Is LeBron's New Supporting Cast Good Enough and Other NBA Sunday Takeaways
LeBron James watched his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates fall flat against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night. And as his return to the floor draws closer, you have to wonder if he's asking himself, "Is this it?"
First things first. James is due back shortly, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com:
Second things second: James' Cavs took a 103-84 beating from the Sacramento Kings, as McMenamin pointed out, that revealed all the reasons his return is so desperately needed:
"Cavs lose 103-84. Their 5th L in a row, 9th in last 11 games to fall to .500 at 19-19 for first time since they were 7-7. Now 1-8 w/o LeBron
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 12, 2015"
Sacramento is no juggernaut. It is a 16-20 team with a middling offense and a No. 25 defense, per NBA.com. Since Mike Malone was fired, the team's intensity has waned, DeMarcus Cousins has reverted to some of his alarming old habits, and the overall on-court product has been uninspiring.
That Kings team—with all those flaws—manhandled the LeBron-less Cavaliers. Coach David Blatt admitted the Cavs did not play well (via Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears):
Cleveland allowed Sacramento to build a hefty lead early, surrendering close-range buckets with little resistance and rarely getting back to slow down transition chances. An especially sloppy second quarter only made things worse, per Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal:
It didn't improve from there, as the Kings expanded their lead and cruised to a win—with starters exiting the game early. Cousins dominated, piling up 26 points and 13 rebounds, despite clearly loafing for possessions at a time. Timofey Mozgoz, the man Cleveland hoped would help stop players like Cousins, was no match inside for the Kings' halfway-engaged star.
Kyrie Irving scored 21 points, and Kevin Love contributed 25 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, but those numbers didn't do much to satisfy critics. The Washington Post's Michael Lee noted Irving and Lee "just collecting stats":
And though it's tempting to look at Cleveland's atrocious bench production or J.R. Smith's four points on 2-of-10 shooting as the real reasons the Cavs couldn't compete, it's simply too hard to ignore the lack of intensity that stemmed from Irving and Love.
Head coach David Blatt, in what might have simply been a semantic misunderstanding, offered up a sound bite on Love's value that may come back to haunt him, via Blake Ellington of Sactown Royalty:
Let's not skip past Blatt, who is very much a supporting player to James in any reasonable analysis of the Cleveland hierarchy. His curious play-calling left some scratching their heads as well, such as Haralabos Voulgaris:
"Why wouldn’t Cleveland run that Love pick and roll / pick and pop over and over until someone could stop it?
— Haralabos Voulgaris (@haralabob) January 12, 2015"
It was bad, and everyone piled on, including ESPN's Marc Stein and Kevin Pelton:
Clunky offense, disinterested defense and substandard bench production are real problems—ones the LeBron James of a couple of years ago may have been able to fix all by himself. But James has taken a statistical step back this season. His perimeter shooting numbers are down, he's not converting nearly as well at close range, and his defensive effort has dipped to an all-time low.
Plus, his ongoing layoff indicates his body may not be up to the task of carrying a flawed team to glory for half a season and throughout the playoffs.
It's difficult to judge the Cavs without their leader. James may be great enough to put everything back together, to knock everyone down a peg to their proper roles. And it's worth mentioning that the Cavs were also without Shawn Marion and Iman Shumpert, two of their best defenders.
Maybe their return, along with James', will make a difference.
Still, if these are the troops James will soon return to lead—troops pulled together with the specific purpose of winning now—it's hard to be hopeful.
Maybe this represents the next great challenge in James' career. If he can get this .500 bunch to wake up and compete, it'll be one of his most impressive feats yet.
Around the Association
Dennis Schroder Said It All
Leading the Washington Wizards by 28 with one minute, 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Atlanta Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder had to fire off a three-pointer to avoid a shot-clock violation. So he did.
It was a good shot, practically uncontested and a product of Atlanta's signature ball movement—the unselfish drive-and-pitch style that has defined the surging Hawks as a paragon of equal-opportunity offense.
