Around the NBA: Last stop, pre-Trump

The Cleveland Cavaliers stopped by the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to be feted by President Barack Obama for the NBA championship they won last June. It’s a tradition that championship teams in all major North American sports get an audience with the president, but given the political climate this week, what does the future hold? According to a Snapchat comment from Cleveland’s Richard Jefferson, not much. “Words cannot express the honour I feel being the last team to visit the White House,” Jefferson said. Last NBA team, maybe. But there is sure to be a movement to get the World Series champion Cubs in the same room with Obama before the President departs in January.

IT’S EARLY, BUT . . .

The sample size is small and there are months for a turnaround but things are ugly in Boston, where the flavor-of-the-month Celtics are not living up to their billing as the ascendant team in the East. They were drubbed 118-93 by the Washington Wizards — out-rebounded by an astonishing 54-31 margin — and fell to 3-4 on the season. Al Horford is out under the NBA’s concussion protocol and the signature Boston style is absent. “One thing I think is, we’re not the hardest-playing team no more,” said guard Isaiah Thomas. “I think that’s what made us special.”

THAT’S SOME CROWD

Off to the most torrid start in Raptors history, DeMar DeRozan is running in some pretty impressive company. The NBA’s leading scorer hung 37 points on the Thunder on Wednesday night, the sixth time in Toronto’s first seven games he’s topped 30 points. The only other two players in league history to do that: Bernard King in 1990-91 with the Washington Bullets and Michael Jordan with the 1986-87 Chicago Bulls.

FINDING HIS SHOT

Andrew Wiggins came to the NBA known primarily for his astonishing athleticism, the next great dunker, people thought. While he still has those abilities, his game has expanded of late. In two games this week, a Wolves loss to Brooklyn and a win over Orlando, Wiggins made eight three-pointers as part of a 65-point, 12-rebound, eight-assist couple of nights.

THE OTHER GUYS

The Lakers might be one of the earlyseason surprises but they are a long way from being legitimate contenders. The same can’t be said for the team that shares the Staples Center with them. The Clippers began play Thursday night with the best record in the league, 7-1, and there’s a sense something special is brewing there, according to coach Doc Rivers, who knows a thing or two about special teams from his time in Boston. “They’re just playing,” he said. “It’s really a no-nonsense group. They get along, they understand their roles and they buy into it. They can argue and laugh two minutes later. It’s just a good spirit.”

CHANGE AFOOT

Already. In New York, where the Knicks are stumbling along trying to find themselves. The latest uproar came when it was leaked that former head coach Kurt Rambis, who was kept on staff when New York hired Jeff Hornacek in the summer, was given responsibility for the team’s shaky defence. Given that Rambis’s teams in Minnesota historically ranked in the bottom quarter of team defence when he was the head coach there, the move was a head-turner. Doug Smith