Basketball Intelligence for 1/17/24
Embiid's paintless points, Celtics zones, a thrilling Suns comeback, and more
LEAGUEWIDE STORIES
Kram Session: Dejounte Murray’s Trade Value and Wemby’s Surge at Center
Zach Kram, The Ringer
NBA Power Rankings: The Nuggets and Jamal Murray march on, while Ingram's Pelicans stay steady
Staff, ESPN
Timberwolves, Celtics and Lakers: Our experts debate best and worst of the NBA at midseason
Josh Robbins/Eric Koreen/Will Guillory, The Athletic
A new rule is changing the NBA's awards race; it could also cost players millions
Tim Bontemps/Bobby Marks, ESPN
Amazon takes minority stake in Bally Sports networks, will stream games on Amazon Prime
Nick Bromberg, Yahoo Sports
Ranking the 15 best NBA in-season trades over the last 5 years
Fred Katz/Mike Vorkunov/James Edwards III, The Athletic
TEAM STORIES
BOS: The Celtics have been dabbling with a zone defense, and the early returns are promising
Adam Himmelsbach, Boston Globe
For one stretch, the Celtics deployed the 7-foot-1-inch Luke Kornet and 7-2 Kristaps Porzingis on the back line, with the 6-8 Jayson Tatum at the top. That’s a lot of length for an opponent to navigate. Holiday was able to set up near the free throw line and swarm wherever he was needed most.
Payton Pritchard does not have the size of the others, but his speed allows him to cover a lot of ground in a hurry, and he is a very good rebounder for a guard, an important quality out of a zone, when box-outs are so unsettled.
CHI: The education of the Bulls’ Coby White continues with tough lessons
Joe Cowley, Chicago Sun-Times
DAL: What Luka Doncic can learn from LeBron James to get the most of Kyrie Irving partnership on Mavericks
Scott Rafferty, The Sporting News
Doncic talked about guard-guard pick-and-rolls with Irving when Dallas first acquired the eight-time All-Star. When the Mavericks have gone to it, the results have been dynamite. We've seen it down the stretch of a few more games this season, but it still feels like they're leaving some food on their plate. Together, Doncic and Irving have 22 screen assists on the season. Irving had 42 by himself in his final season with the Cavaliers.