Russell Westbrook is One of the Few Brights Spots in an Otherwise Dark Season for the Sacramento Kings
Russell Westbrook has been one of the few bright spots and high energy performers during a dark and dismal season for the Sacramento Kings. He had a team-high tying 21 points on 9-16 field goal shooting along with a game-high 11 assists, six rebounds, and just one turnover in Sacramento's 128-123 November 22 win versus the 12-4 Denver Nuggets. Westbrook scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, including a clutch fadeaway jumper with 36.1 seconds remaining to put the Kings up, 123-117. He also had three rebounds, two assists, no turnovers, and a +6 plus/minus number in the final stanza, and he was the only player on either team who played all 12 fourth quarter minutes.
Westbrook had a -13 plus/minus number overall for that game, and his plus/minus number for the season (through November 28, 2025) is -137, but the context for his season plus/minus is that the team's three big name starters--Domantas Sabonis (-159), DeMar DeRozan (-185), and Zach LaVine (-212)--have the team's three worst plus/minus numbers. It is fair to infer that their desultory performances are dragging down Westbrook's plus/minus number during the time that he shares the court with them, while Westbrook is providing a spark when he plays in other lineups.
The larger point regarding Westbrook is that it appears that Sacramento was the only team interested in signing him during the offseason, and he signed a signed a non-guaranteed veteran minimum one year deal for $3.6 million to join the Kings. Per HoopsHype, Westbrook's 2025 contract is tied for 299th in the NBA. Earlier this season, Westbrook extended his career triple double record while also breaking Jason Kidd's ABA/NBA career record for most rebounds by a guard. Through 19 games (he has started 13 of those games), Westbrook is averaging 14.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, and 6.4 apg. His rebounding average is his highest since 2021-22, and his three point field goal percentage (.390) is a career-high. Among players who have participated in at least 12 games, Westbrook ranks third on the Kings in scoring, first in rebounding, and first in assists. Signing Westbrook is one of the few smart decisions made by an otherwise dysfunctional franchise that should not have fired coach Mike Brown and should not have attempted to build "Chicago Bulls West" with LaVine and DeRozan.
There are several teams lacking solid point guard play that are regretting--or should be regretting--not signing Westbrook, particularly considering that he was available at a bargain basement price. For example, the disappointing Dallas Mavericks rank 27th in field goal percentage, 28th in the NBA in assists, and 29th in scoring in no small part because they do not have a competent point guard on the roster; their point guard situation is so desperate that coach Jason Kidd--one of the NBA's all-time greatest point guards and thus someone who understands the requirements to play that position well--has resorted to playing rookie forward Cooper Flagg at point guard rather than rely too heavily on the nominal point guards on the roster, including the inconsistent D'Angelo Russell. It should be obvious to any qualified basketball talent evaluator that Westbrook is a better player and better point guard than Russell, but Dallas' recently fired chief talent evaluator Nico Harrison thought that trading prime Luka Doncic was a great idea, so it is not surprising that he chose D'Angelo Russell over Russell Westbrook.
Labels: D'Angelo Russell, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Luka Doncic, Russell Westbrook, Sacramento Kings
posted by David Friedman @ 9:12 AM
Thoughts About the L.A. Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers
I am old enough to remember when the Philadelphia 76ers and L.A. Lakers were model franchises contesting three NBA Finals (1980, 1982-83) in a four year span. The 76ers had the NBA's best regular season record from 1976-83 while reaching the NBA Finals four times (1977, 1980, 1982-83), and winning one championship (1983) with a dominant 12-1 playoff run. Julius Erving was the one constant for the 76ers during that span, with Moses Malone joining the 76ers for the 1982-83 season as the final piece to their championship puzzle. The Lakers featured Pantheon members Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson plus a host of other All-Stars, and they won five championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987-88) during the 1980s.
My, how the mighty have fallen!
The Lakers defeated the 76ers 116-106 on Friday night, but it is highly unlikely that either team will participate in the 2025 NBA Finals. The Lakers are 5-4, and on pace to win fewer games than they did last season. Other than taking the 2020 "bubble title", the LeBron James-led Lakers have been more about sideshows--capturing the 2023 NBA Cup before losing in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, signing Bronny James instead of trying to put the best possible player in every roster spot--than about contending for championships. In LeBron James' six full seasons with the Lakers, they have lost in the first round twice, and missed the playoffs twice, a track record that makes the "bubble title" look like an aberration.
