Memphis Grizzlies Deliver Statement Win and Monday NBA Takeaways
Monday's marquee matchup between the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets was over long before Jarnell Stokes checked into the game with 6:16 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the rookie from Tennessee's first NBA minutes drove home the thoroughness of Memphis' message.
The Grizzlies crushed the Rockets, wire-to-wire and in such top-to-bottom fashion that the Grizz had the luxury of giving a hometown favorite, Stokes, a former Tennessee Volunteer, a half-quarter of courtesy playing time.
Memphis blitzed the Rockets early, running out to a 34-18 first-quarter lead behind 10 forced turnovers that led directly to 18 points. Houston had no answer for the Grizzlies' size and defensive intensity; not even Tony Allen's early foul trouble slowed down Memphis' smothering attack.
What happened after that stunning opening period was largely academic. The Grizzlies amassed a lead as large as 36 points, had seven players reach double figures and concluded the evening with a 119-93 win.
Mike Conley led all scorers with 19 points, while Courtney Lee chipped in 15 of his own on just seven shots.
James Harden connected on just one of his eight attempts from the field, and his overall field-goal percentage on the year fell to 37.3 percent. Houston made just 34 shots against 21 turnovers on the night. Coach Kevin McHale summed up the Rockets' defeat, comments courtesy of KPRC-TV's Adam Wexler:
Memphis' defense was to be expected; the team's entire identity is wrapped up in its time-tested ability to shut opponents down. But the scoring attack was something of a surprise—especially against a Houston team that came into the game leading the league in defensive efficiency.
The Rockets narrowly retained that distinction, per NBA.com, but there was little doubt after the contest as to which team's early stinginess (Memphis checks in at No. 4 in defensive efficiency) was more legitimate.
Maybe it was the turnover-fueled run-outs that got the Grizzlies going. Or perhaps it was the open shots afforded by an immediately dispirited Rockets defense. Whatever the case, Memphis couldn't miss.
On the night, the Grizz hit 53.5 percent of their field goals, 41.2 percent of their threes and 90.9 percent of their foul shots. Basically, the entire Grizzlies team shot like a prime Steve Nash.
Also, this happened:
Houston found a little intensity as the game slipped further and further away, but it wasn't the productive kind, and it came altogether too late. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle noted Harden's "intense" reaction:
The Grizzlies (10-1) now sit alone atop the West, solidifying their status as contenders with a statement that should resonate throughout the conference.
Around the Association
The Trap Game Strikes Again
The Cleveland Cavaliers had been looking better lately, stringing together four consecutive victories and scoring at least 110 points in every one of them.
The Denver Nuggets, on the other hand, came into Cleveland absolutely reeling. Losers of seven out of their last eight and playing the second night of a back-to-back on the road, there wasn't much room for hope.
So of course the Nuggets pulled off the 106-97 upset. That's how trap games work. Matt Moore of CBSSports.com discussed the Nuggets' win-lose pattern of play:
"So Denver beats the short-handed Pacers, loses to the not-strong Knicks, then beats Cleveland on a back to back? THE SENSE, IT DOES NOT MAKE
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 18, 2014"
Cleveland's defense, a problem all year, was basically nonexistent. Ty Lawson got to the middle at will, piling up 24 points and dishing out 12 assists as the Cavs stood around and watched.
Thanks to Lawson's penetration, Denver got loads of open looks on the perimeter, converting 38.7 percent of its 31 three-point attempts on the night.
LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving each scored over 20 points, but none did much to stem the Denver tide on offense. With the San Antonio Spurs coming up on Wednesday, the Cavs will have to get things in order quickly—and head coach David Blatt knows it, as expressed in his comments provided by Fox Sports' Sam Amico:
Rest assured: The Spurs' best is a very, very different thing than the Nuggets' best.
Anthony Davis: Doing Undoable Things Since 2012
LaMarcus Aldridge has made a career out of high-release, hard-to-bother jumpers. They're accurate, reliable and a precedent team which shows they're nearly unblockable. Anthony Davis, it seems, cares very little for being a precedent.
