Between work parties and holiday gatherings, travel and time off, it can be tough to keep up with the NBA in late December. But the league itself never sleeps, which was reinforced this holiday season, with two major news items dropping on Christmas Eve before a full slate of games on Christmas Day.
In case you missed anything, let's take a look back at the biggest stories of the holiday period and their impact so far.
Dec. 15: Kings fire Mike Malone
After some initial confusion, it's become clear that Malone was fired despite Sacramento starting the season 11-13 on his watch, not because of it. The real issue inside the Kings' front office was frustration with Malone's defensive-minded, isolation-heavy style of play. Sacramento has indeed played faster since Tyrone Corbin took over as head coach (averaging 99.4 possessions per 48 minutes, up from 95.7, per NBA.com/Stats), but it hasn't resulted in much offensive improvement; the team was averaging a 103.1 offensive rating and has scored 103.9 points per 100 possessions under Corbin.
Any offensive upgrade would be undermined by a defensive collapse. Under Malone, the Kings ranked 19th in defensive rating at 104.2 points allowed per 100 possessions (and better still with a healthy DeMarcus Cousins). Since the coaching change, Sacramento has dropped to 28th in defensive rating (111.6), ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks.
Worse yet, Cousins has had a tough time containing his frustration about the change in direction, which has bled over into his effort on the court -- or lack thereof. Cousins is the most important individual in the Kings' organization, and the front office will have to sell him that better results are coming. Sacramento may have been right to question Malone's style, but at this point -- with Corbin apparently in charge the remainder of the season -- it's hard to argue it made sense to change coaches when and how the Kings did.
Dec. 18: Rajon Rondo traded to Mavericks
The season's biggest trade thus far sent Rondo from the Boston Celtics to the Dallas Mavericks. So far through eight games, the move has had an even more dramatic impact than expected. The Mavericks, on pace for the best offensive season in NBA history, have been better on defense than offense with Rondo relative to their opponents' season-long performance.
Mavs before and after Rondo trade
*Adjusts for location as well as opponent
Certainly, Dallas was hoping for better balance with Rondo replacing Jameer Nelson at point guard. Rondo, who told reporters ahead of Friday's return to Boston "I haven't played defense in a couple years," has done so for the Mavericks. Rondo's size, wingspan and strength have helped Dallas play defense at a top-10 rate over the limited sample.
Greater balance has also been a product of the Mavericks' attack slowing down. Dallas was a below-average offensive team when adjusted for opponents over Rondo's first five games with the team. The past three games have seen the Mavericks' offense return to form, and the results (a 27-point win over Washington, an 18-point win at Boston and a 19-point win at Cleveland) show what Dallas was hoping to achieve with Rondo.
Dec. 24: Anderson Varejao ruled out for season with ruptured Achilles
On Christmas Eve, an MRI revealed that the Cleveland Cavaliers' starting center had suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Obviously, Varejao's injury isn't the only reason the Cavaliers have gone 2-5 since then. Cleveland has played each of those seven games without either Kyrie Irving or LeBron James due to their own short-term injuries. However, we can still isolate the impact of losing Varejao by looking at the Cavaliers' frontcourt combos.
With Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson together up front, Cleveland has been outscored by 6.4 points per 48 minutes since Varejao's injury, according to NBA.com/Stats. Take either of those players off the floor and that mark drops all the way to minus-11.2 points per 48 minutes. (It's basically the same with Love and Thompson as the lone starting big man.) Small-ball lineups have worked in stretches, but the Cavaliers have been outscored by 20 points in the 38 minutes either Lou Amundson or Brendan Haywood has been on the court. Cleveland desperately needs to make a move to add a third reliable big man.
Dec. 26: Rockets sign Josh Smith
Houston was 21-7 when Smith agreed to sign as a free agent after clearing waivers, and with him in the lineup the Rockets are 3-3. The J-Smoove Curse strikes! Well, not exactly. Houston was overdue to lose some close games, and that's mostly what's happened since adding Smith. Remarkably, back-to-back losses at San Antonio and at home to Washington were the Rockets' first two of the year by five points or fewer. (Houston was 7-0 in such games.) Friday's 28-point loss at New Orleans is more troubling for Houston, but the team bounced back to beat Miami by 36 a night later.
At the same time, anyone hoping for Smith to be revitalized with the Rockets has been disappointed. The most evident change in his style under "Moneyhoops" has been Smith cutting down on his long 2-pointers. He's attempted just four 2-pointers from beyond 16 feet, per Basketball-Reference.com, good for 8.2 percent of his shot attempts. More than a quarter of Smith's shot attempts in Detroit were long 2-pointers. However, Smith is getting even fewer attempts at the rim; he's mostly traded those long 2s for non-layups inside the paint or just outside it, which he's hit at about the same rate as long 2s over the course of his career.
News and notes
• The Atlanta Hawks took another step toward establishing their credibility as contenders with a 115-107 win Saturday night in Portland. With the win, and Toronto's three-game losing streak, the Hawks are in first place in the East for the first time since December 1997.
While Atlanta has enjoyed a relatively easy schedule over the course of the season -- the Hawks' slate of opponents and home/road split ranks 27th out of 30 teams in difficulty -- that hasn't been the case during the team's surge up the standings. In fact, Atlanta's schedule has been the second hardest over the past three weeks. Nine of the Hawks' past 10 opponents would be playoff teams if the season ended on Monday, and Atlanta has gone 8-1 in those games (plus 1-0 against the one lottery foe, the Utah Jazz). The Hawks won't get a respite the next two games: They close out a three-game West Coast swing Monday night against the Clippers in L.A., then return home to host the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.
• After going 7-12 through the start of December despite playing 12 of their first 19 games on the road, the Orlando Magic looked like contenders for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But home hasn't been so sweet for Orlando, which has lost three in a row and six of its past seven in the shadow of the Magic Kingdom -- many by lopsided margins. While the Magic have mixed in some road wins, they rate ahead of only the Philadelphia 76ers in schedule-adjusted point differential over the past three weeks, a troublesome sign for a team hoping to show signs of progress in the rebuilding process.
Remarkably, Orlando's starting five has actually outscored opponents by 2.6 points per 100 possessions in that span, according to NBA.com/Stats. The problem has come when rookie Elfrid Payton has hit the bench, leaving Victor Oladipo at point guard. The Magic have been outscored by 19.0 points per 100 possessions with Payton on the bench over the past 11 games, and they're averaging just 90.7 points per 100 possessions on offense with Oladipo or veteran Luke Ridnour at the point. It may be time for Orlando to concede that Oladipo simply isn't a lead ball handler.
• ESPN's Israel Gutierrez spotlighted the strong play of Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who had 11 points, 10 boards and five blocks on Sunday and is averaging 13.7 points, 13.2 rebounds and 4.4 blocks per 36 minutes in 11 games since signing with Miami as a free agent. Whiteside projected well coming out of college, and is precisely the type of player contenders should be giving a shot. For example, with the benefit of hindsight, Whiteside would have been a perfect fit for Cleveland's frontcourt needs.
While not every gamble on a D-Leaguer with promise is going to work out -- most won't -- savvy teams like the Rockets and Spurs recognize the value in cycling through a series of fringe prospects. When they hit, such players prove tremendous bargains for teams with limited money to spend in free agency.
Weekly top 5: Stuart Scott catchphrases
5. Booyah!
4. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing
3. Break him off something proper
2. You see, what had happened was ...
1. Cooler than the other side of the pillow
RIP, Stuart.