LeBron Leads the Way as Lakers Dominate Pelicans to Advance to NBA Cup Championship Game
LeBron James bullied Herbert Jones in the paint for a three point play on the first possession of the game, and James kept attacking until the New Orleans Pelicans waved the white flag of surrender: James scored a game-high 30 points on 9-12 field goal shooting while also dishing for a game-high eight assists, grabbing five rebounds, and taking three charges. James played just 23 minutes in the Lakers' 133-89 win, and if he had played 35 or 40 minutes he could have easily scored 50 points while leading the Lakers to an even more decisive victory. This is the first time in his long, storied career that James has scored at least 30 points in less than 25 minutes. Five other Lakers scored in double figures, led by Austin Reaves (17 points, seven assists) and Anthony Davis (16 points, game-high 15 rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots, two steals).
Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans with 14 points. Zion Williamson specializes in thunderous dunks, but in this win or go home game his play was as quiet as a whisper: 13 points, three rebounds, two assists. Former All-Star Brandon Ingram had nine points and seven assists, and C.J. McCollum had nine points and two assists. Williamson, Ingram, and McCollum are touted as an All-Star trio, but in this game they barely outscored the 38 year old James. The Pelicans shot poorly from the field (.358), were outrebounded 59-42, and played defense with all of the intensity seen in a 35 and over recreational league game. After the game, TNT's Charles Barkley said that when an NBA team loses this badly it means that the team quit; that assessment is blunt, but fair.
Throughout James' 21 season career I have praised him when he played well--which he usually does--and I have criticized him when his effort and intensity were not up to par. It is not fair to dwell on the negative regarding a player as great as James is, but it is worth pointing out how I know that James quit versus Boston in the 2010 playoffs and versus Dallas in the 2011 NBA Finals: he was in his prime during both of those series, but instead of attacking the paint on offense and playing relentlessly on defense he spent a lot of time drifting around the perimeter. In marked contrast, versus the Pelicans last night James attacked the hoop on the game's first possession and he kept attacking the hoop while also zipping all over the court on defense taking charges, disrupting passing lanes, and contesting shots. If you knew nothing about basketball but just watched the game as an objective observer you would immediately notice how actively engaged James was at both ends of the court. The opposite was true of James versus Boston and Dallas. By knowing what James looks like when he is highly energized we also know what it looks like when James has quit. To James' credit, after quitting in back to back playoffs he bounced back to win back to back championships, and he has won a total of four NBA titles. It is obvious that James is laser-focused on winning the first NBA Cup.
Williamson is muscular, nimble, and quick, but his big body too often has a small impact on winning. TNT's Shaquille O'Neal and Barkley did not hold back when speaking about Williamson after the game. O'Neal said that Williamson does not run hard, does not create easy baskets for himself, does not rebound well enough, and does not have "that look." O'Neal said that early in his career he had some of those same issues, but that after people pulled him aside to point out those deficiencies he worked on them.
Barkley agreed with O'Neal's critiques, and he added that Williamson should be the Pelicans' best player, not their third best player behind Ingram and McCollum. Barkley said that Williamson should be averaging 11-12 rpg (Williamson is averaging 5.8 rpg this season, and he has never averaged more than 7.2 rpg in a season), that he does not run the court well, and that he needs to get in better shape.
I declared a few months ago that the Pelicans will never win big with Williamson as their franchise cornerstone, citing many of the points that Barkley and O'Neal just made.
The Lakers outscored the Pelicans 38-24 in the second quarter and 43-17 in the third quarter. That adds up to 81-41 for 24 minutes, during which time Williamson had seven points and no rebounds. He is obviously not the only Pelican who quit, but he is the team's most physically gifted athlete and he was a number one overall draft pick, so what he does sets the tone, much like whatever James does sets the tone for the Lakers.
After the game, Williamson admitted that he needs to be more aggressive. The problem--as Barkley noted--is that Williamson is not a rookie or a second year player; he is a five year veteran, so--even though he missed one season due to injury and has missed a ton of other games due to injury--he has been in and around the league long enough to know better and to develop the right mentality.
I know that I just criticized James for not having the right mentality at times during 2010 and 2011, which were his seventh and eighth seasons, but by that time he had already led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2007 NBA Finals and he had been a dominant playoff performer. James knew the required mentality and he had often displayed it, but he just fell short for whatever reason on a couple occasions. In contrast, Williamson has yet to demonstrate that he has figured it out or that he ever will figure it out.
While the Pelicans lick their wounds, the Lakers are one win away from capturing the inaugural NBA Cup. My NBA Cup predictions have not been anything to write home about, but I was right about the Lakers making it to the championship game and I feel very good about my prediction that the Lakers are going to win the championship game. I am not sure if James and Davis will stay healthy enough to win another NBA title, but the NBA Cup is just 48 minutes away from their grasp, so that goal is quite obtainable--and it is obviously very important to James.
The Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns 106-103 to reach the NBA Cup Semifinals, while in the other Western Conference bracket the Pelicans defeated the Sacramento Kings 127-117. The Lakers will play the Pacers in Saturday night's NBA Cup Championship game. The Pacers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 128-119 earlier on Thursday to punch their NBA Cup Championship game ticket.
Both NBA Cup Semifinal games had a playoff atmosphere/vibe. It was great to see Julius Erving sitting in the front row of the second game. It is good for the sport when the legends of the game are front and center. Erving's teams reached the pro basketball equivalent of the "Final Four" (the Division Finals or Conference Finals) 10 times in his 16 seasons as he won three championships and two Finals MVPs, so there is no doubt that he would have put up some memorable NBA Cup performances if that event had existed during his career.
Labels: Anthony Davis, Brandon Ingram, C.J. McCollum, Julius Erving, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, New Orleans Pelicans, Zion Williamson
posted by David Friedman @ 3:13 AM
Haliburton Dissects Bucks, Leads Pacers to NBA Cup Championship Game
Tyrese Haliburton showed the Milwaukee Bucks what time it is--and it was not "Dame Time" after Haliburton hit a dagger three pointer to put his Indiana Pacers up 122-114 with 49 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter en route to a 128-119 Indiana win that qualified the Pacers for the NBA Cup Championship Game. Haliburton pointed to his wrist after making the shot in an obvious reference to Damian Lillard's signature taunt, and all the Bucks could do was fly back home from Las Vegas thinking about what could have been. Haliburton scored a team-high 27 points on 11-19 field goal shooting, dished for a game-high 15 assists, grabbed seven rebounds, and did not commit a turnover in 37 minutes while outplaying the highly decorated Lillard. Myles Turner (26 points, 10 rebounds) also had a strong performance, and Obi Tobbin added 14 points on 6-8 field goal shooting in just 21 minutes.
Giannis Antetokounmpo dominated the paint with 37 points on 13-19 field goal shooting, 10 rebounds, and two blocked shots, and Lillard added 24 points, seven assists, and seven rebounds, but Lillard shot just 7-20 from the field. Lillard had 16 points on 4-5 field goal shooting in the third quarter, but he was invisible (eight points on 3-15 field goal shooting) for the rest of the game. The Bucks are one of the NBA's handful of "championship or bust" teams, and this season is going to be a bust for them if Lillard disappears for most of the game on offense; he spends the whole game unable to guard a tree stump, so if he does not have a big impact on offense then the Bucks are playing four on five. The Bucks won the 2021 NBA title with a big team that attacked the paint on offense and protected the paint on defense; that is a high percentage, time-tested way to win at an elite level, but relying too much on an undersized guard who jacks up long range shots and is a negative on defense is a high variance, time-tested way to lose early in the playoffs. I still believe in the Bucks' potential to be a championship caliber team because of Antetokounmpo's greatness, but the Bucks need more consistency from Lillard on offense and more effort from him on defense, plus high level production from Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton. Lopez (18 points, six rebounds, four blocked shots) and Middleton (20 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals) did their part versus the Pacers, but Lillard was missing in action for most of the game, most notably during the fourth quarter (four points, 1-5 field goal shooting) when the game was within reach.
The Pacers outrebounded the Bucks 51-46 while holding them to 43-96 (.448) field goal shooting despite ranking 29th in the league in rebounding and defensive field goal percentage. The Pacers also enjoyed a 43-13 advantage in bench scoring.
The Bucks started out well, leading by as many as seven points in the first quarter, but the Pacers trimmed the margin to 29-27 by the end of the stanza, and then they outscored the Bucks 36-22 in the second quarter. The Bucks bounced back to go up 78-72 on Antetokounmpo's finger roll at the 5:50 mark of the third quarter, and they were ahead 94-91 entering the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter is supposed to be "Dame Time"--that is why they traded Jrue Holiday to acquire Lillard--but instead the Pacers blew out the Bucks 37-25 in the final 12 minutes, punctuated by Haliburton's clinching three pointer.
Some commentators may focus on how well the Pacers' bench played, but championships are won by star players, not bench players. The Bucks had a three point lead going into the fourth quarter, and they lost by nine points; the starters must take the brunt of the blame for that, and Lillard is the starter who is expected to do the most in crunch time but who instead did very little in this game's defining moments. It is true that Lillard has come through in the fourth quarter of some games this season, but that is the nature of being a high variance player; he will come through sometimes, but not come through other times, and in a seven game playoff series those "other times" are the times that send you home.
