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After a successful battle between 2 Chainz and Rick Ross, Verzuz has unveiled the contestants for their next battle. Bringing viewers a heavy dose of 2000s R&B, Brandy and Monica will go head-to-head in the next edition of the online music battle. The contest is a wish come true for fans as they’ve spent the last few months requesting a matchup between Brandy and Monica on the platform.

When asked about a possible battle between the two singers, Brandy revealed that it was her belief that Monica turned down the matchup. “I heard that she doesn’t wanna do it,” Brandy said. “The last thing I heard is she pretty much turned it down, she didn’t want to be a part of that, but I understand.” Thankfully, the R&B talents were able to work it out.

The battle between Brandy and Monica will serve as the first R&B battle since John Legend and Alicia Keys went head-to-head on Juneteenth. The upcoming battle is also the third edition of Verzuz to take place on Apple Music, in addition to Instagram, as Swizz Beatz and Timbaland inked a deal with the streaming platform to make the competitions more available to fans at a higher quality.

While most of their classic records live in 2000s section of R&B the two singers have remained fairly active over the past few years, with Brandy sharing her most recent album B7 arriving last month while Monica’s most recent album, Code Red arrived in 2015.

Tune in 8/6 at 5pm PST/ 8pm EST to watch Brandy and Monica’s battle.

After a successful battle between 2 Chainz and Rick Ross, Verzuz has unveiled the contestants for their next battle. Bringing viewers a heavy dose of 2000s R&B, Brandy and Monica will go head-to-head in the next edition of the online music battle. The contest is a wish come true for fans as they’ve spent the last few months requesting a matchup between Brandy and Monica on the platform.

When asked about a possible battle between the two singers, Brandy revealed that it was her belief that Monica turned down the matchup. “I heard that she doesn’t wanna do it,” Brandy said. “The last thing I heard is she pretty much turned it down, she didn’t want to be a part of that, but I understand.” Thankfully, the R&B talents were able to work it out.

The battle between Brandy and Monica will serve as the first R&B battle since John Legend and Alicia Keys went head-to-head on Juneteenth. The upcoming battle is also the third edition of Verzuz to take place on Apple Music, in addition to Instagram, as Swizz Beatz and Timbaland inked a deal with the streaming platform to make the competitions more available to fans at a higher quality.

While most of their classic records live in 2000s section of R&B the two singers have remained fairly active over the past few years, with Brandy sharing her most recent album B7 arriving last month while Monica’s most recent album, Code Red arrived in 2015.

Tune in 8/6 at 5pm PST/ 8pm EST to watch Brandy and Monica’s battle.

It’s been so long since The Office aired, and the Andy and Erin relationship was such a big part of the show in the final seasons that it’s easy to forget that the two actually didn’t end up together in the end. Erin, in fact, ended the series dating Pete in what was essentially Jim and Pam redux. Andy and Erin had broken up when Andy abandoned Erin for three months to go sailing with his younger brother.

It’s probably for the best, because Andy and Erin were not a good match, at least according to Ellie Kemper, who played Erin on the long-running The Office. “I never thought [Andy and Erin were a good match],” Ellie Kemper told Brian Baumgartner on The Oral History of ‘The Office’ podcast. “I felt like Andy was a bit too childish. He wasn’t ready to take care of Erin. Erin was ready to take care of Andy, but I felt that it was uneven in that respect.”

Baumgartner, however, revealed one match that could have been on the series. “Do you know that I pitched Kevin and Erin getting together?” Baumgartner told Kemper on the podcast.

“Brian,” Kemper said, gasping. “I think that would be a pretty reasonable relationship.” Kemper is dead wrong about that, but Baumgartner continued. “I went up to the writers’ room, and I said, ‘If Kevin could mature just a little, there was something about their energy that I thought was right. Their energies matched in a weird way.’”

I don’t think that’s right, but Kemper seemed to agree. “That actually makes perfect sense to me. I love that pitch.”

