Sunday NBA Roundup: Are Memphis Grizzlies the NBA's Most Disrespected Team?
Marc Gasol will be the Memphis Grizzlies' lone representative at the 2015 NBA All-Star Game in New York, and that's starting to look a little silly.
After all, his Grizzlies are now a sterling 38-13 on the season after defeating the East-leading Atlanta Hawks 94-88 in Memphis on Sunday.
The Hawks and Golden State Warriors are the only teams in the league with better records than Memphis, and both of them will send multiple bodies to New York on Feb. 15—a fact not lost on Grizzlies vice president of basketball operations John Hollinger before the game:
Lest there be any worry about bias, impartial Milwaukee Bucks forward Jared Dudley also cried injustice after the result went final:
The All-Star snub conversation is a tired one, and arguing that Mike Conley or Zach Randolph (both worthy) should be on the West squad necessarily requires the removal of another deserving candidate. That gets us nowhere.
Besides, the point here is about more than trips to an exhibition game. It's about the Grizzlies continuing to carve out their place among the league's elite without being recognized for it.
It's about Memphis boasting the NBA's No. 6 net rating but having just the ninth-best odds to win the title, per Oddsshark.com.
It's about the Grizzlies owning a 13-2 record over their last 15 games—including wins against the Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder—without drawing the kind of casual fan interest that generates big viewership.
Sure, the pace is slow. And yes, Memphis has earned its reputation for winning ugly. But if Sunday's defeat of the Hawks proved anything, it's that plodding, brutal games can still be things of beauty.
There was no denying the aesthetic appeal of Conley's floater with 56 seconds left—the one that dropped softly through to give Memphis a 92-86 lead. And the sneaky play design that earned Kosta Koufos a buzzer-beating jam at the end of the third quarter was pretty close to art.
If everything about Memphis had the visual appeal of those plays, maybe there'd be broader appreciation for what the team is doing. But because the Grizzlies tend to earn their wins on the margins—by employing brutally physical defense that can hold Al Horford and Paul Millsap to a combined 10 points on 4-of-21 shooting, for example—national notoriety and respect may always be hard to come by.
That's fine, and the Grizzlies players don't seem bothered by it, per Chris Herrington of The Memphis Commercial Appeal:
Gasol will go to New York alone, but he'll return to Memphis for a stretch run that might yet earn the Grizzlies some much-deserved notoriety.
After all, if they win 60 games and head into the playoffs ready to maul anyone in their path, it'll be impossible not to respect the Grizzlies.
Around the Association
Kevin Durant Knows the Score
And he was perfectly happy to relay it to Chris Paul in the Oklahoma City Thunder's 131-108 dismissal of the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. Durant took exception to Paul staring down the Thunder bench after hitting a jumper. The Thunder small forward responded, "You're down 20, bro," per Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. The cameras also caught the incident:
That's adding insult to injury. The Clippers were already hurting after learning a staph infection in Blake Griffin's right elbow would keep him on the sidelines at least through the All-Star break. To be fair, though, Paul invited Durant's jab by staring down OKC's bench after hitting that jumper.
He should have known he was setting himself up for that one.
Durant led a balanced attack with 29 points in 29 minutes, getting double-digit support from five other Thunder players—including rookie Mitch McGary, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds in a spirited effort that drew plenty of rowdy encouragement from the bench.
OKC may need McGary to sustain his breakout effort; starting center Steven Adams left the game with a painful injury to his right hand after just 12 minutes. Adams hit a left-handed free throw before exiting, though, which only adds evidence to the theory that he is the toughest human being alive.
"He's going to get opportunities," coach Scott Brooks said of McGary, via Royce Young of ESPN.com. "We liked what we saw tonight. He was ready. And he's going to have to be ready throughout the rest of this season."
The Clips have now lost three straight games and have trailed by at least 20 points in all of them. With Griffin out and a menacing schedule ahead (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Sacramento, Memphis, Houston, Memphis, Chicago, in that order), Paul and his teammates could be in for a major slide.
Hopefully, they won't invite any extra punishment by mugging at the opposing bench.
LeBron James: Master Motivator
LeBron James poked at Kevin Love on Twitter and got the result he was hoping for: a breakout effort from the Cleveland Cavaliers' marginalized power forward.
Love went off for 32 points and 10 rebounds, hitting seven of his eight attempts from long distance in Cleveland's 120-105 walkover win against the Los Angeles Lakers.
For those unaware, James fired off this tweet on Saturday:
It contained language specifically pulled from comments Love made before the season, and even though James initially denied he was referring to Love, he later admitted he'd had a plan all along, per Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon-Journal: "When pressed on the coincidence a few moments later to a smaller handful of reporters, James laughed, 'It’s not a coincidence, man.'"
Now, it's entirely possible that Love's big game was a result of facing the hapless Lakers, who can make just about anybody look good. Either way, if the Cavs have the version of Love they thought they were getting when they hauled him in from the Minnesota Timberwolves over the summer, look out.
