Friday NBA Roundup: Different Season, Same Story for Defending Champion Warriors
As the late Yogi Berra used to say, it's deja vu all over again.
Friday night, the Houston Rockets had a chance to exorcise their demons after falling to the Golden State Warriors in last year's Western Conference Finals. James Harden had an opportunity to back up all of his boasts about being the true MVP with another head-to-head matchup against Stephen Curry, who actually took home 2014-15's Maurice Podoloff Trophy.
Instead, the Rockets fell well behind during the second half of a contest on their home floor at the Toyota Center and could never recover, ultimately losing to the Dubs 112-92. Sound familiar?
Sadly, for a team that should be right in the thick of the race for top billing in this year's Western Conference hierarchy, this is no different than what it experienced throughout the previous campaign.
Houston lost each of its four regular-season meetings with Golden State last year, falling by an average margin of 15.3 points. Now, the losing streak grows to six games (not counting the postseason, in which the Rockets won just once in five attempts). Even with Ty Lawson in the fold, Montrezl Harrell looking impressive during the first half and a few other new pieces, the Rockets simply weren't as good as Golden State.
Again.
At some point, the world will fully accept that the Warriors aren't going anywhere. It's a different go-round now, but the defending champions are headed firmly down the same path that led to 67 wins and an eventual title one season prior.
First was the 111-95 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on opening night, a game that was essentially a continuation of the team's first-round sweep in the 2015 postseason. This was something different, as the Dubs took down another legitimate contender with an almost scary level of confidence and composure.
Balance was the name of the game, as each of the starters scored at least nine points, while Marreese Speights and Andre Iguodala came off the bench to join them in that club. Even without Andrew Bogut to help against Dwight Howard—who spent the night in foul trouble—and Clint Capela, the Warriors were just too much for their opponents to handle.
Harrison Barnes' massive dunk basically served as the punctuation mark for the night's festivities. And if it was a punctuation mark, it was surely an exclamation point:
But even when the Warriors showcase a balanced effort, the defense swarms like its meant to and another starter has a thunderous slam, this is still the Curry show.
After winning MVP last season at Harden's expense and knocking his bearded rival out of championship contention during the penultimate round (in rather definitive fashion, no less), the sharp-shooting point guard reigned supreme yet again:
| Curry | 26 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 9-15 | 4-9 | 3-4 | +12 |
| Harden | 16 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4-18 | 1-10 | 7-8 | -22 |
Those lines aren't even close, and the disparity isn't exactly kind to the Houston shooting guard. After all, these are the marquee matchups he needs to emerge from unscathed if he hopes to actually earn hardware that counts in 2015-16, and those ugly shooting performances aren't going to help.
While Harden was drawing iron, Curry was draining triples and finding his teammates with fantastic feeds. Like this one:
And, perhaps even more spectacularly, this one:
Plus, Curry only logged 27 minutes. Much as was the case during Golden State's 2014-15 exploits, he didn't need to spend much time on the floor during the fourth quarter, because the game was already in hand by the time that final period began.
If all of this sounds familiar, it should.
The Warriors are right back on track, and the rest of the NBA should be very afraid. With Curry rolling and following up his 40-point outburst against the Pelicans with this efficient showing, Golden State is just as dangerous as ever.
And he's not the only piece clicking. The defense has been ridiculously good against back-to-back playoff-caliber opponents, everyone is contributing, and Luke Walton hasn't made any mistakes filling in as the interim head coach for Steve Kerr. That was the only conceivable weakness heading into the title defense, and this team hasn't skipped a beat.
As Bleacher Report's Kelly Scaletta made clear during the proceedings, the Warriors still appear to be playing a different sport than everyone else:
Deja vu, in this case, is rather pleasant for the defending champions.
Game of the Year?
What. A. Game.
At one point, it seemed as if the Orlando Magic were all but certain to pull off an early-season shocker, opening up a lead in the first half and never looking back. They actually held an 18-point margin over the Oklahoma City Thunder heading into the final 12 minutes, but then came an absolute onslaught by the Western Conference hopefuls.
