Suns Overcome Westbrook's 37 Points, Take 3-1 Series Lead Over Shorthanded Clippers
Kevin Durant (31 points, 11 rebounds, six assists) and Devin Booker (30 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) led the way as the Phoenix Suns overcame an 11 point deficit and a sensational 37 point performance by Russell Westbrook to defeat the shorthanded L.A. Clippers, 112-100. The Suns' third future Hall of Famer, Chris Paul, started slowly but finished with 19 points and a game-high nine assists. It is way too soon to say whether or not the Suns are a legitimate championship contender; right now, they are facing an injury-depleted team, so we do not know how the Suns will react when they play against a team that can match up with them--and we also do not know if Durant, Booker, and Paul can stay healthy for an extended playoff run.
The Clippers were without the services of Paul George--who will likely miss the entire series due to a knee injury--and Kawhi Leonard, who missed a second straight game as he nurses a knee injury. The absences of George and Leonard personify the failure of load management: the Clippers load managed George and Leonard all season with the express goal of having both players available for the playoffs, but neither player is available now.
Meanwhile, Westbrook almost singlehandedly kept the Clippers in the game, shooting 17-29 from the field while also contributing six rebounds and four assists. Clippers not named Westbrook shot 23-63 from the field (.365), and no Clipper other than Westbrook scored more than 14 points.
Westbrook is just the sixth player in franchise history to post back to back 30 point playoff games, and he is averaging 26.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, and 7.3 apg while shooting .460 from the field (including .409 from three point range) in this series.
After the game, Westbrook said, "We make no excuses around here. We
just got to make sure we rally around each other, keep competing
and leave it on the floor." It is refreshing to watch and listen
to a player who is truly a "no-excuse" player, as opposed to players who claim to be "no-excuse" players only to then offer up many
weak excuses.
Remember that just two months ago, the Lakers traded Westbrook while they and their media sycophants blamed Westbrook for everything that has ever gone wrong in L.A. We were told that Westbrook is washed up, that he is a bad teammate, and that any contender foolish enough to sign him would soon regret doing so.
All three accusations are demonstrably false.
Westbrook's detractors insisted that D'Angelo Russell would be a better fit for the Lakers, particularly in the playoffs. Russell's career playoff numbers are 14.8 ppg, 5.3 apg, 3.4 rpg, and .345 FG%. That includes 12.0/5.5/5.5/.321 in two playoff games with the 2023 Lakers. Russell's playoff career-highs (not all in the same game) are 26 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds.
Westbrook's playoff career averages are 24.5 ppg, 7.9 apg, and 7.2 rpg.
D'Angelo Russell's best playoff game ever is, quite literally, an average playoff game for Russell Westbrook.
I will repeat and emphasize what I wrote after game one of this series:
Brian Windhorst, Dave McMenamin, Amin Elhassan, and everyone else who
wrote or said nonsense about Westbrook should be forced to watch this
game while writing over and over--Bart Simpson-style--"I will stop
making inaccurate statements about Russell Westbrook." Westbrook is not
washed up, he is not poisonous in the locker room, and he can make
significant contributions to a winning team even when he is not shooting
well. Those are all demonstrable facts evidenced not just in this one
game, but throughout Westbrook's Hall of Fame career.
Even the best basketball analysts can make incorrect evaluations or predictions. What is egregious about the conduct of Westbrook's detractors is that there is no objective evidence to support the awful things that they repeatedly said about him. It is not difficult to see that Westbrook (1) still has plenty of burst and explosiveness, (2) still plays hard, (3) still rebounds well in traffic, even versus bigger players, (4) still sees the court very well and passes his teammates open (as opposed to merely passing to open teammates), and (5) still is capable of scoring 25-30 ppg if given sufficient opportunities.
So, why is there so much Westbrook hate?
I have stated my informed answer to that question before so I will not repeat myself, but it is worth emphasizing that any qualified and objective observer would not say the things about Westbrook that so many so-called experts have said. Hubie Brown and Jeff Van Gundy never bashed Westbrook.
Read between the lines, take out the words typed in bold, and you will understand not only media coverage of the NBA but media coverage of many subjects.
