Monday NBA Roundup: Jabari Parker Proving Bucks Aren't Just Greek Freak's Team
The Milwaukee Bucks may want to consider shaming Jabari Parker more often.
Parker's teammates decided to punish him for his discloser of locker-room business, demoting him from the starting lineup for the team's Saturday contest against the Miami Heat. What he did in the Milwaukee Bucks' 127-114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday—his return to the first unit—suggests he learned something.
In other words, unlike every punitive trip you made to your room as a kid, Parker thought about what he'd done and came out the other side a changed young man.
Well, maybe we can't draw that conclusion exactly, but he at least played really well in his normal role, producing 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
He got after it early, as Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey observed:
The playmaking was impressive, as Parker found rolling bigs and cutting wings with slick passes from the perimeter, setting up point-blank looks. With his size and handle, he'll always draw extra sets of eyes if not a full-on double-team. If he develops this facilitating instinct, he'll become a do-it-all offensive weapon nearly as dangerous as his freak-show teammate—who, by the way, does not need pinpoint feeds to finish:
Put it in the correct ZIP code, and it's a bucket.
Parker wasn't just finding teammates in the early going. He also sought his own offense, and that caught Giannis Antetokounmpo's attention, according to comments he made to Eric Nehm of ESPN Milwaukee:
As if Antetokounmpo needed extra incentive to attack.
The Rockets had no answer as Parker stalked his prey in the first half, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:
The Bucks certainly aren't a perfect team. This victory snapped a five-game losing streak, and after an unsustainably good stretch of luck defending three-pointers, Milwaukee's opponents' percentages have regressed to the mean.
Through Dec. 15, Bucks foes shot just 32.8 percent from distance, the league's second-lowest figure. Since then, the number is 39 percent, which is fifth-highest.
Even with Parker and Antetokounmpo tearing it up offensively, it will be difficult to string wins together with a defense that's sliding toward the league's bottom third.
Still, the Bucks are in a rare and enviable position. They've got two multiskilled stars who are maturing together, and it's difficult to see how their talents will do anything but make each other better—especially considering the knack both have shown for unselfish play and quick ball movement.
We marvel at Antetokounmpo's potential, which we should. He had 31 points, seven rebounds and four blocks Monday. But Parker is three months younger.
There's room for both cornerstones to get better, and each seems happy to help the other.
Russell Westbrook Shows Up Late
That's a little misleading, as Westbrook couldn't have been absent for the first three quarters and managed yet another triple-double with 38 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
But it's a nice way to frame his fourth-quarter efforts, which didn't include a made field goal until there were only five minutes remaining in the Oklahoma City Thunder's 97-95 win over the Utah Jazz—a win he sealed in those final five minutes with a 28-foot three, a couple of wild misses and, of course, this:
Russ keeps on Russing.
Stuck on Otto-Matic
It's been difficult to overstate the extent of Otto Porter's development this year, but J. Michael of CSNmidatlantic.com managed to do it:
To be fair, Porter did look remarkably confident in slinging on-the-catch three-pointers in the first quarter of the Washington Wizards' 109-99 win over the Charlotte Hornets. Mamba-level confidence is basically a biohazard, so it's good Porter isn't quite there yet.
Still, Washington's blossoming wing has every reason to trust his game. He's second in the league in three-point percentage (among those who've attempted at least 100 treys), and he's come a long way on defense since this highlight defined his career:
Porter's been especially hot lately. He had back-to-back games with six made threes last week, and by adding 13 rebounds to his 14 points against Charlotte, he underscored his status as more than a perimeter sniper.
The Wizards' surge up the standings—to the point where home-court advantage in the first round is now a reasonable goal—is mostly John Wall's doing. He contributed 24 points, seven assists and four rebounds Monday.
But Porter has been vital, and his rise will only accelerate as Bradley Beal shakes himself out of a slump—which he did nicely with 18 points and four made threes in nine attempts against the Hornets.
We can't get too far ahead of ourselves, but with Porter growing into one of the premier three-and-D options in the league, Beal getting right and Wall leading the charge, Washington looks as dangerous as any Eastern Conference team outside the top three.
Bank Those Wins When You Can
The temptation is to knock the Atlanta Hawks for somehow dropping a home game to a version of the Los Angeles Clippers that started Austin Rivers and Raymond Felton in the backcourt. But let's praise the shorthanded Clips for an opportunistic 115-105 win instead.
