Basketball Intelligence for 12/6/23
First quarter awards, Haliburton's star turn, Point Sochan, and more
LEAGUEWIDE STORIES
Q1 Awards, including two distinct Defensive Players of the Quarter
Mike Shearer, Basketball Poetry
The 4 teams you meet in Vegas
Tom Ziller, Good Morning It’s Basketball
Hollinger: NBA’s surprise starts — are the Thunder, Magic and Rockets for real?
John Hollinger, The Athletic
Houston has thus far relied on Jedi 3-point defense (a league-leading 33.1 percent opponent shooting from beyond the arc) and bizarrely good “free-throw defense” (opponents have made just 75.4 percent) to offset a sky-high foul rate and limited turnover creation. Finally, the Rockets’ most important players have all been healthy; the only significant absences have been to reserves Tari Eason and Amen Thompson.
However, I can offset that with the fact some bad luck has worked against Houston. The Rockets are 8-9 but have played better than that indicates — they’ve already beaten the Nuggets twice, thrashed the Los Angeles Lakers by 34 and the Sacramento Kings by 25 and only have one loss by more than 11 points all season.
Is the NBA inching toward expansion? What we know about Las Vegas, Seattle and more
Mike Vorkunov, The Athletic
3 points: Jalen Brunson's shooting, Boston's unsung hero and the Evan Mobley dilemma
Yaron Weitzman, Fox Sports
LeBron, Zion and other exciting reasons to catch the NBA In-Season Tournament’s Vegas ending
Sam Amick, The Athletic
NBA DRAFT
Rob Dillingham's Non-Astrological Star Signs
Rowan Kent, No Ceilings
2024 NBA Draft Big Board: USC’s Isaiah Collier No. 1 as season of uncertainty kicks into high gear
Sam Vecenie, The Athletic
NBA to allow scouting of top prospects in Vegas
Jonathan Givony, ESPN
TEAM STORIES
BOS: New season, same issues: 10 Takeaways from Celtics/Pacers
Adam Taylor, Celtics Blog