20 Second Timeout

Raptors Mount Late Comeback, Tie Series With Cavaliers 2-2

The Cleveland Cavaliers built a nine point second quarter lead and were ahead 84-76 with 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter before the Toronto Raptors rallied to win 93-89 and tie this first round series 2-2. The Raptors shot just 31-97 (.320) from the field but the Cavaliers shot almost as poorly (32-87, .368) while getting outrebounded 59-56 and losing the turnover battle 17-11. The Raptors compensated for their abysmal three point field goal shooting (4-30, .133) by outscoring the Cavaliers 50-38 in the paint while also topping the Cavaliers in second chance points 19-7 and fast break points 15-10.

Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram each scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Raptors, while R.J. Barrett added 18 points and Collin Murray-Boyles contributed 15 points plus a team-high 10 rebounds off of the bench. Barnes--who has been the best player in the series (series-high 25.8 ppg, series-high 7.3 apg, 4.8 rpg, 1.3 bpg, 1.0 spg, .523 FG%)--had an excellent floor game with nine rebounds, six assists, three blocked shots, and one steal.

Donovan Mitchell paced the Cavaliers with 20 points, but he shot 6-24 from the field. James Harden had 19 points and a team-high eight assists, but he had a game-high seven turnovers, three more than any other player.

The Raptors deserve full credit for playing hard and figuring out how to win a must-win game, but the big picture focus should be on the Cavaliers, who have been widely touted as a championship contender since acquiring Harden.   

The first half featured some mind-numbingly bad, unwatchable basketball as Toronto scored 38 points on 15-54 (.278) field goal shooting while Cleveland managed only 36 points on 15-45 (.333) field goal shooting. If you enjoy watching high volume, low accuracy three point shooting then the first half was heaven for you as the teams combined to shoot 7-39 (.179) from beyond the arc. ESPN's Ernie Johnson referenced the old movie "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" to open the halftime show. There is no truth to the rumor that during halftime the NBA's Board of Governors and the league's broadcast partners tried to enact a rules change stipulating that not only would the second half not be played but that both teams would be summarily eliminated from the playoffs.   

I love good defense, but this game was more about teams being unable to make three pointers and being unwilling to try two pointers then it was about good defense. 

During the third quarter, the teams stumbled to a 22-22 tie while combining to shoot 1-18 (.056) from three point range, which meant that the Raptors clung to a 60-58 lead heading into a fourth quarter that would determine whether the Raptors would tie the series 2-2 or fall into a 3-1 hole that is usually fatal. After Mitchell hit two free throws at the 4:55 mark, the Cavaliers led 84-76 as this rock fight disguised as a basketball game lurched toward its conclusion, but the Raptors closed the game with a 17-5 run to stay alive as the series shifts back to Cleveland for game five on Wednesday.

Shockingly, both teams shot well in the final stanza, with Toronto shooting 11-22 (.500) from the field and Cleveland nearly matching that with 10-21 (.476) field goal shooting. What stood out and made the difference is that Harden and Mitchell combined to dominate the ball while shooting terribly. Mitchell scored 12 points but shot just 3-9 from the field, including an ill-advised off balance missed three pointer with 10 seconds remaining and the Raptors leading 90-87; the Cavaliers had enough time to quickly score a two pointer and then foul to get the ball back. The scariest thing for the Cavaliers is that "Playoff Harden" mode seemed to be activated in this game: he shot 1-4 from the field in the fourth quarter with the game on the line, and he tallied yet another "Harden" in a playoff game by having more turnovers (seven) than field goals made (six). What is most disturbing for the Cavaliers is not only the careless nature of many of Harden's turnovers but the lackadaisical way that he failed to get back on defense after committing those turnovers. In a low scoring game, such plays are huge.

Plus/minus can be noisy in small sample sizes, and this game is a great example of such noise. If you watched the whole game with understanding, then you noticed that Harden and Mitchell co-authored the defeat due to Harden's reckless ballhandling and terrible transition defense combined with Mitchell's poor shooting and questionable shot selection. Mitchell's -8 plus/minus number reflects how he played, but Harden's +1 plus/minus number is surprising, so I dug into that to try to figure out what happened. Harden played 7:53 in the third quarter, and he somehow had a +10 plus/minus number as the teams battled to a 22-22 tie, which means his plus/minus number for the rest of the game was -9. Harden played all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter, posting a -2 plus/minus number.  

