Wednesday NBA Roundup: Warriors Even Score with Hawks in Possible Finals Preview
If history is any guide, the Golden State Warriors did more than avenge their Feb. 6 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. They also assured themselves a Larry O'Brien Trophy in June.
According to Elias, via ESPN.com, the Hawks-Warriors tilt was the third contest in the last three seasons in which two 50-win teams met before April 1. In the two previous meetings, the victor went on to win the NBA Finals.
How's that for adding significance to a 114-95 blowout?
The Warriors overcame a bout of early carelessness (turnovers have been an issue for most of the year) to run up a 12-point halftime lead. Behind the kind of stopping power you'd expect from the team leading the league in defensive efficiency, the Dubs held the Hawks to 34.1 percent shooting in the first half.
Of course, the Warriors also lead the league in offensive efficiency (giving them a double dip not seen since the 72-10 Chicago Bulls did it in the 1995-96 season), which made their 58.5 percent accuracy rate before halftime similarly unsurprising.
Little changed during the second half, as Golden State wound up shooting 52.4 percent while holding Atlanta to 35.6 percent.
The Warriors did all this without Klay Thompson, whose sprained ankle relegated him to the bench. In theory, the absence of one of the league's elite perimeter shooters should have made the Warriors much easier to handle. The practice of doubling Stephen Curry and forcing other Warriors to do damage is en vogue these days, and it's a risky ploy when Thompson is hot because the Warriors typically find him in scrambled situations.
With him out, spacing the floor and making the Hawks pay for focusing on Curry should have been harder.
It wasn't.
Harrison Barnes was hot all game, hitting 11 of his 13 attempts and finishing with a game-high 25 points.
Draymond Green caused utter havoc on defense (which is a thing he does all the time), shutting down both Al Horford and Paul Millsap on post-up attempts, leading the break whenever he pulled down a rebound and burying five threes to the delight of the Dubs' official Twitter feed:
Shaun Livingston jammed.
Andre Iguodala had 21 points and six assists off the bench, continuing his recent rejuvenation. Oh, and he jammed, too.
As a result, the notoriously raucous Oracle Arena crowd was in near-continuous delirium, which only fueled Golden State's furious defense and run-it-down-your throat offense.
Yes, the Hawks were successful in limiting Curry's scoring. He finished with 16 points, needing 11 shots to get them. But he logged a dozen assists and, most importantly, his teammates did more than enough to make Atlanta pay for selling out to stop him.
In the process, they proved their star did not define the success of their system, per ESPN Stats & Info:
The season series between these two is now all square, though this Warriors win was far more convincing than Atlanta's February triumph.
I guess we'll just have to wait until the NBA Finals for a rubber match.
Around the Association
LeBron and the Cavs Can Pick Their Spots
The Cleveland Cavaliers brushed off a sloppy start and used a dominant second quarter to run away with a 117-92 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
Seven Cavs cracked double figures and LeBron James logged all seven of his assists during that pivotal second period—in which Cleveland outscored Brooklyn 36-21 and didn't turn the ball over once.
Cleveland fans saw all they needed to during one strong sequence in, you guessed it, the second quarter: J.R. Smith doing something that looks like defense, Kevin Love whipping one of his patented outlets, Kyrie Irving drawing the defense and a springy LeBron James elevating to finish the play.
As far as the Cavs are concerned, the best part about their 14th straight home win was the respite their big lead afforded James, who got to watch the final five minutes from the bench. With the No. 2 seed in the East looking more and more secure, Cleveland must now play the long game—which means taking rest whenever it's available.
Ricky Rubio Makes Things Fun
A sixth straight loss in which Kevin Martin took 28 shots to Andrew Wiggins' nine may be discouraging for Minnesota Timberwolves fans, but Ricky Rubio provided a small spark of joy in an otherwise disheartening 105-100 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
It'd be nice if the Wolves weren't letting Martin (who had 37 points) poach quite so many looks from his younger teammate. And it would help if anyone on Minnesota's roster could have slowed down Jonas Valanciunas, who had 15 points and 15 boards in just 24 minutes.
But a sweet dime from Rubio serves as a nice anesthetic.
Eight is Great for the Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder used a 40-point third-quarter blitz and survived a late rally to hold off the Boston Celtics in a battle between each conference's eighth-seeded teams. Well, OKC is the West's No. 8 now—thanks to the 122-118 win that moved it a half-game ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Styles contrasted in this one, with Boston moving the ball and piling up 32 assists on 44 made buckets, while OKC got the job done in the manner you'd expect: riding Russell Westbrook to the finish.
Russ put up 36 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals on 8-of-26 shooting. His scoring total got a major boost with a career-high 22 free-throw attempts.
To be fair, Westbrook wasn't totally alone out there. Anthony Morrow hit four threes off the bench, and Enes Kanter had 22 points and 10 rebounds. Unfortunately, Kanter rolled his left ankle late in the game, and the immediate outlook isn't great, per Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman:
Westbrook is already shouldering a heavy load. Losing another potent scorer might be too much to bear—even for him.
Wade Burns the Blazers
As Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley wrote, "Call this sizzling stretch by Dwyane Wade a flashback to Flash, an official reminder of the 33-year-old's prominent place in the NBA's hierarchy."
