Seemed like low-hanging fruit, no? And before we switch out the fruit to something a bit more attuned to my diet (saturated fats?), we obviously have to start with some of the interesting storylines in the NBA, now just in it’s third week of play. First up, mostly because of the title (now with less fruit and more Funyuns) let us talk not just about Tyrese Maxey, but also the so far near-dominant 76ers team. Joel Embiid is doing Joel Embiid “non-playoff” type things, which is still a bummer we have to qualify, but lucky for us, fantasy ain’t played in May, ya know? I’ll talk a bit more about it later for the Clippers, but Harden while not being on the team has created an interesting aggregate feedback loop with a touch of confirmation bias mixed in on some of these wild storylines, but the tangible effect, i.e. giving minutes for Tyrese Maxey to flourish cannot be argued with. My concerns with Maxey during the preseason was based on his ability to run the 5, play-call, ball-handle and continuing to develop his offense while doing all that.
So far? All of these things have been done well, but the best part is that it hasn’t come at the cost of his stats. With a career-high 50 points against a very good Pacers team, he also had 7 rebounds with 5 assists, 3 blocks on 20-32 shooting (7-11 from 3-point). At just 23-years-old, it’s pretty likely he’ll be shedding off the Tyler Herro and Jordan Poole comps at some point this season. But can he get to the All-Star game and perhaps even an All-NBA selection this year? Excited to find out…
Here’s what else I saw this weekend, and yes, we’ll pretend I didn’t see the Clippers…
So I’m not ranking the storylines, or else this one might be near the top as the Houston Rockets appear to be the new hotness coming out of the West. Despite everyone kinda expecting a step forward from Alperen Sengun, (23/8/5 in 35 minutes against the Nuggets) I think the biggest change in the dynamic has been Fred VanVleet and his ability to corral this young team and help dictate what the roles are and let the system take some pressure off the young guys. I honestly thought VanVleet was in the preliminary cooked stages of his career last season, but has shown some savvy in his play.
Sure, this month will be tougher on the Nuggets with all the non-Murray minutes up for grabs, (the Nuggets bench had just 8 points on 3-19 shooting), but with the Rockets 107-104 win over them, I think it’s actually not too early to at least start talking about play-ins. Yes, the west is tough, but not as tough as we perhaps thought…
Speaking of which, the Warriors are having trouble generating offense despite Stephen Curry having an insane start to the season (flashes of last season already, no?), and this issue was front-and-center in their loss to the T’Wolves, whose defense, in all fairness, is probably going to keep them in a contender position for much of season. Who knew having guards, wings and centers that can play above-average defense was the secret to success! Well, don’t feel too bad, I think this experiment had been a running joke in the league for over a year, especially when you keep looking at the Gobert trade and what they gave up… buuuuuutttt is it working now? Sure looks like it. Also, the last three games, Karl-Anthony Towns has been averaging 24.3/9.7/1.7 in their three wins and contributed 21/14/3/2/2 against the Warriors.
Here’s what Anthony Edwards contributed:
So, James Harden went 11/4/3 on 4-for-12 shooting (1-7 from 3), good for a game worst -28 and the Clippers are now 0-4 since he’s joined the team. While the common sentiment is to rag on the guy (he doesn’t make it hard), it’s always interesting how you can tell who watches games and who doesn’t when it comes to NBA discourse. While the Philly bubble already has PG and Kawhi signing with them next season while also waging their own personal war against the age of player empowerment, I prefer to stay in reality and think that just maybe it’s because both Russell Westbrook and Paul George are playing like garbage. And also James Harden…
He says he needs “10 Games” so I guess we’ll check back in 10… well, 9 games later?
In some other notes, Kelly Oubre Jr. was struck by a car in a hit and run this weekend. Looks like he’s stable but will miss significant time.
We already (the royal “we”) mentioned the Nuggets, but I failed to mention Nikola Jokic and it was wrong! The walking triple-double went 36/21/11 on 50/33/100 shooting on a +12.
In 29 minutes, Kyrie Irving scored 35 points with 6 rebounds and 7 assists and 7-10 from 3-point. So far, I was wrong on the Mavs, Luka looks in shape, Kyrie hasn’t said anything about the Middle East crisis and they actually have a functioning center in a surprising rookie campaign from Dereck Lively, which I actually typed in as Blake Lively at first. If it’s going to be a brain fart, make it a great one I always say…
I felt terrible last season when I didn’t believe in Austin Reaves. I, of course, now feel terrible this season when I do believe in Austin Reaves. But that’s kinda the Lakers in a nutshell, a roller coast of emotion, injury and who will show up nightly that doesn’t have a name that starts with “Le”. In terms of Reaves, Cam Reddish has now taken the lead in both starts and minutes with another solid 18 points on 7-10 along with 7 rebounds and hitting a game-winner just a few days ago AND Reaves has responded to this as well with an 18/4/4 off the bench.
Moral of the story is, pay attention to anyone to gains LeTrust…