Harden's overall series numbers are solid (21.8 ppg, 6.5 apg, 3.3 rpg, .475 FG%) except for his alarming 24 turnovers (6.0 tpg), 10 more than any other player on either team. Harden has posted a "Harden" in each of the last two playoff games in this series (he had a game-high eight turnovers and five field goals made in Cleveland's 126-104 game three loss). He has logged a "Harden" four times in his last 13 playoff games, and that does not include hiswn 2-8 field goal shooting with two turnovers as the Denver Nuggets routed his L.A. Clippers 120-101 in game seven last year.

The Cavaliers are purported to be a championship contender this season, while the young Raptors are rising but are not a championship contender. The Cavaliers should win the next two games to close out the series in six games (which was my prediction in my playoff preview), but when the supposedly superior team gives away a winnable game and drags out a series anything can happen--an injury, a suspension, a fluky shot. The Cavaliers will likely not get the full "Playoff Harden" experience until the second round, but games three and four of this series provided a preview of what that will look like.

Labels: Brandon Ingram, Cleveland Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors

posted by David Friedman @ 12:02 PM

0 comments

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

2 comments

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

0 comments

Nets Beat Undermanned Pelicans

In a matchup of the third seeded teams in each conference, the Brooklyn Nets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 108-102. The Pelicans led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but were doomed by cold second half shooting (16-44, including 2-12 from three point range). Kevin Durant scored a game-high 33 points but shot just 9-26 from the field. He also had a game-high 10 rebounds, plus two blocked shots. Kyrie Irving struggled for most of the game before scoring 10 of the Nets' 20 fourth quarter points to finish with 19 points on 7-22 field goal shooting. Irving provided 10 of the Nets' 20 fourth quarter points. T.J. Warren scored 15 points off of the bench in just 24 minutes.

C.J. McCollum led the Pelicans with 28 points on 9-24 field goal shooting and Naji Marshall added a career-high 23 points on 6-11 field goal shooting. Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds as the Pelicans outrebounded the Nets 51-43, but even with those extra possessions the Pelicans could not make up for the absences of injured stars Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.

The Nets have won 17 of their last 19 games, and the Pelicans have been a pleasant surprise despite key players missing a large number of games. Should either of these teams be considered championship contenders based not just on this game but on their overall body of work and their potential?

The Nets have had a tumultuous season. Coach Steve Nash departed after the team started 2-5, at the same time that the Nets suspended Kyrie Irving for unrepentant antisemitism. Ben Simmons did not look sharp in the early going, and he missed four of the team's first 10 games. On November 25, the Nets were 9-11 before embarking on their current surge. However, the Nets' recent success includes wins versus many non-contending teams, including Atlanta (twice), Charlotte (twice), Toronto (twice), Washington (twice), Detroit, Orlando, and San Antonio. The Nets beat Golden State sans Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. 

Are the Nets legitimate contenders? Kevin Durant owns two NBA title and two NBA Finals MVPs, while Kyrie Irving has already been the second option on a championship team. Ben Simmons is capable of being an elite playmaker and an elite defensive player who can guard multiple positions. If those three stars are healthy, the Nets can be very good--but, for a variety of reasons, each of those players has missed substantial playing time in recent seasons. 

The Nets lack size, and consequently rank 29th in the league in rebounding. Their defensive numbers look good, but--as noted above--they have recently feasted on weak competition. The Nets have not proven that they can rebound and defend at a high level against elite teams. Since Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving joined the team in 2019, the Nets have only won one playoff series. 

The Nets are capable of being a legitimate contender, but until they prove otherwise in the crucible of postseason play they should not be ranked ahead of the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks, regardless of regular season records and regular season winning streaks.

Entering play tonight, the New Orleans Pelicans had the third best record in the Western Conference, just a game behind the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies. The Pelicans accomplished this despite Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram missing substantial playing time. C.J. McCollum (20.2 ppg, 6.0 apg) has played well, and the Pelicans are a rugged, scrappy team that ranks second in steals, fourth in scoring, and sixth in rebounding; their depth has helped mitigate the absences of Williamson and Ingram, but this team is unlikely to advance past the first round of the playoffs without Williamson and Ingram. 

The Pelicans' potential is tantalizing, but Williamson and Ingram being out of the lineup is not surprising; Ingram has not played more than 62 games in a season since his rookie campaign (2016-17), while Williamson missed the entire 2021-22 season due to injury after playing just 85 games combined in his first two seasons. Williamson and Ingram are also players who primarily impact the game offensively, so even if they are healthy at playoff time they have not proven that they are willing or able to do enough defensively to lead a team to a playoff series win.