Behind 15 fourth-quarter points from Wade, Miami strung together its best back-to-back wins of the season, downing the Portland Trail Blazers, 108-104, after beating the Cavs on Monday. Wade finished with 32 points (13-of-26 shooting), six assists and four rebounds.
In doing so, he maintained a scoring streak the likes of which we haven't seen in nearly five years, according to ESPN Stats & Info:
With things tied at 104 and time winding down, Wade pulled up and hit one of his patented fall-away free-throw line jumpers over Nicolas Batum to seal the deal. Even his old pal LeBron knew it was coming, according to Northeast Ohio Media Group's Chris Fedor:
Goran Dragic remained hot, as well, finishing with his second double-double (20 points, 11 assists) since joining the Heat. Dragic has now topped 17 points in each of his last seven appearances.
Thanks to consecutive victories over the Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami (31-36) ascended to the East's No. 7 seed. If the Heat can just hold steady in that spot, we could have first-round gold on our hands in the form of a Cavs-Heat quarterfinals showdown.
Fingers crossed.
Via B/R's Alec Nathan
That's More Like It, Spurs
With the San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks squaring off on the second night of respective back-to-backs, something had to give.
And what gave was Milwaukee's defense, as San Antonio emerged victorious, 114-103.
After shaking off a touch of first-quarter lethargy that carried over from Tuesday night's loss to the New York Knicks, the Spurs torched the Bucks by dropping 64 points over the second and third quarters.
In typical Spursian fashion, a balanced effort pushed San Antonio into the win column for the eighth time in its last 10 games. Six players finished in double figures, including Danny Green (20 points), Boris Diaw (18 points), Tony Parker (15 points), Tim Duncan (19 points) and Kawhi Leonard (14 points).
As a team, the Spurs shot an even 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three.
Not too shabby for a showdown with the league's second-most efficient defense.
Via B/R's Alec Nathan
Indiana Plummets out of the Postseason Picture
While Miami begins its climb up the standings, the Indiana Pacers are starting to slide in the opposite direction.
Following a 103-86 loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Pacers have lost three straight and fell back into the No. 9 seed, with the Boston Celtics inching up to spot No. 8.
As CBS Sports' Matt Moore explained, Indiana needs to hope Miami cools down in a hurry:
As Indiana sputtered to the tune of 39.5 percent shooting, Chicago's frontcourt picked the Pacers apart. Not only did Pau Gasol post his league-leading 45th double-double (19 points, 12 rebounds), but Joakim Noah put forth one of his best all-around efforts in recent memory, tallying six points, 14 boards and seven dimes.
Nikola Mirotic spearheaded Chicago's offensive revitalization, dropping a game-high 25 points (8-of-15 shooting) and nine rebounds off the bench.
Via B/R's Alec Nathan
Dallas Withstands Payton's Triple-Double
Elfrid Payton recorded the first triple-double (15 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds) of his young career, but the Dallas Mavericks held off the hard-charging Orlando Magic, 107-102, despite getting outscored, 32-21, in the fourth quarter.
All five Magic starters finished in double figures, but 25 points from Dirk Nowitzki and 21 from Monta Ellis pushed Dallas to a third straight win.
Rajon Rondo chipped in just nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, but he led all Mavericks players with 11 dimes, including this ingenious feed to Ellis:
Although Dallas is averaging more than 118 points over its last three wins, Rick Carlisle's starting lineup is still just barely posting a positive net rating, according to NBA.com. In 365 minutes together, Rondo, Ellis, Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons and Tyson Chandler are operating at a 0.4-points-per-100-possession surplus.
Via B/R's Alec Nathan
Reggie Jackson Stays Hot in Losing Effort
The Detroit Pistons fell to the Philadelphia 76ers, 94-83, but point guard Reggie Jackson continued to pad his stats.
In 32 minutes, Jackson compiled his first career triple-double consisting of 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. However, he shot just 4-of-17 from the field, a departure from the 55.6 percent conversion rate he posted while recording the NBA's second 20-point, 20-assist game of the season Tuesday evening.
Since Jackson's Motor City debut on Feb. 22, the Pistons are 2-12.
Via B/R's Alec Nathan
Washington’s Streak Survives a Late Scare
Slump? What slump? With an 88-84 victory over the surging Utah Jazz, the Washington Wizards have now won five straight to remain within a half-game of the fourth-seeded Bulls.
John Wall flirted with a triple-double, compiling 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists, while Paul Pierce contributed 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Matched up against a Utah defense that’s been the league’s most prolific since Feb. 1, Washington canned a steady 52.4 percent of its shots from the field and 54.5 percent from distance.
“Yeah. Just relax,” Wall said, according to The Washington Post’s Michael Lee. "Every team goes through a rut. Everybody is going to have a slump some type of way. Hopefully, we got out of it.”
Over the last seven days, Washington has been in a league of its own among Eastern Conference competitors, posting a net rating in excess of plus-17 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com.
But with the fewest remaining home games of any Eastern Conference team, according to NBA.com’s John Schuhmann, Washington needs to sustain a similar pace to enter the postseason in lockstep.
Via B/R's Alec Nathan
