Golden State Warriors Send Serious Statement and Monday NBA Takeaways
By the time Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson hit the pine, awash in the deafening cheers of a full-throated crowd at Oracle Arena, the Golden State Warriors had said all they needed to say.
The Splash Brothers took a well-earned early rest, up 103-80 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they got to watch as the second unit closed out a definitive 117-91 win.
Stephen Curry showed off the most recently perfected dimension of his game, attacking OKC's aggressive defense with slick ball-handling. He connected on seven buckets in the game, five of which came in the lane on a series of spectacular finishes.
His only three, appropriately, was a 31-foot bomb off a broken play, and he finished with a tidy 19 points, six assists, nine rebounds and four steals in 31 minutes.
Klay Thompson battled foul trouble, but amassed 19 points on 12 shots. In the game's most memorable highlight, he caused trouble for Kevin Durant at the rim:
It's hard to know where to stop with the Dubs' remarkable individual efforts. Harrison Barnes scored a season-high 23, striking all five of his three-point attempts and grabbing seven boards.
Draymond Green wreaked his patented brand of havoc, inhaling every loose ball and dominating in the unseen crevices that decide NBA games. Green scored 11 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, handed out five assists and blocked three shots.
Justin Holiday came off the bench to score 12 points, propping up the second unit through some lean minutes as Curry rested. His confident emergence as a rotation player (he logged 28 minutes) speaks volumes about the nurturing environment in Golden State. ESPN's Ethan Strauss praised Holiday's performance:
We'll stop there, as lauding the specific Warriors who made one of the season's strongest collective statements could go on forever. Besides, it's more important to remember who didn't contribute and what that means for the Dubs' ceiling. Grantland's netw3rk noted that it's "scary" that Andrew Bogut helps the team play at an even higher level when he's on the floor:
Look, the Thunder had an off night—possibly rattled by the Dion Waiters trade (more on that in a moment), possibly just unlucky. Durant scored 30 points in 19 minutes the last time he saw the Warriors and hit them for 54 points in a contest last January. Looking occasionally hobbled by his sore ankle, he managed to sink just three of his 16 shots.
Russell Westbrook wasn't any better, going for 22 points on 5-of-21 shooting.
Still, you've got to credit the Warriors for some of that poor shooting. After all, they've earned the benefit of the doubt. Their league-leading defensive rating, per NBA.com, is only getting better after holding the Thunder to 30.6 percent shooting, a figure that flirted with the season-low mark of 28.7 percent set by the Charlotte Hornets on Dec. 26.
The Thunder aren't this bad.
But the Warriors are this good, as Brian Witt of Warriors.com points out:
They have the best record in the league, the best net rating, the best home record (14-1) and they just eviscerated a team with two of the best players in the NBA—a team that, when healthy, is as dangerous as any in the brutal Western Conference.
Thunder head coach Scott Brooks put it plainly, per Marcus Thompson of Bay Area News Group:
The stats all say the Warriors are a cut above everyone else in the league, and there's no eye test imaginable that wouldn't validate the numbers. At this point, the only question left is: Can they carry this through to the playoffs?
It's almost a shame we'll have to wait four months to find out.
Around the Association
Help Is On Its Way to Cleveland...in a Manner of Speaking
The big news for the Cleveland Cavaliers had nothing to do with their 95-92 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, disappointing third-year guard Dion Waiters is headed to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-way trade that'll bring in J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the New York Knicks:
The deal is now official, per NBA.com:
Whether Smith (basically Waiters, aged six years) and Shumpert (nearing a return from a dislocated shoulder) will provide a big boost to the Cavs is up for debate. One thing's for sure: Neither will address the lack of interior defense that has plagued Cleveland.
Speaking of which, a driving Tony Wroten layup gave the Sixers a 93-92 lead with nine seconds left, which held up to give them their first home win of the season. He drove with his strong left hand, got right to the middle of the floor and finished at the rim—not a shred of interior resistance to be seen.
Hopefully, the Waiters trade isn't the last move Cleveland makes. In addition to getting LeBron James and Kyrie Irving back to full health, the Cavs desperately need to pick up somebody who at least puts up a fight inside.
The Knicks Sent a Message: This Season Doesn't Matter Anymore
In addition to shipping out Smith and Shumpert for what amounts to cap space and future considerations, per Wojnarowski, the Knicks will also save a couple of million bucks by waiving Samuel Dalembert. With Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani all nursing injuries, New York could barely field a team against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Predictably, the Knicks fell to Memphis, 105-83. It was New York's 12th straight loss, which tied a franchise record, and its 22nd defeat in its last 23 games.
What would have been hard to predict when the season began is this: New York is now in last place in the East.
