It's Friday, and that means we highlight 10 things I like and dislike from across the NBA! This week, we look at Luka Doncic and the Mavs maybe, possibly, getting right, a rookie second-round steal in Chicago, and feistiness from LaMelo Ball and the surging Hornets.
1. Are the Mavs finding the right identity, or are they stuck?
Before the season, I picked the Mavs as my "if everything goes right, this is the under-the-radar candidate to sneak into the Finals" team. Zero teams want any part of Doncic in a playoff series. If his jumper is falling -- and it hasn't been for much of this season -- he has a counter for every scheme.
Of course, everything has not gone right. Doncic showed up in less than pristine shape, and dealt with ankle issues. Kristaps Porzingis has missed 16 games. The entire roster forgot how to shoot. They fell to 15-17. The three teams atop the West outperformed expectations, making a long Dallas playoff run seem like a pipedream.
Plot twist! The Mavs are 13-4 in their last 17 games, and their defense has rocketed up to No. 5 overall. They've benefited from some cold opponent shooting, but the underlying structure looks sound. The Mavs move on a string, communicate, and make smart adjustments. They limit 3s and shots at the basket. The Mavs may not be an elite defensive team in the end, but they're good.
Doncic's conditioning improved. The coaching staff made the right call keeping Jalen Brunson in the starting five, and flanking Porzingis with Maxi Kleber instead of Dwight Powell. Kleber can shoot 3s or roll to the rim; Powell has been tremendous off the bench.
Slotting another ball handler around Doncic invigorates the offense. Brunson can catch kickouts from Doncic, knife into the lane, and keep the machine moving. He can screen for Doncic, gifting him mismatches if defenses switch; Doncic has been posting up more, and he's lethal backing down smaller players.
Doncic has good feel as a cutter and give-and-go dance partner, and the Mavs are better when he dials his game 10% in that direction. Brunson activates that part of Doncic's game:
More ball handlers means more chances to push, and the Mavs -- the league's second-slowest team -- need some easy transition buckets.
They are playing smaller a little more often, sometimes with Porzingis as the only big. That is where they have their highest ceiling. It maximizes the sometimes stilted Doncic-Porzingis pick-and-roll -- giving it breathing space, and making it harder for defenses to switch against it. Porzingis has looked more capable lately of anchoring small-ball groups on defense.
The Mavs now have to ask themselves: Is this team really good enough? Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith will be unrestricted free agents, with big raises coming. The Brunson flight risk is real, sources say. The Mavs have no cap space to replace them.
Pay them, and the Mavs risk locking themselves into a roster that is really good but perhaps not good enough to contend over Doncic's early prime.
Stay tuned.
2. The veteran patience of Evan Mobley
Players come and go, injuries rob them of almost every ambulatory guard -- and the Cleveland freaking Cavaliers just keep winning. They are 30-19, 10-3 in their last 13 games -- and still sporting the East's best scoring margin.
Resilient teams win ugly when their talent takes hits. The Cavs are No. 3 in points allowed per possession; their defense guarantees a solid night-to-night baseline chance. Their offense doesn't need to look pretty or score like gangbusters for them to win.
Mobley might be Cleveland's best all-around defender already, but he plays a bigger-than-expected role in manufacturing points on offense. He has a calm, patient one-on-one game -- both with his back to the basket, and on longer-distance face-up drives.
He has a deep bag of moves, and can dribble and shoot with either hand. His comfort initiating from almost anywhere helps him attack players of all types. He can blow past slower defenders, and burrow through wings:
They are nothing alike physically, but there is something almost Boris Diaw-y in the methodical way Mobley twists and pivots until he finds a spot he likes. He has decent touch on hooks and floaters, tools he needs alongside Jarrett Allen -- alignments in which it is harder for Mobley to get to the basket.
Mobley's efficiency one-on-one is only so-so, but that's great for a 20-year-old thrust into a high-usage role. Average-ish can be enough when your defense is elite.
Cade Cunningham has been the league's best rookie over the last month -- he looks like a two-way star -- but Mobley remains the Rookie of the Year favorite given his full body of work on a playoff team.