Labels: Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, L.A. Clippers, load management, Phoenix Suns, Russell Westbrook
posted by David Friedman @ 9:56 PM
Cold Young Heats Up as Hawks Defeat Celtics, 130-122
Ever since the Atlanta Hawks reached the 2021 Eastern Conference
Finals, Trae Young has lived up to his "Ice Trae" nickname in a most
unfortunate way in the playoffs: he has been ice cold, and that
continued in the first two games of Atlanta's first round series versus
the Boston Celtics, as Young shot just .350 from the field while the
Celtics took a 2-0 lead--but on Friday night Young scored a game-high 32
points on 12-22 field goal shooting as the Hawks won, 130-122. Young
also had a game-high nine assists plus six rebounds. His backcourt mate
Dejounte Murray contributed 25 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
The Hawks dominated the Celtics in the paint, outscoring them 54-40 and
outrebounding them 48-29. Clint Capela scored 10 points and grabbed a
game-high 11 rebounds as six Hawks had at least five rebounds, compared
with just two Celtics tallying at least five rebounds. Jayson Tatum led
the Celtics in scoring and rebounding (29 points, 10 rebounds) while
dishing for five assists. Marcus Smart had 24 points and a team-high
eight assists.
Hubie Brown provided the ESPN color commentary. I believe that this is his first telecast since he did color commentary for game one of the Cleveland-New York series last Saturday.
In his pregame comments, Brown singled out Young's inefficiency as both
a shooter and a ballhandler in this series. Brown mentioned that the
Hawks must do a better job defending the three point shot because the
Celtics attempt a lot of three pointers and shoot a good percentage from
beyond the arc; this season, the Celtics ranked sixth in the league in
three point field goal percentage and second in three point field goal
attempts. Brown suggested that the Hawks could score inside if (1) their
big men did a better job of establishing position in the paint and (2)
if their guards delivered passes on time and on target after the big men
established good post position.
As is often the case, the bullet
points that Brown mentioned before the game emerged as relevant factors
during the game. In the first quarter, Young started slowly with four
points on 1-3 field goal shooting while the Celtics made nine three
pointers, tying the franchise playoff record for most three pointers in
one quarter; not surprisingly, the Celtics led 37-33 after the first 12
minutes.
The Celtics shot 15-25 (.600) from three point range in
the first half--but they trailed by seven points at halftime because the
Hawks scored 74 points in the first half, setting a franchise playoff
record for points in a half. The Hawks outscored the Celtics in the
paint 34-10 in the first half. Bogdan Bogdanovic led Atlanta with 15
first half points while shooting 6-6 from the field, including 3-3 from
beyond the arc; he did not score in the second half, but he helped the
Hawks to build a lead that they never relinquished. Saddiq Bey added 12
first half points on 4-4 field goal shooting, and Young bounced back
from his slow start to produce 10 points and seven assists in the first
half.
The Celtics briefly tied the game at 79 early in the third
quarter on Jaylen Brown's dunk, but after John Collins hit a three
pointer to put the Hawks up 82-79 the Hawks led the rest of the way.
This
game's high volume three point shooting (21-48 for the Celtics, 15-34
for the Hawks) should not distract one's attention from how the Hawks
won the game: they controlled the paint with inside scoring and dominant
rebounding, and they limited the Celtics' three point shooting in the
second half (6-23). Hubie Brown was correct that the Hawks could create
inside scoring opportunities if they were patient and precise. Based on
the past performances of both teams, it seems unlikely that the Hawks
can follow that formula three more times in this series--nor is it
likely that Young will continue to play this efficiently--but the Hawks
avoided being swept and, at the very least, they will have the Celtics'
full attention next game.
Labels: Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Hubie Brown, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young
posted by David Friedman @ 10:55 PM
Load Management Fails Again as Well-Rested Kawhi Leonard Sits Out Game Three With Knee Injury
Load management does not work.
The L.A. Clippers entered the 2022-23 regular season with a team that--led by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George--could have reasonably expected to contend for the number one seed in the Western Conference en route to battling for the NBA title. Instead, the Clippers load managed their way to a 44-38 record and the fifth seed in the Western Conference, meaning that they are unlikely to have homecourt advantage in any playoff series. Paul George played 56 games, and Kawhi Leonard played 52 games. The Clippers went 32-24 when George played, and they went 33-19 when Leonard played; based on those winning percentages, the Clippers were on a 47 win pace when George played, and they were on a 52 win pace when Leonard played. The Clippers went 23-13 when Leonard and George both started, a .639 winning percentage that projects to 52 wins in 82 games.
