New York Knicks Ahead of Schedule and Friday NBA Takeaways
The future has arrived for the New York Knicks, who put together their most dominant outing of the 2015-16 campaign with a 108-91 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Though the opponent trotting out onto the Madison Square Garden hardwood came from the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, it surely made the up-and-coming Knicks feel all warm and fuzzy about the progress of their rebuild.
Despite the gaudy nature of the final margin, it doesn't truly show how thoroughly the home team eviscerated Brooklyn. New York shot lights-out in the first quarter, sprinting to a 42-21 advantage just 12 minutes into the contest before opening the second period on a 6-0 run.
Everything was clicking, and despite an irrelevant late charge from the Nets, everything continued to click.
Given the makeup of the current roster, New York's rebuilding process was always going to center around two distinct elements. On offense, Carmelo Anthony needed to lead the charge while getting help from a host of other players. Defensively, the team was sure to play tough, funneling things toward Robin Lopez and the interior stoppers while making an effort to contest every shot.
Friday night, you could finally see what is possible when everything goes according to plan.
Entering the victory, the Knicks were allowing 104 points per 100 possessions, leaving them just outside the top half of the Association. That may not seem like much to write home about, but we have to remember the Knicks posted a 110 defensive rating in 2014-15, which put them ahead of only the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Brook Lopez, matched up against and not speaking to his twin, logged 21 points against the sturdy New York defense, but he needed 20 shots to get there. Beyond him and Thaddeus Young, the Nets couldn't get anything going while trying to fight past a team that refused to concede any easy opportunities.
The eventual winners got back in transition throughout the game, trapped driving ball-handlers before recovering to their proper assignments, made the right rotations and always kept their hands up. It's exactly what they need to do, even if the Nets' overall offensive futility helped them look even better.
Anthony, in particular, continued to look engaged, affirming his coach's earlier words:
But the other side of the floor is still what should make the Knicks even more excited about their future prospects. Rather than devolving into an isolation-based offense, they consistently moved the ball and relied upon timely contributions from their best players.
Anthony was simply masterful during the 17-point victory, finishing with 28 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. He made nine of his 18 shots from the field, drilled five tries from beyond the arc and made seven trips to the charity stripe.
Normally, this would be just another outing for Anthony, but he's struggled with his shot during the first quarter of the current campaign. This could be the game in which he turns the corner, and it's notable that he finally had a big night at the same time as Kristaps Porzingis.
As Bleacher Report's Jared Dubin, who recently wrote about Anthony's importance to the team, revealed, the small forward basically called his shot:
Impressive as Anthony may have been, Porzingis was even more exciting.
The rookie phenom threw up his 10th double-double of the season, logging 19 points on 13 shots from the field to go along with his 10 rebounds and two blocks. He was involved during all the crucial New York runs, knocking down perimeter buckets, exhibiting Dirk Nowitzki's influence on his game and attacking the rim with aplomb.
It takes a special talent to put together consecutive plays that rely on such different skills. The first possession of the third quarter showcased the Latvian 7-footer refusing to cave at Lopez's contest of his give-and-go dunk attempt, and the second put his shooting touch on the highlight reel.
These type of takes, from ESPN New York's Robin Lundberg and Roundball Mining Company's Justin Faudree, no longer need to be classified as "hot." They're perfectly tepid:
Allow your imagination to get the best of you for a moment.
After all, Porzingis has flashed rebounding and shot-blocking talent while displaying an affinity for ferocious putback slams. He's comfortable shooting turnaround jumpers from mid-range zones, he can put the ball on the floor and his motor never seems to quit running, despite his tall and lanky frame.
The possibilities may well be limitless, and he can push the Knicks' ceiling even higher than previously envisioned.
But so too can some of the other pieces on the roster. Though Anthony and Porzingis deservedly draw most of the headlines, there are more contributors making noise in Madison Square Garden.
Arron Afflalo continued his hot start to the season, dropping 18 points and three rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. After injuries and trade-related adjustments limited him during the 2014-15 season, he's looking far more spry these days:
What about Lance Thomas providing defensive intensity? How about Langston Galloway further justifying last year's placement on the All-Rookie Second Team with his work on offense? What about Jose Calderon's passing chops and Lopez's defensive prowess?