There are some players who tell us every April, May, or June after their teams are eliminated from the playoffs that they just missed shots that they expect to make. The Houston Rockets missed 27 straight three pointers in a game seven loss to Golden State in 2018, but anyone who suggests that the Rockets were just a few made shots away from advancing misses the point: the Rockets played a high variance offensive style without the safety net of a solid defense or a backup plan to attack the paint, so their misses and their losses were predictable (and I predict every year that such teams will lose in the playoffs). If the Bucks rely too heavily on Lillard's high variance logo shots then instead of winning a championship they will be telling us that they were just a few made shots away from beating whichever more well-rounded team eliminates them from the playoffs. The Bucks' offense should revolve around Antetokoumpo attacking the paint, with a side order of Lillard running screen/roll actions with Antetokounmpo or Lopez not to obtain logo shots but to generate shots in the paint; the secondary option should not be a logo shot but a wide open high percentage shot (that shot can be a three pointer, but there should not be a steady diet of 30 foot three pointers).
The Pacers are a young team that is still developing their identity. On offense, they relentlessly push the pace. On defense, they give up too many easy baskets but they also have enough good athletes and smart players to get stops when they are focused. The Pacers defeated the Boston Celtics to reach the NBA Cup Semifinals, while in the other Eastern Conference bracket the Bucks routed the New York Knicks. Thus, the Pacers have now eliminated from the NBA Cup both the Celtics and the Bucks, the East's top two teams. I am not yet quite sold on the Pacers being a championship contender this season, but they could be a team that no one wants to face in the playoffs; usually that cliche is meaningless--every year, I point out the flavor of the month "team that no one wants to face" that then bows out meekly in the first round--but these Pacers may live up to that description.
Labels: Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Tyrese Haliburton
posted by David Friedman @ 2:03 AM
West Leading Timberwolves Outlast Cellar Dwelling Spurs, 102-94
Minnesota defeated San Antonio 102-94 in the first game of ESPN's Wednesday night doubleheader, and the matchup can be summarized in one sentence: Winning teams find ways to win, and losing teams find ways to lose.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have the best record in the NBA, while the San Antonio Spurs have the worst record in the Western Conference and are mired in a 15 game losing streak. Although the Timberwolves have not won a playoff series since 2004, they have reached the playoffs each of the past two seasons; the Spurs have been a losing team for the past four seasons, and they spent part of that time tanking in the hope of getting the number one overall draft pick so that they could obtain Victor Wembanyama. Now they have Wembanyama and--not surprisingly--they are still a losing team. Once a team accepts losing and cultivates losing habits it is very difficult to get rid of those losing habits and that losing mentality. The numbers prove that tanking does not work, but if you understand basketball then you understand why tanking does not work: losing teams find ways to lose.
The Timberwolves shot just 36-87 (.414) from the field versus the Spurs, but they outscored the Spurs 31-23 in the fourth quarter to squeeze out the win. Mike Conley scored a team-high 18 points, Anthony Edwards added 17 points, Rudy Gobert contributed 16 points plus a game-high 20 rebounds, Naz Reid chipped in 15 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points. Since there seems to be a statistic for everything now, it would be interesting to know how often a team's leading scorers in a game have scored 14-18 points in sequence with no duplicate numbers.
Devin Vassell (22 points on 9-16 field goal shooting) and Keldon Johnson (21 points on 8-15 field goal shooting) were prolific and efficient for San Antonio, but the other Spurs combined to score 51 points on 21-70 (.300) field goal shooting. Wembanyama had 12 points on 4-13 field goal shooting, plus 10 rebounds and one blocked shot.
As those numbers indicate, this game was hardly an instant classic (or any kind of classic); the biggest bright spot was that the great Hubie Brown provided ESPN's color commentary. It is always a special treat when Brown calls a game. I fondly recall when he did all of the big games; now, at 90 years old, he only calls games periodically, and I believe that his most recent national telecast prior to tonight's game was New York's 126-105 win versus San Antonio on November 8.
In his remarks prior to the start of tonight's game, Brown singled out the outstanding play of
Edwards and Towns, who are both not only prolific
scorers but also efficient shooters and good rebounders. Edwards is
averaging 26.2 ppg and 5.9 ppg with shooting splits of .464/.377/.864,
while Towns is averaging 22.2 ppg and 9.0 rpg with shooting splits of
.503/.418/.911.
Regarding Wembanyama, Brown candidly noted that his scoring
(19.3 ppg) is good but his field goal percentage (.437) is subpar and
his three point field goal percentage (.271) is the "biggest
disappointment and biggest eye opener" thus far for the highly touted rookie. Brown described him as a 7-4 player who
plays like he is 6-4. That could be considered praise of Wembanyama's
versatility or criticism of his lack of a refined back to the basket
game in the paint. Early in the fourth quarter, Brown noted that
Wembanyama had been "neutralized by size." At that point, Wembanyama had
scored six points on 2-8 field goal shooting. "When he's moving without
the ball, he's excellent...but tonight he's not getting any touches," Brown added.
