Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily, even when COVID has ravaged the league.
Zion Williamson and company stopped a three-game skid in a big way.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Brandon Dill/AP.)
With the league promoting Zion Willamson as much as they have (I mean, he deserves SOME pub), you would think that the New Orleans Pelicans would be near or at the top of the West. I mean, when you go a little deeper, they have Zion and Most Improved Player award-winner Brandon Ingram as well as some good names in their supporting cast in Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe, J.J. Redick, Josh Hart, and Lonzo Ball. That SOUNDS like it could be a very very good team.
Except they’re below .500. They’re 12-15 and 2.5 games behind #8 Golden State, which is really NOT that bad. But I think we still expected better, nonetheless.
They did stop their three-game losing streak by dismantling the Grizzlies on Tuesday night. But before that, they had a four-game winning streak. So what is up with that?
Overall, their defense is NOT great (currently 27th in defensive rating, which is points allowed per possession). The effort could be better. Fundamental mistakes are made. And it’s telling when Stan Van Gundy says this (which was said after their loss against Detroit on Sunday:
“I think now we have to take a look at who we’re playing and how many minutes and what rotations and figure out if there is a way that we can play better defense,” Van Gundy said. “But, I’m being honest with you, I don’t know how many of our guys really have a defensive mentality.”
Credit to the Times-Picayune.
Even during their winning streak, there is something that stuck out. They let a lot of threes fly. They easily allow the most threes attempted (AND made) and they are 28th in three-point percentage allowed (teams make .391 against them). While teams only made .340 of their threes against the Pels in that win streak, it adds up when the opposition makes 13.5 per game (39.8 attempts per as well!).
In the skid that followed, teams made 22.3 threes per game and attempted 42.3 in that span. That is a .528 percentage. Needless to say, they need to challenge three-pointers better.
It was much better on Tuesday in terms of keeping attempts down (Grizz went 13 for 31 for .419, which is still really good) but Memphis isn’t a team that attempts a lot of threes compared to the rest of the league. But we’re in an era right now where the three-pointer is in style. New Orleans just has to get after it.
But maybe SVG is right. Maybe they don’t have that defensive mentality. Then in that case, they either make some changes in the roster or else the Pelicans continue to underachieve. ESPECIALLY since they were praised so much for getting a “haul” in that Anthony Davis deal.
Bullet Passes
D’Angelo Russell is going to miss a month to 6 weeks due to knee surgery. He and close friend, Karl-Anthony Towns, can’t seem to get on the floor together; they’ve only played 4 games as a duo this season.
And then we see the youth and inexperience of the Suns here. They had a 24-point lead near the end of the first half. The Suns still led by 12 going into the fourth. And then James Harden led the Nets back and stole the win from Phoenix.
Harden will remind you how good he still is (they didn’t have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in this game): 38 points, 7 boards, 11 assists. And he made the go-ahead three with 31 seconds left.
Are we worried about the Bucks yet? They’ve lost four straight games. Milwaukee also fell to 3rd in the East by virtue of Brooklyn also winning.
Well, I do think this is much less of a worry than the year before. Giannis Antetokounmpo did sign that extension, ya know.
The Blazers have won 5 straight games. But gosh, it must be tough to keep up with the Jazz and the L.A. teams.
Nikola Jokic scored 43 points, his third 40-point game in three weeks! But the Nuggets were shorthanded against the Celtics. Boston gets back to above .500.
NBA Scoreboard
Feb. 16, 2021
Watch This Play
If you’re going to lose, lose in style. Look at Ja Morant do this.
DUNK of the Night: February 16th
👉 Ja Morant of the @memgrizz pic.twitter.com/jXkFYenY1c
— NBA Canada (@NBACanada) February 17, 2021
Ja-dropper.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.