The NBA HORSE Challenge started with Chauncey Billups scoring an upset over betting favorite Trae Young and then saw Mike Conley Jr. dominate thanks to ambidexterity and an indoor gym against Tamika Catchings. The most fun competition of the first round, though, was the third matchup that pitted Paul Pierce against Zach LaVine, as the two had some funny banter as well as some of the most fun creativity we’ve seen.

The key to HORSE being good is when folks try things that aren’t normal shots, and that’s what both of them did pretty well with their creativity, even trying some goofy stuff off the top of their heads.

The “no dunk” rule they put in might as well have been the “Zach LaVine Rule” but he found a way to circumvent that rule by still doing wildly athletic shot attempts, like this tap the backboard reverse layup that Pierce couldn’t even get an attempt on.

Finally, LaVine went off the court and fired in the game-winner from the dirt outside his halfcourt, forcing Pierce to try something similar from the grass, which he was unable to do.

It was a highly entertaining 5-0 skunk from LaVine, but the worst part was we never got to see what Paul Pierce had planned for his little pink scooter he wheeled out to tease some weirdness that was coming if he ever got to choose the next shot.

The NBA’s HORSE Challenge began on Sunday night with a surprising upset as Chauncey Billups took down Trae Young despite Young jumping out to an early 3-0 letter lead.

The second match proved to be the biggest situational mismatch, as Tamika Catchings faced off against Mike Conley Jr., who is the lone member of the competition with an indoor home gym. The climate controlled gym proved to be extremely useful for Conley, who only picked up one letter. However, while being indoors provides a prohibitive advantage, Conley also broke out some creative shots and despite being a lefty, he showed he’s more than capable with his off-hand, which makes him a HORSE god, as he can call “off-hand” shots from just about anywhere and make them.

Both Catchings and Conley were more creative than Billups or Young, with Catchings making her first basket on a 360 layup, but ultimately, Conley’s off-hand shots and lack of wind proved to be too much.

The game-winner, once again, took advantage of his ambidexterity as he made a preposterous layup from behind the backboard with his right hand.

I don’t care about indoor or outdoor, that’s a ridiculous shot. Given what we’ve seen thus far, Conley’s abilities with the off-hand, plus the indoor gym, plus just generally being more creative than most anyone we’ve seen has to make him the favorite going forward.

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The NBA’s HORSE competition got started on Sunday night with a major upset as the betting favorite, Trae Young, fell to Chauncey Billups in the opening round that was, well, slow to get going. The video quality was, unsurprisingly, not very good as it was a DIY stream from phones and iPads, but more disappointing was the lack of creativity, particularly on the part of Trae Young.

Trae had the honors and got off to a hot start, taking an H-O-R to no letter lead on Billups, as Chauncey missed a left handed free throw and behind the backboard shot early.

However, once Trae missed, Chauncey took advantage and tied things up quickly with the second-year All-Star by taking him out of his comfort zone and forcing him into some shots he clearly had not practiced.

From there, the two traded makes and misses, with Young refusing to go away from his beloved left-handed free throw and behind the backboard shot, despite Mark Jones of ESPN egging him on about a tweet that said he would only shoot halfcourt shots. Young never ventured very far back in his driveway, and his failure to execute the few shots he clearly had practiced before the competition led to his downfall.

Ultimately, Billups went back to a bank shot from the top of the key and was able to put away Young for the somewhat shocking upset.

Hopefully the creativity will improve as the competition goes on, but for now, the favorite is out and the elder statesman moves on.

There are few busier people in Hollywood right now than James Gunn, who — thanks to an online campaign that got him fired from Marvel, a decision that wound up being retracted after all — is helming both The Suicide Squad and The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Of course, no one in Hollywood is busy right now; the entire industry is shut down, thanks to the ever-rampaging novel coronavirus. It’s not clear how much longer much of the world will be on “pause,” but Gunn, at least, remains optimistic: As per Deadline, on Easter Sunday he took to Twitter to announce those two films won’t have their release dates rescheduled.

“Right now there’s no reason for #TheSuicideSquad release date to move,” Gunn told an online fan. “We are on or ahead of schedule. We were extremely fortunate to wrap shooting & set up editing from our homes (due to a post production team & studio with foresight) before quarantine.”

Gunn was then asked about the third Guardians. That, too, was met with a positive/optimistic response, saying those plans are “also exactly the same as they were before coronavirus.”

Thing is, Vol. 3 doesn’t actually have a release date anyway, although The Suicide Squad — a sequel/semi-reboot of 2016’s simply-named Suicide Squad — does: Aug. 6, 2021. Other comic book movies weren’t so lucky. Black Widow was moved to Nov. 6, nicking the old slot reserved for The Eternals. That moved to Feb. 12, 2021, forcing Shang-Chi to get bumped to May 7, and so on and so forth. It’s a crazy/scary/maddening time, but at least Gunn feels confident that he’ll be able to deliver on time.

(Via Deadline)

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Devices, gadgets, and accessories that already come with a stamp of approval.

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Hire someone to do this, loves.

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I *knew* I recognized that voice.

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The federal government recommends no one attend gatherings of more than 10 people, but some churches are still encouraging big congregations to attend Easter Sunday services.

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