During the 994 minutes when Leonard and George were on the court together, the Clippers outscored the opposition by 8.2 ppg. How good is that? The 1997-98 "Last Dance" Chicago Bulls had a 7.1 ppg point differential during the regular season. For a variety of reasons--including but not limited to sample size, rules changes, and style of play changes--those numbers do not mean that the Clippers with Leonard and George are as good as the sixth championship team of the Bulls' Jordan-Pippen dynasty, but those numbers indicate that the Clippers with Leonard and George are very good.
The Clippers intentionally sacrificed regular season wins and rhythm based on the notion that Leonard and George would be fresh and healthy for an extended playoff run, even if that meant starting each series on the road.
Following the load management strategy did not produce the results that the Clippers expected or wanted. George is out with a knee injury that may sideline him for the entire postseason, and Leonard missed game three of the Clippers' first round series versus the Phoenix Suns. Leonard is listed as day to day, which basketball fans realize could very well mean that we don't see Leonard play again until next season.
Without Leonard and George in game three, Norman Powell poured in 42 points and Russell Westbrook added 30 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds, but the Suns won, 129-124. The idiots who slandered Westbrook before, during, and after his tenure with the Lakers look even more foolish now, but the larger story for the Clippers is that--as great as Westbrook can still be--without Leonard and George they do not have enough firepower to counteract Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, and Chris Paul.
When Leonard plays, he embodies everything that is great about basketball: he plays hard at both ends of the court, he does not engage in nonsense or histrionics, and he is much more interested in team success than individual glory. He also plays at an elite level: in the first two games at Phoenix, he was the best player on the court, averaging 34.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 6.0 apg with shooting splits of .545/.600/.882 as the underdog Clippers obtained a split to seize homecourt advantage.
Based on physical talent, skill set, and mentality, Leonard takes a back seat to no NBA player of the past 10 years.
Unfortunately, this load management foolishness is robbing us of the opportunity to watch Leonard's greatness.
The counter-factual that some proponents of load management might mention is that without load management Leonard may not have been available for the playoffs--but that notion is easily dismissed as irrelevant based on several facts: (1) George load managed just like Leonard but George is not available for the playoffs; (2) if Leonard's body is so fragile that he needs to miss 30 out of 82 games to be available for the playoffs then it is unlikely that he will ever again be durable enough to survive a playoff run to the NBA Finals, which realistically involves playing in over 20 games; (3) there is no proof that whatever advantages may accrue from resting outweigh the disadvantages that almost certainly accrue from becoming rusty and out of condition (even if the resting players work out, nothing that they can do approximates actually playing NBA basketball).
I hope that Leonard and George get well soon, and that after they get well they stop load managing.
Labels: Kawhi Leonard, L.A. Clippers, load management, Paul George, Russell Westbrook
posted by David Friedman @ 1:41 AM
Undermanned Grizzlies Embarrass LeBron's Listless Lakers
Seeking to take a 2-0 series lead over a Memphis team missing injured players Ja Morant, Steven Adams, and Brandon Clarke, the L.A. Lakers sleepwalked through the first quarter and barely woke up the rest of the way as the Grizzlies evened up the series with a 103-93 win. The Lakers took homecourt advantage by winning game one, but they must play a lot better to make sure that their first win in the series is not also their last.
Xavier Tillman--who may not be a household name in his own household, to borrow an old quip--led Memphis in scoring (22 points on 10-13 field goal shooting) while grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds, outplaying Anthony Davis (13 points on 4-14 field goal shooting, eight rebounds), who is a member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. Davis did not look like the 75th best player in the NBA now, never mind being one of the 75 greatest players of all-time. Jaren Jackson Jr., who just won the Defensive Player of the Year award, added 18 points, nine rebounds, and three blocked shots. All five Memphis starters scored in double figures, and they were joined by Luke Kennard, who contributed 13 points off of the bench.
This game was not about offense, though. The Grizzlies shot just .427 from the field, but they held the Lakers--who have not one but two members of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team--to .412 field goal shooting. Despite being without Adams and Clarke, the Grizzlies outrebounded the Lakers 49-47 and held the Lakers to a draw in the paint, with each team scoring 50 points. That draw is a win for the undersized Grizzlies.
