With the trade deadline behind us, it's time to focus on pure basketball! This week's 10 Things features the streaking Bucks, the red-hot Knicks, one slumping defense, a fun rookie, and more.
1. The big, bad Milwaukee Bucks
So, umm, what if the Bucks never lose again?
Milwaukee has won 16 straight to snatch the No. 1 overall seed, and if the Bucks win their showdown against the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday, they'll have a good shot at extending the streak to 20 before heading on the road. Remember: The Bucks punted home-court advantage in the second round against the Boston Celtics last season by sitting everyone in Game 82. They lost Game 7 in Boston, and regretted it.
Their offense isn't quite postseason ready yet -- not with Khris Middleton still coming off the bench, barely playing with the rest of Milwaukee's Big Three -- but holy hell, this defense. Milwaukee has surged into the No. 1 spot in points allowed per possession, and the Bucks can look impenetrable at full throttle.
There is no better defensive triumvirate on earth than Jrue Holiday at the top, Brook Lopez at the basket, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all around them. The difference between a bucket and a miss can be a few inches, and those three win those inches over and over.
That's Josh Hart, one of the league's irrepressible transition marauders, dishing at full speed to Jerami Grant. Holiday jumps from Hart to Grant while backpedaling, and does enough to slow Grant down. Lopez is next, arms up, forcing a wild scooping miss. Grant has eyes on the rebound, but here comes this once-in-history athlete -- Antetokounmpo -- unfurling his preposterous arm and tipping the ball to Lopez.
The Bucks have allowed 109.1 points per 100 possessions overall. In 618 minutes with Antetokounmpo, Holiday, and Lopez together, that number falls to 105.6. Yikes.
Antetokounmpo makes special things look so routine, you almost miss them:
Antetokounmpo rotates away from Robert Williams III and across the paint to stop Grant Williams in his tracks. Grant Williams pulls up for an awkward jumper, and Antetokounmpo slides all the way back to Williams III -- one of the league's hoppiest offensive rebounders -- to box him out, snatch the ball, and go.
Now that they've shut off the 3-point faucet, the Bucks have no weaknesses on defense. With Jae Crowder on board and Bobby Portis back, they have access to all kinds of lineups and schemes -- including more versions of the Giannis-at-center look.
This is the league's best defensive team, and it is readying for the games that matter.
2. Ja Morant's 3-pointer
It's gone undiscussed for a few reasons -- the Memphis Grizzlies' winning even as they rarely have their starting five, non-basketball controversies surrounding Morant -- but Morant's 3-point shooting has fallen to career-worst levels after a promising first dozen games. It appeared then -- and at times last season, when Morant hit 34.4% on 3s -- that he could at least keep defenses honest when they ducked under picks against him.
Morant has hit 28% from deep since mid-November. (Good news: Desmond Bane is looking more like the guy who averaged almost 25 points before injuries hit.)
Defenses have noticed. They are playing a half-step further from Morant, walling off the paint and clogging a Memphis offense that is already short on shooting. Memphis is 21nd in points per possession in the half court, per Cleaning The Glass. As was the case last season when they roared into contention, the Grizzlies are beatable when you keep them out of transition and limit them to one shot. As was the case last season, that is easier said than done -- especially once Steven Adams, the league's greatest offensive rebounder, returns from injury.
This team is ferocious. The Grizzlies impose their will, their tempo, over large stretches of every game.
Morant will beat the go-under gambit a fair bit, too. He's cagey disguising which direction he might go around screens -- and his screeners are cagey disguising screening angles -- and so fast, he can win the race to the other side.
Memphis has also slid some screens for Morant a step or two toward the basket -- well inside the arc. Those screens are so low, scurrying under them effectively concedes a wide-open free throw -- or a layup, if Morant revs it up. Chasing Morant over those picks -- and having the main help defender hang back -- opens up Morant's floater game, and he's good enough to beat you with that shot.
But for Morant and his team to reach the next level, he has to become more reliable on 3s -- at least catch-and-shoot attempts, and wide-open pull-ups. You don't hear Morant's name even on the fringes of the MVP conversation anymore. This is one reason.
3. Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl, picking up where they left off
The Toronto Raptors are 5-3 since reuniting their old rollicking bench mob. Their schedule has been easy, but their only viable point guard (Fred VanVleet) missed three of those games. (Jeff Dowtin is the latest reserve to make a run at "second viable point guard" honors, having hopped Malachi Flynn and Dalano Banton. None of the three played in Toronto's loss Thursday night to the Washington Wizards. VanVleet logged 40 minutes in that game, and the Raptors were plus-15 in those minutes. They lost by 11. Gulp.)
