Lakers Defense Shines Again; T-Wolves Young Duo Dominates! 3.18.21
It’s another day of NBA basketball and we have 6 games on the schedule today.
Utah Jazz vs Washington Wizards
It Feels Good To Be Right
While the Jazz were dominating teams, I didn’t want to believe that they were contenders. I always felt like they were just making 3’s to win. Sure they were doing it very, very well and leading the West. But they don’t exactly have what you’re looking for in a championship team. They don’t have a lot of wing defenders and that leaves them vulnerable, especially out West with how many wings there are. They also don’t have a superstar. Donovan Mitchell is good, an All-Star, but he is sometimes inefficient and forces things. But again, I didn’t have plausible cause to not believe them. Winning 20 of 21 games isn’t a reason.
But now I have some actual reasoning. The Jazz have been losing and it’s because their level of play has gone down a lot. Especially defensively. Offensively they are very good. Joe Ingles was starting in place of Mike Conley in this game, and he had a career-high 34 points with 8 3-pointers. He was very good. Mitchell had 42 points as he was also very good. The offense isn’t my main concern. The defense is. They have been getting torched. Today Beal and Westbrook did whatever they wanted. Those two combined for 78 points as they were the main reason Utah lost.
Utah doesn’t have any elite defenders outside of Rudy Gobert. Everybody else is middling around average. They have gone 5-6 in their last 11 games and the numbers haven’t been great. In that 11 game stretch, Utah has been averaging 119.7 points. That’s really good. But they’ve been allowing 116.1 points per game. Not so good. They’ve allowed 130+ points 3 times in that stretch. The defense hasn’t been great as their average defenders haven’t been getting it done.
The Jazz were a team I never viewed as a contender and with this recent display of defense is concerning. They don’t have elite defenders on the perimeter/wing and their offense is team oriented. If 3’s stop falling they don’t have anybody to go to. I’m sure the Jazz will be good in the regular season, but I’m questioning their potential success in the postseason.
Does This Change Anything?
Beal and Westbrook combined for 78. Cool, Westbrook looked younger as he seems to have recovered from that quad injury. Beal had a monster 2nd half. Cool, cool, cool. But does this really change anything? I pointed out earlier that the Wizards were so reliant on their backcourt to win and that held true in this game. Beal and Westbrook account for 59% of the Wizards points and that doesn’t take into account their 18 combined assists. Sure it’s a good win and Washington really played well. But it just cements into place this team doesn’t have a supporting cast, or Scott Brooks isn’t allowing that supporting cast to grow. Probably the latter.
OKC Thunder vs Atlanta Hawks
Hail To The Draft Picks
This should happen more often, blowout losses. OKC is surprisingly competitive in their games even though they have a severe talent disadvantage. Yet they hang in there. This game shows their human. Don’t worry, the 1,000,000 draft picks over the next few years should make you good again.
Lloyd Pierce Was Really Bad?
I always viewed Lloyd Pierce as a decent coach, but the Hawks are 7-0 with Nate McMillan as coach and they haven’t lost since February. Maybe Lloyd Pierce was the problem. I do get that sometimes a new coach can boost team morale, but Lloyd Pierce must have been very, very bad for this to happen. The Hawks were talented, but it’s like they’re finally realizing that and playing up to their potential. Bogdan Bogdanovic finally got going with 23 off the bench, as guys like him and Gallinari might be the key to the Hawks success. Young and Collins continue to be great and Capela is a force. With Nate McMillan and healthier days coming with the likes of Reddish and Hunter coming back in the next couple of weeks, the Hawks might have something going here.
Orlando Magic vs New York Knicks
Injuries
The Magic didn’t have a PG. No Fultz, MCW, or Cole Anthony. It was Chasson Randle, who isn’t very good. I feel bad at this point, with how many injuries this team has dealt with. This game was close, Orlando had a 10-0 run in the 4th to take the lead. But the Knicks had a 10-0 run themselves and Reggie Bullock had the huge deflection late that sealed the Magic’s fate. I know Nikole Vucevic wants to stay, but maybe it’s time to rebuild.
Scrappy Knicks
Realistically this game shouldn’t have been close, but these ugly, defensive games are things that the Knicks do better than anybody. They sure aren’t anything special offensively, especially without D-Rose but they got scores when they needed it. Randle was awful in the first half with just 4 points, but he had 14 points in the 2nd half. A 10-0 run and Reggie Bullock deflection sealed the game. Burks and Barrett were solid and Reggie Bullock, in addition to the game sealing play, had 20 off the bench. Like the Magic, the Knicks were without their entire PG room and had to settle for Frank Ntilikina. He fared better than Randle did on the other side but the Knicks just continue to win, no matter how ugly. They are still in the playoff picture as there is a legitimate chance they can make them.