The Brow continued his assault on our conceptions of what's possible on a basketball court in the New Orleans Pelicans' 102-93 loss against the Portland Trail Blazers, stuffing Aldridge's trademark jumper and then turning away Wesley Matthews' 16-footer after the Blazers guard recovered the loose ball.
Two blocks. Both jumpers. Same play.
Davis also put together a highlight alley-oop finish and a chase-down stuff within one minute of each other in the first quarter, before his incredible sequence against Aldridge and Matthews in the second.
New Orleans fell to 5-4, but Davis filled up the stat sheet with 31 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks on 14-of-20 shooting. He couldn't possibly have done more for his team, which failed to get him the ball down the stretch and wilted against a 34-10 closing run from the Blazers.
And if you think precedent dictates a league MVP can only come from a team that makes the playoffs (as has been the case every year since 1975-76)...well, AD can tell you where to stick your precedent.
Brooklyn's Slide Continues
Despite squaring off against a Miami Heat team missing Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng (not to mention playing its second game in two nights), the Brooklyn Nets extended their losing streak to four, dropping a 95-83 decision at home.
Bojan Bogdanovic was the Nets' lone bright spot, scoring 22 points on just 11 shots. His clever cuts and smooth perimeter release stood out in stark contrast to the struggles of the rest of the starting lineup; Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Kevin Garnett and Brook Lopez combined to shoot just 10-of-34 from the field.
Credit Miami for logging a grind-it-out victory at less than full strength. Mario Chalmers, in particular, pulled his weight, scoring a team-high 22 points and getting to the foul line 13 times.
And also credit the Nets' nosebleed section for some frank (if somewhat hasty) advice, tweeted by The Brooklyn Game's Devin Kharpertian:
Williams offered some slightly more measured analysis, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:
The Heat, now 6-5 on the year, will get two days off before facing the Los Angeles Clippers on the road. The Nets, reeling, have a Wednesday home tilt against one Jason Kidd and his Milwaukee Bucks (fun!) before hitting the road for three straight.
This is going to be good.
Dirk Makes History, Mavs Roll
Not a lot to see here, but there were a couple of things worth mentioning from the Dallas Mavericks' 107-80 dismantling of the floundering Charlotte Hornets.
First, Dirk Nowitzki became just the fourth player in NBA history to crack the 27,000-point barrier for a single franchise, according to Bryan Gutierrez of Mavs Outsider:
Nowitzki finished with 13 points in 25 easy minutes.
Second, the Mavericks offense has officially gone from "good" to "scary." Dallas was cooking from the get-go, assisting on 21 of its 26 first-half buckets and reaching the 60-point mark before the break for the sixth time this season. The Mavs cruised home from there, and they sit atop the league with a whopping 115.5 offensive rating through their first 11 games, per NBA.com.
The ball was hopping all night, and a Hornets team with a real issue giving up open shots found itself up against an opponent uniquely suited to exploit its weakness. Dallas shot 51.2 percent from the field. Pro Basketball Talk's Kurt Helin noted the Hornets ongoing defensive shortcomings:
These are two teams heading in opposite directions.
The Bulls Like It This Way
Long odds, short bench, banged-up and on the road. Sounds like a recipe for a 105-89 Chicago Bulls win to me.
What seems like a death sentence for most NBA teams hardly bothers the Chicago Bulls, who've been fighting adversity and injury for the entirety of Tom Thibodeau's tenure. This time, Chicago took it to the Los Angeles Clippers without Derrick Rose (hamstring, long-term self-preservation) and Pau Gasol (calf) in the lineup.
And just to increase the degree of difficulty, the Bulls, of course, fell behind early. Despite their issues, John Ireland still expressed "respect" for the Bulls' consistency:
No matter; Joakim Noah bounced around, hustled like crazy and even hit a couple of unlikely jumpers en route to a final line of 11 points, 16 rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes.
Jimmy Butler provided some highlights, staunch defense and clutch finishes to bolster the case that this is his breakout campaign. He finished with 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune highlighted Butler's increased productivity in scoring at least 20 points per game:
The Bulls stayed undefeated on the road and ran their overall mark to 8-3. Hopefully, they'll get healthier as the season goes on. But we know they'll be fine even if things get worse.
The hard way has become the Bulls' way.