Are the Pelicans a contender? Until their two best players (1) stay healthy and (2) prove that they are committed to playing defense the Pelicans will not be a contender.

Labels: Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram, Brooklyn Nets, C.J. McCollum, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, New Orleans Pelicans, Zion Williamson

posted by David Friedman @ 11:27 PM

0 comments

Chris Paul Pitches Perfect Game as Suns Eliminate Pelicans

Perfect games are associated with baseball, not basketball--and they are very rare in baseball--but Chris Paul authored a basketball version of a perfect game as his Phoenix Suns defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 115-109 to win their first round series, 4-2. Paul shot 14-14 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line en route to scoring a game-high 33 points. Paul set an NBA single game playoff record for most field goals without a miss, a record previously shared by Nene Hilario and Larry McNeill, who each made 12 field goals without a miss in a playoff game. Wilt Chamberlain once held the single game playoff record for most field goals without a miss (nine), but his record has been surpassed several times. Chamberlain still holds the single game regular season record for most field goals without a miss (18), and the regular season record for most field goals without a miss overall (35, from February 17-February 28, 1967).

With the outcome up for grabs entering the fourth quarter as New Orleans led 85-82, Paul scored 10 points and had three assists to orchestrate the Suns' offense and make sure that the upstart Pelicans did not extend the series to a seventh game. Paul performed inconsistently during this series, alternating great games with subpar games, but his game six perfection may never be matched. Paul's mastery of the midrange game combined with his slick ball handling make him very difficult to cover one on one; he must be trapped, preferably by taller defenders, and the trap must force him to pick up his dribble and give up the ball before he slithers his way into the midrange area, let alone the paint. Permitting Paul to dance with the ball and choose when/where to shoot or pass is basketball suicide.

Deandre Ayton was nearly perfect, shooting 10-12 from the field. He scored 22 points while also grabbing seven rebounds and passing for four assists. Mikal Bridges chipped in 18 points on 7-12 field goal shooting. Devin Booker returned to action after a hamstring injury sidelined him for the second half of game two, plus all of games three through five. He struggled to perform at his usual All-NBA caliber level, finishing with just 13 points on 5-12 field goal shooting, but his three point shot with 1:42 remaining gave the Suns a lead (106-104) that they never relinquished. 

The Pelicans' Brandon Ingram was the best player on the court for significant portions of this series. He led New Orleans with 21 points and 11 assists, but he shot just 8-19 from the field. Ingram had nine points on 4-10 field goal shooting in the fourth quarter, but that was not enough to overcome Paul's perfect game.

Labels: Brandon Ingram, Chris Paul, Devin Booker, New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns

posted by David Friedman @ 11:28 PM

0 comments

Shaky Starts for Lakers and Rockets Punctuated by Saturday Night Fight

The Houston Rockets and L.A. Lakers have both started the 2019 season in less than impressive fashion. The Rockets are 1-2 and their only win is against the 0-3 Lakers. The Rockets have a mediocre offense so far, ranking 17th out of 30 teams in scoring, 15th in field goal percentage and 18th in assists. They are awful defensively, ranking 27th in defensive field goal percentage and 24th in rebounding. James Harden will always put up gaudy individual regular season numbers playing for a team that is built around him monopolizing the ball--28.3 ppg, 9.7 apg, 6.7 rpg so far--but the Rockets have been outscored by 7 ppg during his time on the court while outscoring their opponents by 3 ppg when Harden is on the bench.

The Lakers are giving up 131.7 ppg (!), which amazingly is not the worst figure in the league; the Lakers rank 23rd in points allowed. The Lakers are shooting .287 from three point range (28th), which means that LeBron James is often operating in a crowd because opposing defenses can afford to sag into the paint. The reflexive response would be to blame James' "supporting cast" for the Lakers' perfectly imperfect record but the Lakers are being outscored by more than 7 ppg while James is on the court and the Lakers are holding their own when James is on the bench.