Led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook—who else?—the Thunder dropped 42 points in the final quarter. But even that wasn't as notable as the sequence at the end, which began with Durant drilling a game-tying three-point attempt over the late contest from Aaron Gordon:
Victor Oladipo didn't just accept overtime, though. Instead, he made a triple of his own, one that seemingly clinched the upset for the Magic. But Russell Westbrook still had other ideas, banking in a look from just past the half-court circle that forced a fifth period.
Five minutes later, the excitement wasn't over. Thanks to more heroics from Orlando's starting 2-guard, who finished with the season's first triple-double, we were treated to even more free basketball:
Double overtime wasn't so kind to the Magic.
OKC's experience took over in the face of the young energy from Orlando, and the result was a 139-136 victory for the road favorites. But devastating as this loss may be, the Magic should still be encouraged by how competitive they've looked during the opening salvo of Scott Skiles' stint as head coach—losing a one-point game to the Washington Wizards and then taking OKC to double OT.
There's no shame in eventually ceding to a duo that did something no one else has since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were both suiting up for the Chicago Bulls, per NBA on ESPN:
Russell Westbrook? He put up a cool 48 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, one steal and one block on 17-of-36 shooting from the field and a 13-of-16 performance at the stripe. Kevin Durant? The clutch shooting was the cherry on top of a line that included 43 points, 12 boards, two assists, one steal and two rejections.
Despite those tallies, the Thunder were no lock to win this game. That, above all else, should speak to how ridiculous the interconference clash became.
Who Needs a Big Three?
Even with Kyrie Irving still going through the rehab process for his fractured kneecap, the Cleveland Cavaliers stormed past Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat. Only two of the three stars who now call Northeast Ohio home were necessary, given the burgeoning levels of chemistry displayed by LeBron James and Kevin Love.
Despite a terrific defensive effort from Hassan Whiteside—as well as the first two-assist game of his career!—and a throwback performance from Wade that often came at the expense of J.R. Smith, the Cavaliers emerged with a 10-point victory.
There was no doubt about who played the part of hero.
James, who entered the game surrounded by questions about the status of his aching back, didn't show any ill effects while recording 29 points, five rebounds and four dimes on 13-of-19 shooting from the field. He was drilling shots from the perimeter, dazzling Justise Winslow with a plethora of moves along the baselines and throwing down dunks with authority:
That's not a man with a bad back. Or maybe the bad back exists, but the man isn't actually mortal.
Either way, James wasn't alone on Friday night.
Love was a superb running mate, showing plenty of comfort attacking the offensive boards (he created six second-chance opportunities) as he turned back the clocks to his days of superstardom in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The big man finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and five assists of his own, highlighted by the Wes Unseldian outlet pass that fed James in the above video.
If these two are clicking to such an extent on a consistent basis, Irving can take all the time he needs to recover.
Unstoppable Force Meets Movable Object
When the 2015-16 season draws to a close, there's a solid chance the Philadelphia 76ers could boast the league's worst offensive rating while the Utah Jazz post the best mark on the opposite end. Friday night showed what happens when the two opposite ends of the spectrum meet, with the Western Conference representatives putting together a 99-71 shellacking of their overmatched foes.
The game flow, as put together by the Utah Jazz's official Twitter feed, resembles Mount Nebo more than a typical scoring trend:
This wasn't exactly surprising. As if the offense/defense matchup weren't rough enough for Philadelphia, it surely didn't help matters that its go-to scorer was a rookie big man going up against Rudy Gobert—a center considered by many to be an early favorite for Defensive Player of the Year.
After the game, Brett Brown made it rather clear that the offense was not up to par, per Tom Moore of Calkins Media:
Jahlil Okafor went 4-of-12 during the course of live action, and his field-goal percentage was actually higher than the mark earned by his team. The Sixers as a whole knocked down 19 of their 63 attempts, good bad for a shoddy 30.2 percent. To put that in perspective, only seven times did a team shoot a worse percentage during the entire 2014-15 campaign.
Philadelphia doesn't play Utah again until Dec. 28, but you can bet it's already dreading that date.
Some Justification for the No. 1 Pick
Was Karl-Anthony Towns supposed to be this good, this quickly?
