The Jazz look like they're back where they left off before injuries. Which still tells us very little about how they'll do in the postseason, but they'll be a force to be reckoned with in the regular season.
The Heat are back to the season *before* last; their strong start is not so surprising after they made some smart offseason moves, and they have a bevy of gritty, switchable guys who play hard on both ends of the floor.
Meanwhile, the Suns are struggling to maintain those blisteringly hot performances from the bubble and last year's playoffs, and I am unclear why; most of the remaining contender teams can at least put some blame on player availability issues. The Bucks, Clippers, and Nets are teams you'd expect to go deep into the postseason, but are currently .500 and below probably due to missing guys for various reasons. (The 76ers & Nuggets are also missing core players, as are our Warriors, but still doing pretty OK.)
The Knicks, Bulls, Wizards, and Hornets are all definitely improved over last year, but I'm more convinced these teams are going to drop back to the middle of the pack with more time. At a minimum, all of them are in shape to beat contender teams at the moment, but their schedules haven't been the hardest.
I have my suspicions that the Hawks' regression might have something to do with the new rules on foul-baiting—something that's certainly also a contributor to the Nets' underperformance. I still give Atlanta good odds on making the postseason but it looks to be a crowded field in the East this time around.
The two unluckiest teams so far seem to be the Celtics and the Pacers, both of whom have faced some very tough teams, and lost some close games. I'd pick both of them to be in the thick of things going forward, though the East is crowded enough that it's tough to figure out which middling teams they'll pass.
Teams who are less surprisingly part of the messy middle of the league include the Raptors, Mavericks, Kings, Blazers, Grizzlies, and yes, the Lakers. Props to the T-Wolves and Cavaliers for squeezing into this tier too.
The Spurs took down the (Jrue-less) Bucks tonight, but they still look like they belong a half-tier below the mid-league chaos.
The Pistons, Magic, Thunder, and Rockets are all headed straight to the lottery with no signs of escaping the bottom of the league this season. The Pelicans are just as bad right now but they at least have the eventual return of Zion to look forward to.
P.S. Despite his "cold" start to the season, Stephen Curry is currently tied with Ja Morant for league's leading scorer.
*Couldn't keep them in the 70s? Man, does it even count as a victory?
*Occasionally Steph will not get a shot in the first 5-6 minutes of a game. He often follows with a cold game. This wasn't quite that, but not very prolific.
*JP3 looked better, but he needs to be a 35% 3P% guy. I'm not positive he'll get there.
*Bjelly started out pulling a Casspi, but then pulled the trigger a few times and shot 3 3's. More of that please.
*More OPJ shots please. Loved that they ran the split action for him.
*I don't really ever want to see Chiozza out there. Much rather see more Moody, OPJ, GPII, JTA.
*Moody looked confident shooting, even if they didn't fall a ton.
*Really good games for Dray, Loon
*Wiggs 4/5 on 3P a great sign.
*Andre still got 17 min. In a game like this, that is too many.
*If you think Wiseman was raw last year, Kuminga was tough. Hopefully he settles after that one.
OKC did not look particularly good but we were definitely more solid than the first time we played them. OPJ had another solid game, I’m starting to become a believer. GPII shines again. JP has got some work to do, but I hope it comes together with time.
There’s one thing that differentiates Moses Moody from even Poole and most of the new additions.. if Moody has a sliver he’s generally shooting. I may be in the minority but game 6 I’m starting to get frustrated by the pump fakes at the 3 point line then driving to the basket then kick out to someone else at the 3 point line then that person pump fakes and does the same thing until we get a less than ideal shot. One or two passes you have an open 3 take the dang shot especially that second unit where we have some decent rebounders
> Moses Moody checks in and drains a three-pointer. He played in Santa Cruz last night and while the Sea Dubs got blown out, Steve Kerr said he got good feedback about Moody's performance.
Wait, who had this on their bingo card? Washington Wizards are 5-1 with Hachimura out, no Wall/Westbrook, they've beaten Boston twice, Atlanta, Indiana. I guess (?) that's some more early season randomness but I wouldnt'a seen it coming. Hm -- shrug?
First time in six games that the team leading at the half won the game
Warriors have had the 11th ranked offensive rating and 4th ranked defensive rating combining for a 4th ranked net rating. Not bad Warriors!!
Checking in across the league.
The Jazz look like they're back where they left off before injuries. Which still tells us very little about how they'll do in the postseason, but they'll be a force to be reckoned with in the regular season.
The Heat are back to the season *before* last; their strong start is not so surprising after they made some smart offseason moves, and they have a bevy of gritty, switchable guys who play hard on both ends of the floor.
Meanwhile, the Suns are struggling to maintain those blisteringly hot performances from the bubble and last year's playoffs, and I am unclear why; most of the remaining contender teams can at least put some blame on player availability issues. The Bucks, Clippers, and Nets are teams you'd expect to go deep into the postseason, but are currently .500 and below probably due to missing guys for various reasons. (The 76ers & Nuggets are also missing core players, as are our Warriors, but still doing pretty OK.)
The Knicks, Bulls, Wizards, and Hornets are all definitely improved over last year, but I'm more convinced these teams are going to drop back to the middle of the pack with more time. At a minimum, all of them are in shape to beat contender teams at the moment, but their schedules haven't been the hardest.
I have my suspicions that the Hawks' regression might have something to do with the new rules on foul-baiting—something that's certainly also a contributor to the Nets' underperformance. I still give Atlanta good odds on making the postseason but it looks to be a crowded field in the East this time around.