The good news, of course, is that the Knicks are now in position to stay there, potentially securing the best lottery odds for the 2015 draft. Per Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal, it appears there's no hurry on the part of management to get the team out of the cellar:
Not convinced? Consider this, from Wojnarowksi:
Based on the way New York is conducting business these days, it's abundantly clear the 2014-15 season is little more than a waiting period before a (hopefully) transformative summer.
Dirk Nowitzki Is Historically Good
When Dirk Nowitzki buried a right-wing trey to give the Dallas Mavericks a 96-88 lead with 34.8 seconds remaining in overtime, he celebrated.
And why not? The shot was a vintage Dirk dagger, and it finished the Brooklyn Nets for good. His bucket was the last of the game.
It also moved the Diggler past Moses Malone on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
Up next: Shaquille O'Neal, whose nearly 1,200-point lead on Nowitzki won't survive very long after the start of the 2015-16 season.
Hawks Flying High
The roll continued for the Atlanta Hawks, now 19-2 in their last 21 games after a 107-98 road win against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Paul Millsap led the Hawks with 23 points, while Jeff Teague chipped in with 20 points, nine assists and four steals.
At 26-8, Atlanta sits atop the Eastern Conference and can make it four straight wins against the West if it handles the Memphis Grizzlies at home on Jan. 7.
There's no shame in this defeat for the Clips, who simply couldn't measure up to the Hawks' execution and offensive balance. DeAndre Jordan did something cool, though, as Bleacher Report's Josh Martin detailed:
So there's that.
Kemba Walker Stays Hot
Kemba Walker reached the 30-point mark for the second straight game, as his game-high 33 led the Charlotte Hornets to a 104-95 win over the Boston Celtics on Monday. Though the Celts made a pair of minor runs to make things respectable late, Walker had enough help from Cody Zeller (20 points on 8-of-8 shooting) to secure the win.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, via the team's official Twitter feed, spoke glowingly about Walker's game:
The Hornets, still without Al Jefferson and Lance Stephenson because of dueling groin injuries, will look to make it three straight wins when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
The Pelicans Fix Everything
The Washington Wizards had seen their defense slip in three straight losses coming into their meeting with the New Orleans Pelicans. Fortunately for the Wiz, they've shown a tendency to straighten up whenever they see the Pellies.
Washington won its seventh straight game against New Orleans by forcing 18 turnovers and holding Anthony Davis and Co. to just 85 points. John Wall led the way with 15 points, 12 assists and a sweet breakaway jam:
And since we believe in giving the people what they want, here's a highlight double dip, featuring an additional spike from Bradley Beal:
I'm not sure if this counts as a third highlight, but the suddenly depleted Knicks are next on Washington's schedule. Good times ahead.
The Bulls Are Getting Scary
The Houston Rockets have been an up-and-down outfit over the past two weeks, but they're still a darn good Western Conference foe—one whom the Chicago Bulls handily dispatched on Monday.
Behind a balanced scoring effort led by Pau Gasol's 27 points, the Bulls blitzed Houston in the fourth quarter for a 114-105 victory. It was Chicago's sixth straight win against Western Conference competition and its 10th in its last 11 games.
Jimmy Butler chipped in with 22, while holding James Harden to 20 points on 22 shots. As a unit, the Bulls kept the Rockets and Harden off the foul line to an astonishing degree, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.com:
Perhaps most importantly, the Bulls' 31-16 fourth-quarter surge served as a major confidence booster for rookie Nikola Mirotic, who expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:
The Bulls are getting healthier, enjoying contributions from a variety of sources and mowing down good competition. This is starting to feel real.
Floodgates Open Indefinitely in Minnesota
Saying a team played its brand of basketball isn't always a compliment. Case in point: the Minnesota Timberwolves, who got cosmetically impressive individual performances from Andrew Wiggins (20 points), Gorgui Dieng (22 points and 12 boards) and Shabazz Muhammad (19 points) but played absolutely zero defense.
As usual.
The Wolves came into their 110-101 loss to the Nuggets ranked dead last in the league in defensive efficiency, per NBA.com. That ranking will not improve after allowing the Nugs to shoot 54.8 percent, an effort led by Arron Afflalo and his 34 points. Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press described the matchup as "dreadful to watch":
If Minnesota wants to start building winning habits, it needs to play somebody else's brand of basketball.
The Lakers Need a Closer
Up 92-91 with 43 seconds left, the Los Angeles Lakers watched as the Portland Trail Blazers strung together a 7-2 run that see-sawed the score and secured the win, 98-94.
Damian Lillard scored five of those points, padding his game-high total of 39.
It was almost as if the Lakers didn't know how to close out the contest, which is pretty understandable considering the circumstances. Kobe Bryant was a scheduled scratch, home resting.
Say what you want about the efficacy of hero ball; it sure makes things simpler down the stretch.