LeBron James, the Lakers' other member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, had one of his quintessential stat padding performances, scoring 28 points on 12-23 field goal shooting while grabbing 12 rebounds. I can think of at least two ESPN "journalists" who are probably writing articles (or filming standups) about how James cannot be blamed for this loss--without mentioning that James had a game-worst -17 plus/minus number. How does the self-proclaimed greatest player of all-time score 28 points while his team "loses" his on court time by 17 points? One clue can be seen in James' three point field goal shooting: 1-8. James is a force of nature, and Memphis is an undersized, undermanned team, so the Lakers' winning formula is obvious: attack the paint to score layups and draw fouls. James refused to do that on a consistent basis, and this cannot just be dismissed as something caused by his advanced age; James playing passively and not attacking the paint has been a recurring theme throughout his career, and this is made all the more glaring by the fact that in the playoff runs when he attacked the paint his teams won championships. We know that James can attack the paint because we have seen him do it. We also know that some of the Lakers' best plays in this game happened as a result of James attacking the paint.
What we don't know is why James often refuses to attack the paint; I have said for 20 years that James confounds me more than any other great player who I have ever watched or studied. His greatness is indisputable, and Skip "Clueless" is a moron for suggesting otherwise--but it is also indisputable that James does not always play in an optimal way for team success, resulting in some baffling and inexcusable losses.
The NBA is often a first quarter league, and the Grizzlies attacked the Lakers throughout the first quarter, pounding them in the paint 20-8 en route to leading 30-19 by the end of the first stanza. All season, we have heard nonsense about the Lakers needing "lasers," about Russell Westbrook being a washed up player who is supposedly a bad locker room influence, and about James needing more help. What James needs to do is attack the paint on offense and defend the paint on defense--and he needs to convince Anthony Davis to do both of those things as well.
Instead, the Lakers continued to play listlessly in the second quarter, trailing by as many as 16 points and being outscored 59-44 in the first 24 minutes. During TNT's halftime show, Kenny Smith declared that the Lakers "should be ashamed."
Charles Barkley echoed that sentiment, and identified the Lakers' unfounded self-belief as the reason "why the Lakers have been inconsistent all year." James
led the Lakers with 12 first half points--and he had a team-worst -15
plus/minus number.
I picked Memphis to win this series despite Adams and Clarke being injured (Morant got injured in game one) because the Grizzlies have been the second seeded team in the Western Conference each of the past two seasons. They are a young squad that is building a winning culture. In contrast, during the five seasons that LeBron James has spent with the Lakers the team has missed the playoffs twice, lost in the first round once, and snuck into the playoffs this season via the Play-In Tournament, needing overtime before dispatching the shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves. Of course, the Lakers won the 2020 "Bubble" title, so James and his fans will always be able to unfurl the "Mission Accomplished" banner.
That championship does not--or should not--absolve James of responsibility for the Lakers' consistent mediocrity throughout his time in L.A.
All season long, "experts" like Dave McMenamin and Brian Windhorst insisted that all that the Lakers needed to do was get rid of Westbrook and the team would improve significantly. After the Lakers traded Westbrook, the Lakers were singled out as the proverbial "team nobody wants to face."
So far--as noted above--the mighty Lakers stumbled into the playoffs via the Play-In Tournament, won one game against an undermanned Memphis team, and then fell asleep in game two. The next predictable propaganda narrative will be that the Lakers are in great shape because they have homecourt advantage. The reality is that homecourt advantage only matters if you play hard and play smart. For the past five years, the one constant with LeBron's Lakers is that they do not consistently play hard and play smart.
Media members heap praise on the three players who the Lakers acquired for the much-maligned Westbrook, so let's look how
those players did versus Memphis in game two.
D'Angelo
Russell had five points on 2-11 field goal shooting, plus four assists and three turnovers. He is averaging 12.0 ppg on .321 field goal shooting in the first two games of this series.
Jarred Vanderbilt had eight points on 3-5 field goal shooting. He is averaging 6.0 ppg on .556 field goal shooting in the first two games of this series.
Malik Beasley had seven points on 2-4 field goal shooting. He is averaging 3.5 ppg on .333 field goal shooting in the first two games of this series.
The Lakers traded a future Hall of Famer for two unproven role players (Beasley and Vanderbilt) plus one player who has never proven that he can be an effective rotation player on a winning team (Russell)--but we are supposed to believe that this was a stroke of brilliance!
The Lakers could still win this series; they have the two most talented players in the series and they have a size advantage--but I picked the Grizzlies because I have seen who these Lakers are for five years, and because I neither respect their team culture nor do I expect it to improve, and thus I believe that even a shorthanded team with a winning culture will prevail against a full strength team that does not consistently play the right way.
