NBA Game Notes: Three-game night and NBA Cup catchup

Notes from: ATL-NYK, HOU-GSW, SAC-NOP, MIA-TOR and BOS-DET

The NBA took a break from NBA Cup knockout rounds to get back to our regularly scheduled programming. It was an easing back in, as there were only three games. The good news is that we’re going to cover all three, plus we’re going to add some notes from Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal games too.

Here’s what I saw over the last couple of days!

Atlanta Hawks - 108 at New York Knicks - 100

• At multiple times in the first half, it looked like the Knicks were on the verge of turning this one into a blowout. Then the Hawks would make a bucket and stay within striking distance.

  In the third quarter, the game flipped. Atlanta took it to New York. The Knicks stayed in the game the rest of the way, but the Hawks were in full control.

• There is no better example of controlling the game than Trae Young in the fourth quarter. Young didn’t hit a shot, but he had four assists and had the Hawks playing at the right tempo throughout. And when Young is getting downhill against your defense and having fun like this, you know it’s not your night:

• De’Andre Hunter appeared in one of the clips above and that was just one part of his big night for Atlanta. Hunter scored 24 points off the bench and continued what has been his best run of basketball since being drafted by Atlanta.

  You can’t stash small defenders on Hunter right now. He no longer just floats around the perimeter. Hunter is regularly taking smaller players inside, as he does here for the baseline drive past Cameron Payne and the post-up turnaround over Miles McBride:

  Hunter also delivered the dagger shot with this three. Good poise by the Hawks to work the ball inside-outside here, despite the clock running down:

• The Knicks pick-and-roll defense throughout this game was terrible. They weren’t controlling ballhandlers at all. That kept putting Karl-Anthony Towns on an island. Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter all got Towns on the move several times. And it wasn’t on Towns either. New York generally plays hedge-and-recover defense, and the Knicks on-ball defenders simply weren’t playing their part.

• On the plus side, Towns was doing work on the glass. Everything sort of fell apart for New York when he got pulled after picking up his fifth foul. (Mini-rant: Coaches need to stop being scared of foul trouble to the extent they are. Towns sat way too long in this one and it’s a big part of what cost the Knicks the game.)

  Back to Towns’ rebounding…he’s at a career-best mark of 13.6 rebounds per game, including 10.7 defensive boards per game. He’s been awesome cleaning the glass all season long.

• There’s been a lot of angst about Mikal Bridges changing his jump-shot form. It’s been a mess and Bridges doesn’t look comfortable. But sometimes you get him on a quick-release jumper like this and he looks like the Bridges of old:

Golden State Warriors - 90 at Houston Rockets - 91

• This game was an ugly, hotly contested rock fight. In other words: it was perfect for the Houston Rockets. Ime Udoka has his guys playing great defense. And the Rockets attack on defense. They get up into the ballhandlers and they contest both passes and shots. It’s beautiful in its own way.

• Amen Thompson stuffs the stat sheet pretty regularly. In Year2, he’s one of the most versatile guys in the league already. This block was so fun, because Stephen Curry was shocked and confused by what even happened:

• Alperen Sengun did a lot of good stuff vs the Warriors, but this late-game layup was my favorite. He fakes the DHO and then just works to his spot against Kevon Looney. Sengun doesn’t try to overpower Looney or rush to blow by him. He just gets to the layup with poise, despite Houston trailing and the clock running down:

• Came away from this one impressed with the Rockets composure overall. The Warriors are the more veteran team, but Houston wasn’t phased. They didn’t get caught up in too much nonsense either. They just kept playing and making it happen.

• It’s Year 16 and Stephen Curry’s gravity is still getting his teammates buckets. The Rockets jump Curry off this super tight sideline action. Jonathan Kuminga slips through, catches a nice pass from Draymond Green and completes the strong finish for the and-1. Good stuff here:

• Staying with Jonathan Kuminga for a second…He’s playing really well right now after a slowish start to the season. Not sure I buy that he’s being showcased. Feels more like the Warriors are just using him more and letting him do his thing.

• Not to go back to the Golden State rotation well once again, but Steve Kerr has stop with some of the weird subs. It might only be three-to-five minutes here and there for some guys, but those are minutes the Warriors are losing. It’s costing them games now.

Sacramento Kings - 111 at New Orleans Pelicans - 109

• Alright, Kings. I’m back in! Despite it being a tight, somewhat sloppy win over a very banged-up team, these are the games Sacramento hadn’t been winning. Good to see them buckle down and take care of business on the road.

• Keegan Murray was more active in this game. He’s in such a weird spot in a lot of Kings lineups and he’s been far too content to simply float around on offense. Murray came up with five offensive rebounds in this one and was more aggressive overall.

  This was a nice drive by Murray through the gap in the Pelicans defense. The best part? He didn’t hesitate! Murray caught it went right for it. Much better!

• It’s easy to get lulled into complacency when watching Domantas Sabonis. You just sort of expect him to be really good every game. But let’s pause to recognize that a 32/20 game is pretty ridiculous and Sabonis is awesome.

• The results weren’t really there, as Sacramento struggled to hit shots in this one, but the offensive process was FAR better (and has been for the last few games) for the Kings. They’ve gone back to the primary actions being keyed by the De’Aaron Fox-Domantas Sabonis two-man game, with everyone else eating off that.

  In addition, Mike Brown has made some tweaks to stagger the offense to give DeMar DeRozan more on-ball time. The changes are working to generate better flow and better looks for everyone.

• On the flip side, I kind of get the idea behind playing Isaac Jones and Colby Jones for their defensive potential. But when they aren’t bringing it, Mike Brown has to give looks to Doug McDermott, Jae Crowder and Jordan McLaughlin. At least those guys are some semblances of an offensive threat.

• Trey Murphy III seems to be rounding into form now. He’s getting better at creating his own looks too. That’s adding versatility to his game vs being a shooter, cutter and lane-filler only. Loved seeing him catch and go here in transition. And the second clip is really good to see Murphy give it up, get it back and then go baseline for the loud finish:

• Every game C.J. McCollum plays like this can only help his trade value. I still wouldn’t expect a deal, or much of a return if one does happen, but McCollum played well. New Orleans needs points from somewhere and the veteran scorer got them.

• You look for the small stuff when a team is struggling. There’s always a bright spot somewhere. Yves Missi is that for the Pelicans. Here’s a couple of really nice finishes through contact out of pick-and-roll for the rookie center. I especially liked that the second one came after putting the ball on the deck for a dribble.