“Sadly,” Baumgartner added, “we never got to witness the great love story that Kevin and Erin could have been.”

Source: An Oral History of The Office

We’re back! For the first time since March, we get to speak about actual box-office figures this weekend instead of Netflix charts (although, for the record, Netflix originals Project Power and the kid-friendly The Sleepover led the way on the streamer). There have obviously been a lot of concerns about how comfortable moviegoers would be about returning to theaters. However, an Atom Tickets survey recently revealed that 40 percent of moviegoers are ready to return to theaters now, while 74 percent of moviegoers will be prepared to return within a month.

This weekend was the first real test of moviegoers’ comfort, as AMC, Regal, Cinemark and Marcus Corp all reopened their theaters. For the first time, there was a major new product: Russell Crowe’s Unhinged, which has trailed around Tenet all summer, insisting on being the trial balloon that opened two weeks ahead of the Christopher Nolan film. It was a big gamble for Solstice Studios, which is behind Unhinged, but it looks like it will pay off. The film earned $4 million this weekend ($5 million including Canada), and Solstice is predicting a running total of $8 million by Thursday. The film has also opened internationally, where it has already put up $8 million.

The budget for the film is $33 million, and there’s a chance — with the way that it’s playing so far — that Solstice actually earns its money back from its investment, even in a pandemic. The $4.2 million it has earned in America also comes with a very big caveat: It’s not playing in the nation’s two largest markets, Los Angeles and New York City, where theaters have not reopened yet. It’s playing best in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and Orlando, which is good news for theaters, although it may not be great news for public health. What is also interesting is that its grosses are not coming entirely from the younger demographic: A whopping 71 percent of moviegoers on the first day were over the age of 25, with 56% being male. Another caveat is this: A lot of those grosses came from drive-in theaters, since Unhinged seems to be ideally suited to that format.

Reviews for the film have been mixed (48 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), although critics are including another factor in their reviews: Is it worth risking one’s health to see? Most reviewers are coming down on the negative side of that, but it is clear that there are plenty anxious moviegoers waiting for any reason to return to theaters, and Russell Crowe playing a villain is apparently reason enough.

Don’t expect to see a normal top ten, or even top five at the box office anytime soon. There were a few other new films available in theaters this weekend, although they didn’t generate much interest. Roadside Attractions Words on Bathrooms Walls, with AnnaSophia Robb and Walton Goggins, only mustered $420,000 in 925 theater, of $454 per theater. In 108 theaters, IFC’s Tesla starring Ethan Hawke only earned $42,000, good for only $389 per theater. Tesla, however, is also available on VOD. That’s less than Dave Franco’s The Rental, which earned $108,000 in 105 theaters, despite being available at drive-in theaters and on VOD for weeks.

RZA’s Cut Throat City also took a chance on opening weekend, but it came up mostly empty, earning $240,000 in 395 theaters ($608 per). Meanwhile, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run is only screening in theaters in Canada, but it’s not doing a ton of business there in 326 theaters. It earned about $500,000 this weekend to bring its 10-day total in Canada to $10 million.

There is, however, spectacular box-office news in … China. There, the coronavirus is under control, and business in theaters has returned to normal. To wit: The Huayi Brothers’ The Eight Hundred earned a whopping $107 million in its first weekend. Historically, China has always come in second behind the United States in terms of total box office, but I could easily see China surpassing North America this year.

Next weekend, movie theaters will get a bigger test, sort of. Disney is releasing The New Mutants, the last of the X-Men universe movies from 20th Century Fox, which Disney now owns. The movie has been delayed countless times, and this feels like a dump job. However, we might be surprised to see how many people eager to return to the movies will turn out to see it anyway.

Source: Atom, Deadline, Exhibitor Relations

The Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns were among NFL teams that altered their practice schedules on Sunday following a number of reported positive tests for COVID-19, though some were believed to be false positives that stemmed from a single lab in New Jersey.

