NBA roundup from Wild Wednesday - April 9th

Al Jefferson

By Ryan Rodriguez

With 12 games on the NBA docket last night and multiple playoff-like matchups taking place (including all four of the teams I will write about for our NBA preview playing), I decided a league pass viewing night was in order. Staggered start times allowed me to take in the majority of four games last night and they all turned out to be drama-filled, down to the wire games. After watching a bunch of college basketball where teams do their best to miss open jumpers and use all of their ridiculous 35 second shot clock, it was great to get back to watching basketball played at the highest order, where players and not coaches control the game. Without further ado, lets get to a rundown of the games.

Charlotte 94–88 Washington

With Washington being one of my teams for the playoffs, I wanted to catch one last full game of the Wiz before I write on them, and what better game to watch than their battle for the 6th seed with the Bobcats. In the first half, we can just say that the Wiz were doing everything in their power to make me regret watching this game and ever jumping on the Wiz bandwagon. As the lead ballooned to 20, I was facilitating between marveling at Al Jefferson’s brilliance and thinking about how the Wiz have gone from blowing every game late to now just getting blown out early. However, you could see the tide changing as the second quarter came to a close, as Marcin Gortat and John Wall made their presence felt within the game.

In the second half, the Wiz showed some great qualities (three point shooting aside), most importantly their defense, as they suffocated the Bobcats offense into missed shot after missed shot and mounted a comeback. They backed this with Gortat going beast mode and turning into the only efficient player on the floor, who finished with a line of 27 (13/18 FG) and 14, putting the team on his back as Trevor Ariza and Bradley Beal missed what seemed like shot after shot. However, the most impressive Wizard to me was John Wall, who has morphed into a lead guard who affects the team with leadership and will as much as skill. Just the way he took command in the second half, getting the Wiz the shots they needed as a facilitator, before knocking down a couple midrange J’s (yes I know, I was surprised) to force OT.

Alas, the Wiz do what the Wiz do best, and that was ultimately come unraveled at the end, being outscored 7-1 in the extra period. This game literally gave me the full Wiz experience, as they showed some horrible play, some grit, resiliency, and good play, before reminding me just how they can crumble at the end. It really came down to their lack of ability to consistently knock down jumpers, as Beal and Wall showed they still have work to do to reach a next level. Regression to the mean is expected in close games, suggesting the Wiz will not blow nearly as many late games in the future, but at this stage, I believe they are who they are this season and that is a team that is ultimately shaky down the stretch because they have trouble scoring. Also Randy Whitman sucks as a coach.

Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis 107–102 Miami

I didn’t pay as much attention to this game, but when I did, it was just what I would expect from two high caliber teams preparing for the playoffs. I know the other day I said I wanted the Grizz to miss the playoffs, but that was more out of their history with a fully healthy Spurs team than anything against them because they are awesome to watch. They are just full of players with huge hearts, led by Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Mike Conley, who made big shots and plays throughout the game that eventually pushed the Grizz over the top. Oh yeah, and Courtney Lee made a one-handed three with .07 on the clock, that was pretty sick. With the Heat resting multiple players once again, their culture and LeBron James really made this a game as LeBron just kept attacking and pulling fourth quarter lineups of him, Norris Cole, Justin Hamilton, Shane Battier, and Rashard Lewis to the brink of victory.

However, this was all about grit and grind, and for me, Mike Conley, and the overall jump he has made over the last two years. He literally can do it all to an above average extent, whether it be scoring, passing or defense, and yesterday, the 3s he hit in the fourth quarter were the dagger that Bron couldn’t overcome. And just like John Wall has complete control and command of the Wiz, Conley has the same feeling with the Grizz, and as you watch, you just feel calm and comfort every time the ball is in his hands. If the Grizz can crack the playoffs, watching a Conley-Tony Parker matchup will be a treat for any basketball fan, even if the Spurs run roughshod over the Grizz. And before I leave, I barely mentioned LeBron, but he was awesome again last night, just moving around and impacting the game in all ways imaginable. Pure joy to watch him play.

