Wednesday NBA Roundup: Warriors Establishing Dominance Despite Lingering Flaws

The beautifully flawed Golden State Warriors beat the Toronto Raptors by a final of 127-121 on Wednesday, thereby passing their first high-profile test since getting deconstructed by the San Antonio Spurs on opening night,

Well...kind of passed. Sort of. Mostly.

Sloppy, disjointed and even physically overwhelmed for stretches, the Warriors relied on Draymond Green's uncorkable private reserve of energy and, of course, a whole mess of impossible shot-making to take down one of the top Eastern Conference teams.

Though the Warriors' efforts were indisputably impressive, it's still not exactly fair to call Wednesday's road game encouraging.

Because, as usual, there were defensive lapses in focus and execution. Toronto capitalized on those to score a season-best 38 points in the first quarter as the Warriors struggled to compensate for Zaza Pachulia's continuing ineffectiveness. Unable to defend in space or fight underneath on the boards (he had one rebound in 16 minutes), Pachulia put Golden State in compromising positions on virtually every possession in the early going.

It was enough to prompt a troubling question from Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group:

And NBA gambler Haralabos Voulgaris essentially raised the central issue of the young season:

"

I'm not sure if Dray, Steph, KD and Klay can overcome 25 mins a night of Zaza.

— Haralabos Voulgaris (@haralabob) November 17, 2016"

Fortunately for the Warriors, Green did what he could to keep things close in that first period, shutting down Kyle Lowry on a switch here:

Then, he channeled his best unhinged self during a 21-4 second-quarter Warriors run. Green simply took the ball away from Toronto drivers, swatted at everything in sight, sparked transition chances, chirped, barked, possibly stabbed a guy with a trident and royally frustrated both DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry—both of whom earned technical fouls late in the half.

It was Green doing Green things, making the Warriors great when, according to conventional lineup rules and basic norms of physics, they shouldn't be. He finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, three blocks and a half-dozen crazed shouts.

And in keeping with a general defiance of nature's laws and typical basketball rules, both Kevin Durant (30 points) and Stephen Curry (35 points) held off repeated Raptors runs with absurd shot-making and celebrations. Like this:

And this:

Context matters, though. The Raptors were playing the second leg of a back-to-back set, and the first was a hotly contested one in Cleveland against the Cavs. Head coach Dwane Casey, justifiably ticked by seeing two Finals participants in 24 hours, told reporters: "The computer that spit out the schedule, I'm going to find it and break it."

So while you'd like to say a road win against one of the league's best teams brought clarity for the 9-2 Warriors, all it really did was reinforce how muddled things still are.

Golden State was, again, transcendent and imperfect. Indomitable and at times overmatched.

For all the dichotomous elements, the Warriors are still in fine position. All this alternately breathtaking and shaky start proves is that two things can be true at the same time: The Warriors can be unbeatable and have real problems.

And you've got to admit that's a whole lot more interesting than the so-good-they're-boring narrative that clung before the season. Because who wants foregone conclusions when you can ride the unpredictable highs and lows of a team still trying to figure itself out?

Bow Before Porzingod

Yep, it was that kind of night.

Kristaps Porzingis made loads of ridiculous faces while scoring a career-high 35 points during a 105-102 win against the Detroit Pistons. And with the New York Knicks' last game—a win over the Dallas Mavericks—turning when KP manned the center spot after halftime, Wednesday's effort was just another brick in the fast-growing temple.

Porzingis is drawing raves from everyone, including Frank Isola and Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:

Joakim Noah, benched for Porzingis in the second half Monday, played well. His 15 rebounds and plus-11 plus-minus (not to mention his four-year contract) mean the Knicks won't scrap him and give the center spot to Porzingis full time just yet. But if we get a few more runs (and, hopefully, face-making exhibitions) like this from KP, that reluctance will get harder to justify.

Thin Ice in Orlando

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

That's it. The Orlando Magic are on B/R Roundup probation.

Shooting 38.6 percent from the field in a "who even cares?" 89-82 win over the New Orleans Pelicans (who played without Anthony Davis) wouldn't have been enough on its own. But after watching the Magic score 69 points against the Indiana Pacers on Monday, I've had it.

And don't even get me started on the incomprehensible lineup fiascos.

Keep trying Aaron Gordon at the 3, Frank Vogel. It's definitely not killing your spacing. 

And be sure to keep Jeff Green (0-of-9 in 20 minutes) in the starting lineup. That's going great, too.

One more unwatchable, illogical mess like this—win or lose—and the Magic are banned for a week.

This One's for Kyle!

David Goldman/Associated Press

It's safe to say the Atlanta Hawks (and their fans) know how to hold a grudge.

A year-and-a-half after Matthew Dellavedova endeared himself to Hawks fans by snapping Kyle Korver's ankle and engaging in his proprietary blend of dirty/gritty play, he heard it from the masses assembled at Philips Arena, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted:

Clearly, no one has forgotten those Cleveland-Atlanta postseason clashes...or the way Delly, floor-diving ankle-snapper, competed in them.

