Wednesday night's ESPN double header brough two pretty fun matchups in the New York Knicks vs the Dallas Mavericks and the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Mavericks vs Knicks
Wednesday night had a 14 game slate for the night and this one was an interesting matchup between two title contender hopefuls. The Knick are coming off their best team offensive game of the season vs the Nuggets, putting up a 145 points and the offense flowed super well together and it was one of the best games the Knicks had played this season. Defense is still a little questionable with the wing defenders and KAT protecting the paint, but the offense is legit. The Mavericks have been playing some great team basketball the last 4 games. They've been without Luka Doncic and have had a lot of people step up and make a lot of big shots and plays. The defense has come around and getting back PJ Washington has really helped the rebounding numbers as well. Let's dive into the recap.
Recap
The Mavericks would be shorthanded in this one. They were without Luka Doncic, Klay Thompson, and Daniel Gafford. They started with Kyrie Irving, Quentin Grimes, Naji Marshall, PJ Washington, and Dereck Lively. The Knicks rolled out the usual lineup of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Karl Anthony-Towns. To start the game Lively and KAT matched up on each other. I thought this was a little interesting given the Mavericks have looked at putting Lively on non-shooters to roam off of, but putting him on KAT worked early on and stopped the KAT-Brunson pick and roll very well. Mikal Bridges opened on Kyrie and the Knicks made sure Kyrie saw multiple defenders throughout the whole game. They showed really hard at the midline when he was up top and made sure he was giving the ball up as well. The Knicks showed a soft double to try and get the ball out of his hands early on. They also tried to force him baseline anytime he was in the middle. The Mavericks on defense were pretty content with switching a lot of the actions and the Knicks posted up Mikal Bridges on Kyrie a couple times in the beginning. Bridges wasn't able to make the Mavericks pay and it forced some trouble for the Knicks. The game started off very slow. Both teams missed a couple easy shots to start and it seemed to give both defenses some confidence in the beginning of the game. The Mavs especially forced a lot of really difficult shots from the Knicks and offense as a whole looked pretty stagnant throughout the whole game. The Mikal Bridges experience for the Knicks so far this season just has not gone the way they envisioned I think. The three point shooting is down and the defense has been pretty below average from what we expect from Bridges. He's getting beat on drives very easily and his length really hasn't bothered anyone either. The Knicks really need to get him going if they want to win games. The Knicks first quarter offense was pretty bad and it allowed the Mavericks to get out in transition and get some easy baskets and really push the lead. The Knicks cold shooting continued throughout the entire first quarter and the Mavs took a 28-15 lead at the break. The Mavs strong defense continued well into the second quarter too. The 1 on 1 defense and the help side rotations were really on point against the Knicks. They made the Knicks hesitate whenever they got the ball and it just felt like the flow overall from the Knicks offense seemed indecisive, on top of that, they missed some easy shots as well. The Mavs transition got going in the 2nd quarter. The correlation between getting stops on defense and transition basket is usually pretty high and the Mavs really pushed the pace well and hit the shots they needed to. They went on a 16-2 in the 2nd quarter and were up 46-22 at one point. The strong defense would continue throughout the rest of the half and you could see the frustration it was causing for KAT. He was very animated throughout the first half and OG Anunoby was 0/9 in the first half. None of his shots looked like they had a chance to go in. Naji Marshall had a fantastic first half. He has been amazing for the Mavericks since Luka went down with injury. He got off to a slow start shooting the ball and probably needed to adjust playing next to Luka. He's been great on offense and defense the last week and a half. The Mavericks took a 60-38 lead into the break. Brunson was the only Knick to look good in the first half. He had 16 points to lead the New York. Marshall had 14 points, Kyrie had 12 points, and Washington had 12 points to lead to Mavericks. The Knicks shot 26% from the field in the first half. The second half saw the Knicks come out with much more energy and fought back in the game. The Mavericks however, were able to withstand it. I loved the Mavs energy throughout the whole game. They play really well in front of the home crowd and Jason Kidd can always motivate his team throughout games. The Knicks however, would not go quietly. Both Towns and Brunson were super aggressive and tried to will New York back into the game. They were able to string a couple of stops together and get out in transition to can some easy baskets, unlike in the first half. The Mavericks, however would answer and seemed to hit a big shot when the Knicks looked like they could get back in the game. The Mavs would lead 90-71 after three quarters. The 4th quarter would go pretty similar to the previous 3 quarters. The Mavericks energy and talk was excellent throughout the whole game and it really felt like the Knicks were surprised with how difficult everything was for them on offense. KAT was seeing multiple defenders in the post, Anunoby looked uncomfortable on basically every shot, and Bridges and Hart did not finish well at all in the paint. The combination of Washington and Marshall has been fantastic for the Mavericks in the last week. Marshall has had 20+ in 4 consecutive games and the shooting and attacking on the offensive end has been everything they've wanted from him. Washington has been great on offense and has really picked up some difficult matchups on defense and played well. The sequence that put the nail in the coffin was Washington getting a block on KAT and Marshall had a dunk on the other end of the floor. The Mavs would eventually go on to win 129-114. Kyrie lead the balance Mavs attack with 23, Marshall had 24, Dinwiddie had 21 off the bench, Grimes had 21, and Washington had 19 points and 10 rebounds. For the Knicks Brunson had 37 points, KAT had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and Bridges had 20 points. The Mavericks move to 11-8 and are hopeful they will have Luka Doncic in their next game. The Knicks drop to 10-8 after the embarrassing loss.