The reigning No. 1 pick debuted with 14 points and 12 rebounds on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, but that paled in comparison to his exploits in a 95-78 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Matched up against the young frontcourt combination of Joffrey Lauvergne and Nikola Jokic, the former Kentucky Wildcat exploded for a jaw-dropping 28 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and four blocks. All night long he thrived on both ends of the court, rejecting Nuggets at big moments and draining 11 of his 19 shots from the field:
The Timberwolves big man won't celebrate his 20th birthday until Nov. 15, which means he's now the only teen since 1985-86 to post at least 28 points, 14 rebounds and four rejections in a game. For that matter, he joins Shaquille O'Neal as one of only two players to hit those marks within the first five outings of his career, and the Diesel did so in his fourth.
Regardless of age and experience, just eight other players have dropped 28 points, 14 boards, two dimes and four blocks at any point in the last five full seasons: LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, Al Horford, Dwight Howard and Brook Lopez.
For Towns, this could be the start of something special.
The Greek Freak Makes His Season Debut in Style
Even though Bradley Beal sparked a 118-113 comeback victory for the Washington Wizards by scoring 14 of his 26 points in the final quarter, this was the Giannis Antetokounmpo show. After sitting out during the Milwaukee Bucks' opener as he served a one-game suspension for his extracurricular contact with Mike Dunleavy Jr., the Greek Freak reminded everyone of just how special he could be.
It's not just about the stats he posted against a high-quality Wizards team. Impressive as it may be that Antetokounmpo logged 27 points, nine rebounds, two assists and three steals while knocking down nine of his 15 looks from the field, the numbers don't do justice to this 20-year-old phenom.
After all, they don't show his massive putback slam, which wasn't even his best play of the day:
Top honors would have to go to his absolute evisceration of Nene on this one-handed flush:
What's especially crazy about Antetokounmpo's night was that he recorded just four points and a single rebound after halftime, belabored by some foul trouble and a motor that can't quite be turned up to 11 for an entire 48-minute contest at this stage of his young career.
But when he's feeling it, the results are special. If this is the version of the positionless Buck we're going to get throughout the 2015-16 campaign, he's well ahead of even the most optimistic developmental timetables.
Detroit Pistons Just Keep Rolling
Though it's impressive that the Toronto Raptors moved to 2-0 with a 113-103 victory on the road against the Boston Celtics, it's still not quite as surprising as what the Detroit Pistons are doing. After knocking off the Chicago Bulls with a 98-94 victory in overtime, the Pistons have stormed out to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2008.
As broken down in detail here, the combined efforts of Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond have been spectacular. And that dynamic duo was dominant once more on Friday night, with the former dropping 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while the latter flat-out exploded for a monstrous 20 points, 20 boards, two steals and two blocks.
Throw in a noteworthy showing from Marcus Morris, some shooting exploits from Anthony Tolliver off the bench and a strong, team-oriented defensive effort, and you have the perfect recipe for staying undefeated.
Plus, let's not forget the quality of the opponents the Pistons have now taken down. By beating the Atlanta Hawks in Philips Arena and taking down the Utah Jazz at home prior to this overtime adventure, Detroit now has three victories against three likely playoff teams.
Steve Nash Honored
The legendary point guard returned to the court Friday night that saw him earn two MVPs and rack up so many memorable plays and gaudy statistics. This time, it wasn't as a player, but rather to accept his spot in the franchise's Ring of Honor.
It's a well-deserved accolade for Nash to add to his resume, and he'll surely never forget the lengthy halftime ceremony the Phoenix Suns dedicated to him.
A 13-man club has now grown to 14.
History-Making Moment of the Night
Kobe Bryant entered Friday night's contest with the Sacramento Kings just two made field goals away from passing Shaquille O'Neal for No. 5 in the all-time rankings. And with a 10-foot jumper in the second quarter, he surpassed the career efforts of his former teammate:
Up next? Some guy named Michael Jordan, who retired for the final time with 12,192 makes.
All stats, unless otherwise indicated, come from Basketball-Reference.com.
Adam Fromal covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @fromal09.
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