The Hawks took a small measure of vengeance, using a 19-0 second-quarter run to open up a sizable lead before hanging on to win, 107-100. Korver, perhaps finding it difficult to shoot while frantically trying to locate human missiles aimed at his lower extremities, managed an 11-point night on 3-of-9 shooting. He found a safe space here, though:

"

What even is range? pic.twitter.com/cmVKAkwSw3

— HaWWWWWWks (@ATLHawks) November 17, 2016"

Earning a win despite Dwight Howard missing the game with a quad bruise, sticking it to Delly and moving into a tie for first place in the East?

Have yourself a night, Atlanta.

This Feels Like Rock Bottom

Let us begin with a happy moment, courtesy of Kyle Weidie of Truth About It:

Having lifted your spirits, let's acknowledge there are plenty of ways to describe the Washington Wizards' devastating 109-102 loss to a Philadelphia 76ers team playing without Joel Embiid.

It was disappointing to see the lack of effort as Washington fell behind by 22 points in the first half. It was alarming to see the bench, which Marcin Gortat admitted earlier this week might be one of the worst in the league, lay an egg again. It was...you know what?

A picture's worth 1,000 words. Here's one from Yahoo Sports' Dan Devine:

That's Randy Wittman, of course, who doesn't coach the Wizards anymore. Scott Brooks is now the man tasked with wrangling this rodeo of underachievement.

But the image really nails the sour anguish of Washington's season, don't you think?

The Wizards are 2-8, and if playing the Sixers on three days' rest is too much for this team, we're in for a lot more Wittman Face.

Starting Is Good, Finishing Is Better

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Avery Bradley continued his trend of smoking the unprepared in first quarters, putting up a dozen points and six rebounds during the opening 12 minutes of the Boston Celtics' 90-83 win over the Dallas Mavericks. After that outburst, Bradley is averaging 6.4 points on 52.7 percent shooting in the first period—by far his best quarter this year.

Bradley's night concluded with 18 points and 13 rebounds, and it was Isaiah Thomas who finished what his teammate started. He pumped in 22 points during the fourth and now ranks second in the NBA with an average of 9.7 points per fourth quarter.

Head coach Brad Stevens, who is familiar with his point guard's closing surges, told Jay King of MassLive.com:

Getting Al Horford and Jae Crowder back from injury will make starting and finishing games a heck of a lot easier, but it's nice to know the Celtics have some solid bookend performers in the meantime.

Turns Out LeBron Matters

Jeff Haynes/Getty Images

The Indiana Pacers haven't exactly impressed in this young season, posting poor defensive performances and failing to deliver on the promises of pace and offensive redefinition.

So it sure helped that the Cleveland Cavaliers left LeBron James on the bench to rest during Indy's 103-93 win. The Cavs got 51 points on 21-of-43 shooting from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, but nobody else reached double figures.

It's almost as if James is the kind of facilitator role players rely on for buckets, right?

This game was notable mainly because it dropped the Cavs into a tie with Atlanta for first in the East, though Cleveland's big-picture goals mean it probably doesn't care about seeding during the middle of November. But in the interest of giving you the information you need in these Roundups, here's ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin with the full breakdown on the Cavs' loss:

That was easy.

Russell Westbrook’s Edge: Still Sharp

For a second there, when Russell Westbrook actually acknowledged the existence of an opponent (and former teammate) by touching James Harden before the Oklahoma City Thunder downed the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, it almost seemed like the league’s orneriest competitor was going soft.

And then Russ punctuated the 105-103 win with this affront to decency:

Westbrook outdueled Harden, tallying 30 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. The Beard managed only 13 points on 4-of-16 shooting, but added 13 assists to the cause.

There are few things more reliable than Westbrook shunning niceties, and this was sufficiently mean.

Devin Booker Produces When Disqualified

That's great court awareness right there, folks. You just don't see a lot of post-ejection autographs.

Devin Booker got the boot after scoring 24 points, but Wilson Chandler gave the Denver Nuggets 28 points, 11 rebounds and five assists off the bench, keying a 120-104 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Chris Paul's Essence Distilled into One Play

Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated got it exactly right: This is Chris Paul achieving "peak scrap," which is basically just another way of saying this is him in his purest form.

Because Paul is defined by his unquenchable, petulant, rule-bending, do-anything defiance. He's angrily competitive, and his refusal to quit on a play after being embarrassed is just the perfect summation of his basketball self.

The Memphis Grizzlies won the game on a Marc Gasol go-ahead three with 14 ticks left, and tempers flared throughout, but this Paul sequence will be the one that lingers.

Actually, never mind. It'll be this:

"

Do your dance, Marc Gasol pic.twitter.com/TgXuRSASy1

— The Cauldron (ICYMI) (@CauldronICYMI) November 17, 2016"

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Stats courtesy of NBA.com and accurate through games played Nov. 16.