Thursday Night's 8 game slate featured two fun games. The Cleveland Cavaliers would host the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors would host the Houston Rockets.
Cavaliers vs Nuggets
This game between the Cavaliers and Nuggets is a fun cross conference matchup. The Cleveland Cavaliers are off to the best start in franchise history, but recently dropped two consecutive games to the Hawks, before winning their last two games and dominating the Wizards before this matchup. The shooting is real, the bench depth is great, and Kenny Atkinson has his team playing at a high level. The Nuggets got a much needed comeback win against the Warriors Tuesday night. They recently just got Aaron Gordon back and have looked good with him. Nuggets in the midst of a tough stretch of games. Let's dive into the action.
Recap
The Cavaliers would put out a lineup of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Isaac Okoro, Evan Mobley, and Jared Allen. The Nuggets would match with Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr, Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic. The key matchup in this one would be how the Cavaliers would defend Jokic. They have the personal with Mobley and Allen to duplicate the map the Minnesota Timberwolves laid out last year in the playoff on how to slow down Jokic. Taking away Aaron Gordon as a lob threat, while being able to have a roaming big around the basket is the ideal plan to defend Jokic, but not every team has two 7 footers to roll out. To start the game either Allen or Mobley would play Jokic in single coverage and try and limit the amount of playmaking for others. He's one of the best passers in the league. The Cavaliers have really played around with the third guard position in the starting lineup, Ty Jerome, Caris LeVert, Dean Wade, and Okoro have all gotten opportunities to start the game. At the beginning of the year it was Okoro, but the limited shooting leaves him as a liability on offense, however his defense is very good for the Cavaliers. The Cavs started out the game very strong and shot the ball very well in this one. They are really good at passing the ball and moving the defense around. They do a really good job of creating open looks from the perimeter and is part of the reason why they are shooting 41% from three as a team this season. The biggest factor for the Cavs this season has been the Garland/Allen tandem. Both of these guys have taken their games to the next level this season and have really looked good this season. Garland's shooting numbers have been awesome and Evan Mobley's aggressiveness and passing ability has helped elevate the Cavs offense. This increase in offense has allowed them to rest Donovan Mitchell and keep his minutes down. For the Nuggets they really struggled guarding the ball screens of the Cavs and stopping them in transition. They give up a ton of paint points and the Cavs are one of the best teams in the league finishing around the basket. Caris LeVert came in off the bench and gave the Cavs a huge boost to end the first quarter. He scored 14 straight points as Cleveland took a 37-27 lead after the first quarter. The Nuggets would battle back in the second quarter attacking the basket. I still am worried about Jamal Murray and I know I say this every Nuggets game, but it's very noticeable on the floor and something the Nuggets need to figure out. The 2nd quarter was super up and down as both teams got out in transition. The Nuggets did a little better in the non-Jokic minutes, but the stats are still glaring when he's on the floor vs off the floor. Gordon and MPJ did a good job of keeping the Nuggets in it, but the Cavs knocked down a ton of threes. They were shooting the lights out of the ball. They generate about 20 open threes according to second spectrum and shoot 46% from three on those shots, both top 3 in the league. The Cavs also do a great job of staggering the Allen/Garland and Mitchell/Mobley minutes very well. Each of these tandems have over 500 minutes played with each other for far this season and part of the reason the offense rarely dips with 2 of them out of the game. The other reason is it always seems like someone on the bench steps up for them. Every game a different person is hitting 3 or more threes and providing them with great defense. Having a deep bench and depth overall in the NBA is a huge game changer. The Cavs would end the first half leading 66-62. LeVert lead the way with 16 for the Cavs and Mitchell and Mobley both had 13 and 12 points. Jokic lead the way for Denver with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists. Taking about covering Jokic and actually doing it are two different things and he had his way in single coverage. Dean Wade would start the second half for Cavs. Okoro injured his knee in the first half and would not return for the remainder of the game. A couple things I noticed with the Cavs in the second half was the timing of their passes and the amount of pick and rolls they run. They pass when the defense moves towards them to stunt and it's like the pass is hitting the hands of the receiver before as the defense is stunting towards the ball handler. The second thing is the amount of pick and rolls they run. They have the highest pick and roll frequency in the league according to second spectrum and both Garland and Mitchell average over 1 point per possession in the pick and roll which is considered very good. Ty Jerome off the bench averages 1.26 points per possession, but on less volume, still a very good number though. The movement when Allen and Mobley roll is timed very well and pulls a lot of the needed to coverage the roller and ball handler. The Cavs hot shooting continued much throughout the third quarter and they made life more difficult for Jokic in the second half. While the Cavs did show Jokic a little bit of resistance and mixed of the coverages against him, he did miss some shots he usually makes, but they were tougher shots. The Cavs would roll into the third quarter with a 102-87 lead. The Nuggets kept it close throughout the third quarter, but the Cavs shooting extended the lead towards the end of the quarter. I do like for the Nuggets when Jokic goes to the bench they play a little bit faster. Part of this is due to Westbrook coming in for him, but I think the idea of trying to play a little bit different of a game for Denver when Jokic sits is a good idea. Ultimately a couple of Cavs runs would put this game away as the Cavs when on to win 126-114. Jokic finished with a monster 27 points, 20 rebounds, and 11 assists. He passed Magic Johnson for 3rd all time in triple-doubles. Mitchell finished with 28 points, Garland has 24 points, LeVert had 21 points, and Mobley had 20 points for the Cavaliers. The Cavs shot 22/48 from three and the Nuggets shot 6/24 from three. The Nuggets dropped to 11-9 and Cleveland improved to 20-3 on the season.