When the two teams met on Saturday night, it very much looked like the resistible force meeting the movable object. It was not clear which team would fold in the end when, with 4:13 left in the fourth quarter and the Rockets clinging to a 109-108 lead, the train went completely off the rails. Brandon Ingram was called for a foul after Harden pushed off during a drive (unless you believe that extending your arms horizontally--as opposed to upward--is a natural shooting motion for a layup). Harden whined for a continuation call, Chris Paul chimed in as well and Ingram shoved Harden out of the way while complaining to the referee about the call. At that point, it looked like Harden would be living at the free throw line because of the shooting foul plus the technical foul on Ingram. While everything was being sorted out, Paul and Rajon Rondo got involved in a heated conversation. Suddenly, Paul stuck his finger in Rondo's face (leaving a scratch underneath Rondo's eye) and Rondo responded by throwing punches. Paul threw punches as well before his good buddy James pulled him away to safety. Meanwhile, Ingram rushed into the fray and threw a punch as well.

Paul ran to the broadcast table to get his story out first, claiming that Rondo had spit on him. While James walked alongside Paul with his arm draped over Paul's shoulder, the other Lakers tried to calm Ingram down. Ingram, Rondo and Paul were each ejected. The NBA subsequently suspended Ingram for four games, Rondo for three games and Paul for two games. Houston Coach Mike D'Antoni immediately complained because the suspensions (and resulting forfeited game checks) will cost Paul far more money than the other guys will lose (due to Paul's bloated contract). Here is a thought: maybe the President of the Players Association who makes $40 million per year should have considered what he stood to lose before he stuck his finger in Rondo's face.

It is well established that the Rockets are fake tough guys, something that I addressed last season in an article titled The Rockets' Fake Toughness:

Real toughness in the NBA is displayed by playing defense, focusing on the game plan and executing in the playoffs...Fake toughness in the NBA is displayed by acting like you want to get in a fistfight, knowing full well that there is an armada of security guards and police officers at every NBA arena. Years back, Tim Thomas--speaking about Kenyon Martin--had the perfect term for these kind of antics: "fugazi," meaning "fake."

I am pretty sure that Paul assumed that he could get his finger poke in for free before he and Rondo would be quickly separated. Paul did not count on Rondo unloading a two piece on his dome.

Paul's new teammate Carmelo Anthony, a member of the NBA's All-Fake Tough Guy First Team, called Rondo's conduct "unacceptable." Anthony is well versed in "unacceptable" conduct; in  2006, then-Denver Nugget Anthony was one of the principals in an ugly melee in Madison Square Garden. Anthony sucker-punched the Knicks' Mardy Collins and then back-pedaled like he was on ice skates--managing to lose credibility both as a professional ball player who should know better than to throw a punch during a game and as a self-respecting man, for no self-respecting man would throw a sucker punch and then run away from the target of his anger. Fighting has no place in the NBA but if you are going to start a fight then be a man and stand your ground instead of running away like a scared little kid!

NBA Commissioner David Stern suspended seven players for a total of 47 games, with Anthony leading the way with a 15 game suspension (at the time this was the sixth longest suspension in NBA history). While Commissioner Adam Silver let Saturday night's instigators off relatively easily, Commissioner Stern imposed significant punishments and it is not a coincidence that the 2006 brawl was the last such on court melee until Paul, Rondo and Ingram lost their cool. It will be interesting to see if Silver's punishments will have the same kind of deterrent effect.

After the fight, ESPN showed clips of some of the previous interactions between Rondo and Paul. ESPN was making the point that there is a long history of animosity between these players but one thing that stood out immediately and dramatically is how much muscle mass Paul has added. The image of Paul flexing his biceps earlier in the game looks like a short version of the Incredible Hulk, while the young Paul looks like a scrawny kid. Throughout his career, Paul has been listed as 6-0, 175 pounds, but he is probably shorter than 6-0 and at this point he is clearly significantly heavier than 175 pounds. That kind of dramatic transformation brings to mind--among others--Evander Holyfield, who also went from about 175 pounds to well over 200 pounds of chiseled muscle during a period of time when illegal performance enhancing drugs were delivered to his residence. It is worth noting that as the President of the NBA Players Association, Paul has been a staunch opponent of testing for Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which is an odd position to take if one cares at all about (1) the long term health and safety of the players and (2) the integrity of the sport.

Another thing that struck me is that Paul does a whole lot of jawing for someone has not even made it to the NBA Finals, let alone won a championship. I vaguely recall a verbal exchange between two NHL players years ago and, if I am correct, I believe that the one player told the other that he could not even hear the nonsense that the other player was spouting because he had put all of his championship rings over his ears. Rondo could have saved himself a lot of money and had the ultimate "scoreboard" last word by saying something similar to Paul instead of punching Paul.