3. Amir Coffey saves the day
Imagine a scenario in which the Comeback Clippers -- now 25-25, tied for seventh in the West -- hang in the playoff picture, get Paul George and Kawhi Leonard back late, and do something special in the postseason. (By the way: Losing in the play-in tournament does not count as a postseason appearance. I'm looking at you, Sacramento Kings. If you encounter some misguided person who believes such blasphemy, remove one of your gloves, slap them hard across the face, and challenge them to a duel.)
Amir Coffey might be a bit player in those theoretical late-round playoff games. Hell, he might not even appear in some. But every die-hard Clippers fan would remember how he helped save their teetering season as a fill-in starter amid injuries and virus-related absences.
The Clips are 6-5 since Coffey -- on a two-way-contact! -- nailed down his (temporary) starting spot. At 6-7 with nimble feet, he has the outlines of a 3-and-D guy capable of switching across four positions; Coffey has hit a snazzy 38.4% from deep on healthy volume.
But the Clippers have nudged Coffey into emergency ballhandling duty, and he has been up to the challenge. The Clips like slingshotting him around one off-ball screen and into handoff actions:
Coffey gets the ball at full throttle, with a buffer of space behind him. He has a knack for that cross-court laser to corner shooters. The Clips have scored 1.24 points per possession when Coffey shoots out of a pick-and-roll, or passes to a teammate who launches -- third among 232 ball handlers who have run at least 50 such plays, per Second Spectrum. (Coffey has run only 90.)
Coffey has hit 74% at the rim and 52% from floater range. He isn't falling out of the NBA again.
4. The Phoenix Suns, masters of the Iverson cut
I'd wager no team makes more use of Allen Iverson-style foul line cuts than the always-winning Phoenix Suns, and no Sun makes more beautiful and diverse use of them than Devin Booker:
Man, that is pure. Booker sees Porzingis clogging the paint, and settles into a cozy midranger. Booker sheds the pursuing Finney-Smith with one subtle pump fake, regathers with a low swing-through, and leans back like he's plopping into a recliner.
Booker has a half-dozen (at least) counters out of this simple cut. If Porzingis is late helping, Booker drives toward paydirt.
If Booker's defender shoots the gap -- ducking under the screen in hopes of meeting Booker on the other side -- Booker stops on a dime and moonwalks into open space. From there, he can either let it fly, or shift into what effectively becomes a pick-and-roll:
Booker's mastery has rubbed off on both Cameron Johnson and Mikal Bridges. They are especially good at flaring outside -- as Booker does in that second clip -- and taking what the defense concedes.
Bridges and Johnson keep adding dollops of variety to their scoring games -- Bridges got a quick-seal post-up bucket against the Indiana Pacers this week -- and every ounce of creativity is handy late in the shot clock against postseason defenses.
5. Ayo Dosunmu, doing more than you think
Dosunmu just turned 22, but he's an old basketball soul. You see it in his eyes -- in the way he interacts with teammates, and scans the changing environment around him. He is unfazed. Chicago has thrown him what they probably thought was too much, too soon, and Dosunmu has been ready for damn near all of it.
Need him to guard Trae Young? Sure. Want to toggle him onto a bigger wing? He'll nod, and slide over. Dosunmu is one of those defenders who is somehow impossible to screen. It's uncanny. The screen is set. Dosunmu is heading right for it. And then you blink, and Dosunmu has somehow dodged it unscathed. Part of it is his wiry frame. Dosunmu doesn't have to "get skinny" to skirt screens; he's already skinny.
But there are plenty of blah defenders with similar builds. Dosunmu has good instincts, and tenacity you can't teach. He is already one of the league's best ball deniers -- a skill you don't notice until some pest like Dosunmu blows up a dribble handoff, or prevents you from swinging the ball as the shot clock dwindles.
Injuries have forced him into short stints as Chicago's nominal point guard, and Dosunmu has not looked out of his depth there. He has dished at least six dimes in five of Chicago's last seven games.
That is veteran craft -- the way Dosunmu goes left, where the defense wants him, only to pin his defender and spring backward and into the middle for a clean midranger.
Eventually you'd like Dosunmu pulling that triple -- he has taken very few non-corner 3s -- but it's impressive that he can amble into a tricky in-between shot with such ease. Dosunmu is shooting 52% on long 2s and 56% from floater range, per Cleaning The Glass -- absurd numbers.