The Lakers fired Coach Darvin Ham after going 47-35 last season, and it remains to be seen if his replacement J.J. Redick is the next Pat Riley. Redick mastered the obvious by making Anthony Davis the hub of the Lakers' offense--Davis scored a game-high 31 points versus the 76ers and he is currently the league's scoring leader--but other than that Redick's biggest early season move has been taking D'Angelo Russell out of the starting lineup prior to the 76ers game. Media members may try to fool the public into believing that this is some kind of strategic master stroke, but Redick could have put Bronny James--or possibly even some dude from the YMCA--in the starting lineup and the Lakers would have still beaten the injury-riddled 76ers, who are without the services of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Redick was a member of the media until fairly recently, and his former colleagues seem to be determined to treat him with kid gloves, but that will become increasingly difficult to do if the Lakers are still hovering around the .500 mark 30 or 40 games from now.
Redick publicly called out every Laker other than LeBron James for lack of effort before benching Russell, which creates some potentially interesting locker room issues. It is obvious that Redick's podcasting partner LeBron James hired Redick, and that Redick will serve as Lakers coach only as long as he curries favor with James--so when Redick calls out players he is speaking on behalf of James, which is problematic from the jump and becomes more problematic if Redick does not call out James when James' effort or execution are not up to par. The best coaches lead by challenging their best players, which then inspires the rest of the team to live up to that standard. The presence of Bronny James on the roster is a constant reminder that the Lakers make roster decisions based on LeBron James' whims, not winning, and calling out role players without challenging LeBron James will get old very quickly, particularly if the Lakers do not soon move up in the standings.
The 1-7 76ers are in even worse shape than the Lakers, and they face an uphill battle just to qualify for the Play-In Tournament. The 76ers still have more suspensions and fines than wins this season, and they have not advanced past the second round of the playoffs since Allen Iverson carried them to the 2001 NBA Finals. Daryl Morey prides himself on utilizing the kind of "advanced basketball statistics" that lead him to believe that James Harden is a greater scorer than Michael Jordan, and if Morey stays true to the "stat guru" way of thinking then his 76ers will tank the rest of the way, because "stat gurus" assert that the worst thing in the NBA is to be stuck in the middle; the 76ers have most definitely not "Tanked to the Top" but if they are not going to get a top playoff seed then the vaunted numbers so prized by "stat gurus" suggest that the 76ers should deliberately sacrifice wins for draft picks--but even the stat-obsessed Morey probably has enough sense to realize that the last thing that 76ers fans will tolerate now is more tanking on the heels of the infamous "Process" that yielded Embiid and a string of seasons ending in the second round of the playoffs (or earlier). Statistics--real ones, not the contrived "advanced ones"--indicate that a 1-7 team is more likely to participate in the Draft Lottery than the playoffs, but deliberately aiming for the Draft Lottery with Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey on the roster is unthinkable even for the unofficial king of the "stat gurus."
On Friday night, the 76ers got just nine points on 4-13 field goal shooting from Paul "I call myself Playoff P" George, who will collect more than $200 million from the 76ers during the next four seasons. The 76ers are paying Morey a lot of money to build their roster because they believe that Morey's use of "advanced basketball statistics" gives him a significant edge over his peers. It would be interesting to know which proprietary metrics persuaded Morey that it is shrewd to pay more than $200 million to a shooting guard in his age 34-38 seasons.
Labels: Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, J.J. Redick, Joel Embiid, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Paul George, Philadelphia 76es, Tyrese Maxey
posted by David Friedman @ 9:06 AM
Lakers Bounce Back From Blowout Loss, Rout Warriors
When Anthony Davis and LeBron James play effectively in the paint, the L.A. Lakers can be very good--and game three of their second round series versus the Golden State Warriors dramatically illustrated that: Davis and James dominated inside, and the Lakers won easily, 127-97. Davis led both teams in scoring (25 points), rebounds (13), and blocked shots (four). He had a tremendous impact at both ends of the court, but particularly on defense: he proved that he can both disrupt screen/roll actions on the perimeter and drop into the paint to contest shots and grab rebounds. The Lakers held the Warriors to .396 field goal shooting while forcing 19 turnovers. There is not a boxscore number that connects those team numbers to Davis' play, but he had more to do with the Lakers' dominant defense than any other player.
James finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, and no turnovers. He played with more energy on defense than he has in a long time. Before the game, ABC's Jeff Van Gundy declared, "LeBron James has to
have a throwback game where he lives in the paint and in the post."
During the game, Van Gundy added that the Lakers cannot win this series if James only plays hard sporadically. James did not attempt a shot in the first quarter for the first time in
his playoff career, an odd look for the NBA's all-time scoring leader in both the regular season and the playoffs. ABC's Mark Jackson labeled James' passivity
"inexcusable," emphasizing that James is not being guarded by a lockdown
defender and that the Lakers' game plan does not involve James refusing
to shoot.
After the first quarter, James played the way that the Lakers
need for him to play and that--combined with Davis controlling the
paint at both ends of the court--lifted the Lakers to a convincing win.
In the first quarter, D'Angelo Russell scored 13 points on 5-7 field goal shooting (including 3-4 from three point range)--and he had a -6 plus/minus number as the Warriors enjoyed a 30-23 lead after the first 12 minutes. Russell scored eight points the rest of the game, and the Lakers won going away. There could not be a more vivid example of what factors make the Lakers good, and what factors are not only irrelevant but potentially even counterproductive. I am not suggesting that Russell played poorly. Obviously, he played well. I am pointing out that both the eye test and the statistical evidence show that Russell hitting three pointers does not have a cause/effect relationship with the Lakers winning. The Lakers took command of the game when Davis and James took command of the paint; after Davis and James asserted themselves, the Lakers transformed an 11 point second quarter deficit into a 59-48 halftime lead.
Not only did the Lakers play very well in game three, but the Warriors displayed the worst version of themselves: they had careless turnovers, they missed defensive assignments, they committed silly fouls, and they were whistled for three technical fouls plus one flagrant foul at times when the outcome was still in doubt. Van Gundy noted that even experienced teams can struggle with maintaining the focus that is necessary to win two consecutive games in a playoff series, particularly because of psychological factors that he asserts favor a team that just lost in a blowout; if he is correct about the latter observation and if that pattern holds true in game four then it bodes well for the Warriors.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 23 points, but he shot just 9-21 from the field and he only had three assists after dishing for 12 assists in game two. Andrew Wiggins added 16 points, a team-high nine rebounds, and four assists. Klay Thompson scored 15 points on 5-14 field goal shooting. Draymond Green, who raves about his high basketball IQ, had more fouls (five) than points (two) and rebounds (two) combined, and he had the same number of field goals made and technical fouls (one each). He may want to focus more of his attention on the task at hand and less of his attention on making videos mocking Dillon Brooks. We understand that Brooks is a knucklehead without Green telling us; Green's primary job is playing for the Warriors, not being a social media influencer, and he should remember that.
This was an impressive win for the Lakers, and it sets up a crucial game four for both teams: the Lakers need to win to maintain the homecourt advantage that they obtained by winning game one at Golden State, while the Warriors need to win to avoid falling into a daunting 3-1 hole. It is fair to say that the game four winner will also win the series: the Lakers have been inconsistent all season, but they are unlikely to blow a 3-1 lead, and the Warriors are unlikely to lose another home game if they wrest back homecourt advantage.
Labels: Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, Golden State Warriors, Klay Thompson, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Stephen Curry
posted by David Friedman @ 11:58 PM
After Poking the Bear, Grizzlies Are Buried in the Paint by Lakers
The L.A. Lakers overpowered the Memphis Grizzlies en route to a 125-85 game six win that propelled the Lakers into the second round and sent the Grizzlies home for the summer. D'Angelo Russell had his best and most impactful performance since rejoining the Lakers, scoring a playoff career-high 31 points on 12-17 field goal shooting--but the most significant story in this game is that Anthony Davis and LeBron James dominated in the paint at both ends of the court. Davis' boxscore numbers may not look overwhelming--16 points, 14 rebounds, five blocked shots--but he pushed the Grizzlies around at both ends of the court, igniting the Lakers' offense and thwarting the Grizzlies from scoring in the paint not only by blocking shots but also by altering and discouraging shots. Meanwhile, instead of hanging out on the perimeter and stat padding while his team loses, James attacked the paint on offense and was actively engaged on defense. His numbers (22 points, six assists, five rebounds) do not reflect how dominant he was. The Lakers outscored the Grizzlies in the paint 52-32, and the Lakers won the rebounding battle 52-45. The Lakers' three point shooting was adequate (15-44, .341) but not exceptional.