Exactly one month ago, Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes reacted to a 10-point Knicks loss at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers by providing some tempered optimism and noting that better basketball was on its way to New York:
"These aren't just empty highlights. They're signs that the Knicks are adding the right kind of talent and are, very slowly, figuring out smarter ways to use it. There's still an awful lot of outdated triangle-offense action, but there's also some intriguing floor-stretching going on. It's going to be a long process, but it's really not so hard to see the outline of a playoff team...in a year or so.
"
Considering the Knicks now stand at 10-10 while continuing to see the young players and veterans coalesce on both ends of the floor, can we move up the timetable?
Battle of Superstars by the Bayou
LeBron James and Anthony Davis are good at basketball.
The two superstars battled it out in an overtime contest on Friday night, with the younger player getting the better of his older counterpart when the final buzzer sounded. Perhaps the most entertaining game of the night, the 114-108 victory for the New Orleans Pelicans was filled with ridiculous plays from superhuman players, ceaseless drama and breathtaking intrigue down the stretch.
First, the final lines.
Davis recorded 31 points, 12 rebounds, one assist, four steals and a block while only turning the ball over once and making 13 of his 22 shots from the field, including a pair of triples. James was equally impressive, logging 37 points, seven boards, eight dimes, one steal and a single rejection.
But the numbers fail to capture how special both of these studs were with the game on the line.
Carrying the Cleveland Cavaliers back into the proceedings, James put up a crazy 23 points during the fourth quarter, getting to the rim at will and bullying his way past countless defenders. He fooled Davis twice with an up-and-under move, but even that paled in comparison to his and-1 bucket in transition:
Meanwhile, Davis was no stranger to highlights of his own.
Throughout the fourth quarter and overtime, he drilled mid-range jumpers and tough shots around the basket while ending Cleveland possessions with big defensive rebounds. And if James' transition heroics served as his signature moment, Davis' came when he used his lightning reflexes, quick instincts and Pterodactyl arms to steal the ball twice in one play before finishing with a flush:
Of course, it's not fair to focus only on the two best players.
The Pelicans are finally getting healthy, and that's a major reason they were able to not just hang with the defending Eastern Conference champions, but actually outlast them. Having Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday on the court makes a huge difference, especially because it frees up Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon to take better looks from beyond the arc.
"It took a while for first-year coach Alvin Gentry to get his team back healthy, but now that they are the Pels are looking formidable again," Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears tweeted during the game, and that's a sentiment few teams throughout the Association will want to hear.
The Pelicans may be starting from behind the eightball after their injury-ravaged roster sputtered out of the gate, but this is a team that can beat anyone—excluding a certain undefeated squad—on any given night when playing at full strength. And seeing as the Western Conference has underwhelmed during the first quarter of the season, the hole New Orleans is trying to climb out of isn't even too deep.
Washington Wizards Win Backcourt Battle with Phoenix Suns
If you enjoy great guard play, you might want to spend some time watching replays of the Washington Wizards' 109-106 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Bradley Beal was the spark the D.C. residents needed to complete their fourth-quarter comeback and start the climb back to .500 during what's been a thoroughly disappointing season. The former Florida standout continued his hot-shooting ways, finishing with a stellar 34 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals while going 12-of-23 from the field, 5-of-8 from downtown and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe.
When shots like that are falling, you know it's going to be a good night. And a good night it was, as the 22-year-old managed to score 24 of his 34 points during the second half.
Meanwhile, John Wall struggled at times, turning the ball over seven times throughout the contest, but he still made his impact felt. The beginning of 2015-16 has been a bit rough for Beal's backcourt counterpart, but his 17 points, five rebounds and nine dimes weren't too shabby when Washington walked away with a come-from-behind victory.
We also can't overlook what Phoenix's guard contingent did.
Eric Bledsoe, who has been surging toward the top of the floor-general rankings throughout the year, looked the part of a star once more. The dynamic guard produced 22 points, four rebounds and seven assists, knocking down half his shots from the field and only coughing the ball up twice. Additionally, Brandon Knight had another strong outing—19 points, five rebounds and five assists—despite missing two crucial free throws at the end of the loss.
