ESPN Friday night double header at us in west group C for the NBA Cup. Two exciting matchups between the Golden State Warriors and the New Orleans Pelicans for the first game and the Dallas Mavericks vs the Denver Nuggets.
Warriors vs Pelicans
It has been a tale of two seasons for these two teams. The Warriors are in first place in the Western Conference, largely due to their suffocating defense and their ball movement on offense. The defense has really taken a step forward in the last year for the Warriors and the staple of the offense with its ball movement has never looked better. Buddy Hield, and the other offseason signings look great in the system and Steph Curry and Draymond Green are still playing at a high level for the franchise. The Pelicans have gone the complete opposite way since the start of the year. Dejounte Murray broke his hand in the first game of the season, Zion Williamson is dealing with hamstring issues, and Trey Murphy has been in and out of the lineup along with Herb Jones, CJ McCollum, and Jose Alvarado all missing time at some point throughout the season so far. Let's dive into the action.
Recap
The Pelicans have used a ton of different starting lineups so far this season and would put out Javonte Green, Elfrid Payton, Daniel Theis, Brandon Ingram, and Trey Murphy. The Warriors matched up with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Lindy Waters, Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Andrew Wiggins. The start of the game saw the Pelicans jump out to an early lead. The nice thing about playing a lot of younger guys or guys who haven't gotten a chance yet is they usually play super hard and that's what the Pelicans did early on. The Warriors would response and force some stops and get out in transition, but I really liked the start from the Pelicans, most 4-12 teams don't play this hard early on. The Pelicans had Murphy guarding Draymond and I liked how he pressured Draymond on the perimeter. Most teams play off of him because of his limited shooting ability, but he's to pin point passes to shooters and cutter when teams do this. Murphy's pressure made it difficult for Draymond to hit Curry and Wiggins on cuts and pin downs. Eventually the Warriors offense would get going and they would jump out to a lead. New Orleans brought BJ Boston Jr. off the bench and let him experiment at the point guard position. Ingram has also played a little throughout the year and it's New Orleans has looked at with so many guys out of the lineup. The Warriors transition was really good this consistently were able to rebound the ball well and ultimately got some looks early in the shot clock. The Pelicans would hang tough. The end of the first quarter saw the Warriors lead 34-30. The Pelicans made it an emphasis to double Curry a lot throughout the game in ball screens or pin downs. They consistently sent multiple defenders at him when he was on the perimeter. Trey Murphy really got going in the second quarter and Pelicans went on a 13-0 run. The Warriors went cold from three and the Pelicans played fast and under control and made the Warriors pay in transition. The Pelicans also did a really good job rebounding and not letting the Warriors get second or third chances at a basket. Eventually the Warriors would return to their typically offense. Green hit 3 threes in the first half and has shown he'll make teams pay for leaving him open on the perimeter more often. He's shooting above 40% from three. He won't take a high volume of them, but it's a little bonus for the Warriors so far this season. I know I mention this every time I watch the Warriors play, but I still can't get over the gravity and attention Curry demands from a defense. He gets his teammates such easy buckets because of his movement and how much are on him at all times. A couple times when he would get an exit screen on the baseline the defenders would be so locked in on him that Wiggins or Jackson-Davis would slip or cut and get an easy layup because there's not back side help. Golden State using Curry as a screener is a problem for a lot of teams when he can get them open too. It causes a ton of miscommunication and teams offer don't switch is correctly and give up a bucket. The Pelicans would play really hard though. They had some good cuts and hit some timely shots to stay in the game after Golden State took the lead back. The Pelicans really wanted to put Curry in a lot of ball screens and get the mismatch on Ingram. Ingram did a good job of guiding the offense getting his teammates some good looks. Andrew Wiggins played really well for the Warriors in the first half. He hit a ton of shots and