Reaction
This 4 game stretch for the Mavericks has been fantastic for them. I think the time off for Luka will serve him good and we will see him be more efficient in future games. Naji Marshall has been amazing and a main reason why the Mavericks have been able to win these games without Luka. He's had at least 20 points in 4 consecutive games, like I mentioned earlier he's been great at making threes and defense really fits the Derrick Jones Jr. hole that they had last season. Overall, great win for the Mavericks we will look to go on a run and back into the top 6 in the West.
Sometimes the ball doesn't go your way if you're the Knicks, but the offense has been super up and down the last couple games. Obviously when they make shots they look great, but when they aren't it doesn't feel like the defense can keep them in games when they have droughts. Like I've said for the Knicks before the defense needs to improve if they want to try and compete with the top of the East. The connection between KAT and Brunson looks good, but Bridges and KAT really need to help the Knicks on defense if they want to win important games in May.
Thunder vs Warriors
The top of the Western Conference was up for grabs in the night cap of ESPN's double header. The Thunder and Warriors, who have already met once this season, faced off against each other. The Thunder are off to a great start and haven't even had the chance to roll out the tandem of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein yet. The Thunder have dealt with a lot of injuries to the center position that has put them into some interest lineup combinations. Hartenstein returned in their recent games and provided the much needed rebounding for them. The Warriors are 2nd in the Western Conference and off to a better than expected start to the year. The depth and defense has been the talk of the Warriors so far and has been something they've really leaned on to give Steph Curry and Draymond Green a chance at winning a 5th championship. Let's dive into the action.
Recap
Warriors would be without Steph Curry in this one. He was dealing with some knee soreness, it does not sound like it is serious and was just a management game for his injury. The Warriors started the game with Brandin Podziemski, Andrew Wiggins, Lindy Waters, Jonathan Kuminga, and Draymond Green. They did not start Trayce Jackson-Davis in this one and it seemed to be the right call. The Thunder started Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Isaiah Joe, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jalen Williams, and Lu Dort. The start of the game was pretty quick for both teams and the Thunder did well against the tough Warriors offense. The Warriors player and ball movement is the best in the NBA and something that has been a staple of their offense over the last 9 years. This matchup had a couple of games within the game that would be telling. The Thunder do not rebound the ball well on offense or defense, something the Warriors do very well and OKC getting Hartenstein back would definitely help. The Warriors turn the ball over are an extremely high rate and the Thunder force a ton of turnovers. These two factors would be key to focus on throughout the game. The start of the game would be a very fast paced up and down track meet for both teams. Andrew Wiggins knocked down a couple of threes to start and he's been great shooting the ball so far this season. He's averaging 17 points a game on 41% shooting from 3 and the Warriors have defensive rating of 106.9 when he's on the floor. He's really pick up his play after a pretty average last two seasons. The Warriors started out trapping Shai in ball screens. Draymond does a really good job of not overcommitting in the trap and recovering to his man well. Hartenstein, I think was missed a lot on offense, not only because of rebounding, but of his screening and rolling in the pick and roll. His screens were able to get Jalen Williams, and Shai open for some easy baskets and putting some pressure on the defenses rotations. Him lurking in the dunker spot as well can cause problems with how well he uses his floater to finish plays. Jalen Williams got off to a great start to the game. He is one of the better two-way players in the NBA and I think is some how underrated on both sides of the ball. He guards 1-5 and is super efficient in putting up 20+ a game for the Thunder, he's super underrated in terms of being a great two-way player in the league. He's averaging a career-high 21.6 points a game on 52/40 splits. Warriors had a cold shooting start to the game and it keyed the Thunder transition offense. OKC got out and was able to get some easy baskets. OKC is one of the league leaders in fastbreak points at 16.2 a game. The Warriors got some good looks, but just couldn't knock down the shots. The Thunder really started to spread out the Warriors with some 5 out and Trayce Jackson-Davis had a lot of difficulty defending in space. The Thunder did a good job switching the Warriors action on offense and rebounded well. They took a 39-23 lead after the 1st quarter. The Warriors would respond well in the 2nd quarter