Though the conclusion of this game was quite ugly, filled with technical fouls and inexplicable bricks from the charity stripe, the quality of the backcourts was on full display for the first 47 minutes.
Overlook either of these two guard pairings at your own peril.
Andre Drummond Doesn't Fear Deer
The Milwaukee Bucks' slide continues, this time courtesy of Marcus Morris (23 points), Reggie Jackson (23 points and five assists) and Andre Drummond (pure, unadulterated dominance).
Taking advantage of a squad that had—by far—the league's worst defensive rebounding percentage before Friday night's affair, the young center yet again proved himself a man among boys. To the tune of 17 points, 23 rebounds, one assist, three steals and two blocks, he thoroughly dismantled the overmatched Milwaukee frontcourt.
Perhaps the most shocking statistic of the night, however, was the fact that Drummond didn't have a single offensive board at halftime. Fear not. He remedied that in the second half, highlighted by this impressive putback attempt in the third quarter:
This is not good news for Milwaukee.
Though Drummond was perfectly poised to take advantage of a primary weakness—which he did—the Bucks found yet another way to lose.
They've employed one of the NBA's worst defenses on a consistent basis, but offense was the problem in the latest blemish on the schedule. There simply aren't enough perimeter threats going to work for this team, and the result is a crowded clump around the restricted area that makes turnovers more common and easy looks at the rim less so.
Milwaukee is now 7-13, and that doesn't seem like a fluke.
Pythagorean wins, which look solely at points scored and given up (hemorrhaged, in the case of the Bucks), indicates that they should've won two fewer games during the early portion of their schedule. Meanwhile, my FATS model (based on historical comparisons and explained in full here) had them playing at a 28.8-win pace, and that was before the latest loss.
But perhaps most damning of all is the fact that heading into Friday night, Basketball-Reference.com's Playoff Probabilities Report gave the Bucks a zero percent chance of making the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. In 7,500 simulations, the team literally never once managed to earn anything better than a .500 record—an ignominious feat only the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers could match.
It's time for changes in Milwaukee.
Hello, James Harden
If James Harden can string together a few more performances like this one, he might work his way back into the MVP conversation.
Even though he couldn't connect from outside the three-point arc and uncharacteristically struggled to draw whistles from the stripe-wearing men on the American Airlines Center's court, the bearded shooting guard turned in a vintage performance.
With his teammates—Patrick Beverley and Trevor Ariza, in particular—lighting it up from the perimeter, Harden didn't hesitate to spread the ball around, finishing with nine assists to go along with his 25 points, eight rebounds, one steal and two blocks. And his hand was hot as well, since he drained 10 of his 23 attempts from the field.
None was bigger than this game-clinching bucket in the 100-96 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, one that seemed to touch every inch of the rim before dropping through the twine for a crucial two points:
Was Harden's defense great? Considering he fell asleep on a few more plays, not exactly.
But when he's playing offense like this, the Rockets can live with his one-sided work. After all, it helped them draw closer to a .500 record, moving forward as they attempt to recover from their uninspiring, apathetic, coach-killing start to the season.
Weird Stat of the Night: Kobe Bryant's Atlanta Struggles
Maybe the Atlanta Zoo renamed its black mamba after Kobe Bryant because the Atlanta Hawks are thankful the future Hall of Famer hasn't torched them quite as thoroughly as he's lit up other franchises.
After Bryant scored a meager 14 points in Friday night's 100-87 loss to the Hawks, they moved past the Brooklyn Nets for pole position in the race to become NBA history's greatest Kobe stoppers:
The 2-guard's last chance to right this wrong will come when Atlanta visits Staples Center on March 4.
He probably won't top his career-best outing of 41 against the Hawks, set in a 118-110 victory back in 2009. But a hot night could prevent Atlanta from going down in history with the No. 1 spot in the above rankings.
Note: All stats, unless otherwise indicated, come from Basketball-Reference.com and are current heading into Dec. 4's games.
Adam Fromal covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @fromal09.
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