Poeltl has supplied expected rim protection and screening-and-diving on offense. He dialed up his passing with the San Antonio Spurs, and adding another pass-first player -- a tall one, who can see and make some passes that are out of range for VanVleet -- has had a kinetic effect on Toronto's offense in spurts.
Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, and OG Anunoby have all been a little laborious carving inside -- dribble, dribble, half-spin, dribble, dribble -- in Toronto's sludgy half-court offense. They are strong, creative, capable of scoring inside and making the right kick-out reads. But there are diminishing returns in three players leaning into that style at once. There are lots of reasons all three have tilted their games that way, but one might be a lack of quick-twitch playmaking around them. (Anunoby has had a strangely dispiriting season on offense -- perhaps due in part to a wrist injury.)
Poeltl adds that -- both in the pick-and-roll and at the elbows -- and he has enlivened Siakam's somewhat dormant cutting game:
That's an artful zigzag from Siakam. He approaches Barnes for a classic Warriors-style split action, only Siakam aborts and cuts inside Barnes' screen -- and almost underneath Poeltl's armpit -- when he senses an opening.
4. Paul Reed's positional defense and Philly's backup center situation
Reed has deservedly supplanted Montrezl Harrell as Philadelphia's "Can we just not fall into a sinkhole while Joel Embiid rests?" backup center, and he does a lot of things well. (I hate to belabor this, but Step 1 toward Embiid Sinkhole Avoidance is playing at least one starter with those units -- specifically James Harden. Doc Rivers has been doing this more of late. In fairness, Tyrese Maxey has helped Philly win a few of those stints -- including against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.)
Reed is an elite offensive rebounder with nice touch, and he's grabbing defensive boards at a career-best rate; he put up 16 points and 14 rebounds with Embiid out against the Miami Heat on Wednesday. The rest of his defense is hit-or-miss. Reed is sometimes flat-footed corralling pick-and-rolls, prone to taking poor angles with his arms drooped at his sides:
Reed is lurchy, easy prey for a blow-by. The passing lane to Bam Adebayo is wide open. By the time Reed churns his legs, Adebayo is behind him.
He can also get lost amid bang-bang rotations:
Harden expects Reed to switch into Victor Oladipo, but Reed doesn't download that.
In high-stakes playoff moments, Rivers should probably toggle between Reed and P.J. Tucker as Embiid's backup. Rivers slotted Tucker onto Nikola Jokic -- a move that helped swing Philly's recent win over Denver.
Rivers might be hesitant to go the Tuckwagon full-time; it risks overtaxing Tucker, who is almost 38 and often defends opposing stars as part of Philadelphia's starting five. (The Sixers hiding Harden on weak links means at least one of the Tucker/Tobias Harris/De'Anthony Melton trio ends up with a troublesome matchup. Harris has improved chasing quicker wings, but he's hanging by a thread at times. Harris often enjoys the reverse size mismatch on offense, but the Sixers aren't constructed to wring enough from that. Rivers flipped Maxey back into his old starting spot Thursday, and the matchup issues on defense get more precarious if the Sixers stick with that group.)
5. Malcolm Brogdon's score-first approach works for Boston
Most of Boston's support players are snappy decision-makers -- cutting, screening, and passing to keep the machine moving. They rarely over-dribble or hold the ball.
Brogdon's more deliberate style can stick out. He is third on the team (easily) in usage rate, trailing only Boston's two All-Stars. He runs about 28 pick-and-rolls per 100 possessions, tops on the team.
Any other Boston role player continues this sequence with the extra pass to Tatum up top:
Brogdon looks off Tatum -- and it works!
The stylistic variety is healthy. Boston needs another "get mine" guy -- someone who can create something from nothing as the clock ticks down. Brogdon is a clever and physical ball handler -- uncanny with these crouched, shoulder-first drives. If he gets into your chest -- nudging you to open your stance just a few degrees -- you're toast; Brogdon keeps burrowing until he's at the rim.
He also busts out old-school pull-up 2s against drop-back defenses:
That shot is mostly reserved for superstars in the 3s-and-dunks age, but Brogdon has refused to give it up. He typically hits 45% or so from midrange; it's a useful weapon late in the shot clock against postseason defenses.