What a steal for the Bulls.
6. New York's city edition court
It pains me when franchises with iconic color schemes mess with generic, pseudo-cool alternate looks. The Boston Celtics should begin games down 5-0 by fiat every time they wear black or gray jerseys. It is sacrilegious and dull at once.
I cannot abide the Knicks -- blessed with a pristine blue-and-orange palette -- dipping their toes into the "let's try black like everyone else!" wormhole with this year's city edition jersey and court:
The floor has cool touches -- notably the blue dotted lines and orange block-charge circle, which pop against the black. I enjoy teams incorporating legends into their courts -- which the Knicks do here with retired numbers painted along the sideline. (Nothing beats the silhouette of Dirk Nowitzki lofting a one-legged fadeaway on the Dallas Mavericks' floor.)
But everyone has a black alternate. Plus, too much black and orange evokes Halloween. I pilloried the Suns as Team Halloween when they ditched purple for black in the early 2010s, and the Knicks have committed the same crime. Don't be Team Halloween. Just be the Knicks.
7. Two important ball watchers, still ballwatchin'
The Jazz are 4-10 in their last 14 games. Their once-vaunted defense ranks 24th in points allowed per possession over that stretch -- and has fallen to 12th overall.
I wouldn't panic considering every key Jazz man missed at least one of those games. Rudy Gobert missed seven; Utah went 1-6 without him. Gobert's absence is the main reason opponents have generated more 3s and shots at the rim this month.
Gobert by himself imposes an entire shot-selection profile. Ball handlers avoid the restricted area in fear of him. He covers the paint on his own. Knowing that, Utah's perimeter defenders stick to shooters. The only shots left are long 2s. (Opponents have drilled 44% of those since Jan. 1, another random driver of Utah's seeming malaise.)
Without the Gobert keystone, the structure wobbles -- and on some nights, crumbles. Utah at full strength is a good defensive team in the big picture.
But the playoffs are more about small pictures -- specific matchups, the "styles make fights" section of the NBA calendar. (If Utah gets stuck in the No. 4 slot, they may have to face Phoenix in the second round. The Suns are the league's preeminent midrange-shooting team, and they are 5-0 against Utah over the last two seasons.)
Teams with multiple ball handlers are confident they can drive-and-kick around Utah's perimeter defenders without involving Gobert directly -- leaving him scrambling to put out fires from a distance.
Nitpicking of Utah's defense tends to focus on one-on-one blow-bys, and those were an issue as the small-ball LA Clippers sliced the Jazz apart in last season's playoffs. But the other three perimeter defenders matter too. Can they show help without losing track of their man? Can they hedge and recover if the opponent drags them into small-small pick-and-rolls? Can they coordinate switches -- or just as important, know in a blink that it might be better not to switch?
Utah failed those tests against the Clippers. With that in mind, keep an eye on how Jordan Clarkson juggles responsibilities. On bad nights, he gawks at the ball and turns his back on deadly shooters:
Royce O'Neale might be Utah's only plus multipositional defender, and he's a notch below the All-Defensive team conversation. Clarkson is a defensive liability. Joe Ingles has lost a quarter-step. Rudy Gay has length and smarts, but it's asking a lot of him to tighten Utah's wing defense when he shares the floor with Gobert.
Utah took a flier on Danuel House Jr. as a potential two-way backup, but search out trades for others. Gary Harris should be one target. The Orlando Magic will surely dangle Harris and Terrence Ross, hoping to land a first-round pick for one of them. (I'd be surprised if they pull that off.)
Suitors beware on Ross's defense -- he has never shaken a tendency to get back-cut:
He'll also get caught going under screens against good shooters.
8. Aaron Gordon is exactly the player Denver wanted
It has been overshadowed because of the players the Nuggets are missing, but whoa boy will it matter when those guys get back: Gordon has been precisely the player the Nuggets envisioned when they dealt R.J. Hampton, Gary Harris, and one first-round pick for him last season.