The Lakers run hot and cold, so I would not be surprised if they win game three in a blowout, lose a close game four at home, lose by 10 again on the road in game five, and then fall apart at home in game six. Every time the Lakers have one good game, some media members get so excited that they forget--or refuse--to look at the big picture. Outside of the protective 2020 "Bubble," none of the Lakers' "momentum wins" in the past five years have had any long-term significance: the Lakers' game one win did not mean much, and the same will be true if they win game three.
A team that does not consistently play hard is doomed to mediocrity. That is the truth about the Lakers; anything else is propaganda that will not stand the test of time (and of teams that play hard).
Labels: Anthony Davis, Jaren Jackson Jr., L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Memphis Grizzlies, Xavier Tillman
posted by David Friedman @ 11:42 PM
Kings Take 2-0 Lead Versus Warriors, Draymond Green Makes Another Dirty Play
If you watch people and teams objectively, they will show and tell you who they are.
The Sacramento Kings proved to be one of the NBA's best teams throughout the regular season; meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors went 11-30 on the road, ranked last in the league in turnovers, and ranked 28th in the league in fouls committed. Draymond Green--who earned a reputation as a dirty player by repeatedly striking opposing players below the belt and above the neck before topping himself by punching out his teammate Jordan Poole during practice before this season started--led Golden State's foul parade this season and he also ranked second in the league with 17 technical fouls.
What should one expect in a Kings-Warriors playoff series? One should expect the Kings to play well, and the Warriors to play poorly on the road while turning the ball over and committing a lot of fouls.
The Kings won game one, 126-123, on Saturday night, and the Kings won game two, 114-106, last night. The Warriors committed 51 fouls and 35 turnovers in those two games, while the Kings committed 48 fouls and 27 turnovers.
With 7:03 remaining in the fourth quarter of game two and the Kings leading 91-87, Green and Domantas Sabonis became tangled up while battling for a rebound. Sabonis fell to the floor and he grabbed Green's foot. Green then stomped on Sabonis twice while Sabonis was on the floor. As Sabonis writhed in pain, Green yelled obscenities to the Sacramento fans and waved his arms in the air to show how proud he was of his dirty play.
The referees discussed the sequence before issuing a technical foul to Sabonis for the foot grab and a flagrant foul 2 (with automatic ejection) to Green for the stomping. After the game, an unrepentant Green took no responsibility for his actions and blamed Sabonis for everything. Green has a penchant for striking people when they are not looking or when they are lying on the ground. He fancies himself to be a tough guy, but I cannot recall ever seeing him square up face to face and challenge a player who is his size or bigger; he likes to pick on people who are smaller, or who are in compromised positions.
I do not condone fighting in basketball games, but it would be fascinating to teleport Green to earlier eras when fighting in NBA games was much more tolerated. I rather doubt that Green would square off against Charles Oakley, Maurice Lucas, or Willis Reed--and I think that Green would get a most unpleasant surprise if he believed that smaller guys like Alvin Robertson or Calvin Murphy would be easy targets for bullying. Green is a classic "hold me back" guy who runs his mouth, takes cheap shots, and knows that he is not going to have to fight a grown man on even terms.
Green appears to have serious emotional issues that negatively impact his behavior, and hurt his team's chances to win. I have no patience for anyone who suggests that the Warriors would have won the 2016 NBA Finals if Green had not been suspended for game five, and I have no patience for anyone who suggests that the Warriors would have beaten the Kings last night if Green had not been ejected. Being suspended and ejected is an essential part of who Green is. If you posit that Green's defense, rebounding, and passing help the Warriors to win, then you also have to accept that Green's emotional volatility damages the Warriors and hurts their winning chances. The good, the bad, and the ugly are all part of the Draymond Green experience.
Every player is defined by certain characteristics. Michael Jordan came up big in clutch moments. James Harden chokes in clutch moments. Draymond Green lacks self control and gets tossed from games. When players do the things that they have repeatedly done before, it is foolish to act surprised or to say that the outcome would have been different if the players had not done the things that they typically do. Yes, the Chicago Bulls would have won fewer championships if Jordan had not been a dominant player--but Jordan was a dominant player throughout his career. Yes, James Harden's teams would have been more successful if he had not choked so much (or if he had accepted a lesser role behind players who do not choke)--but Harden has been a playoff choker throughout his career. Yes, Draymond Green's teams might have won more games if he had not been ejected and suspended so often--but he has been a volatile player prone to being ejected and suspended throughout his career.
