Buying or Selling Washington Wizards' Hot Start and Monday NBA Takeaways
The Washington Wizards' 107-86 win over the Miami Heat on Monday provided as many reasons for real optimism as it did pump-the-brakes caveats—an appropriate theme for a team one month into a season of "buts."
Yes, the Wizards avenged the opening-night beating the Heat handed them. But they did it against a Miami squad clearly slowed by the fatigue of playing its second game in as many nights.
And sure, Washington looked flat-out unstoppable in a 64-point first half that featured a boatload of open looks from the corners and from close range.
But the Heat offered practically zero resistance in the first 24 minutes, putting up less fight than they had in any half all season. The Wizards got good shots against a team slogging through knee-deep mud.
So what are we supposed to make of this Wizards team?
Are they as legit as their 11-5 record suggests? Or should we pay more attention to the fact that they've played just two games against the superior Western Conference? Does the way they've closed the gap between themselves and the East-leading Toronto Raptors to just 1.5 games mean we're looking at a contender?
Or does Washington's rather pedestrian (especially when you consider the weakness of their opponents so far) net rating of plus-3.4 points per 100 possessions reveal it to be a less imposing threat?
Those are questions time will answer. Because that's a wholly unsatisfying and vague response, we have to prize the precious few certainties available.
Chief among the concrete truths about the Wizards is this: John Wall's progress toward superstardom continues apace.
He was brilliant against the Heat, piling up 18 points and 13 assists in just three quarters of work. He got to any spot he wanted, mixed breakneck pace with measured probing and took everyone's breath away with one stirring, end-to-end-to-end sequence.
I think we know whom to thank for this.
Due mainly to Wall's continued development, there's something else we can say for sure about the Wizards: They're significantly improved from last season.
Remember, the so-called breakout of 2013-14 featured a team floundering around .500 (yes, in a weak conference) for most of the year before finishing with an 8-3 surge that ran the win total up to 44. Washington spent the vast majority of that campaign playing mediocre ball.
Things are different this year. There's a confidence to this team, perhaps brought about by Paul Pierce's veteran presence as much as Wall's growth. The Wizards look more consistently assured of their own capabilities. Comfortable, even.
Given all the aforementioned mitigation, we can't say with a straight face that Washington is a contender, but it seems to be headed in the right direction.
Incredibly, we may not find out if the Wizards are capable of even more for at least a month. The schedule stays cashmere soft for most of December before toughening up with a trip west beginning Dec. 29. That stretch will pit the Wizards against all three Texas squads and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who should be at full strength by then.
If Washington wins one or two of those tilts, it'll be fair to offer it more than modest, qualified praise.
One final note that has to be mentioned context-free: Andre Miller is a bad (old) man.
No caveats or counterpoints necessary.
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Spurs Toy With Sixers, Crush Hopes Late
Kawhi Leonard had 26 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in the San Antonio Spurs' cruelly close 109-103 win over the now 0-17 Philadelphia 76ers. Though the game was mostly a blowout affair, a surprisingly game Sixers club closed the deficit to five points with two minutes to go.
An and-one finish from Leonard with 42.7 seconds left kicked the margin back up to eight, crushing any shreds of hope still lingering.
Michael Carter-Williams stuffed the stat sheet with 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, and K.J. McDaniels threatened to tear the roof off with a couple of nearly completed highlight jams. (Seriously, that dude is like a less polished Gerald Green after six Red Bulls.)
It was the short-handed Spurs (missing Tim Duncan and Tony Parker), now on an eight-game winning streak, who finished things in the end.
And Marco Belinelli finished this early on:
Good news, Sixers fans; there's hope on the very distant horizon:
Unfortunately, the present remains as bleak as ever. One more Philly loss will tie the all-time record for most consecutive defeats to start a season.
The Jazz Dominated...for a Quarter
After falling behind by as many as 22 in the early going, Gordon Hayward and friends made things interesting.
A red-hot third quarter trimmed 13 points off the Denver Nuggets' 19-point halftime advantage. This has become something of a trend for Utah—falling behind big and then surging after the break. Following Monday's contest, the Jazz lead the league with a 115.3 third-quarter offensive rating, per NBA.com.
The competition picked up in the second half, as evidenced by Arron Afflalo earning an ejection for nearly taking Alec Burks' head off on the break:
And Kenneth Faried elevated for sky-scraping stuff against the towering Rudy Gobert:
A nearly-as-spirited fourth quarter culminated in a Trey Burke triple try that could have given the Jazz the lead in the waning seconds.
But Burke's desperation heave was way off, and Denver prevailed by a final of 103-101.
Hayward led Utah with 25 points, while Enes Kanter contributed 17 points and 15 boards filling in for the ailing Derrick Favors. Ty Lawson and Wilson Chandler led seven Nuggets in double figures with 15 points each.
What looked like a clear blowout morphed into the most exciting game of the night. If the Jazz can figure out how to start games like they start third quarters, they'll be in good shape.
Oh, and the Nuggets are suddenly above .500 after winning eight of their last 10. Who saw that coming?
The Clippers and Wolves Are Who We Thought They Were
The Minnesota Timberwolves were missing Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic, and they've defended at a bottom-five rate all season. So the outcome of Monday's tilt with the Los Angeles Clippers was decided long before the final buzzer made the 127-101 result official.
Like, before tipoff.
Blake Griffin, fresh off his Player of the Week award, put up 23 points and eight boards in 25 minutes before taking the rest of the night off. Chris Paul tallied 12 points, eight assists and a nifty array of behind-the-back moves before retiring early as well.
"GIF: Chris Paul crosses Zach LaVine, throws two behind the back passes to Blake Griffin http://t.co/8RELOXOXtt
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) December 2, 2014"
The Wolves were overmatched from the start, but that's what everyone expected.
Something nobody saw coming: Glen Davis "soaring" for a jam that sent the Clips bench into conniptions.
Blob City, y'all.