and create some easier opportunities for themselves. They started trapping with more intensity in the pick and roll and forced some OKC turnovers. Buddy Hield and Pat Spencer off the bench really helped the Warriors get back into the game. Hield's movement really opened up driving lanes for the Warriors. When he was coming off screens the man guarding the ball would slide to take away the drive right as Hield was getting the ball and Hield would immediately hit the passer once it got to him. The passer would then have a wide open driving lane to attack the defense. This just highlights how difficult it is to cover a high-level shooter in the Warriors offense. Pat Spencer has played in 3 games this season and provided the Warriors with some great minutes in this one. The Thunder, however, would response very well and went on an 11-0 run. Shai started to get rolling in the 1-on-1 matchups he faced and pushed the Thunder lead to 19 at one point. Before the half the Warriors would go on a run to close to the lead before the half. Jalen Williams got poked in the eye on a Jonathan Kuminga dunk just before halftime. He would not return in the second half for the Thunder. OKC lead 62-50 at halftime. Shai had 19 points and Williams had 13 points. Wiggins had 11 points, Kuminga had 10 points, and Hield had 11 points off the bench. The Thunder started out in a zone and would mix it in throughout the entirety of the second half. Hartenstein would pick up his 4th foul and would need to go to the bench early in the second half. No Hartenstein and Williams in the game would really hurt OKC as the Warriors started to get on the glass and finish a lot of drives in the paint. They would get back in the game with some press and zone defense as well. The press mainly just ate up the shot clock and stagnated the OKC offense for much of the second half. Hartenstein would return, but quickly picked up his 5th foul. The Warriors energy and defense really picked up and OKC did not have an answer for it. Kuminga off the bench for Golden State played great defense on Shai and attacked the basket well in the third quarter. The Warriors would the lead cut to 1 entering the fourth quarter with OKC leading 84-83. The 4th quarter was a rock fight and honestly felt like a playoff game with the intensity from both teams. The Warriors showed a little twist to their signature splits actions. Instead of the bottom guys screening for the top guy, they would flare the bottom guy to the top and were able to get to some slips from the screener. The OKC offense was pretty stagnant and it mainly just stayed in Shai's hands the entire 4th quarter. The Warriors forced him into some tough three and he wasn't able to score as easy in the mid range. the Warriors really made him work for everything in the second half. Kyle Anderson had a huge and-1 to put the Warriors up 96-93, but the Thunder would respond with a 7-0 run capped, by a Shai side-step three to make it 100-96 with about a minute and 30 seconds left. Neither team scored much in the half court and the defense's physicality was great on both ends. Hartenstein was able to stop Hield in a 1 on 1 and the Thunder were able to get a stop. A Wiggins three cut into the OKC lead to make it 102-101 with about 30 seconds left, but the Thunder made a three to seal the game. They would go to win 105-101. Shai had 35 to lead the Thunder and the Warriors had 7 players in double figures. The Thunder moved a game clear of the Rockets for 1st place in the Western conference at 14-4 and the Warriors dropped to 3rd in the conference with a record of 12-6.
Reaction
It really felt like the Warriors would pull this one out after the third quarter and no Jalen Williams for the Thunder, but OKC stayed strong and Shai made some big plays down the stretch of the game. They move to 14-4, and have the best record in the West. Hartenstein really makes a difference for this team with his physicality in the post and with his rebounding. He's fit in well next to the rest of the lineup. The OKC offense however, has seemed little stagnant recently. They haven't look quite as smooth and some of it has to do with some poor shooting from three. Caruso, didn't play in this one, but he's been very poor shooting from the field. Hopefully he can going and help the OKC offense as they only have a rating of 113 which is in the bottom half of the league.
The Warriors have now lost 3 in a row and some have been very questionable. The recent Spurs and Nets losses had some 4th quarter collapses and feels like games they need to close out. They've now dropped to 3rd in the West after being in 1st for the last week. The outside shooting from Podziemski has not been good so far this season he's shooting under 40% from the field and 20% from three. Lindy Waters has also cooled off a little bit after the hot start, but getting Curry back should help the offense. Besides, shooting 37% from three as a team is still really good, but overall I'd just like to see the Warriors put away games when they have 4th quarter lead, it will make it a lot easier for them in the future.
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