Green's dirty play and Golden State's predictable road collapses take nothing away from how great the Kings have been. De'Aaron Fox is averaging 31.0 ppg and 7.0 apg in this series, while Malik Monk has poured in 25.0 ppg off of the bench. Sabonis has been strong in the paint with 18.0 ppg and 12.5 rpg. Notice that Sabonis did not run his mouth after Green stomped on him, nor did Sabonis puff out his chest and do the fake "hold me back" routine; he just kept attacking the paint. Over the past few years, it has been interesting to watch American players who have grown up in one of the wealthiest countries in the world try to challenge and bully European players who they assume to be soft--but guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Domantas Sabonis have repeatedly proven that they are not soft.
Although the Kings are in command of this series now, it should be emphasized that this season Golden State has been much better at home than on the road, so it would not be shocking if the Warriors won one or both of their two upcoming home games in this series; that would not change the reality that the Kings should be favored to win this series, because the Kings are the better, more consistent team. One cautionary note for Warriors' fans: the Kings are a very good road team, so home wins are possible but far from guaranteed for Golden State in this series.
Labels: De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors, Malik Monk, Sacramento Kings
posted by David Friedman @ 4:11 PM
Harden's Concert Tour Begins
Last night, the Philadelphia 76ers took a 2-0 lead in their first round series versus the outmatched Brooklyn Nets. The Nets play hard and they may win a game after the series shifts to Brooklyn for the next two games, but the Nets do not have enough size or talent to beat the 76ers four times.
James Harden is a very forward-thinking person. He knows that his "concert tour" is projected to begin in the second round--most likely versus the Boston Celtics--so he is already preparing now for his inevitable playoff choking. Harden is averaging 15.5 ppg on .324 field goal shooting versus Brooklyn, with 11 field goals made and nine turnovers committed. Harden achieved his full second round form in game two, with eight points, seven assists, five turnovers, and 3-13 field goal shooting. Nearly twice as many turnovers as field goals made will be a difficult standard to maintain, but I believe that Harden can do it. In 14 playoff games as a 76er, Harden has shot 75-192 (.391) from the field while committing 59 turnovers--but in his six most recent playoff games as a 76er, Harden has made 32 field goals and committed 30 turnovers, so if he can muster just two more turnovers than field goals made in game three at Brooklyn then he will have accomplished a seven game postseason stretch--the equivalent of a full playoff series--during which he had the same number of field goals made and turnovers committed.
I am not sure what a "stats guru" who specializes in "advanced basketball statistics" concludes from such numbers, but the rest of us who are not baffled and blinded by nonsense understand what we are witnessing during Harden's playoff career.
Joel Embiid is the dominant player in this series. The Nets are double-teaming him, and that is opening up easy opportunities for his teammates, although Harden is finding it easier to commit turnovers than make open shots. As I predicted, Tyrese Maxey (23.0 ppg on .516 field goal shooting) is picking up the slack while Harden does his usual disappearing act, and that will be sufficient to dispatch the Nets without too much difficulty.
The real fun begins when the 76ers face the Celtics. In Harden's first two second round appearances after moving to the Eastern Conference, he has averaged 15.2 ppg on .374 field goal shooting; he has a good chance of "beating" those numbers (but not in the way that 76ers fans hope) versus the Celtics' stifling defense.
Labels: "advanced basketball statistics", "stat gurus", Brooklyn Nets, James Harden, Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers, Tyrese Maxey
posted by David Friedman @ 3:31 PM
Injuries Dominate the Headlines in the Second Quadrupleheader of the 2023 NBA Playoffs
The NBA's second quadrupleheader of the weekend unfortunately featured injuries to two of the league's top players plus a key player for the Miami Heat: Memphis All-Star Ja Morant hit the floor hard after driving to the hoop versus the L.A. Lakers and injured his right hand to the extent that he could not return to action, and Milwaukee's two-time regular season MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a lower back contusion that ended his day in the second quarter versus Miami. Also, Miami's Tyler Herro--the Heat's third leading scorer during the regular season (20.1 ppg)--broke his hand and will probably miss the rest of the playoffs.
Injuries to key players are an X factor that can alter series--and seasons. Hopefully, Antetokounmpo and Morant will return to action soon, and Herro will be full strength for next season.
My recaps for Saturday's four games are here.