Minnesota sleepwalked through the first half, scoring a season low 46 points and trailing by seven at halftime before outscoring the Spurs 56-41 in the second half. Both teams shot three pointers with all of the accuracy and dexterity of a blindfolded person swinging at a pinata in the backyard while battling 40 mile per hour winds: the Timberwolves shot 12-40 (.300) from beyond the arc, while the Spurs shot 8-36 (.222). Brown had a succinct comment about the barrage of long range blanks: "Where's your game in the paint?" Teams have become such slaves to "advanced basketball statistics" that they keep shooting three pointers even on off nights and even when they have matchup advantages that they could exploit in the paint or in screen/roll actions.
So far, it appears that I underestimated the Timberwolves, as I did not pick them to be a playoff team.
The Timberwolves rank first in the league in points allowed and
defensive field goal percentage plus third in blocked shots with Gobert protecting the paint and enabling the perimeter defenders to take
chances because they know that he can erase their mistakes. I am often skeptical of teams that did not appear to be contenders but start the season quickly, but the way that the Timberwolves are being successful seems to be sustainable: they play tenacious defense, they are methodical but efficient on offense (ranking 19th in points scored but fifth in field goal percentage), and they make fewer boneheaded plays than they did in previous seasons. I am not convinced that by the end of the season they will still have the NBA's best record, but they definitely look like a team that will not only make the playoffs but that will have a chance to win a series.
It has not been a great season--or a great past several years--for San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich, whose inflated sense of entitlement is exceeded only by his team's loss totals. When the Spurs won five championships between 1999 and 2014, Popovich repeatedly said that the players deserve all of the credit and that he appreciates them letting him coach them; at the time, that seemed like self-deprecation/false modesty, but the Spurs' record in the post-Tim Duncan/post-Kawhi Leonard era is awful, and there are no signs that things will improve any time soon. Wembanyama is a raw talent who needs to develop his body and to refine his game to be successful at the NBA level--and he also needs to be surrounded by a supporting cast that complements his skills.
Labels: Anthony Edwards, Gregg Popovich, Hubie Brown, Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves, Rudy Gobert, San Antonio Spurs, Victor Wembanyama
posted by David Friedman @ 11:57 PM
Lakers Outshine Suns, Will Face Pelicans in NBA Cup Semifinals
Kevin Durant owns a 9-5 head to head advantage over LeBron James in their NBA Finals matchups while winning two of those three series, but James extended his head to head advantage in their regular season encounters to 18-6 with a 106-103 L.A. Lakers win over Durant's Phoenix Suns. The victory lifted the Lakers into the NBA Cup Semifinals, where they will face the New Orleans Pelicans, who beat the Sacramento Kings 127-117 on Monday night.
Father Time may be undefeated, but LeBron James has not lost to him yet and he had another sterling performance with a game-high 31 points, a game-high 11 assists, eight rebounds, and five steals. He is the first Laker to post at least 30-10-8-5 in a game since Magic Johnson in his prime, but James' performance is notable because he is a soon to be 39 year old in his 21st NBA season.
James leads the Lakers by attempting nearly six three point field goals per game, but in this contest he shot the trey judiciously (2-4) and made a concerted effort to attack the paint. The Lakers are at their best when James and Anthony Davis attack the paint instead of settling for jump shots or just drifting around the perimeter. Davis finished with 27 points, a game-high 15 rebounds, and the Lakers' only two blocked shots. Davis shot just 10-26 from the field but he had a strong first half (20 points on 8-16 field goal shooting) as the Lakers built a double digit lead. Even though Davis had just seven points on 2-10 field goal shooting in the second half, he had nine rebounds as the Lakers did just enough to hold on and win. He also dominated his head to head matchup with Jusuf Nurkic, who finished with three points, eight rebounds, and no blocked shots.
The Lakers outscored the Suns in the paint 54-44. It would be interesting to know what the Lakers' record is when they win points in the paint by at least 10 points with James and Davis combining for at least 58 points and at least 23 rebounds. We have been subjected to so much nonsense about "lasers" and Russell Westbrook and roster construction, but the simple reality is that when James and Davis are both healthy and both attack the paint the Lakers are very difficult to beat; the Lakers shot 38-102 (.373) from the field--including 9-30 (.300) from three point range--and still defeated a Phoenix team featuring future Hall of Famers Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.
Durant tied James for game-high honors with 31 points while shooting 12-17 from the field. He also had seven rebounds and four assists. Booker scored 21 points while leading the Suns with 11 rebounds and six assists. Grayson Allen also scored 21 points.