This game vividly illustrates the point that I keep making about the "transformed Lakers." The Lakers are not "transformed," at least in terms of having "lasers" and more talent than they had in the first part of the season. The only "transformation" is that Davis and James are playing every game and they are playing hard in most games. If Davis and James had done that from the start of the season, this team would never have fallen to 13th in the West.
The Grizzlies did not show up to compete. The Lakers deserve some credit for that, but the Grizzlies also deserve a lot of blame. No Memphis player scored more than 16 points. No Memphis starter shot better than .400 from the field. Kenny Smith does not show his "pictures" at halftime during blowouts, and after this game the Grizzlies do not deserve to have their individual statistics mentioned. After game two, Dillon Brooks declared that he "pokes bears" and he called LeBron James "old." Brooks' words proved to be as off the mark as his errant shot attempts. The Grizzlies would be wise to let Brooks take his big mouth and small game elsewhere.
In the first half, the Lakers outscored the Grizzlies in the paint 36-16 and went into halftime with a 59-42 lead. James scored 16 first half points, shooting 7-9 from the field--and 6-6 from inside the arc. Davis added 11 points on 4-7 field goal shooting, 10 rebounds, and three blocked shots. Russell scored 14 points--and even if he had not made a single shot, the Lakers would have still had the lead thanks to the paint dominance of James and Davis.
The second half turned into what Marv Albert used to call "extensive garbage time"--a mop up/stat padding operation as the Grizzlies surrendered meekly. The cliche about every NBA team making a run did not apply in this game.
The Lakers have received a lot of praise regarding the three players
who they acquired in exchange for Russell Westbrook. Here are their game six statistics:
D'Angelo
Russell had 31 points on 12-17 field goal shooting. He averaged 16.7 ppg on .435 field goal
shooting (37-85) during this series.
Jarred Vanderbilt had nine points on 3-8 field goal shooting. He averaged 7.2 ppg on
.548 field goal shooting (17-31) during this series.
Malik Beasley has fallen out of the rotation. He did not play until the fourth quarter, when the game was out of hand. He finished with nine points on 2-6 field goal shooting. He averaged 4.2 ppg on .292 field goal shooting (7-24) during this series.
The prevailing narrative is that jettisoning Westbrook in exchange for these three role players transformed the Lakers. The reality is that when James and Davis are healthy, engaged, and playing in the paint the Lakers can be good; when James and Davis are not playing in the paint, the Lakers are not very good. If anything, the main thing that the trade accomplished--whether by accident or design--is open up an opportunity for Austin Reaves, who has pushed Beasley out of the lineup and emerged as the Lakers' third best all-around player.
The Lakers will get some rest before facing the winner of Sunday's game seven battle pitting the Sacramento Kings versus the Golden State Warriors. Sacramento enjoys homecourt advantage in game seven after winning game six on the road.
Labels: Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Memphis Grizzlies
posted by David Friedman @ 2:02 AM
Lakers Trade Future Hall of Famer Russell Westbrook Without Improving Their Playoff Chances
The L.A. Lakers need to find a new scapegoat. As part of a three team deal, the Lakers parted ways with Russell Westbrook and acquired Malik Beasley, former Laker D'Angelo Russell, and Jarred Vanderbilt. The Minnesota Timberwolves received Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and three second round draft picks, while the Utah Jazz received Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones, Westbrook, and a first round draft pick. The Jazz are expected to reach a buyout agreement with Westbrook, who will then have his choice of potential contenders who would be happy to sign the 2017 regular season MVP for the stretch run. While many media members mindlessly bash Westbrook, I agree with Hubie Brown, who praised Westbrook last season: "You can knock him, you can say you don't like him, but he plays hard and he earns his money every night."