Immediately after releasing the ball, Schroder wheeled around in triumph and stalked back up the court. He didn't need to watch his right-wing attempt rip the net. He knew it was good, largely because almost everything else the Hawks tossed up in a dominant fourth quarter had been. USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt provided some Hawks stats that clearly illustrated their dominance:
Forget one measly quarter; everything about the Hawks has been good lately. They've won eight straight, they've logged sellouts in four of their last five games, and their lead in the East has grown to 3.5 games over the Toronto Raptors.
Atlanta smashed the Wizards by a final of 120-89, just the latest high-profile win in an ongoing blitz marked by victories at the Portland Trail Blazers, at the Los Angeles Clippers, against the Memphis Grizzlies and at the Detroit Pistons.
Schroder may not need to watch, but we should all keep our eyes glued to what's going on in Atlanta, especially with a brutal test ahead: five games in seven nights that include a road back-to-back set against Toronto and the Chicago Bulls.
There aren't many doubters left, but a hot stretch over the next week could remove any stragglers.
Hassan Whiteside Slipped Through the Cracks
Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside stands 7'0" tall and has a 9'5" standing reach, which you'd think would make him hard to miss. Bleacher Report's Ethan J. Skolnick expressed his concern in Whiteside being overlooked, as he noted there are "so few functional bigs in the NBA":
Yet somehow the 25-year-old's dominant NBA D-League performance went unnoticed (or at least unappreciated) by 29 other NBA teams, which allowed the Heat to sign him in November.
He piled up 23 points, 16 rebounds and a pair of blocks in Miami's 104-90 defeat of the Los Angeles Clippers. It's safe to say the rest of the league can't afford to ignore him now. Speaking to The Jax Show (via Couper Moorhead), Whiteside said he had a "chip on his shoulder" after getting a "no" from so many teams:
Right, Blake Griffin?
Getting real production from Whiteside has trickle-down benefits that could help the Heat strengthen their tenuous hold on the No. 7 spot in the East. Chris Andersen is no longer capable of playing sustained minutes; having Whiteside available means head coach Erik Spoelstra can use Birdman in short bursts, where his energy is most effective.
And Chris Bosh, whose 34 points led all scorers against the Clips, can focus his energy on the offensive end with a true rim protector behind him on D. NBA.com provided Whiteside's stats:
Whiteside isn't blowing the league away by any stretch, and there's no guarantee he can sustain this level of play in an expanded role.
But at least he's getting noticed.
All's Well That Ends Well in Memphis
The Memphis Grizzlies defended their home turf with a 122-110 double-overtime win against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, thanks to Marc Gasol's better-late-than-never takeover effort .
Credit Eric Bledsoe for being resourceful. His tug on the net with 5.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter jostled the basket standard enough to help P.J. Tucker's game-tying layup fall through. Even though the whole apparatus was still swaying crazily seconds after the play, there was no call for basket interference. Sports Illustrated's Rob Mahoney detailed Bledsoe's assistance at the basket:
When Memphis got three cracks at a game-winner on the other end (Mike Conley missed a leaner, then Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph couldn't tap in the miss), the contest headed to overtime, where the only thing decided was that both teams were beside themselves with frustration over a series of curious calls.
Gasol assured double OT would be where things ended.
He scored Memphis' first seven points, breaking out of a snooze that stuffed a Markieff Morris layup that fueled a Tony Allen dunk on the other end and generally played like the MVP candidate we've come to know this season.
Phoenix didn't play poorly. It effectively bottled up Randolph down the stretch with clever denials and traps. Z-Bo finished with 27 points and 17 rebounds, but he got absolutely nothing easy in crunch time.
The Suns fought.
And though Gasol only had 12 points on the night, he finished.
Everything Went to Plan for Portland
The Portland Trail Blazers took care of business against the Los Angeles Lakers, who went to work without a resting Kobe Bryant.
The 106-94 result wasn't surprising, and neither were Damian Lillard's game-high 34 points.
What raised a few eyebrows before the game was Lakers head coach Byron Scott admitting he'd overtaxed Bryant in the early part of the season, per Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com:
I guess we should expect more rest for Kobe going forward. And it's not altogether bad that he missed out on this game. After all, he wouldn't have wanted to be on the wrong end of Lillard's fourth-quarter exclamation point, now would he?
Fin.