The Lakers jumped out to a 33-23 lead by the end of the first quarter, and they enjoyed a 59-47 halftime advantage. They took control by outscoring the Suns in the paint 36-22 in the first 24 minutes. The Suns won the second half 56-47 and outscored the Lakers in the paint 22-18 but--like a race car that takes the checkered flag while running on fumes--the Lakers did just enough to reach the finish line. Austin Reaves drilled a three pointer to put the Lakers up 105-101 with 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Durant answered with a reverse layup, and then Davis closed out the scoring by splitting a pair of free throws. Durant had a chance to tie the score with a long three pointer from the left wing, but he missed wide right and the Lakers punched their ticket to Las Vegas for the NBA Cup Semifinals.
During the TNT telecast, we saw highlights of the first time that James and Durant faced each other in the NBA (January 8, 2008). I covered that game in person as a credentialed journalist, and I not only wrote a recap of the 95-79 win for James' Cavaliers over Durant's Sonics but I interviewed Paul Westhead--who was then an assistant coach with the Sonics--and I later wrote a profile of the "guru of go," the only coach to win an NBA title (1980 Lakers) and a WNBA title (2007 Mercury). Interviewing coaches and scouts to talk about basketball strategy and basketball history was one of my favorite things about being a credentialed journalist.
Speaking of basketball history, it should be noted that Durant recently passed
Moses Malone to move into 10th place on the NBA's regular season career
scoring list. Of course, as I have frequently insisted,
it is historically inaccurate to talk about an NBA-only list while
ignoring ABA statistics; the NFL provides full and equal recognition to AFL statistics, and the NBA should do likewise with ABA statistics.
Durant currently ranks 13th on the ABA/NBA regular season scoring list,
and he is still more than 2000 points behind Moses Malone, who ranks
ninth all-time in career regular season scoring. Amin Elhassan's historical analysis often
falls short of basic competency--most notably during his repeated, shameful mocking of Bob Cousy--but he was right on target recently during a segment of the Sirius XM NBA show that he co-hosts with Jason Jackson: Elhassan declared that the NBA should immediately grant full recognition to ABA statistics, and he pledged to work with the Players Association and other league contacts that he has in order to make this happen. Hopefully, those are not empty words, because making ABA statistics official is long overdue and--as Elhassan mentioned--it would be great for this to happen while ABA legends such as Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Artis Gilmore, and Dan Issel are still alive to appreciate it.
Labels: Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Phoenix Suns
posted by David Friedman @ 2:12 AM
Bucks Rout Knicks 146-122 to Advance to NBA Cup Semifinals
Milwaukee defeated New York 110-105 in the first NBA Cup game, but the rematch was no contest: the Bucks dominated the visiting Knicks 146-122 to advance to an NBA Cup Semifinals matchup with the Indiana Pacers, who defeated the Boston Celtics 122-112 last night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a team-high 35 points in just 34 minutes, shooting 15-22 from the field while also grabbing a game-high eight rebounds and dishing for a game-high 10 assists. Damian Lillard added 28 points on 8-13 field goal shooting, and he also had seven assists. The Bucks had four other double figure scorers: Malik Beasley (18 points), Khris Middleton (14 points), Bobby Portis (13 points), and Cameron Payne (12 points). The Bucks shot 55-91 (.604) from the field, including 23-38 (.605) from three point range.
Julius Randle flirted with a perfect shooting game before finishing with 41 points on 14-19 field goal shooting and 11-12 free throw shooting. Jalen Brunson added 24 points and a team-high six assists, while R.J. Barrett contributed 23 points while tying Antetokounmpo for game-high honors with eight rebounds. The Knicks not only did a horrible job defending the three point line but they made just seven of their 23 long range attempts (.304).
Milwaukee led 37-35 after a defense-optional first quarter that foreshadowed how the rest of the game would go for the Bucks offensively. Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 13 points on 6-8 field goal shooting as the Bucks shot 15-25 (.600) from the field. Randle (12 points on 6-6 field goal shooting) and Barrett (10 points on 3-7 field goal shooting) paced the Knicks.
Milwaukee led 75-72 at halftime as the Bucks shot 28-43 (.651) from the field. Lillard had 19 points on 5-7 field goal shooting (including 4-4 from three point range), and Antetokounmpo scored 16 points on 7-9 field goal shooting. Randle led both teams with 25 points on 9-9 field goal shooting and 6-6 free throw shooting. Brunson added 15 points but shot just 6-15 from the field in a reversal of roles with Randle, who has been a high volume, inefficient scorer thus far this season.