Portland 100–99 Sacramento

The Kings sure showed some grit last night, battling the Blazers on the second night of a back-to-back while missing two of their three best players, but in the end the Blazers have more talent and infinitely more 3-point shooters, which proved valuable in the last 10 seconds. For the Blazers, let’s just say, they better hope Dwight isn’t 100% if they play the Rockets in the first round because they aren’t the world beaters of the first half anymore. There is no way they should have had to battle against this Kings team, losing double digit leads multiple times and needing a Dorell Wright 3 with 7.6 seconds left to pull out the victory. The Kings pulled the perfect “tank” job, battling and keeping the game close before ultimately losing in the end, otherwise known as the final piece to getting over the hump and being a good team.

This game showed why I have little faith in the Blazers for the playoffs, as they are largely a jumpshooting team that can fall in love with their best skill and allow teams to comeback from deficits. These guys can shoot the lights out at times, but so many times I look up and see stat lines like LaMarcus Aldridge finishing with 22 points on 20 shots. As the Blazers went through lulls in their offense throughout the game, they fell back on their default habits of launching jumpers, when rim attacks and free throws are the best way to curtail a surging team. However, if I praise the Grizz grit for coming out on top, I have to mention the same for the Blazers who didn’t blink once the Kings came back, but rather calmly executed Terry Stotts’ play out of the timeout with 14 seconds left to get the aforementioned 3 by Wright. This kind of trust and trial under fire will serve them well in the playoffs when they need a big play to stop an eventual onslaught by a Western Conference offense.

As for the Kings, they showed some mental fortitude that is sometimes lacking, playing a reasonably good game when they had no reason to. Ray McCallum bounced back from a couple of rough games, welcoming the lack of traps and athletes the Blazers could throw at him and played really well (8 assists, 0 turnovers, 43 minutes), controlling the game for the Kings and doing what was needed on most possessions. Despite missing the final shot at the buzzer, he rarely forced the action and seems to be forming some synergy with fellow rookie Ben McLemore, who had himself another solid game last night. Boogie had a strong statline per usual (30 points, 12 rebounds) and played some strong defense, but he took 29 shots and seemed to have a shock collar on whenever Robin Lopez was in. For back-to-back nights, he has shied away from attacking big, true defensive centers, instead relying on his jumper to beat them. It’s fine for Boog to shoot jumpers, but he has fallen in love with them the last two nights, and it’s not a good sign to see him see a 7-footer on him and immediately run away from the paint. I know it sucks big guy, but you just gotta live in the paint.

Chris Paul #3 of the Los Angeles Clippers and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder greet each other after their game at Staples Center on April 9, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.

Oklahoma City 107–101 Los Angeles Clippers

This will not be a recap, so much as a marvel of athletic and basketball skill that I had the privilege to witness last night. As Randy Marsh would say, “My God”, that was such a fun game to watch. These two teams, at times, just seemed to overwhelm the television screen with athleticism, led by the greatest big man dunker of all time, DeAndre Jordan. If you haven’t seen his three first half dunks from last night, stop and watch these right now. Good, glad to have you back, because now I can tell you that KD and Blake and Russ and Serge all did things along these lines last night too. With apologies to Warriors fans and basically any other team’s fans that will be in the playoffs, this is the series I want to see above all. Four top 10 players, Serge threatening to make the leap into top 20, DJ, J Crossover, Grease Lightning (Matt Barnes), Reggie Jackson, and Steven Adams are all worth never taking your eyes off this potential series.

As for the game, it had runs where I was nodding my head in concurrence that this Thunder team is the class of the West, only to watch the Clippers come back time and again to make it a game. I have my doubts still about the Clippers as true title contenders, but they just keep whittling away at those doubts, such as this game where they took a full strength Thunder team, albeit on the second night of a back-to-back, to the brink, while not being full strength themselves. As the game was winding down, everyone seemed to be turning on Russ, who dominated the first quarter and carried the team as KD struggled from the field, but then tried his best to shoot the Thunder to a loss, only to go tip jam, rebound, free throws, rebound, free throws to end the game. It was just another example of how we need to let Russ be Russ.

I could go on and on about this game – Blake’s brilliance, CP3?s control at the end, Darren Collison’s blur-like drives, Serge’s flying defense, and KD’s will to battle back, but I wanna leave with the Thunder’s defense. They held the best offense in the league, per offensive rating from basketball-reference.com, to 42% shooting and left the Clippers generally discombobulated throughout the game. With KD and Russ, the Thunder get a lot of attention on their offense, but it really is their defense that makes them the title contender they are, as they employ a seemingly endless amount of long, freak athletes. Combine this with the freak athletes the Clippers have, and I only can hope the basketball gods don’t mess up this potential matchup.