has played really well so far this year for them. He looks like he back to the Wiggins he was a couple years ago. Warriors need him to be at his best if they are going to compete. The Pelicans would go onto the break with a 63-62 advantage. Wiggins lead the Warriors with 19 points on 7/11 shooting and Curry had 12 points. Murphy had 15 points on 6/10 shooting from the floor. The Pelicans had 3 other players in double figures. The second half would start slow for both teams. The Warriors switched up their coverage on ball screens and played more drop with Jackson-Davis they've mainly blitzed or switched a lot of the ball screens throughout the season. The Warriors looked a lot better on defense with their rotations and stopping the initial surge from the Pelicans in transition. They do a really good job of swarming the ball and rotation out on shooters to pressure shots. Green does a really good job of knowing when to double team ball handlers and the Warriors in general do a really good job of protecting Curry in ball screen coverages. Curry's improved a lot as a defender and he's really good at hedging ball screens and getting back to his defender. The Pelicans really tried to get the switch of Curry on Ingram, but the Warriors didn't let it happen. The Warriors played well in the third quarter to take an 87-84 lead into the fourth. Curry, Green, and Wiggins all started on the bench for the Warriors in the 4th quarter and I think the Pelicans needed to take more advantage of when Curry is off the floor. The Warriors this season have a net rating of +5 when Curry is the on the bench and that's really allowed Steve Kerr to keep him fresh and rest throughout the season so far. The Warriors are +16 in net rating when Curry is on the floor. Buddy Hield also seems to love playing in this offense. He flies around and seems like a perfect fit in this offense for both himself and Golden State. Curry, Wiggins, and Green would all check in with about 7 minutes left in the game and Pelicans did not make much progress in cutting the lead down. The Pelicans again doubled Curry in the pick and roll with Green and he was able to hit Jackson-Davis for an easy cut. Another action I love is when Curry will just flick a pass form 15 feet away on the perimeter and just sprint after he passes it to the ball. The defense ahs a really hard time communicating and getting two defenders on him. Most of the time Curry's able to get a shot or an easy layup for his teammates. The Pelicans were able to stay in the game with some timely shots, but a Warriors stop and Wiggins free throws pushed the lead to 108-100 with about less then 2 minutes left. The Warriors tried to give them game away with missed foul shots and turnovers though. Murphy had a shot to win the game for the Pelicans, but missed and it the Warriors grabbed the rebound and hit two free throws to wrap the game up. The Warriors would go on the win 112-108. Wiggins had a season-high 30 points on 9/14 shooting from the field. Curry had 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Murphy had 24 points to lead the Pelicans. Ingram had 18 points and 7 assists, and Jeremiah Earl-Robinson had an impressive 19 points and 13 rebounds. He rebounded really well and played with a lot of energy for the Pelicans. They drop to 4-13 while the Warriors improve to 12-3 on the season.
Reaction
I've been saying this about the Warriors each time I watch them, but it's crazy well they play together. Steve Kerr has done a good job of playing the right combinations while keeping the depth of a 12 man rotations. An insane stat is in the 131 minutes Curry and Hield has played together this season the Warriors are +100 in those minutes pretty insane stuff. They pull and stretch the defense so much with their movement and shooting that it really opens the floor for everyone else. The defense is great. It's slipped a little bit to 5th overall, but the offense is still top 3 making them 2nd in net rating so far. I would say they are the most fun team to watch in the NBA.
The Pelicans might be heading towards the tank. It's unfortunate with the amount of injuries they have had so far this season, but sometimes that's a good thing. They're able to get some of the younger guys some playing time and help them develop to help them in the future. 4-13 is a really tough start to comeback from and make the playoffs, but I think the Pelicans are already looking towards next year. They're can still get a high draft pick given they have their own first round pick and own the Bucks firs round pick for 2025. They just need to play hard throughout the rest of the year and see where it gets them.