The Jazz are tanking, while the Timberwolves have been disappointing and are not likely to improve dramatically as a result of this deal (though Conley could help stabilize the backcourt), so this article will focus on the Lakers and on how Westbrook has been demonized.
Westbrook did everything that the Lakers asked him to do, including accepting a demotion to a bench role that many lesser players have rejected. If the Lakers were not so awful this season, Westbrook would be a serious Sixth Man of the Year candidate. He is averaging 15.9 ppg, 7.5 apg (eighth in the league), and 6.2 rpg. His minutes have been slashed from 34.3 mpg last season to 28.7 mpg this season, but on a per minute basis he is exceeding his career norms for assists and rebounding while still demonstrating enough scoring punch to be a 20-plus ppg scorer given sufficient minutes and opportunities. Despite his limited role, he has posted four triple doubles this season. In short, he can still play an all-around game at a high level. He can make a significant contribution for a contending team that utilizes him properly and appreciates the many things that he does well as opposed to focusing on the few things at which he does not excel.
Don't be surprised if Westbrook and his next team make a deeper playoff run this season than the "new and improved" Lakers.
The way that LeBron James' media sycophants are now relentlessly bashing and trashing Westbrook with alleged quotes from an anonymous source is pathetic and shameful. Here is some good life advice for the anonymous source: if you have something to say to someone, say it to that person's face, or at least put your name to your words, and say it before that person has been shipped out of town. If the anonymous source exists, then that person is a coward. Here is some professional advice for people who purport to be journalists: if one person tells you something under cloak of anonymity that is is not credible and not supported by any evidence, the ethical thing to do is either find evidence or not repeat the comment. Alternatively, if your goal is to do public relations work for LeBron James and protect his reputation as his team flounders at the bottom of the standings, then just resign from your journalism job and become a p.r. flack.
If you have followed the NBA at all during Westbrook's career, you know that Westbrook has been a great and beloved teammate, and that players often have their career-best seasons playing alongside him. It is fascinating that the Lakers' habitual underachievement over the past several seasons is being blamed primarily on Westbrook, while the player crowned as supposedly the greatest of all-time is absolved of any responsibility. It is also fascinating that, after setting the NBA's regular season scoring mark on Tuesday, LeBron James literally checked out at winning time as his team lost and that James will not even play tonight. The "pass first" player who purports to be focused on winning championships has made it very clear that his main focus this season was surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the career scoring list; doing so is without question a great accomplishment, but let's not pretend that winning games--let alone winning titles--is James' goal at this stage of his career.
I never went to propaganda school--I mean, journalism school--and I don't have a proprietary "advanced basketball statistic" that I am trying to monetize, but the narratives about the Lakers are puzzling. We are told that the Lakers' biggest need is outside shooting. This season the Lakers rank 26th in three point field goal percentage, so it is true that they do not shoot well beyond the arc--but during their 2020 championship season they ranked 21st in three point shooting. Are we supposed to believe that if they move up to 21st in that category this season they will vault from 13th place in the Western Conference to championship contention? We are told that Westbrook's poor three point shooting has been killing the Lakers. It is true that Westbrook is not a great three point shooter--but the Lakers average 31 three point field goal attempts per game, and their leader in three point field goal attempts (at more than seven per game) is shooting just .315 from three point range, well below the league average (.360) and dragging down the team's percentage to .338. You probably can guess who that misfiring long range gunner is. Somehow, I doubt that anyone is going to tell General Manager/Coach LeBron James that the team might be better off if he attempted fewer three pointers--and I am positive that Mike Wilbon, Dave McMenamin, and Brian Windhorst would slap themselves in the face if they even dreamed of saying or writing something that might result in them losing access to James. Wilbon was on TV today bragging about how "blessed" he has been to have so many one on one interviews with James over the past 20 years.