Gordon has filled all kinds of roles on both ends, and fit seamlessly within the pass-and-cut offense built around Nikola Jokic -- who, yes, absolutely remains at least co-favorite for Most Valuable Player right now. Gordon has suppressed any ambitions of ball-dominant stardom, and found his water level as a roving danger orbiting Jokic.
Gordon vibrates with anticipation away from the ball. He is always on his toes, ready to crash the central action with a well-timed cut into Jokic's Sauron-level vision; a fierce duck-in; or a sudden ball screen for Jokic as part of their gigantic pick-and-roll.
Gordon is a quick touch passer on the move against defenses in flux. Lots of Denver's prettiest ping-ping-ping sequences have a Gordon catch-and-pass somewhere in the middle.
Michael Malone has had Gordon defend almost every position, though he favors slotting him onto No. 1 ballhandling types -- guys who are smaller than Gordon. After stops, Gordon sprints into the offense before those smaller guys can escape -- leaving Gordon a size advantage he exploits with nasty post-ups. The Nuggets have scored 1.225 points per possession when Gordon shoots out of a post-up, or dishes to a teammate who fires -- second among 66 players with at least 40 post touches, per Second Spectrum. He's shooting a career-best 61% on 2s.
Gordon loves to grab-and-go in transition, a needed change of place for a slow-poke team.
Gordon has hit 33% on 3s -- a couple ticks below league average, but good enough that an open catch-and-shoot bomb is fine. His 3-point diet should get easier when Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. return.
Meanwhile, Denver's refashioned starting five (Jokic, Gordon, Monte Morris, Jeff Green, Will Barton) has obliterated opponents by almost 16 points per 100 possessions.
There is a chance both Murray and Porter could return this season, sources say. It may take until next season for them to achieve peak form, but once they do, the Nuggets have all the markings of a title contender.
As good as Jerami Grant has been for the Detroit Pistons, the Nuggets should have no regrets over transitioning from Grant to Gordon -- even though it cost them talent and picks. Gordon is a better fit.
9. The Miles Bridges-LaMelo Ball inverted pick-and-roll
Sign me up for more of this!
The feisty Hornets -- 10-5 in their last 15 games, chasing top-six play-in avoidance behind the league's No. 3 offense -- have run only seven Bridges-Ball pick-and-rolls all season, per Second Spectrum. They should try more -- at least a once-a-game surprise attack, or something they improvise when Bridges rushes the ball up after a defensive rebound.
It gets Ball ... the, umm, ball on the move, with some head start against a defense already in rotation. He can flare for 3s, or slip open toward the foul line. It also forces half-court defenses to guard Bridges. He's down to 32.7% on 3s, and more teams ignore him on the perimeter when he doesn't have the ball. Smart defenses will duck under ball screens for Bridges, but that's hard to do when you don't expect it.
Switching may leave a mismatch -- Ball with an edge in speed, Bridges in size.
Bridges is a rickety back-to-the-basket scorer, but he's effective plowing into smaller defenders and flicking hooks over them with either hand. The Hornets have poured in 1.23 points per possession on trips featuring a Bridges pick-and-roll -- 10th among 232 guys who have run at least 50 such plays, per Second Spectrum.
Bridges is averaging 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists -- and shooting 59% on 2s. He has amped up his pick-and-roll and isolation volume, with nice results. He's a solid multipositional defender.
Ball is down to 42% overall and 47% on 2s. As the engine of Charlotte's offense he's probably a slightly better All-Star candidate than Bridges, but it's closer than you might think. Both deserve heavy consideration.
P.S. Charlotte ranks 12th in points allowed per possession in January. If they can approach league average on defense, they're a dangerous first-round underdog.
10. The downsides of prematurely celebrating a teammate's open 3
Hamidou Diallo -- playing pretty well! -- provided the latest example of one of my favorite player foibles: preemptively celebrating a teammate's 3-pointer from prime rebounding position.
I get the impulse. That's a slick pass; I'd be excited upon executing it, and hoping my buddy pays it off. Finding joy in the success of others is healthy! But Hami, my man, you are making the "It's good!" sign from inside the paint! Try to grab a rebound!
Here's Jae Crowder realizing mid-celebration, Oh, crap, that's off and I might have a chance at the rebound!"
At some point, an offensive player is going to botch a crucial rebound out of sheer over-exuberance.