Nuggets vs Mavericks
The second leg of the double header consisted of the Dallas Mavericks visiting the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets have been without Nikola Jokic the previous three games for personal reasons, but he would return for this matchup. The Mavericks were without Luka Doncic who will be out for a week with a wrist injury. The Mavericks have been decent so far this season. The late game offense for them and getting timely stops not been good. They're 1-5 in clutch games and have struggled to close out teams so far this season. A lot of people counted out the Nuggets about 5 games into the season after they showed the shooting would be an issue for them. However, since then Nikola Jokic has put up MVP numbers averaging 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists, unreal number for the best players in the NBA currently. This matchup was a really fun one to watch and had some implications for the NBA Cup. If the Nuggets lost the Warriors would clinch a spot in the quarter finals by winning group C. Let's dive into the game.
Recap
The Nuggets opened with a lineup of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. Christian Braun, and Peyton Watson. They have been without Aaron Gordon for a little over 2 weeks now after he suffered a calf strain. The Mavericks opened with Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes, PJ Washington, and Dereck Lively. I was a little surprised at no Naji Marshall for the Mavericks, but Grimes isn't a bad defender and he's a much better shooter than Marshall, so I can understand starting Grimes. The change I've waited for the Mavericks to finally make is starting Lively over Gafford. It's very obvious that Lively is just better than Gafford and Jason Kidd seems to agree in starting Lively. The game started a little slow, but really picked up quick. The Mavericks seemed to make it an emphasis to get out and run when possible. Without Luka Doncic in the lineup, the ball seemed to move more and the pushes in transition were more noticeable. The Nuggets went and played through Jokic right away. The Mavericks decided to double him, but there's no defense that can stop Jokic on offense. He's too smart and too big to affect anything that he does inside of the three point line. As soon as the Mavericks doubled him he he was able to find cutters and shooters for some open looks. The Mavericks also took advantage of PJ Washington's size against Peyton Watson. The Mavericks have done this in the past and feel comfortable posting up Washington at the start of possessions playing out of it. He scored an early 8 points for the Mavs in the first couple minutes of the game. The Nuggets really showed a ton of help on Kyrie with no Luka in the lineup. Even in the middle of the floor Kyrie was seeing two defender at all times as the Nuggets played off, who they deemed to be not shooters. The Mavs however, didn't double Jokic at the nail on offense. He's a really tough spot when he caches it at the nail because he's so close to the basket so he can make an easy pass or basket, but it's Jokic nothing works. The Mavericks really pushed the pace in the first quarter and Nuggets transition defense overall was pretty bad. They gave up a lot of easy layups and catch and shoot threes too. The Mavs would lead the first quarter 33-31 after the Nuggets were down 8 to start. In the second quarter the Mavericks got after the Nuggets in the non-Jokic minutes. Saric in for Jokic was not good. He hasn't been terrible in the recent games, but he was pretty bad in this one. The Mavericks got whatever they wanted in the paint , he really put the Nuggets on the defense pretty early on. The Nuggets couldn't really get anything going and the Mavericks when on a 16-2 run. The role players for the Mavericks really stepped up when the Nuggets were doubling Kyrie and they made Denver pay for that. Role player production for the Mavericks has been a problem in the past and I think with Luka out of the lineup for a couple games it will give them a chance to start to get in a rhythm and hopefully continue that when he gets back. They really stretched out their lead and entered the break up 73-53. Naji Marshall played really well off the bench and had 15 points in the first half. Kyrie was very efficient and had 15 points in the first half. Jokic had 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in the first half. The Mavericks had 44 points in the paint in the first half and shot 61% from the floor. Jokic looked a little out of shape in the first half from missing the last three games and I'm starting to get worried about Jamal Murray. He's played the last couple of games without Jokic, but outside of that he has not been good this season. It also didn't help in the first half that Michael Porter Jr. played pretty poor too. The Mavericks scored the 4 points of the second half and I thought the Nuggets would give in, but they stayed strong and responded really well. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. started the second half well and keyed the Nuggets comeback big with some hot shooting. The Nuggets started to contest a lot more shots at the rim and really played well overall. They were able to go on a 27-6 run for about 8 minutes in the third quarter. They got out in transition and made a couple of shots that they missed in the first half. The Nuggets eventually got the lead down to 3 before Marshall hit a big three in the corner for the Mavs. Jokic responded with a nice post move. He played a lot of out of the post instead of the perimeter in the third quarter and the Mavericks had no answer for it all night. The Mavs entered the 4th quarter up 95-89. Marshall played really well towards the end of the 3rd quarter to keep the Mavs ahead. The Nuggets opened the 4th with Jokic on the bench, but played Deandre Jordan, instead of Dario Saric. Jordan is in his 17th NBA season and has not played a lot so far this season. The Mavs were able to get a three to push the lead to 98-89 and it felt like the Nuggets weren't going to come back without Jokic in the game. However, Russell Westbrook hit two huge threes for the Nuggets to get back into the game. They were able to cut the Mavs lead to 2 and get Jokic back in the game with 7 minutes left. The Nuggets physicality really changed the game for them. The bullied the Mavs on the inside and forced a lot of tough shots on the perimeter, and rebounded very well. The Mavs were in the bonus at the 7 minute mark though. Another Westbrook three cut the lead to 1 for the Mavs. The Mavs still responded well after each basket from the Nuggets. They hit a lot of big shots to keep a hold of the lead. The Nuggets however, eventually took the lead and were able to push it to 5. Jokic and Murray two man game was so good in the last 4 minutes of the game. I love when they set up screens for Jokic and post him deep on the block, or when he and Murray get into a handoff at the nail. It puts a ton of pressure on the opposition and Jokic always makes the right play. An ATO for the Nuggets involved a nice handoff into a backdoor and they wee able to push the lead to 5. PJ Washington was able to get back-to-back buckets including an and-1 to tie the game for the Mavs at 113. Lively came up with two huge blocks for the Mavs and Grimes free throws and a Washington bucket pushed the lead to 117-113 for the Mavericks. Westbrook closed the game for the Nuggets over Braun. At about 45 seconds Jokic hit an easy layup to cut the lead to 117-115. After a good double from Jokic, The Mavericks swung the ball to Naji Marshall and he hit a huge floater with about 20 seconds left to push the lead to 119-115 Mavs. Murray made a three with 7 second left to make it 119-118. The Nuggets fouled Kyrie and he made both free throws to make it 121-118. The Mavericks fouled Murray with 4 seconds left he made the first free throw, but tried to miss the second. He accidently made it and the Nuggets fouled Washington. He made both free throws and the Nuggets missed the half court heave. The Mavs pulled out a 123-120 victory. Naji Marshall had a career-high 26 points. PJ Washington had 22 points and 13 rebounds. Kyrie Irving had 19 points 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Jokic had 33 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists for his 5th straight triple-double. The Nuggets had all five starters in double figures and Westbrook had 16 points off the bench. The Nuggets were 15/29 from three and the Mavs had 66 points in the paint. The Mavs move to 9-7 and pick up a huge win, while the Nuggets drop to 8-6 on the season.
Reaction
Wow, what a game. Really lived up the hype and delivered. The Mavs pull out a much needed win and played very well. They got up in transition well and dominated the paint in this one. I think they need to clean up the defense a little bit, but after not blowing a 24 points lead, they'll feel good to get this one. They've got a difficult schedule coming up and will be hopeful to get Luka back. I think the time off will help Luka get back in the shape and help him as well as the role players on the Mavs. it's difficult playing next to Luka at first given how much he has the ball in his hands, but hopefully this well help the Mavs.
Tough loss for the Nuggets it's always nice to battle back after being down big, but I think they'll want to have this one back considering they were up 5 with the ball and about 3 minutes left in the game. However, I feel a little bit better about the Nuggets. Jokic is having the best year of his career so far and the shooting around him has picked up. Jamal Murray is still struggling and if he's not a number two option caliber, it'll hard for them win in the playoffs. However, maybe Jokic is just that good. Getting Aaron Gordon will be back soon and they'll help the non-Jokic minutes. The Nuggets offensive rating with Jokic on/off the floor is a difference as 32 points per 100 possessions and absurd stat. The Nuggets will be fine in the regular season after some early hiccups.
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