The 2020 Lakers ranked fourth in points allowed and eighth in defensive field goal percentage. LeBron James was still an energetic defensive player at that time, and Anthony Davis protected the paint as if he were saving his family from a rabid pack of wolves. This season's Lakers rank 28th in points allowed and 17th in defensive field goal percentage--and those critical numbers will not improve unless (1) James cares about defense again for more than just a highlight play or two, (2) Davis remains healthy and plays with any passion, and (3) the trio acquired for Westbrook become defensive stoppers. I'm not sure if the Lakers' three point field goal percentage will improve without Westbrook, but I am confident that unless the defense improves the Lakers will remain a bottom-feeding team.
The notion that D'Angelo Russell is some kind of savior in either the short term or the long term is laughable. Russell epitomizes what Kenny Smith often calls a "looter in a riot," a player who puts up big scoring numbers without impacting winning. Assuming that the Lakers make the playoffs, Russell's playoff career field goal percentage of .349 will obviously be very helpful!
Beasley and Vanderbilt are solid rotation players, but it is bizarre to state with a straight face that trading away a future Hall of Famer who always plays hard for a gunner and two solid rotation players represents a significant upgrade.
There may be many Laker fans who are rejoicing now, but they should take a good look at recent history: none of the teams that Westbrook left improved after his departure--not Oklahoma City, not Houston, and not Washington. It is very unlikely that the Lakers will break that trend. So, congratulations Laker Nation: the front office traded away the scapegoat, and the upside potential for this team if everything breaks right is the sixth seed, while the most likely scenario is limping into the Play-In Tournament and being eliminated before the playoffs begin.
Labels: D'Angelo Russell, Damian Jones, Jarred Vanderbilt, Juan Toscano-Anderson, L.A. Lakers, Mike Conley, Minnesota Timberwolves, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Russell Westbrook, Utah Jazz
posted by David Friedman @ 8:58 PM
Lakers Defeat Warriors in Biggest Upset in NBA Regular Season History
No NBA team with a winning percentage as bad as the L.A. Lakers (12-51 entering Sunday's game) had ever beaten a team with a winning percentage as good as the Golden State Warriors (55-5 entering Sunday's game) prior to the Lakers' shocking 112-95 victory over the defending champion Warriors. Jordan Clarkson (25 points) and D'Angelo Russell (21 points) led the way for the Lakers. Kobe Bryant, playing in his final game against the Warriors, contributed 12 points and three assists in 24 minutes while tying Lakers' reserve forward Brandon Bass with a game-high +16 plus/minus rating. Bryant's individual numbers were not eye-popping but he was an inspirational, stabilizing force while he was in the game, providing nifty passing and even accepting the challenge of guarding current (and future) MVP Stephen Curry on occasion. A nagging shoulder injury--Bryant still has not completely recovered from his January 2015 surgery for a torn rotator cuff--prevented Bryant from seeing much second half action but he remained involved and engaged on the bench, mentoring and encouraging his young teammates. Curry topped the Warriors with 18 points but he shot just 6-20 from the field, including 1-10 from three point range.
The Lakers efficiently executed an excellent game plan, demonstrating poise, patience and passing on offense while applying a lot of pressure against the Warriors' key scorers and ballhandlers. The Lakers played physically against the Warriors' guards, trying to deny--or at least heavily contest--every three point shot, while actively rotating to cutting big men after the Warriors' guards passed the ball in response to being trapped. The Warriors shot just .402 from the field, including .133 from three point range (4-30, one of the worst single game three point shooting performances since the NBA adopted the three point shot in the 1979-80 season). The Warriors also committed 20 turnovers. In contrast, the Lakers shot .471 from the field and .375 from three point range while turning the ball over just 11 times. Golden State won the rebounding battle 49-41 but those eight extra possessions could not make up for all of the Warriors' missed shots and ballhandling miscues. How aberrant are those numbers? The Warriors rank second in the NBA in field goal percentage (.486), first in three point field goal percentage (.412) and they average a little over 15 turnovers per game; the Lakers rank 30th (last) in field goal percentage (.415) and three point field goal percentage (.322) while averaging a shade under 14 turnovers per game.