L.A. got 27 from "Rivers the Younger" and bested the Hawks—who were 9-2 in January prior to this defeat.
This was a vital, unexpected success for the Clippers, who won't have Chris Paul for six to eight weeks following thumb surgery and who can't know what Blake Griffin will provide when he returns this week from a knee operation.
Because of Paul's absence, L.A., fourth in the Western Conference, should probably adjust its expectations downward. But another handful of unexpected wins like this could help the Clips keep some control over their playoff seed.
After all, that sixth spot might not be so bad if it means staying out of the Golden State Warriors' bracket until the conference finals.
Praise Dion!
Sometimes, you just have to accept Dion Waiters into your heart and welcome him as your personal savior.
It's easier than scrutinizing shot selection, a dance-like-nobody's-watching celebration and a postgame television interview invocation of "trusting the process."
And it's definitely more fulfilling than citing the Warriors' sloppy play (14 turnovers), shoddy board work (the Miami Heat had 11 offensive rebounds) and 8-of-30 performance from long distance.
Waiters hung 33 on Golden State and drilled the game-winner in Miami's 105-102 stunner.
And a cult figure's legend grows...
On Ty Lawson and Salvation
The Sacramento Kings spend most seasons in a perpetual doomsday scenario, and the race for the eighth seed in the West is really more of an eight-team collective hobble after which the last one standing will get a playoff ticket.
So we have to be careful with this one, but Ty Lawson maybe kinda sorta saved the Kings' season.
Sacramento's backup point guard contributed 19 points and six assists off the bench in a 109-104 win over the Detroit Pistons that had looked ominous early. Detroit ran up a 38-28 first-quarter lead, but Lawson's energy in the second period shifted the momentum.
The Kings are still 10 games under .500 and play five more on the road before finally returning home Feb. 3. This could get worse before it gets better.
But a loss to the Pistons, which would have been Sacramento's sixth straight, might have tipped a chaotic season toward irreversible despair.
Cleveland's Defense Is Officially a Problem
Ranked 15th in defensive efficiency before a 124-122 loss to a New Orleans Pelicans club playing without Anthony Davis, the Cleveland Cavaliers were hardly championship-caliber on that end of the floor.
With that rating now checking in at No. 16, it's getting progressively more difficult to appreciate things like Kyrie Irving's scoring 49 points (which he did) and LeBron James' notching a triple-double (which he did), especially when the defense leads to embarrassing losses like this.
It was an effort issue, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com:
That's better than a systemic flaw, but it's not as though the Cavs are loaded with shutdown stoppers. Even at peak focus, Irving and Kevin Love are suspect on that end. And while this lull is tied to Cleveland's coasting mantra, not everyone on the roster can flip the switch and play great D.
Ingraining better habits might actually matter. Expect the Cavs to dial in over the next few games.
Finally: Shout-out to Terrence Jones and his 36-point night. Maybe Davis has just been in his way all along.
Nothing's Ever as Bad as It Seems
Joakim Noah has $72.6 million coming to him over the lifetime of his current four-year contract, so you can't really feel bad for him, right?
"SCREAMING at this Joakim Noah airball FT and his reaction pic.twitter.com/8Tjpxcu10L
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) January 24, 2017"
That sidespun, wide-right fling is mostly funny, but there's pain folded into the humor. Noah isn't out there dogging it. The defining characteristic of his career has been effort. By all accounts and eye tests, the dude is still trying his best.
But hey. The New York Knicks somehow survived Noah's free throws, a 12-point deficit at the end of the first quarter and a late charge by a desperate Indiana Pacers team.
They won, 109-103, led by Carmelo Anthony's work in the post down the stretch and Willy Hernangomez's 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
And, um, it seems like this was an important one:
Noah had two points and six boards in 11 minutes. Sorry to bring you back down.
Monday's Final Scores
- Wizards 109, Hornets 99
- Clippers 115, Hawks 105
- Heat 105, Warriors 102
- Kings 109, Pistons 104
- Bucks 127, Rockets 114
- Pelicans 124, Cavaliers 122
- Knicks 109, Pacers 103
- Thunder 97, Jazz 95
- San Antonio Spurs 112, Brooklyn Nets 86
Follow Grant on Twitter @gt_hughes and Facebook.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated. Accurate through games played Monday, Jan. 23.