Reports on Sunday indicated a number of teams got back troubling test results from a New Jersey testing facility, causing the NFL to look into the results and their testing procedures as the league attempts to hold a season in the general population amid a still-ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The league released a statement on Sunday that said it was investigating the lab where results came back positive, with some “several” results coming back positive from teams serviced by that lab.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Chicago Bears were among those teams that had positives, though their nine tests were later thought to be false positives.

ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported Sunday that the NFL is exploring what happened at the New Jersey lab, which is performing tests in conjunction with BioReference, which is handling the NFL’s testing this season. The setup is meant to get results back to teams within 24 hours or less, but a number of positives that were later proven false caused teams to push back or alter their schedules on Sunday as the situation was sorted out. Not all test results were immediately proven to be false positives, though, including cases on the Cleveland Browns.

The Chicago Bears were among the teams affected, announcing that they received nine positive test results from their Saturday test regimen. All nine were determined to be false positive results, meaning none were actual indications of infection. The Bears moved back their morning practice to Sunday afternoon “out of an abundance of caution” while they sorted through them.

The Cleveland Browns, meanwhile, canceled their Sunday practice entirely, saying they received results that indicated multiple “presumptive positive” tests from players, coaches and support staff. The Browns said those who had positive rests remain asymptomatic, but the team said Sunday’s meetings would be conducted virtually while the facility undergoes a “thorough deep cleaning and disinfecting process.”

The Buffalo Bills also pushed back the start of their practice by one hour, but did not say why.

The Bills and GM Brandon Beane later confirmed they moved practice back because of coronavirus testing, saying a number of players would miss practice while they wait for more results.

The Jets also suddenly had several positive cases.

The Steelers and Vikings announced they had tests come back positive as well.

The NFL’s statement on Sunday only indicated that it was investigating the results, but the reports indicate all the positives were traced back to the same lab in New Jersey. It’s a worrying development for the NFL, as even if the results were inaccurate it creates another potential issue in holding a season. If results came back positive, even falsely, the league and its teams would be faced with decisions about whether to hold players back or even cancel games if the results were widespread enough.

Thankfully this problem came up well before the start of the regular season and in a period where no preseason games were played, meaning there may still be time to figure out a system that works and keeps everyone safe as the league tries to pull off one of its most ambitious seasons in league history.

During Saturday’s DC FanDome event, Zack Snyder revealed the teaser trailer to his Director’s Cut of Justice League also known as fan-driven “the Snyder Cut.” HBO Max will stream this retooled version (that will end up being over four hours long) sometime in 2021, which means that Joss Whedon’s theatrical version won’t be officially erased but virtually so. Yet Snyder has been perfectly upfront about how his cut won’t affect the DCEU, continuity-wise, and it will be “an entirely new thing.” So, what does all of this mean if fans believe that they’ve found evidence of the Joker in the teaser trailer?

No, really. People are pointing towards a Joker Card and more as proof.

The card appears in a nightmare sequence, but let’s consider the possibilities here:

(1) Zack Snyder can do whatever he wants and is simply nodding towards the greatest supervillain of Gotham for the heck of it;

(2) Zack Snyder can do whatever he wants and is messing with everyone;

(3) Zack Snyder can do whatever he wants and actually decided to include the Joker.

If the third option wins, then we have to start thinking about this question: which Joker?

Well, Jared Leto still technically qualifies as the current version of the DCEU Joker unless stated otherwise, and no one has gone there yet, although James Gunn has clarified that he won’t be in The Suicide Squad. That’s a blow, but still, he hasn’t been replaced in the role (even while bouncing over to Sony to play Morbius the Living Vampire). Yet there may be other possibilities.

Unavoidably, we must remember that the Snyder Cut isn’t bound to DCEU constraints. So, that means that anyone is possible in the Joker role, including the ghost of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, or maybe Snyder will make Lakeith Stanfield’s dreams come true. Or we could see the the entire refreshed cast of The Suicide Squad become the Joker. Or maybe Brad Pitt? What I’m trying to say here is that anything is possible.