Brogdon has experience as a screen-setter for superstars -- including for Antetokounmpo during their time in Milwaukee. I'd like to see more of that; Brogdon has set only 2.3 ball screens per 100 possessions -- last on the Celtics. He can spring Tatum and Brown as a screener; flare out for 3s; or dive to the rim for 4-on-3s.
6. Marcus Morris Sr. and the Clippers' defense
The LA Clippers -- in the most important season in franchise history -- are down to 11th in points allowed per possession, and an inexcusable 23rd since Jan. 1. Some of that is bad shooting luck; LA's opponents have drained 41% from deep over their past 27 games, the highest such figure in the league.
But the dip goes beyond hot enemy shooting. The Clippers foul a lot and force few turnovers. They're springing leaks all over the place, getting lit up around the basket. Morris is the most visible offender; he has lost a half-step, and that was all the margin he had containing fast ball handlers on switches.
There have been bizarre errors everywhere, from everyone. The Clippers botch basic coverages -- switches, rotations, tracking cutters, losing shooters -- that a veteran pseudo-contender should make blindfolded. Stan Van Gundy lambasted the Clips' effort during their loss Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and perhaps hazy focus -- a decline in mental effort -- is contributing to these breakdowns. But it looks deeper than that. Communication is off. The Clippers appear confused at times. They let go of the rope in a humiliating blowout loss against the Golden State Warriors Thursday -- their fourth straight. Do they believe anymore? They gave up 176 points in the first of those four losses.
Russell Westbrook isn't going to fix any defensive issues. Westbrook has been OK-ish for the Clippers, his flaws and skills translating in the expected doses -- netting out at something approaching neutral. (He is gagging an ungodly five turnovers per 36 minutes. No one is guarding him; the Clippers are minus-7 per 100 possessions with Westbrook on the floor.) He's even setting (a few) ball screens.
But his presence, atop a busy trade deadline, amounts to last-minute upheaval for a team that has approached the regular season for four years now as an inconvenience beneath it. Westbrook is an unusual, high-usage piece to integrate at the last minute -- even for a team with this much shooting around him. How does he fit alongside another jolting ball handler in Norman Powell? Tyronn Lue gifted Westbrook a starting spot sight unseen. Meanwhile, the Clippers traded for Eric Gordon -- and benched him in the second half against Minnesota. Why? What did Terance Mann do wrong?
Why isn't Westbrook playing every second the Clippers go five-out, resting both Ivica Zubac and Mason Plumlee (and, really, probably only those minutes?) What was the point of acquiring Plumlee and Gordon before Westbrook -- designing one sort of roster, and then smashing it again?
It all evinces internal unease and a lack of faith in some quarters of the organization in what the Clippers spent four seasons building.
In theory, the Clips still have the goods to make a long playoff run. Kawhi Leonard is a superstar again. Paul George is an ideal No. 2. The Clips are deep and versatile, stocked with two-way players. But with every bad loss, the upside feels more like a theoretical pipedream. There is more uncertainty here than there should be with 17 games left. Rediscovering their core identity has to start on defense.
7. Mitchell Robinson, playing two and tying the New York Knicks' defense together
The New York Knicks -- rugged, comfortable in their own skin and 100% certain about what they want from every possession -- were flying before Robinson returned from injury last week, but they feel whole again with Robinson owning the paint.
Once an overeager leaper, Robinson has become a sound defender. He's more choosy chasing blocks, and holds proper rebounding position more often. Robinson has learned to play ball handler and screener at once on the pick-and-roll. He retreats in a wide stance, on his toes, angled to pivot in either direction, arms spread wide into passing lanes. (Defending with his arms down was an early bad habit.)
It looks as if Tatum meets five defenders there. With Robinson patrolling so much territory, New York's perimeter defenders should be able to stick closer to home -- and cut down on opponent 3s. (The one downside of Tom Thibodeau's protect-the-paint-at-all-costs approach is allowing heaps of 3s.)
The Knicks have allowed 109 points per 100 possessions with Robinson on the floor -- and 113 when he rests.
Their offense has been better with Robinson too, and the Knicks are up to fifth (!) in points per possession -- one of the season's shocking subplots. Depending on your tastes, it might be a small warning sign that a lot of New York's scoring is built on nonshooting elements: free throws, offensive rebounds, ball security. The Knicks don't generate a ton of 3s or layups, and their shot-making is average.
