heat 108 - 107 Los Angeles Lakers

This game was a vintage LeBron James game in his 21st season.

He can still dunk on the fast break. He can still deliver highlight-reel chase-down blocks. And he still passes the ball in the final seconds instead of going for the win. LeBron will LeBron.

He still finished with 30 points in 37 minutes, but the W escaped him once more. Anthony Davis seemed to get hurt, but according to the team, the injury isn’t serious.

On the opposite side, Butler (28 points), Adebayo (22 points), and Herro (22 points) played a strong team game to take the Lakers down.

Minnesota Timberwolves 114 - 109 Boston Celtics

The Celtics suffered their first loss of the season thanks to a Superman performance from Anthony Edwards. He finished with a 38-9-7 line, including 8 points in OT, matching the entire Celtics’ team.

Tatum’s 32 and Brown’s 26 weren’t enough for the Celtics this time around.

Denver Nuggets 134 - 116 New Orleans Pelicans

Denver did what champions do; they came back from a 20-point deficit to win this game by 18 points. That’s a 38-point turnaround in the second half.

Jokic was masterful with a 35-14-12 game. Jamal Murray was injured on Saturday and is expected to miss significant time, but as long as Jokic plays at this level, the Nuggets will manage.

Other games:

Brooklyn Nets 125 - 129 Milwaukee Bucks

• Cam Thomas scored 45 points for the Brooklyn Nets.

• Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 36 points for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Indiana Pacers 152 - 111 San Antonio Spurs

• Tyrese Haliburton scored 23 points for the Indiana Pacers.

• Doug McDermott scored 17 points for the San Antonio Spurs.

Orlando Magic 102 - 117 Dallas Mavericks

• Paolo Banchero scored 22 points for the Orlando Magic.

• Luka Doncic scored 29 points for the Dallas Mavericks.

Chicago Bulls 130 - 113 Utah Jazz

• Zach LaVine scored 24 points for the Chicago Bulls.

• Lauri Markkanen scored 29 points for the Utah Jazz.

Houston Rockets 122 - 97 Sacramento Kings

• Jalen Green scored 23 points for the Houston Rockets.

• Keon Ellis scored 15 points for the Sacramento Kings.

Oklahoma City Thunder 126 - 117 Atlanta Hawks

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

• Dejounte Murray scored 29 points for the Atlanta Hawks.

⚽ CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WEEK 4

The way UEFA set the schedule is easy enough: teams are playing the same team they played in week 3 with the home and away teams inverted.

Group E

• Atletico Madrid - Celtic

• Lazio - Feyenoord Rotterdam

Last time around, Madrid and Celtic ended in a 2-2 draw, while Feyenoord handily beat Lazio 3-1. This group still has everything to play for. A Feyenoord win today would almost guarantee it a place in the top 16, as it would have a 5-point lead over 3rd place with 2 games to go. Atletico can similarly give itself a 4-point cushion with a win over Celtic at home.

Group F

• Borussia Dortmund - Newcastle United

• AC Milan - Paris Saint-Germain

Everyone’s favorite group is back with 2 more heavyweight fights. Newcastle will be looking to avenge its 1-0 loss at home to Dortmund, while PSG will be looking to recreate their 3-0 drubbing of AC Milan.

Dortmund is on the heels of a 4-0 loss to Bayern in Der Klassiker, while Newcastle has narrowly beat Arsenal 1-0. Both teams have 4 points and are tied for second in the group, and this game could very well decide who goes through to the top 16.

This game is a must-win for AC Milan if they are to keep any hope of going through. PSG would all but guarantee itself a place in the top 16 with a win today.

Group G

• Manchester City - Young Boys

• Red Star Belgrade - RB Leipzig

Not much seems to be at stake here as Manchester City and RB Leipzig have proven to be too much to handle for the Swiss and Serbian teams in the first leg. Should Red Star win in a massive upset, they’ll have some hope of going through - but mostly would improve their chances of being the team headed to the Europa League.

Group H

• Shakhtar Donetsk - Barcelona

• FC Porto - Antwerp

Barcelona is a perfect 3 from 3 so far and can book a place in the top 16 with a win against a Shakthar team playing out of Hamburg. Barcelona was much better in their first encounter but haven’t fully put the game away. Shakthar will be looking for a win here, as their loss to Porto at “home” already significantly reduced their chances of going through.

Meanwhile, Porto is expected to make short work of Antwerp, who is conceding 4 goals a game on average in the Champions League and is last with 0 points.

🗣️ Quote Of The Day

“Too many coaches wanted VAR and when it’s against you: ‘It’s a disgrace’. I’m not talking about Arteta”

- Chelsea Manager Pochettino

Wink wink. I’m just using Arteta’s exact words. Wink wink.

But seriously, VAR implementation in the Premier League has been bad lately. If you are going to stop the game and kill the vibe, at least get your decisions right.

⭐ Can’t Miss Moment

Wembanyama Gets Blocked

Honestly, I wasn’t sure this was even possible. Look how high above the rim Jackson goes to block this one.

🧮 Stat Of The Day

Nikola Jokic is now 4th on the all-time triple-double list with 108 games, surpassing LeBron’s 107

Nikola Jokic is 28 years old and has a good 7 years of basketball still ahead of him - if he doesn’t just get sick of basketball and decides to focus on his horses.

📽️ Video of the Day

Embiid’s 48-Point Game

Do I think Jokic was robbed of the MVP last year? Yes

Is Embiid still a BEAST regardless? Also yes

48 points in 31 minutes played is an insane performance no matter how you look at it. See for yourself why I’m the highest I’ve ever been on the 76ers.

Click HERE to watch on Youtube.

Wrap Up

Today is PURE Champions League action. No NBA, NFL, MLB, Euroleague, or anything else to distract us from the greatest football show on the planet. Enjoy it. See you tomorrow.