Here are my thoughts about Sunday's games:
L.A. Lakers 128, Memphis 112
Anthony Davis (22 points, game-high 12 rebounds) and LeBron James (21 points, 11 rebounds) controlled the paint as the Lakers outrebounded the Grizzlies--who are without the services of injured big men Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke--45-34. The inside work of the Lakers' two superstars opened up opportunities for the rest of the Lakers. Rui Hachimura scored a team-high 29 points, Austin Reaves chipped in 23 points--including 14 points on 5-5 field goal shooting in the fourth quarter--and D'Angelo Russell added 19 points.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored a game-high 31 points, but the Grizzlies need more than five rebounds and two blocked shots from their Defensive Player of the Year award candidate. Desmond Bane added 22 points and a team-high six assists, but he shot just 6-18 from the field. Ja Morant scored 18 points on 8-13 field goal shooting through the first
three quarters, but he suffered his hand injury with 5:48 remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Grizzlies missed him down the stretch. Dillon Brooks (15 points on 5-13 field goal shooting) needs to talk less before the game and play better during the game.
The Lakers led 32-27 at the end of the first quarter, but Jackson Jr. powered his way to 11 second quarter points as the Grizzlies outscored the Lakers 38-27 in the second quarter to claim a 65-59 halftime advantage.
Hachimura's 12 third quarter points on 4-4 field goal shooting helped the Lakers outscore the Grizzlies 37-25 to make the score 96-90 Lakers with 12 minutes remaining in regulation. The Lakers led 105-101 when Morant got hurt, but it would be naive to say that because the Lakers were ahead with Morant in the game that the Lakers would have won anyway; no one can say for sure what impact it would have had on both teams had Morant been available for the last half of the fourth quarter.
Jackson Jr. hit a three pointer to pull the Grizzlies to within 113-112 at the 3:11 mark of the fourth quarter, but the Lakers finished the game with a 15-0 run in the final 2:36 to
create a deceptively large final margin. It looked like TNT's game feed
had been replaced with some combination of "Shaqtin' A Fool" and
highlights (lowlights?) of the Washington Generals as the Grizzlies jacked up wild shots, turned the ball over, and forgot how to play defense.
Many media members relentlessly bash Russell Westbrook while praising the players who the Lakers acquired for Westbrook, so let's look how those players did versus Memphis in game one.
D'Angelo Russell had 19 points on 7-17 field goal shooting, plus seven assists. He is a career .349 playoff field goal shooter who shot .411 from the field in this game.
Jarred Vanderbilt had four points on 2-4 field goal shooting in 23 minutes.
Malik Beasley had zero points on 0-2 field goal shooting in 10 minutes.
Morant's injury looms as a giant question mark over this series. I thought that the Grizzlies had enough to overcome losing Adams and Clarke, but if Morant is out or very hindered then the Lakers will probably win this series even if Westbrook's replacements continue to shoot .391 from the field.
Miami 130, Milwaukee 117
The Heat rode a scintillating all-around performance by Jimmy Butler (35 points and 11 assists--both game-highs--plus five rebounds and three steals) and blazing three point shooting (15-25, .600) to an upset win over the number one overall seed in the 2023 playoffs. Bam Adebayo had an excellent all-around game (22 points, nine rebounds, seven assists), and Kevin Love made a significant contribution off of the bench (18 points, eight rebounds). Khris Middleton led the Bucks in scoring (33 points) and rebounding (nine rebounds). Bobby Portis had 21 points and eight rebounds, while Jrue Holiday had a symmetrical double double (16 points, game-high 16 assists).
Full credit to the Heat, but Antetokounmpo's injury was a major factor in this game, and is potentially a major factor in this series if he is out of action or seriously limited the rest of the way. How bad was Milwaukee's defense without Antetokounmpo? In 82 regular season games, the Heat scored 130 points or more just three times, and they scored less than 100 points 14 times.
The Bucks, who had not played since April 9, looked rusty in the first quarter, shooting just 8-20 from the field and trailing 33-24. Antetokounmpo suffered his injury late in the first quarter, subbed out of the game immediately, and he returned in the second quarter but he played less than 90 seconds while hobbling around before checking out of the game for good. The Bucks never led in the second half.
Losing Herro is a major blow for the Heat, but the outcome of this series hinges on Antetokounmpo's health; if he is able to play even close to his usual standard, the Bucks could very well win the next four games in a row--but if he is absent or compromised, then the Heat have a great opportunity to advance, though they are unlikely to shoot as well as they did on Sunday.