What we do know is that the trailer definitively gave the audience Superman’s Black Suit in motion, plus more of Darkseid and an upgraded Steppenwolf. Yes, Batfleck, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman are on board, but Snyder made it clear that we’ll see more of Cyborg and The Flash in his cut. Is there also room for the Joker? Sure, why not.

For the average whiskey fan, the words “bottled in bond” mean high proof. But the phrase is much more complicated than just a whiskey with higher alcohol content. Championed by Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr., the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 was created to make an official designation for whiskey quality standards.

So what does this all mean? To receive the title of “bottled in bond,” the whiskey must adhere to a handful of rules. It must be produced at only one distillery during one distilling season. Then the juice has to be matured in a federally bonded warehouse for a minimum of four years. Finally, the whiskey has to be bottled at 100 proof, or 50 percent ABV. While the act was initially created for bourbon specifically, it’s been extended to all American whiskeys.

If you’re new to bottled in bond whiskeys, we want to help you find a few bottles to try. That’s why we decided to list a few of our favorites (with tasting notes) below.

George Dickel Bottled in Bond

ABV: 50%
Distillery Name: Cascade Hollow Distilling Co., Tullahoma, TN (Diageo)
Average Price: $41.99

The Story:

Tennessee whiskey is dominated by Jack Daniel’s, but it’s another brand that’s not-so-quietly gaining a cult following. George Dickel’s newest offering is a 13-year-old bottled in bond whiskey. Distilled in 2005, this 100-proof offering was created to be bold, complex, and shines in your favorite cocktails or as a sipper on the rocks.

Tasting Notes:

You might assume that a 100-proof whiskey might have an overpowering ethanol aroma, but the first nosing this expression brings forward are hints of charred oak, sweet honey, and toasted vanilla. The first sip yields hints of Christmas spices, more woody oak, and sweet sticky toffee pudding. The finish is dry and pleasing with just a single flourish of peppery spice at the end.

Bottom Line:

This whiskey is bold, robust, and stands up well in a whiskey sour, Manhattan, or old fashioned.

Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond

ABV: 50%
Distillery Name: Heaven Hill, Bardstown, KY
Average Price: $42.99

The Story:

Heaven Hill makes some of the most well-known brands in the world, including Henry McKenna, Old Fitzgerald, and Elijah Craig. But it truly shines with its seemingly simple Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond. This whiskey pays homage to the brand’s original bottled-in-bond offering from 1939. Like all bottled-in-bond whiskeys, it’s 100-proof. But this small-batch whiskey is made using Heaven Hill’s proprietary bourbon mash bill while being aged for seven years.

Tasting Notes:

This highly complex expression starts with aromas of toasted caramel, sweet butterscotch, and subtle cinnamon. The first velvety sip yields notes of brown sugar, leather, and just a hint of peppery spice. The finish, while long, is full of hints of vanilla, cinnamon sugar, and dried fruits.

Bottom Line:

This whiskey, while high in ABV, is so mellow that you’ll want to sip it neat (or on the rocks) while you sit in a comfortable chair, reading a good book.

1792 Bottled in Bond

ABV: 50%
Distillery Name: Barton 1792 Distillery, Bardstown, KY (Sazerac)
Average Price: $44.99

The Story:

This award-winning, high-rye bourbon is made in small batches at 100-proof (as the Bottled-in-Bond Act designated). The official website claims it’s “well aged”, but there’s no age statement (although we know it’s at least four years old). First released in 2017, this bold, balanced bottle should find a spot on your bar or in your liquor cabinet right now.

Tasting Notes:

While nosing a glass, you’ll be met with hints of sweet vanilla, subtle peppery spice, and charred oak. There’s more peppery rye in the first sip, but it’s surrounded on all sides by dried cherries, caramel, and toffee. The finish is long sweet and chocked full of cinnamon, honey, and subtle corn sweetness.

Bottom Line:

This is a bottle to be savored. Share some of the cheaper bourbons with guests, but save this one for yourself.