Reaction
A lot to like about the Cavs. The offense is great they push the pace well, get up a ton of threes, and move the ball super well. All of that has do with why they are the number 1 offense in the NBA so far this season. The Mitchell/Mobley and the Garland/Allen tandems are +103 and +70 for the season. Given that at least one of these tandems will be on the floor as all times, it's a good sign for the Cavs. Nonetheless, great win for the Cavs.
Tough loss for the Nuggets who are in a difficult stretch of their schedule right now. The three point shooting is a noticeable weakness and especially the quantity. Making 6 threes and scoring a 114 points is impressive, but they were outscored by 48 from the three point line in this one. The Jamal Murray experience has been rough this year and has been something that started in the playoffs last year and has continued throughout the start of this season.
Warriors vs Rockets
The last game of the night had a fun little rivalry game between the Warriors and Rockets. These teams have met a ton in the past ten years in the playoffs with some memorable regular season games as well. The Rockets come into this one with a questionable loss to the Kings, but beat the Thunder is take control of second place in the Western Conference over Memphis and Dallas. The Warriors have been struggling and are on a 5 game losing streak right now. They have collapsed in a couple of these games and have not looked good towards the end of games. The defense has been giving up a ton of points an the offense has been bad as well. The Nuggets outscored them 21-6 over the last 6 minutes of the games and really caused the Warriors a lot of problems. They would look to snap the losing streak a jump back into the playoff picture. Let's dive into the action.
Recap
The Warriors would be without Steph Curry and Draymond Green in this one. Both of those guys are the leaders and lead the team in plus minus this year. The Rockets would be without Tari Eason in this one as well. He's been great this season for Houston. Buddy Hield, Brandin Podziemski, Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, and Kevon Looney would start for the Warriors. The Rockets put out the traditional lineup of Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, and Jabari Smith Jr. The overall game was a rock fight and the first quarter indicated that from the start of the game. Jonathan Kuminga was really the only player on both sides to play well in the beginning of the game. It's also worth noticing Looney started over Jackson-Davis again for Golden State. Earlier in the season Jackson-Davis was starting, however Looney has started the last couple of games for the Warriors. Warriors have a 104 defensive rating with Looney on the floor and 120 defensive rating with Jackson-Davis in the game. The Rockets seemed a little slow on both ends of the floor early on. They do a good job of cutting off of Sengun, but early in the game they did not move very well around him. I do like the Jokic offensive hub comparisons, but he's obviously a little less skilled in pretty all skills, however still a very good player. That's more of a compliment to Jokic than anything. He's great at finishing around the basket, but sometimes he does struggle. He's a little smaller than Jokic so he doesn't have the ability to do a simple hook shot over defenders like Jokic does, but he still is very good finishing around the basket. The physicality of the game was very noticeable early on as well. Both teams missed the open shots they got and it was a rough start to the quarter. The Rockets would take a 22-18 lead after the first quarter due to the Amen Thompson minutes. Thompson has been great for Houston for far this season and has been a main reason why the defense has been awesome. He's taken on the best challenges this year and really gotten into player on that end of the floor. Obviously the offense and specifically shooting is a working progress. He does take corner threes with confidence though and is a really good cutter that Sengun finds a lot. He brings a ton of value Houston when he's in the game. The Rockets would take a 22-18 lead into the 2nd quarter. The Rockets experimented a little bit with Thompson as a screen and it was really awesome to watch. He's a good passer and has a great feel for the game. It's something the Rockets could take a look at with Sengun on the bench. They have an offensive rating of 106 when Sengun in on the bench. The Warriors started taking control of the game through their defense. They are physical on the ball. They do a great job of trapping in ball screens and get a lot of deflections for some easy transition baskets or to prolong the offensive team. The Warriors offense however really struggles without Green and definitely struggled without Curry. With Curry on the floor