The Bucks took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Knicks 37-24 while shooting 13-22 (.591) from the field and holding the Knicks to 8-22 (.364) field goal shooting. At the start of the fourth quarter, TNT showed an incredible statistic: this game marked the first time that a Knicks opponent had scored at least 37 points in each of the first three quarters since Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game on March 2, 1962. Chamberlain's Philadelphia Warriors won that game, 169-147. The Bucks could have scored 37 points in the fourth quarter as well, but took their foot off of the gas in the waning moments and settled for a 34-26 advantage in the final stanza. Knicks Coach Tom Thibodeau prides himself on defense, so he must be aghast by his team's horrific performance at that end of the court.
As for the Bucks, this game provided a glimpse of what the Antetokounmpo-Lillard duo can look like when they are both playing at a high level offensively, but the concerning thing for the Bucks is that--unlike their 2021 championship team that ranked fifth in defensive field goal percentage and second in rebounding--this team is very dependent on outscoring opponents because they rank just 16th in defensive field goal percentage and 20th in rebounding; that is not a championship-winning formula, so the primary challenge for the Bucks is figuring out how to improve defensively and on the boards. The theory behind shipping out Jrue Holiday in exchange for Lillard is that Lillard can provide scoring and playmaking punch down the stretch of close playoff games, but if the Bucks don't get better defensively then their playoff games versus elite opponents may not be close down the stretch.
Labels: Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks
posted by David Friedman @ 11:31 PM
Pelicans Beat Kings 127-117, Advance to NBA Cup Semifinals
In the second game of TNT's NBA Cup Knockout Rounds doubleheader, the New Orleans Pelicans rallied from a 15 point first quarter deficit to defeat the Sacramento Kings 127-117. The Pelicans are 12-10 overall this season, but they are 3-0 versus the Kings. Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 30 points on 10-20 field goal shooting while also grabbing eight rebounds and passing for six assists. Herbert Jones added 23 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, and C.J. McCollum--in his third game back after missing 12 games due to a collapsed lung--scored 17 points and passed for a team-high seven assists. Zion Williamson had quiet boxscore numbers (10 points, six rebounds, six assists), but he posted the best plus/minus number among New Orleans' starters (+4).
De'Aaron Fox led Sacramento with 30 points, but he shot just 10-25 from the field, including 1-7 from three point range. Domantas Sabonis posted a triple double, scoring 26 points on 8-12 field goal shooting and 10-10 free throw shooting while posting game-high totals in rebounds (13) and assists (10).
After the Kings jumped out to a 32-17 lead at the 4:27 mark of the first quarter it looked like the Kings would be "lighting the beam" and advancing to the NBA Cup Semifinals. Instead, the Pelicans closed the first quarter with an 18-4 run. The Pelicans took a 13 point lead in the second quarter, they were on top 69-61 at halftime, and they never trailed in the second half. Overall, they shredded the Kings' defense with 47-87 (.540) field goal shooting, including 14-31 (.452) from beyond the arc.
The Kings are trying to build on last season's first round playoff loss, the franchise's first postseason appearance since 2006. The 25 year old Fox looks like he will be a perennial All-Star, while the 27 year old Sabonis is already a three-time All-Star. The Kings were the highest scoring team in the league last season, but they have slipped to 10th this season, though their 25th ranked scoring defense has improved to 21st. They are young enough and talented enough to develop into an elite team, but they need to continue to improve defensively while maintaining a top 10 offense.
There is no doubt that the Pelicans have a lot of talent. Williamson is a two-time All-Star, Ingram made the All-Star team in 2020 and has averaged at least 22 ppg in each of the past four seasons, and McCollum has averaged at least 20 ppg for each of the past eight seasons, the longest such streak ever for a player who has never made the All-Star team. However, so far that trio has not produced a single playoff series win for the Pelicans, mainly because of their collective inability to stay healthy and available. As Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith noted during the TNT telecast, Williamson looks out of shape now; that is significant not only in terms of potentially affecting his productivity but also in terms of making the injury-prone Williamson vulnerable to suffering yet another injury.
Ingram is an eight year veteran, and even though Williamson is just 23 years old he is already a five year veteran who has never stayed healthy for long. McCollum was durable in the first portion of his career, but he is 32 years old now and has been battling injuries for the past several seasons. The notion that these three players are going to simultaneously enjoy sustained health seems unlikely. Williamson is obviously the key, because he is the youngest and most talented of the Pelicans' three stars; he not only must get into better shape, but he must improve both his rebounding and his defense. Unfortunately, his identity as an NBA player--both in terms of conditioning and skill set limitations--seems to be established; how many injury-prone, one-way players have transformed themselves into durable two-way players?
Five years from now, it will be interesting to see how many times these
two talented teams have reached the Conference Finals and NBA Finals.
Sustained team success--not "advanced basketball statistics" and not
marketing hype--is the most meaningful way to measure basketball
greatness.