The two unluckiest teams so far seem to be the Celtics and the Pacers, both of whom have faced some very tough teams, and lost some close games. I'd pick both of them to be in the thick of things going forward, though the East is crowded enough that it's tough to figure out which middling teams they'll pass.
Teams who are less surprisingly part of the messy middle of the league include the Raptors, Mavericks, Kings, Blazers, Grizzlies, and yes, the Lakers. Props to the T-Wolves and Cavaliers for squeezing into this tier too.
The Spurs took down the (Jrue-less) Bucks tonight, but they still look like they belong a half-tier below the mid-league chaos.
The Pistons, Magic, Thunder, and Rockets are all headed straight to the lottery with no signs of escaping the bottom of the league this season. The Pelicans are just as bad right now but they at least have the eventual return of Zion to look forward to.
P.S. Despite his "cold" start to the season, Stephen Curry is currently tied with Ja Morant for league's leading scorer.
Some observations:
*Couldn't keep them in the 70s? Man, does it even count as a victory?
*Occasionally Steph will not get a shot in the first 5-6 minutes of a game. He often follows with a cold game. This wasn't quite that, but not very prolific.
*JP3 looked better, but he needs to be a 35% 3P% guy. I'm not positive he'll get there.
*Bjelly started out pulling a Casspi, but then pulled the trigger a few times and shot 3 3's. More of that please.
*More OPJ shots please. Loved that they ran the split action for him.
*I don't really ever want to see Chiozza out there. Much rather see more Moody, OPJ, GPII, JTA.
*Moody looked confident shooting, even if they didn't fall a ton.
*Really good games for Dray, Loon
*Wiggs 4/5 on 3P a great sign.
*Andre still got 17 min. In a game like this, that is too many.
*If you think Wiseman was raw last year, Kuminga was tough. Hopefully he settles after that one.
Without looking it up, who are our top 3 three-point shooters by percentage not including GP2 (4/4) and Dray (3/4)?
An unintended consequence of the NBA calling fewer BS fouls...players have more fouls to work with and can Euro foul to stop fastbreaks more often.
Saw on Twitter that 8% of all live ball turnovers are resulting in a Euro foul, up from 5% 2 years ago.
OKC did not look particularly good but we were definitely more solid than the first time we played them. OPJ had another solid game, I’m starting to become a believer. GPII shines again. JP has got some work to do, but I hope it comes together with time.
There’s one thing that differentiates Moses Moody from even Poole and most of the new additions.. if Moody has a sliver he’s generally shooting. I may be in the minority but game 6 I’m starting to get frustrated by the pump fakes at the 3 point line then driving to the basket then kick out to someone else at the 3 point line then that person pump fakes and does the same thing until we get a less than ideal shot. One or two passes you have an open 3 take the dang shot especially that second unit where we have some decent rebounders
> Moses Moody checks in and drains a three-pointer. He played in Santa Cruz last night and while the Sea Dubs got blown out, Steve Kerr said he got good feedback about Moody's performance.
https://twitter.com/kendra__andrews/status/1454616117138313221
Since none of us saw it, could just be PR lol.
Notable stats:
Thunder:
Giddey: (-14)
10 points 5/11 FGs 0/2 three pointers 0/1 FT
4 rebounds 6 assists 2 turnovers 1 steal 1 block
Gilgeous-Alexander: (-23)
15 points 6/14 FGs 2/7 three pointers 1/2 FTs
5 rebounds 2 assists 1 turnover 1 steal
Dort: (-24)
14 points 4/10 FGs 2/6 three pointers 4/4 FTs
1 rebound 1 assist 3 turnovers 1 steal 1 block
Pokusevski: (-4)
7 points 2/4 FGs 1/3 three pointers 2/2 FTs
9 rebounds 2 turnovers 1 block
Warriors:
Curry: (+17)
20 points 6/13 three pointers
5 rebounds 6 assists 2 turnovers 1 steal
Green: (+16)
14 points 6/8 FGs 1/2 three pointers 1/2 FTs
11 rebounds 8 assists 2 turnovers 1 block
Wiggins: (+17)
14 points 5/13 FGs 4/5 three pointers
2 rebounds (2 off.) 1 assist 1 steal
Porter Jr.: (+7)
10 points 4/6 FGs 2/4 three pointers
1 rebound 1 assist 2 turnovers 1 steal 1 block
Looney: (+18)
7 points 3/4 FGs 1/2 FTs
7 rebounds (3 off.) 1 assist 1 turnover 3 blocks
Poole: (+19)
14 points 6/15 FGs 2/6 three pointers
3 rebounds (1 off.) 4 assists 1 steal
Final stats:
Thunder:
35.8% shooting (29/81 FGs)
8/39 three pointers
16/21 FTs
45 rebounds (3 off.)
14 assists
16 turnovers
8 steals
6 blocks
Warriors:
42.4% shooting (39/92 FGs)
21/52 three pointers
4/8 FTs
56 rebounds (10 off.)
30 assists
16 turnovers
9 steals
6 blocks
Points in paint:
Thunder: 36
Warriors: 28
Fastbreak points:
Thunder: 16
Warriors: 10
Points off turnovers:
Thunder: 16
Warriors: 12
Bench points:
Thunder: 32
Warriors: 34
https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/9/28/436871.gif
Will there be a postgame thread?
Wait, who had this on their bingo card? Washington Wizards are 5-1 with Hachimura out, no Wall/Westbrook, they've beaten Boston twice, Atlanta, Indiana. I guess (?) that's some more early season randomness but I wouldnt'a seen it coming. Hm -- shrug?
Easy win
Kuminga outscored Iguodala and JTA COMBINED
Nice to see us shut down SGA this time, he’s so talented