Minnesota T-Wolves vs Phoenix Suns
I Was Wrong About Chris Finch
When Minnesota hired Chris Finch, I didn’t think he was bad but Minnesota was terrible. Things weren’t good to say the least. But Finch has turned Minnesota into a promising team despite what the record says. He’s not even doing anything complicated. It’s called get Edwards and Towns the ball. Good plan if you ask me. Towns hadn’t been getting that many shots, but today he worked Ayton, fouling him out in the 4th. Towns had 41-10-8 on 24 shots. 24 shots. He also made 5 3’s. He’s a center. That is ridiculous.
The other part of Chris Finch’s plan was Anthony Edwards, giving the rookie unlimited leeway and shots. He delivered. Edwards had a career-high 42 points and 7 rebounds on 15/31 shooting. He was a bit inefficient, but he’s the 3rd youngest player ever to drop 40. The only players ahead of him? KD and Lebron. It’s also the most points in T-Wolves history by a rookie. I like that Finch trusted his rookie, no doubt giving him confidence. He gave Edwards the ball on the final play, clearing it out for Edwards when you have an All-NBA center in Towns. Now that has to feel good.
The T-Wolves have some talent and Towns and Edwards are the forefront of that. If Edwards can develop a jumpshot, watch out. The T-Wolves might have found their first decent coach in over a decade and they might have their duo for the future (sorry D-lo).
Face The Wrath of The T-Wolves
The Suns couldn’t stop two players and it lost them the game. Ayton had fits with Towns as he couldn’t stay with him on the perimeter. Anthony Edwards relentlessly got to the rim. It was a very poor defensive showing against those two guys. Am I worried? Not really, the Suns are good and just because two very talented players each had good nights isn’t going to change that. But the defense is something that worries me, but the Suns do have talented defenders. Today, it gets a pass. If it happens again, likely not a pass from me.
New Orleans Pelicans vs Portland Trail Blazers
Shooting Struggles Continue
The Pelicans just don’t shoot it well. They missed 8 free throws in this game. Had they made all 8? The game would be in OT. Brandon Ingram had 10 points in the first 4 minutes of the game. He was aggressive and looking scary. After that he scored just 9 points as he struggled shooting. Zion was solid with 26 and 10 and Ball was ok. But unlike the first game in which New Orleans was shooting well, they didn’t in this game. The bench did next to nothing as their offense wasn’t good. It’s not like Portland torched them, it was a struggle for both teams. But New Orleans struggled more.
New Orleans has talent but as we all know they don’t have the right personnel around their stars. Zion and Ingram can only do so much with a flawed team.
Defense Finally Came Through
All year the offense has been very good, even without two starters on the floor and it was just Dame. But the offense wasn’t great and usually in games like this Portland would lose. But they played excellent defense in this game. After Ingram got going early, Covington and Jones shut him down as they continue to be the rock for this Blazers defense. Dame had 21 points in the first quarter and for the rest of the same is was slowly scoring for both sides. But the Blazers defense held throughout as they shut down New Orleans. Dame had 36 (and 0 assists which is so weird), Enes Kanter had a double-double with also about 1,000 fouls drawn. Melo was solid and if CJ can find his legs soon, watch out for Portland.
Charlotte Hornets vs LA Lakers
You Tried
The offense wasn’t at 100% for the whole game and that hurt Charlotte. They had one quarter, the 3rd quarter, where they got things together. For the rest of the game it was a mixed bag as LA’s defense was very tough on the young Hornets. Hayward again struggled, scoring just 7 points. Yes he had 9 rebounds and 10 assists, but they need more scoring from him. Ball had 26-5-7 and Rozier added 20. But not having scoring from Hayward or the bench really hurt Charlotte. They have a tough schedule to end the year and there are going to be tough games like this. It’ll be interesting to see how this very young team can respond.
Back On Track
After a short rough patch, LA is back. Even without AD they are very good, especially defensively which is a bit of surprise. Despite their shooting problems and lack of size, they’re winning. Lebron did Lebron things. 37 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in 37 minutes. Maybe Lamelo’s a bit more excited to face the King. Schroder was solid but also played hounding defense.
But the bench has been finding it’s footing lately. They have talent but they struggled early on. But another strong showing with 12 from Kuzma and 12 from THT. If only Wesley Matthews could shoot they would be better. But that trio of Kuzma, Harrell, and THT are dangerous. If they can produce in the postseason, LA is much more dangerous. LA has won their last 4 and they seem to be getting on track. The last piece to the puzzle is getting a healthy AD, which is a lot harder than it sounds.
What Are Your Thoughts From The 6 Games Today? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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