Old Forester 1897

ABV: 50%
Distillery Name: Brown-Forman Distillery, Shively, KY
Average Price: $47.99

The Story:

The second expression in the Old Forester Whiskey Row Series (the others are 1870, 1910, and 1920) 1879 is so named for the aforementioned Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. This award-winning offering is an homage to Old Forester’s history as the first bottled bourbon in America. It’s also a throwback to the type of whiskey made at that time. It’s rich, bold, and not to be missed.

Tasting Notes:

The first nose brings forth rich, charred oak along with dried cherries. The first sip yields sweet vanilla, honey, and subtle fresh corn followed by a pleasing peppery warmth. The finish brings back more of that woody oak from earlier along with gooey toffee and just a single hit of smokiness at the very end.

Bottom Line:

Since this bottled-in-bond whiskey was made using the techniques of the late 1800s, we believe you should mix it into a drink from that era such as a boulevardier.

Old Grand-Dad Bonded

ABV: 50%
Distillery Name: Jim Beam, Clermont, KY (Beam Suntory)
Average Price: $21.49

The Story:

You might assume that the “old grand-dad” on the iconic bottle was just someone’s grandpa. But, in fact, the image is that of Basil Hayden who famously taught his son and grandson how to distill whiskey (among various other accomplishments) and was rewarded by having his image used for this brand and his name used for Basil Hayden’s. It should come as no surprise that both brands are Jim Beam products. Old Grand-Dad is one of Jim Beam’s “Olds” collection that also includes Old Overholt.

Tasting Notes:

This is one of the cheapest whiskeys on this list. But cheap doesn’t necessarily mean bad. You’ll notice this on the first nosing when you are greeted with scents of sweet corn, charred oak, and toasted caramel. The first sip brings you a hot kick of cinnamon-sugar followed by rich vanilla and butterscotch. The finish is lingering and full of warming heat with a zing of white pepper at the very end.

Bottom Line:

While this bottle is a bargain at around $20, it’s best suited as a base for a cocktail than as a sipper. But, if you find yourself with any mixers, Old Grand-Dad will definitely keep you warm this fall.

Rittenhouse Rye Bottled in Bond

ABV: 50%
Distillery Name: Heaven Hill, Bardstown, KY
Average Price: $27.49

The Story:

This award-winning rye was aged for four years before entering a bottle. It was created to pay homage to Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, a park created by William Penn to be a warm and inviting place to gather away from the dingy city. Well, this rye is also warm and inviting, but is also spicy from the rye content (which is only 51 percent). This is a rye whiskey that belongs in your collection. There’s a reason it’s a favorite of bartenders and drinkers alike.

Tasting Notes:

While nosing this whiskey, you’re first met with the ever-present peppery spice associated with rye whiskey. But since this is a fairly low rye whiskey, it’s more subtle than most. It quickly evolves into more complex aromas like sweet honey and rich vanilla. The first sip brings you more vanilla, toasted wood, cacao, and just a hint of bitter espresso. The finish is long, warming and full of cinnamon, dried cherries, and rye spice.

Bottom Line:

This is a great beginner rye because of its low rye content. But, it’s also bold enough to go back to again and again.

The Los Angeles Lakers have pulled ahead in their opening round series against the Portland Trail Blazers. After the Blazers won Game 1, the Lakers have picked up wins in each of the last two, including Saturday night’s main event. Behind the team’s standout 1-2 punch of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, L.A. came out on top, 116-108.

Was it always easy? Absolutely not — Portland, particularly its backcourt, put up one heck of a fight. But the Lakers were ultimately too much, reminding everyone why they were the 1-seed in the Western Conference. Here are three takeaways from the performance.

LeBron James: The Maestro

Imagine, for a moment, ever being as in control of something is LeBron James is a basketball game. James has not always quite looked like himself in the Bubble, but on Saturday night, James had one of the best games that he’s had during this entire weird project in Disney.