L.A. Clippers 115, Phoenix 110
In case you forgot or did not know, Kawhi Leonard reminded the world that when he is healthy (and not load managing) he is as good as any NBA player from the past decade or so. Call him the "dynasty killer." He ended the Heat's dynasty, he ended the Spurs' dynasty (by leaving the team), and he short-circuited Toronto's opportunity to be a dynasty (by leaving the team). Many people expected this game to be a coronation for the Phoenix Suns and Kevin Durant, but Leonard stole the show with 38 points on 13-24 field goal shooting while also contributing five rebounds and five assists. Eric Gordon (19 points) and Norman Powell (14 points) provided timely scoring, but it all may have been for naught without Russell Westbrook's energy and hustle. Westbrook had 10 rebounds--including a game-high five offensive rebounds--plus a team-high eight assists along with two steals and two blocked shots. There is no doubt that the Clippers need Westbrook to shoot better than 3-19 from the field, but Westbrook's fingerprints were all over this win: he hit two free throws to extend the Clippers lead to 111-108 with 17.7 seconds remaining in regulation, and then on the Suns' next possession he not only blocked Devin Booker's shot but he recovered the ball and threw it off of Booker's leg so that the Clippers would obtain possession. Westbrook had two big offensive rebounds in the final 2:43, including one that he converted into an assist on a Leonard three pointer that extended the Clippers' lead to 103-99.
After the game, Clippers Coach Ty Lue mentioned that he told Westbrook that he did not care about Westbrook's shooting because of all of the other contributions that Westbrook makes to winning. Westbrook in turn told the media how great it is to play for a team that values him as an all-around player and does not harp in his shooting percentage--a not veiled at all shot at his former team, the L.A. Lakers.
Durant played very well in his Suns' playoff debut (27 points, nine rebounds, game-high 11 assists), and Booker had one of the best all-around games that I have ever seen him play. The numbers (26 points, three assists, four steals, three blocked shots) do not tell the complete story of the impact that he had at both ends of the court. Deandre Ayton (18 points, eight rebounds) did a solid job, while Chris Paul struggled with his shot (seven points on 2-8 field goal shooting) but he led the Suns with 11 rebounds and he placed second on the team with 10 assists.
The Clippers, playing without the injured Paul George, trailed by as many as nine points on the road in the third quarter but they did not flinch. Leonard is clearly the team's best player--and arguably the best player in the NBA--but it is fascinating to watch the Clippers feed off of Westbrook's energy not long after the Lakers (and the media members who serve as LeBron James' p.r. flunkies) did Westbrook dirty.
Brian Windhorst, Dave McMenamin, Amin Elhassan, and everyone else who wrote or said nonsense about Westbrook should be forced to watch this game while writing over and over--Bart Simpson-style--"I will stop making inaccurate statements about Russell Westbrook." Westbrook is not washed up, he is not poisonous in the locker room, and he can make significant contributions to a winning team even when he is not shooting well. Those are all demonstrable facts evidenced not just in this one game, but throughout Westbrook's Hall of Fame career.
As Charles Barkley often notes, Westbrook plays hard, rarely misses games, and is adored by his teammates (with the obvious exception of LeBron James, who constantly provides reminders of why Pat Riley referred to "smiling faces with hidden agendas" after James fled the Miami Heat).
The Suns have tremendous talent--but can that talent develop the needed chemistry and stay healthy enough to win four playoff series and capture the franchise's first NBA title? The Clippers showed in game one that they will not be an easy team to eliminate.
Denver 109, Minnesota 80
Look up beatdown in the dictionary, and you will find a picture of the Denver Nuggets pounding the Minnesota Timberwolves in game one. The final margin does not reflect the extent of Denver's dominance, nor do the individual player numbers. Nikola Jokic scored just 13 points on 6-12 field goal shooting, but he snared a game-high 14 rebounds, and he slickly dissected the Suns' defense with an impressive array of post moves reminiscent of Kevin McHale in his prime. Jokic dropped six dimes as well. Jamal Murray led the Nuggets in scoring (24 points) and assists (eight) as each Denver starter scored in double figures while playing 33 minutes or less.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with an inefficient 18 points on 6-15 field goal shooting, which was par for the course as the Timberwolves shot 30-81 (.370) from the field. Karl Anthony-Towns had 11 points on 5-15 field goal shooting plus 10 rebounds, and Rudy Gobert scored eight points while grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds.
The Timberwolves are a talented team capable of playing better than this, but this game is a demonstration of the typical difference in class between the best team in the West and the eighth best team in the West.
Labels: Denver Nuggets, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Nikola Jokic, Phoenix Suns, Russell Westbrook
posted by David Friedman @ 3:47 AM
