Knicks Beat Sluggish 76ers 111-99 in NBA Cup Opener
The second annual NBA Cup began on Tuesday night as the New York Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, 111-99. OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 24 points on 11-16 field goal shooting, and Karl-Anthony Towns had a strong all-around game with 21 points, a game-high 13 rebounds, and six assists. Jalen Brunson had a quiet game (18 points on 5-15 field goal shooting, five assists, game-high six turnovers) by his lofty standards, particularly considering that he torched the 76ers for 35.5 ppg in the 2024 playoffs. Paul George led the 76ers with a game-high 29 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, and Jared McCain added 23 points off of the bench. Joel Embiid's season debut was a dud: 13 points on 2-11 field goal shooting, five assists, and just three rebounds. The Knicks outrebounded the 76ers 47-40, and outshot them from the field .494 (44-89) to .373 (.31-83).
I explained the NBA Cup's format and rules in a July 10, 2023 article. The Knicks lost to the Milwaukee Bucks last year 110-105 in the first game of the inaugural NBA Cup. Brunson poured in a game-high 45 points in that contest. The L.A. Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers to win the inaugural NBA Cup, after which the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs while the Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals before being swept by the Boston Celtics. Although the NBA heavily hypes up the NBA Cup, overall the NBA's viewership ratings went down slightly last season, and the 2024 NBA Finals had the lowest viewership since 2021.
Load management, tanking, and the proliferation of analytics-driven increases in three point shooting are three reasons that the NBA game is not as entertaining or interesting as it used to be. This Knicks-76ers game embodies much of what is wrong with the modern NBA: the 76ers are infamous for tanking to get Embiid, who they are now load managing in hopes of keeping him healthy for the playoffs, and these two teams combined to jack up 73 three pointers while making just 23 of them. Who wants to watch 50 three pointers clank off of the rim?
The NBA game used to feature above the rim play, midrange shooting, and teams running a variety of different offenses, but now the NBA game features teams jacking up as many three pointers as possible. The NBA game also used to feature more physicality; it is more entertaining to see a great player score when he is being defended toughly, as opposed to seeing the scoreboard light up while little to no defensive resistance is provided. The NBA All-Star Game has not only become a joke, but it has become a template for the regular season NBA as well. Players get paid more than ever to play less and compete less than ever, which leaves fans feeling justifiably turned off.
The NBA was a much better league when load management and tanking did not exist, and when players played hard because they loved the game.
The talented but inconsistent Embiid is the poster child for the NBA's decline over the past 10 years or so. Embiid looked out of shape and rusty, and he was noticeably winded almost immediately after the game began. TNT's Stan Van Gundy make weak excuses for Embiid, arguing that Embiid is in shape and that nothing compares to playing under game conditions, but the sad reality is that Embiid has been in suboptimal condition for most of his career, which is likely a big reason that Embiid is injured so often. Embiid should have been able to do enough cardio work to be better prepared to play.
The 76ers' stated plan to rest Embiid and not have him play in back to back games will not help Embiid get in shape or work off the rust, so even if the 76ers qualify for the playoffs they will not be poised to make a deep run. The 76ers' newest "Big Three" has yet to play together in a game, as Tyrese Maxey is out with a hamstring injury, Embiid missed the first nine games of this season, and George missed the first five games of this season due to a bone bruise in his left knee.
Instead of giving NBA players even more money to compete for the NBA Cup, the NBA should limit or eliminate guaranteed salaries; if players did not get paid to sit out then they would be less inclined to do so, and if players who are not performing up to par could be cut without having a golden parachute then players would be incentivized to play hard. I understand that the Players Association would fight tooth and nail to preserve guaranteed contracts, but if the NBA continues to put a subpar product on the floor then it risks killing the goose that is laying the golden eggs.
Labels: Jalen Brunson, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, NBA Cup, New York Knicks, Paul George, Philadelphia 76ers, Tyrese Maxey
posted by David Friedman @ 11:28 AM
5 Comments:
It appears that a Pandora’s Box has been opened when it comes to player salaries and player effort. Players have realized that they can get maximum, guaranteed contracts without putting forth anything resembling maximum effort. I don’t fault the players, or anyone for that matter, for accepting money that is legally offered to them and the owners know that their star players will leave if they aren’t given maximum contracts so there is a bizarre type of stalemate where neither side is willing to address the issue of decreased effort from the players. I think eventually there will be a situation similar to the Kevin Garnett contract that played a notable role in the 1998-1999 lockout where the league is forced to aggressively address the issue.
Michael: The Garnett situation is a good analogy to what is happening now with the salary explosion. If the players keep providing lackluster effort for maximum salaries and if the ratings keep going down then I could see the owners staging a lockout to regain control over costs.
I think you're on the right track when it comes to the three-pointer in the modern NBA. What the stat gurus somehow seem to miss is the nuance of when a three-pointer is a good shot and when it is a bad shot. Hell, my high-school coach would rip into anyone trying to make late game three-point 'hero shots' (with the exception of buzzer-beaters or specific plays/situations) because he knew as players get tired, they get less accurate. I've seen some data somewhere that I wish I could find that commented on NBA three-pointer accuracy throughout a game and how it fluctuates based on player energy levels.
For example:
- Inside a quarter, an open three at the start of a quarter is a good shot, but an open three at the end of a quarter can often be a bad shot.
- Inside a game, a contested three in the first quarter can be a good shot, while a contested three in the four quarter is usually a bad shot.
- Inside a team's rotation, a three from a fresh player is typically a good shot, while a three from a player who has played 30min+ is often a bad shot.
I also recall a former great (John Stockton?) making a similar comment on how we usually ignore the effects of fatigue/conditioning because the greatest shooters have exceptional conditioning, but the exceptions distract us from the rule that as we get tired, our performance deteriorates. That creates opportunities for the exceptional players to hunt match-ups based not only on size and ability, but also fatigue/conditioning. Great players find opportunities to make bad shots into better shots.
I guess using this kinda data effectively might look like an NBA game with more three point shots in certain periods, but also a greater focus on paint play as the game progresses.
Anonymous:
Thank you for the very perceptive comments. You are correct that the "stat gurus" fail to consider many important data points. I spent most of my (amateur) career as a basketball player as a three point shooter, and I can testify firsthand about how important conditioning is for three point shooting accuracy. In my prime, I was in excellent condition, and I used that to my advantage not only to get open but to hit shots against opponents whose conditioning did not match mine. On the other hand, I will never forget the experience of playing one on one versus a friend who was much bigger and stronger. He scored inside and I scored outside when we played against each other. I am almost as tall as he is, so even though he could back me down I tried to use my length to contest his shots. Then, when I got the ball I would run to the three point line and try to get off a good shot, hoping to also take advantage of my superior conditioning--but the problem for me in this matchup was not conditioning so much as fatigue: my legs became tired from trying to hold my ground in the post, and that affected my accuracy. His size wore me down.
I agree with you 100% that a truly analytical examination of three point shooting efficiency would not just look at shooting percentages but rather take a fully dimensional view of the game situation.
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