James was a colossus on Saturday night. His 38 points were the most that he has registered so far in the Bubble, and he accrued 12 rebounds, eight assists, and two steals. While eight turnovers left plenty to be desired, as did his 12-for-17 mark from the free throw line, he still made the Lakers better far more often than he did anything else.

The important thing, though, is that LeBron James was LeBron James. He was not outgunned by Damian Lillard, and the Lakers did not look like they were being led by a person who is 36 years old. Anthony Davis being on the Lakers means that James does not need to be at his absolute best every single night — there is something of a margin for error with him, and when Davis is able to pull his weight, James can afford to be just a tiny bit off, because just a tiny bit off for LeBron James means he is still putting forth a superstar performance.

That wasn’t the case on Saturday. He was LeBron the all-time great, the guy with a case for being the greatest basketball player to ever live.

Anthony Davis Came Alive

Anthony Davis had a really, really not impressive first half. Davis is one of the most imposing players in the NBA, and yet by the time the two teams entered the locker room at the conclusion of the second quarter, Davis had six points and five rebounds. He showed of the some impression distribution, but it wasn’t the kind of dominant performance that Davis is capable of producing.

Then, the second half started, and Davis was magnificent. By the time the game concluded and the Lakers found themselves on top, Davis had scored 27 points, hauled in 11 rebounds, and doled out five assists. For good measure, he blocked three shots and registered a pair of steals. He did not hit any shots from three, and his free throw shooting left plenty to be desired (5-for-12 on the night), but on the whole, he bounced back from a suboptimal first half and put forth quite the performance.

Any plan that the Lakers have to win a championship this year requires Davis being at his best in 16 wins this postseason. That was not the case early on in the game, but great players find ways to make their impacts felt on games even when they have a rough stretch. Like a relief pitcher, sometimes you just need to have a short memory and be able to figure out how to work past the mistakes that occur when you are not at your best. Davis did that, and as a result, the Lakers took a 2-1 lead in this series.

Portland’s Bench Needs To Do Something

Damian Lillard (34 points, seven assists, five rebounds) was great. C.J. McCollum (28 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals) was great. And in the third quarter, Carmelo Anthony (20 points, six rebounds, four steals) caught fire. As for the rest of the Blazers, things could have gone a bit better.

Jusuf Nurkic and Hassan Whiteside both battled, but their combined numbers on the night: 18 points, 15 rebounds, one block, 7-for-15 shooting. They were ok, but if Portland wants to win, they need to be better than that. But what the team really needs is for their bench to give them a whole lot more than what they gave on Saturday night.

Terry Stotts used four players of the bench: Wenyen Gabriel, Mario Hezonja, Anfernee Simons, and Gary Trent Jr. That group more or less gave Portland nothing. Trent had a pair of shots, while Hezonja hit one, and that was basically it. The Blazers have long been a team that was always going to be carried by what their starters can do, particularly their superstar guard combination. That doesn’t mean they can afford to get nothing from the bench — think, during the seeding games, of how much better Portland looked when Trent caught fire from deep. He obviously doesn’t need to do that every game, but being able to give them that extra floor spacing is huge. As for the rest of the group, they have to find ways to have any sort of positive contributions in the minutes they have. On Saturday night, that was not the case.

The Oklahoma City Thunder cut their deficit against the Houston Rockets in half on Saturday night, picking up a 119-107 win that put their opening round series at 2-1 in Houston’s favor. Chris Paul had an excellent game, but one moment that occurred in overtime has drawn the ire of a number of individuals from his former team.

Paul was being checked by Ben McLemore. In an attempt to get past the Houston guard, he shot his right arm out and, well, this happened.

The Rockets were visibly displeased with the officials’ decision to not review what appeared to be Paul hitting McLemore below the belt. As a college student at Wake Forest, Paul once infamously hit an opposing player below the belt, and as he claimed after the game, he did not do this to McLemore on purpose.

Paul was correct: Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni was not happy about the referee’s lack of a look into all of this. D’Antoni spoke to the media after the game and was confused as to the lack of a review on this one.