The Hornets Forgot About George Hill
The Charlotte Hornets have been the NBA's best defensive team since Jan. 1, allowing just 93.2 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. It was therefore ironic that a late-game lapse on that end allowed Indiana Pacers guard George Hill to flip in a go-ahead bucket from the left baseline with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
"That is money," Hill told reporters, via ESPN.com. "That's my shot."
With the 103-102 victory, the Pacers are now on their longest winning streak of the year: three.
Hill's former team, the San Antonio Spurs, are up next. So the Pacers should probably enjoy this winning feeling while it lasts.
It's All About Perspective
"Not one positive in that game. Not one," Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy grumbled to reporters after a 112-101 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
That's only true if you're talking about the Pistons, though.
The Wolves saw lots of positives: their third straight win, a season-high 29 points from Nikola Pekovic and this awesome lob from Andrew Wiggins to Zach Lavine, just to name a few.
After running off seven consecutive wins to start the post-Josh Smith era, the Pistons have gone a mediocre 8-9—with a handful of ugly losses to the Philadelphia 76ers, Pacers and now, the Timberwolves. Because the East continues to be a comedy of errors, Detroit remains just two games behind the eighth-seeded Miami Heat.
Whether that's a good thing or not is, again, a matter of perspective.
Gasol Slams the Door
Derrick Rose nailed a critical three on the Chicago Bulls' next-to-last possession to pull his team within a single point, but when he couldn't convert on a tough floater the next time down, Pau Gasol stepped in to finish the job.
Chicago snatched the win by a final of 98-97 when the Orlando Magic couldn't convert on a desperation heave at the buzzer.
The Spaniard, Chicago's key offseason acquisition, totaled 25 points, 15 rebounds and four assists on the night. Winners of two straight after dropping four of five, the Bulls are feeling good, as noted by Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com:
James Harden Is All Alone
James Harden got 45, but he would have needed 57 to give his Houston Rockets a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Despite running up another absurd scoring total on a relatively tiny number of field-goal attempts (25)—plus adding nine rebounds and eight assists—Harden couldn't help the Rockets avoid a 109-98 loss at home against a much more balanced Blazers attack.
Outside of the Beard, Houston generated just 53 points on 57 shots. That kind of inefficiency won't cut it for the Rockets, especially with Dwight Howard out for up to eight weeks and no clear second option stepping up to fill the void.
Credit Harden for engineering a comeback from 17 points down in this one, but blame the Rockets for failing to help him finish the drill.
In more positive news, Damian Lillard (23 points, five rebounds and five assists on 5-of-10 shooting) was named an All-Star in place of the injured Griffin, according to a league announcement.
Life feels pretty unfair to Harden right now, but justice was definitely served in Lillard's case. Score another crowd-pleaser for commissioner Adam Silver, who made the pick.
Pop Practices Patience
Career win No. 1,000 eluded Gregg Popovich on Sunday, thanks to a flat effort from his San Antonio Spurs in an 87-82 loss to the Toronto Raptors north of the border.
San Antonio shot just 33.3 percent from the field and 25 percent from long range, which allowed Toronto, which had a rough offensive game in its own right, to escape with a victory.
Tim Duncan was just 3-of-14 from the field, Manu Ginobili was 3-of-13, and Kawhi Leonard was 5-of-17. Considering this was the start of San Antonio's annual rodeo road trip, which typically sparks a major run in their season, the result was surprising.
Popovich will have to wait until Monday's tilt at Indiana for his next shot to become the ninth NBA head coach with 1,000 victories. When he gets there, don't expect him to wallow in the praise he'll surely get. As Eric Koreen of the National Post notes, Pop's not much for tooting his own horn:
Boogie Lifts Kings As Coaching Search Continues
DeMarcus Cousins was honored with his All-Star jersey before tipoff on Sunday, which was something new for a franchise that hasn't had a participant in the annual exhibition since 2004.
Also new: a little joy in Sacramento, delivered in the form of a Cousins buzzer-beater, the first of his career. Thanks to Boogie's 19-foot jumper (and the friendliest bounce imaginable), the Kings defeated the Phoenix Suns, 85-83.
Sacramento needed the victory—not just because the Kings would have been kicking themselves for giving up a 14-point fourth-quarter lead, and not because the win ended a three-game slide.
Sacramento was desperate for something to enjoy because of the mess surrounding George Karl's potential hire as its next coach. Depending on whom you believe, Cousins and his camp may or may not want Karl on board, and the front office is reportedly divided on the issue as well, according to The Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voison and USA Today's Sam Amick.
It's complicated—and probably a distraction. The Kings needed something simple to enjoy.
Cousins, now an All-Star, gave it to them.
Of course, his defiant, put-upon demeanor after the game made him seem like the one guy who didn't enjoy the moment.
