Basketball Intelligence For 1/27/24
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
TEAM-SPECIFIC
ATL: Hawks fall to Mavericks as Luka Doncic pours in 73 points
Lauren Williams, AJC
BOS: The evolution of Sam Hauser
Adam Taylor, Celtics Film Room
BOS: How Porzingis is helping the Celtics offense solve so much
Adam Himmelsbach, Boston Globe
CHI: Alex Caruso’s dirty little secret is out, and the Bulls are benefitting
Joe Cowley, SunTimes
The first-team All-Defense guard might be picking his spots in terms of taking charges, but that hasn’t taken away from his defense. And it certainly has made him more available to continue climbing offensively.
CLE: Donovan Mitchell looks All-Star worthy in Cavs’ bounce-back win over Bucks
Chris Fedor, cleveland.com
CLE: Jarrett Allen’s underappreciated dominance comes to light against the NBA’s best
Ethan Sands, cleveland.com
CLE: Isaac Okoro Praised For Defensive Effort After Cavaliers Defeat Bucks
Logan Potosky, Sports Illustrated
DAL: Dončić’s 73 points sets career-high, Mavs record
Tim Cato, The Athletic
DAL: Doncic’s 73 points puts Mavericks star in rarified air with all-time scoring legends
Brad Townsend, Morning News
GSW: Film Analysis: Examining the Warriors’ open-three problem on defense
Joe Viray, Golden State Of Mind
The operative word when it comes to the Warriors’ three-point defense this season seems to be “lack” — a lack of communication, lack of connectivity, lack of detail, lack of force, lack of doing one’s work early, and lack of presence. Opponents don’t seem intimidated at all by the Warriors’ defense, often taking advantage of the lack of all of the above that have been prevalent this season.
The Warriors are actually the team with the lowest opponent rim rate in the league — 25.5% of opponents’ shot attempts this season have come from within four feet of the basket, per Cleaning The Glass. The team in second place (Minnesota Timberwolves) have an opponent rim rate that is 3.9% higher.
That seems like it should be an indicator of an elite defense, but given the film and the rate of opponents’ three-point looks, that might be an indicator of something more concerning: their troubles in terms of containment at the point-of-attack are causing them to scramble and sink inside in an effort to prevent shots at the rim; in turn, they are giving up comfortable looks from beyond the arc.
At 19-23, the question then becomes this: Is it a problem fixable by a mid-season change in personnel and/or approach? Or is it too much of an ingrained problem, a structural flaw that can only be properly addressed after a season that is on the verge of being lost?
GSW: The Warriors invested in Jonathan Kuminga, and it’s paying off
Marcus Thompson II, The Athletic
GSW: Video: Steph Curry helps Jonathan Kuminga dazzle in back-to-back big games vs Hawks and Kings
Eric Apricot, Dub Nation HQ
GSW: Warriors Podcast with Michael Scotto & Anthony Slater
Hoops Hype
IND: How the Pacers flipped the script on iso-ball
Caitlin Cooper, Basketball She Wrote