The sentiment was shared by James Harden, who was careful to say that while he did not know if this was malicious, he really wanted to know why the referees did not look into what happened.

The Rockets and Thunder will square off against one another in Game 4 on Monday afternoon. The game tips off at 4 p.m. EST on TNT.

In what will go down as one of the best games of the first round of these NBA playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder took down the Houston Rockets, 119-117. It was a scintillating, back-and-forth affair, but ultimately, the Thunder were able to come out on top to cut their series deficit down to 2-1.

Oklahoma City has been waiting for a game like this all series — all three of their standout guards were fantastic, and James Harden got slowed down just enough that he could not fully impose his will on the game. As a result, the Thunder are not one game away from going home. Here are three takeaways from this heavyweight battle.

En Garde Guard(s)

Oklahoma City has built its team around a trio of guards: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chris Paul, and Dennis Schröder. All three were, in one way or another, fantastic on Saturday night.

Schröder had the most productive game of the bunch, coming off the bench and ending the game as Oklahoma City’s leading scorer. While he struggled from deep, going 2-for-10 from three, the Umlaut scored 29 points on 10-for-23 shooting. He pitched in five rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals for good measure. He’s been one of the league’s best reclamation projects this year, going from an empty calories player in Atlanta, to an ok but not outstanding member of the Thunder’s roster last year, to a legitimately dangerous sixth man. If Oklahoma City goes on to win this series, his play off the bench will be a major reason why.

Gilgerous-Alexander stuffed the stat sheet as well. He scored 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting and recorded seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals. When he was relied on at the end of regulation to come up big, Gilgeous-Alexander was as cool, calm, and collected as ever, hoisting up a corner three and getting nothing but net.

And then, there is Paul, who despite being 35 is still incredibly good at finding ways to impose his will on games. He is Oklahoma City’s metronome, masterfully dictating the tempo of games. Down the stretch of this one, the ball was put in his hands and he delivered, as evidenced by his 26 points on 11-for-20 shooting, six rebounds, and five assists. When the team needed a bucket at the end of regulation, he dissected the Rocket defense and found Gilgeous-Alexander for the above triple. And in classic Chris Paul fashion, when it was dagger time, he did this.

Oklahoma City’s guards are unreal. They need to impose themselves against these small-ball Rockets, and for the first time all series, all three were locked in.

The Luguentz Dort Show

One guard from Arizona State imposed their will on another guard from Arizona State. Surprisingly, this did not mean that James Harden had a monster night and toyed with Luguentz Dort, the rookie who has been thrust into a role as the team’s most physical perimeter defender. Instead, this happened.

Dort is 6’3, 215 pounds, and totally unafraid to mix things up. Calling him a subpar offensive player right now is accurate — nine points on 3-for-10 shooting and 0-for-6 from three — but he’s willing to battle and impose his will. This was evident in the eight rebounds he pulled down and the three blocks he registered, and even more evident in how unafraid he was to battle against Harden.

If you are checking Harden and you go into games thinking that you’re going to completely shut him down, you’re going to get demoralized. Dort never wavered, he did whatever he could to make Harden work for everything, and as a result, Harden had a not great game that played a role in the Thunder coming out on top.

Anyway, speaking of Harden…

James Harden’s Not Great Games Are Still Insane

Harden fouled out with just over four minutes left in overtime. He went 3-for-13 from three and connected on 44.4 percent of his field goal attempts on the night. He got pushed around by Dort, whose strength and athleticism has made him the team’s dedicated Harden stopper. His team collapsed after he fouled out for the first time this season, leading to the Oklahoma City win.

And yet despite all of this, Harden scored 38 points, doled out eight assists, and hauled in seven rebounds.

Listen, I understand that the way the Rockets play inherently leads to Harden putting up big numbers, but it is still extremely hard to do this sort of thing in an NBA game. He’s reached the point where his nights where he’s just a little bit off are still remarkable, and if Houston goes on to win this series while Russell Westbrook is sidelined, it will be because Harden keeps carrying the Rockets.