Why did the Lakers seemingly turn into world beaters while the Warriors morphed into the Washington Generals? Part of this is overconfidence by the Warriors, who had destroyed the Lakers in each of the three previous meetings between the teams. Also, there can be no doubt that the Lakers were very pumped up for this game while the Warriors were likely looking ahead on the schedule. Lakers Coach Byron Scott has been much maligned but he deserves credit for designing and implementing the kind of "old school" game plan that many legends of the game have recently said would have slowed down the Warriors if the Warriors had played in a different era; the Lakers did not let Curry or his backcourt partner Klay Thompson have free reign to launch open three pointers and the Lakers rotated well enough to prevent the Warriors from making passes to cutters for layups. The Warriors missed some shots that they usually make but the Warriors were also under more duress than they usually face.
No one should ever get too carried away by the outcome of one regular season NBA game. Ultimately, the Warriors are still likely to win the championship and the Lakers are still a bad team. However, very few things that happen in a game of skill should be entirely attributed to luck. The Lakers demonstrated that there is a way to frustrate the Warriors. Can this way work over a seven game series when the Warriors presumably will be more focused than they were in a March 6 regular season game versus the Lakers? That is the key question, but if San Antonio or Oklahoma City adopt a similar game plan they have much better personnel to execute that plan over seven games than the Lakers do.
The Warriors must finish the season 18-3 to break the Bulls' 1996 record. Think about that: as well as the Warriors have played for the past several months, they still have to be almost perfect to surpass what the Bulls accomplished--and yesterday's game showed that, to borrow a phrase from the NFL lexicon, anything can happen on any given Sunday. What the Bulls did not just in 1996 (winning a championship to punctuate their record-setting regular season) but also in 1997 (69-13 record plus a second consecutive title) and in 1998 (62-20 plus a third consecutive championship) is remarkable.
It is mathematically possible that both the Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs will win at least 70 games this season, a plateau only reached by the 1996 Bulls. I have been thinking a lot about what this means. Are both the Warriors and the Spurs two of the best single season teams in NBA history, much like the Lakers (69-13) and Bucks (63-19 after going 66-16 and winning the championship the previous year) in the 1971-72 season? Or, is the league somewhat watered down now?
When they are at their best, the Warriors are a joy to watch: they pass, they cut, they shoot the ball exceptionally well and they help each other on defense. Similarly, the Spurs are also a joy to watch, for many of the same reasons. I have always believed that the very best teams from any year in the post-shot clock era would do well if transplanted to a different era but I am not convinced that the Warriors and Spurs both possibly rank among the three best teams of all-time alongside the 1996 Chicago Bulls. There are multiple NBA teams that are tanking now, even though
it has been demonstrated that tanking does not work. While some of the criticisms of today's game and today's players may sound like they are based on jealousy or bitterness about the amount of fame and money today's players receive, specific and valid points made by the sport's legends should not be blithely dismissed: (1) it is true that the game used to be more physical and (2) it is true that the Warriors and Spurs are exploiting various rules changes that have been made over the years. The Warriors and Spurs deserve credit for adapting their style of play to be successful but it is fair to question how well the Warriors and Spurs would do in the 1990s against the Chicago Bulls' "doberman" perimeter defenders or in the 1980s against the Bad Boys Pistons or in the 1970s when seemingly every team had an enforcer.
Commentators should not take either point to the extreme; it seems silly to suggest that the 2007 Warriors would beat the 2016 Warriors in a playoff series just because the 2007 Warriors beat a 67 win Dallas team in the first round but it is also premature to crown the 2016 Warriors as the best team of all-time when they have yet to prove that they are even the best team of this year by winning the championship. In 1996, Chicago's Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper made some T-shirts bearing the phrase, "72-10 Don't Mean a Thing Without the Ring." Regardless of how many games the Warriors win this season, in order to be in the greatest team of all-time conversation they must win the championship. No one talks about the 68-14 Boston Celtics from 1972-73 or the aforementioned 2007 Mavericks because those teams did not win the title.
Golden State probably will win the 2016 NBA championship and earn a seat at the sport's symbolic "Champions of Champions" table but--as we just saw yesterday--no team is invincible. If the Warriors have one misstep at home in the playoffs, a team like San Antonio or Oklahoma City could eliminate them with three home wins.
Labels: D'Angelo Russell, Golden State Warriors, Jordan Clarkson, Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers, Stephen Curry
posted by David Friedman @ 12:01 PM