Labels: Brandon Ingram, C.J. McCollum, De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, Zion Williamson
posted by David Friedman @ 2:27 AM
Pacers Eliminate Celtics in NBA Cup's First Knockout Round Game
The Knockout Rounds of the NBA Cup began with Tyrese Haliburton posting the first triple double of his NBA career while leading the Indiana Pacers to a 122-112 win over the Boston Celtics. Haliburton scored a team-high 26 points on 10-18 field goal shooting, passed for a game-high 13 assists, and tied Myles Turner for team-high honors with 10 rebounds. All five Indiana starters scored at least 12 points each as Buddy Hield (21 points), Turner (17 points), Bruce Brown (13 points), and Obi Toppin (12 points) combined with Haliburton to outperform Boston's celebrated starting five (albeit a Boston quintet sans Kristaps Porzingis, who missed his fourth straight game due to a right calf strain).
Jayson Tatum overcame a slow start to finish with a game-high 32 points on 13-26 field goal shooting while also grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds and dishing for six assists. Jaylen Brown added 30 points and nine rebounds but he did not register an assist. The Celtics dominated the boards 56-41 and outshot the Pacers from the field .474 to .457, but the Celtics committed 17 turnovers while the Pacers only had six turnovers, and the Celtics shot just 12-41 (.293) from three point range, which did not come close to matching the Pacers' blazing 19-40 (.475) three point shooting. The Pacers outscored the Celtics 74-57 in the second half.
The first time these teams met this season, Boston won 155-104 on November 1, so this game represented a 61 point turnaround!
The Pacers did not start well; in a fast paced first quarter, the Pacers fired up 25 shots and the Celtics countered with 24 shots, but neither team shot efficiently: the Pacers made just eight of their field goal attempts (.320) and the Celtics made just 10 field goals (.417). The Celtics led 24-22 while also outrebounding the Pacers 19-10. Brown led all scorers with 10 points on 5-7 field goal shooting, while Tatum had just three points on 1-4 field goal shooting. Turner led the Pacers with eight points on 3-7 field goal shooting, while Haliburton had just two points and one assist.
The Celtics pulled away in the second quarter, hunting favorable matchups on offense to the tune of 31 points on 14-28 (.500) field goal shooting while also holding the Pacers to 26 points on 8-20 (.400) field goal shooting. Tatum and Brown led the Celtics with 12 first half points each, while Derrick White added 11 points. No Pacer scored in double figures in the first half as the team shot just 16-45 (.356) from the field.
The Pacers exploded for 37 third quarter points on 15-27 (.556) field goal shooting, while the Celtics not only cooled off from the field (9-22, .409) but they also committed six turnovers after committing seven turnovers in the entire first half. The Pacers shot 11-22 (.500) from three point range in the second half while also battling the Celtics to a 22-22 draw in the rebounding battle.
The Pacers led 85-78 heading into the final stanza, and they won a fourth quarter shootout 37-34, shooting .545 from the field while the Celtics shot .591 from the field. Tatum split a pair of free throws to put the Celtics up 99-98 at the 4:19 mark, but Haliburton answered with a three pointer, and the Celtics never led again, though they tied the score three more times. Haliburton was sensational in the second half: 19 points on 7-10 field goal shooting, 11 assists, no turnovers.
The Pacers have not appeared on TNT in quite some time, so casual fans may not have seen them play this season prior to tonight. The Pacers not only play at a fast pace in terms of pushing the ball up the court, but they often shoot early in the shot clock, ranking first in the league in field goal attempts, first in two point field goal attempts, and fifth in three point field goal attempts. They are not taking bad shots, as indicated by their elite rankings in field goal percentage (first) and three point field goal percentage (fifth). Not surprisingly, they lead the league in scoring. The flip side of that fast paced, efficient offense is that they rank last in points allowed, last in defensive field goal percentage, and 29th (second to last) in rebounding. There is nothing inherently wrong with playing fast, but it is not possible to win a championship by only playing well at one end of the court. Bill Russell's Boston Celtics won 11 championships in 13 seasons by not only playing textbook fast break basketball but also by playing tenacious defense; for example, their 1965 championship team ranked third in scoring and first in points allowed en route to posting a 62-18 regular season record (the Celtics' best regular season record in the Russell era).
Tonight, the Pacers beat the East-leading Celtics in a shootout, getting a few "timely stops" (as Shaquille O'Neal put it) but not consistently playing solid defense. The Pacers are young and talented, and they are dangerous in a single elimination format because of their potent offense, but until they become better defensively it will be difficult for them to win a playoff series against a contender.