they have an offensive rating of 121 and 104 with him off the floor. Just another stat showing how important he is to Golden State. Golden State went into halftime with a 49-43 lead. Wiggins leads the Warriors with 15 points and Kuminga had 10 points. The Rockets were lead by Amen Thompson with 11 points and Dillon Brooks with 10 points. Wiggins has been awesome this season for Golden State and has returned to the All-star form he showed in 2022. His shooting has really helped the Warriors when Steph is out of games. The Warriors came off out halftime shooting the ball extremely well. Including the last 2 minutes of the first half the Warriors went on a 17-3 run to take a 10 point lead. The Rockets offense still feels like it's missing a just a knock down shooter. Similar to how OKC was views this past offseason. I think these teams are kind of similar. The Rockets are in desperate need of shooting, because it is a clear weakness for them. However, they make up for it in rebounding. They do a great job of getting on the glass and lead the team in rebounding se far this season. Typically teams who choose this route, like the 2022 Grizzlies, have not faired well in the playoffs, but that remains to be seen. The Rockets would cut into the lead due to Jalen Green. He was able to get to the foul line and really push the pace in transition for the Houston offense to get jump started. The Warriors however, would close out the 3rd quarter leading 73-66. The 4th quarter showed how good Jonathan Kuminga has been this season for Golden State. The scoring and efficiency are a tick down, but I think part of that has to do with the deep rotation. He's a rhythmic player and having the constant substitutions I think messes with it a little bit. In the 4th quarter he was awesome for Golden State. He handles the ball a lot and initiated the offense a lot as well. He got a little out of control at times, but overall he was really good at attacking switches on screens and Sengun in drop coverage. Jalen Green after a solid 3rd quarter was not good at the end of the game. He was super out of control and made some bad passes and really looked out of control at times with the ball in his hands. It still baffles me how he's not an All-star with the talent he has and the physical tools he possesses. He rushed a layup against Looney and then threw a bad turnover when he got caught in the air against Looney at the end of the game. The Warriors half court offense was pretty bad towards the end of the 4th quarter, so was the Rockets. Two teams, who are god on defense in the half court are going to hard to score on in a slow paced game like this one was. A Kuminga layup over Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks gave the Warriors a 98-93 lead after Sengun bucket on a baseline out of bounds. Warriors played phenomenal defense on the next possession and clinched a 99-93 win over Houston. Kuminga had a career-high 33 points and Andrew Wiggins had 23 points for the Warriors. The Rockets had 5 player in double figures, but no one played great in this one. The Warriors also outrebounded the Warriors 54-45 as well. The warriors moved into 5th place in West with a record of 13-8 and the Rockets fall into a tie for second place with Memphis and Dallas at 15-8.
Reaction
A much needed win for the Warriors and a much needed game for Jonathan Kuminga. He was awesome in this one and made a ton of plays down the stretch for Golden State. Having no Curry and Green, it was crucial someone stepped up in the win. I would still like to see more Buddy Hield movement. I feel like at times he was standing in the corner a little bit too much and I feel like adding in his movement could create should drive lanes and other long close outs for other. Nonetheless, a much needed win snaps the 5 game losing streak. The Warriors will likely get Curry and Green back for the next game.
A tough loss for the Rockets, who have now dropped 2 straight games, after moving into 2nd in the Western Conference. The overall shooting is a little bit of a concern. Smith, Brooks, and Holiday off the bench have been really good this year from behind the line, but overall the Rockets are not a good shooting team. Reed Sheppard could help in this department, but his minutes are down due to the needed defensive commitment. The game doesn't look fast for him, but being an undersized guard in the NBA is really tough on anyone especially rookies. His minutes have been a little down, even with Eason out in this one. I still think Houston is very good. The defense is real and gives everyone they play trouble. Sengun has been good this season and I think Smith and Green taking some steps forward as well have really been good for the Rockets. They'll look to bounce back after a tough loss in this one though.
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