After the fight, Rondo kept his mouth shut publicly until the suspensions were handed down and then he offered his take: "Of course, the NBA went with his side because I got three games and he got two. Everyone wants to believe Chris Paul is a good guy. They don't know he's a horrible teammate. They don't know how he treats people. Look at what he did last year when he was in LA, trying to get to the Clippers locker room. They don't want to believe he's capable of taunting and igniting an incident. He comes out and says I spit and the media sides with that." Rondo added that he "had a mouthpiece in my mouth and I was exasperated because I was about to tell him to 'get the [expletive] out of here.' One, if I spit on you, bottom line, there is not going to be no finger-pointing. If you felt that I just spit on you, then all bets are off. Two, look at my body language. If I spit on you on purpose, I'm going to be ready for a man to swing on me. You ain't going to have my hands on my hip and my head look away at someone if I spit on them. After the [expletive] goes down, within 30 seconds, you run and tell the sideline reporters that I spit on you? If I spit on you, you are trying to get to me. You not trying to make up a story so you can look like a good guy. It makes no sense to me. I was going to let it rest. I wasn't going to say much. But now I have kids and I teach my kids to speak up for themselves and don't let the world tell their story."

The tape of the incident has been slowed down, placed into close up and replayed more often than the Zapruder film. If you freeze-frame it, squint and look from a certain angle, then maybe some spittle came out of Rondo's mouth, but if/when it did, Rondo was not even looking directly at Paul. Rondo should start a second career as a ventriloquist if he can intentionally spit on someone through a mouthpiece without even looking at the person! My take is that Paul did not like Rondo telling him to "Get the [expletive] out of here," Paul poked Rondo in the face while assuming that they would be separated and Paul did not realize that Rondo actually knows how to throw punches in combinations.

No one is covered in glory here. Ingram, a normally mild-mannered person by all accounts, lost his mind. I thought that he deserved to be suspended for at least five games; running into the fight and throwing a punch was a dangerous, bush league move. Paul and Rondo should have received the same punishment; two or three games makes sense, but I consider them equally culpable because they both threw punches. I suspect that Paul was the actual instigator but once they both threw punches they both needed to miss multiple games.

As for James, there is nothing wrong with him pulling Paul out of the fracas. You are always supposed to grab the guy from the other team, so your guy does not get punched in the face while he is being held. The problem is that after Paul was separated from the pack James should have gone over to his team and been with his guys. If I am a Laker, those pictures of James leisurely walking with his arm around Paul are not cool at all. In the old days, this would be resolved by James delivering a hard foul--not a cheap shot and not intended to injure--to Paul the next time these teams play, to demonstrate that his on court loyalties are not divided. The mainstream media narrative is that James and Paul are great leaders/teammates but the real world narrative is that coveted free agents are hardly clamoring to play with either guy.

The Rockets are not going to finish with a losing record and the Lakers will eventually win a game but both teams have some issues to address. The Carmelo Anthony experiment is turning out so far the only way that any sensible person would have expected: he is sixth on the team in scoring (8.3 ppg) while shooting .321 from the field and .200 from three point range. As usual, his defense is awful and apathetic. The Rockets are being outscored by 5 ppg while Anthony is on the court. "Olympic Melo" was always a myth for the most part and now, at best, it is a distant memory. Anthony is a ball-dominant isolation scorer who has lost his shooting touch and he is playing alongside two other ball-dominant players. Why in the world would anyone expect this to work?

James signed a long-term deal with the Lakers, which is supposedly a sign that he will be patient after he only signed short-term deals with Cleveland. Patience has never been James' strong suit, though, and another way to view his contract is that James is an aging player who is now locked in for big money until he will be a lot closer to 40 years old than 30. That was a financially smart move on his part and he has always been smart about using the substantial leverage he enjoys. If the Lakers keep losing, James will need a scapegoat, which means Coach Luke Walton will be on the hot seat and/or some players may be headed out the door. We all saw on Saturday night that James cares a lot more about how his good buddy Paul feels than about how Rondo, Ingram or his teammates feel. Just file that away for future reference if the Lakers do not show signs of progress by game 20 or so.

Labels: Brandon Ingram, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Houston Rockets, James Harden, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Rajon Rondo

posted by David Friedman @ 10:12 PM

10 comments