The Celtics must be disappointed to be eliminated from the NBA Cup and lose out on the bonus money being doled out to teams that advance, but long term they will be fine, assuming that Porzingis comes back soon and avoids further injuries. The Celtics are a balanced, complete team that consistently plays at an elite level at both ends of the court.
Labels: Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton
posted by David Friedman @ 11:05 PM
NBA Cup Knockout Rounds Preview
Initially, I was skeptical that the NBA's in-season tournament would cure tanking and load management, but during Group Play it was evident that teams were playing harder than they have typically played during recent regular seasons; that it is both a welcome development and a sad commentary on the mentality of today's players and teams: the players and teams from basketball's golden age (the 1980s) did not need gimmicks to provide special motivation to play hard. I agree with Shaquille O'Neal that players are playing hard now not because of the prestige of the NBA Cup--the NBA Cup has no prestige yet--but because each player on the championship team will receive $500,000. I still say that the best way to permanently eliminate tanking and load management is to (1) relegate the worst teams to the G League and (2) prohibit the worst teams from participating in the NBA Draft. Losing revenue and losing draft picks will put a quick end to intentional losing, and will put a much better product on the floor than we have seen in the NBA in a long time.
There are at least two drawbacks with the current NBA Cup format: (1) the use of point differential as the first tiebreaker in Group Play resulted in farcical situations during which teams ran up the score, and (2) there will be quirky scheduling this week for the teams that did not qualify for knockout round play. Regarding the first drawback, I am all for players and teams playing hard from opening tip to final buzzer, but intentionally running up the score in the waning moments of a blowout looks silly and renders those individual and team statistics meaningless: how many more points would the great teams and players of the past have scored if teams ran up the score instead of putting in the reserves? Regarding the second drawback, if a fan wants to see a particular visiting player or team how is he supposed to plan in advance for a week in which the schedule is dotted with "TBD"?
The NBA Cup has produced some exciting moments so far, but at its core it is still a gimmick that was introduced (1) to generate more revenue (because the NBA cares about profits more than it cares about anything else) and (2) to encourage players and teams that have not been playing hard to play hard.
Eight teams advanced from Group Play to the Knockout Rounds: Indiana (East Group A winner), Milwaukee (East Group B winner), Boston (East Group C winner), and New York (East Wild Card) in the East, and L.A. Lakers (West Group A winner), New Orleans (West Group B winner), Sacramento (West Group C winner), and Phoenix (West Wild Card). Due to the vagaries of Group assignments and the small sample size of NBA Cup games, the top three teams in the overall West standings (Minnesota, Oklahoma City, and Denver) did not qualify for the Knockout Rounds, and the second ranked team in the overall East standings (Orlando) also did not qualify.
Boston visits Indiana tonight, followed by Sacramento hosting New Orleans. On Tuesday night, Milwaukee hosts New York while Phoenix visits L.A. The Semifinal games will be played on Thursday, while the Championship--the only NBA Cup game that will not count in the regular season standings and statistics--will be telecast by ABC on Saturday night from Las Vegas.
The single elimination format makes upsets and random outcomes more likely, which is fine for the NCAA Tournament for a variety of reasons but runs counter to the NBA's long tradition of using playoff series to determine which teams are superior. Keeping that in mind, here are my brief thoughts about the Knockout Rounds.
Indiana has the NBA's highest scoring offense (128.8 ppg) and the league's worst scoring defense (125.9 ppg), while Boston ranks eighth in scoring offense (116.7 ppg) and fourth in scoring defense (107.4 ppg). Look for Boston's superior balance to rule the day. Milwaukee is still working out the kinks with the Giannis Antetkounmpo-Damian Lillard duo while figuring out to how to replace Jrue Holiday's defense and leadership, but Milwaukee squeaked by New York in Group Play and should be expected to beat New York again. Milwaukee would then host Boston in the Semifinals. I'll take Milwaukee at home.
LeBron James has already publicly stated his goal to win the NBA Cup and get that extra $500,000, so this week he will not be in his infamous, self-described "chill mode." Anthony Davis' attention often drifts and his body often seems brittle, but he shined during the Lakers' run to the 2020 "bubble title" and I suspect that he will be in top form for the last three NBA Cup games. L.A. will win a shootout versus Phoenix, and then survive a close game versus Sacramento after Sacramento dispatches New Orleans.
We have yet to see Antetokounmpo face James in the NBA Finals, but the league office will be quite happy to showcase them in the NBA Cup Championship. Antetokounmpo will do his part, but L.A. will pound the paint with James and Davis while Lillard will miss too many three pointers as James adds the NBA Cup to his glittering resume.
It will be interesting to see not only how these eight teams do in the NBA Cup's single elimination format, but also how far they advance in the 2024 playoffs when battling for the real championship.
Labels: Giannis Antetokounmpo, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA Cup
posted by David Friedman @ 2:18 AM