But the formula is working, and with Jalen Brunson playing at an All-Star level, their offense in the postseason should not disintegrate into Julius Randle one-on-everyone nothingness the way it did two seasons ago.
Robinson is one of the game's great screen-and-dive bigs. Defenses have to sag away from shooters to account for him; the alternative is death by lob. Robinson is No. 2 in offensive rebounding rate.
New York is 19-9 in its past 28, one game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the No. 4 spot -- carrying a 2-1 edge in the head-to-head matchup, with one game left. The Knicks are real.
8. Jamal Murray is back
Amid the toxic MVP discourse, you might have missed that Murray has been the Denver Nuggets' leading scorer since mid-January. His scoring and efficiency have been trending up all season. Over his past 20 games, Murray has averaged 23 points on 48% shooting -- including 42% on 3s. After an ACL tear that derailed a rolling Denver team two seasons ago -- and obliterated Murray's entire 2021-22 campaign -- Murray is back.
He and Jokic have rediscovered their peak two-man chemistry -- the wink-wink improvisation, counters upon counters upon counters, that can develop only when two basketball soulmates spend years together.
That is classic Murray-Jokic -- bobbing and weaving in concert as if connected by an invisible string. Jokic's first screen generates a switch, but they both decide they might pry something better if they dance again. Jokic then sets a "flat" screen, directly facing half court, allowing Murray to choose which direction he wants to go.
The defense has no idea what Murray will do, but Jokic has a hunch.
Murray accelerates, draws two, and then suddenly pulls up to thread a bouncer to Jokic at the dotted line. They make magic in tight spaces.
Front Jokic, and this might happen:
Jokic doesn't fight Jarrett Allen's front. He weaponizes it, turning it into a monster double-screen for Murray. He knows Murray will read the plan in an instant. Murray caps it with a sweet one-handed gather -- something he can do lefty, too.
Michael Porter Jr. is up to 48% overall and 41% from deep. Thomas Bryant and Reggie Jackson fortify Denver's bench, though the Nuggets still feel one guy short on some nights.
The postseason will bring new challenges. Everyone -- including and maybe especially Jokic -- will have to be more consistent on defense. But good luck stopping Denver's offense if its second and third options are humming.
9. Tari Eason wants the ball more than you do
The knock on Eason -- one reason a switchable 6-8 tank slipped to No. 17 in last year's draft -- was an alleged inability to remember plays, per league sources. It might be good fortune, then, that the college-aged Houston Rockets do not run the league's most sophisticated offense. At some point, Eason will have to function as a supporting player within a coherent team.
Eason is already a good multipositional defender for a rookie, and should develop into the rare player who can plausibly defend four or even five positions. He is strong and nimble, with good instincts. He has some ball skills on offense, and he's shooting 35% from deep.
Eason loves the grimy stuff. He is, remarkably, eighth in offensive rebounding rate. The top 20 is basically centers and Eason. (Eason is shooting a dismal 56% at the rim, and a nontrivial share of those offensive rebounds are him retrieving his own bonked layups.)
Some wings snare offensive boards because they are fast and sneaky -- zipping along the baseline when defenders aren't looking. If larger humans meet them at the rim, they wilt.
Eason combines speed with bruising power and vise-grip hands. He invites bigger guys to challenge him in midair, and he outworks and outmuscles them:
Eason is also one of only four rotation players averaging at least one block and two steals per 36 minutes.
This dude is a keeper. I can't wait to see what he does with veterans and structure around him.
10. The Portland Trail Blazers, minimizing the awfulness of in-game ads
In-game advertisements -- the ones that play over live action, sometimes scrunching the game into half the screen -- are a scourge. We already have ads on (deep breaths) jerseys, scoreboard bars, on-court decals, sidelines, baselines, the signs in front of the scorer's table, the tops of backboards -- and on parts of our screens during free throws. Must they infect the actual game too?
Alas, this battle has been lost. In-game ad creep is unavoidable.
Can other broadcasts take a cue from one of Portland's regular in-game ads?
That's almost ... cute? They make that advertisement -- a sponsored statistics update -- look as if it's a sign hanging from the arena ceiling! Adorable! There are fake wires and everything! The ad obscures only a small portion of the crowd, and fits within the normal full-screen look. The game -- the thing we want to watch -- claims its usual real estate.
If we are subjected to this ceaseless shilling, this is the least offensive version.