NBA Game Notes: Thunder, Nuggets assert themselves

Notes from: Thunder-Clippers, Nuggets-Rockets, Pistons-Pelicans

The top of the Western Conference runs through Oklahoma City, but a trip through Denver might be required first. The Thunder and Nuggets both asserted themselves as the top teams in the West. Out East, the Pistons continued their march to a top-six seed.

Here’s what I saw on Sunday!

Oklahoma City Thunder - 103 at LA Clippers - 101

• Mark Daigneault would probably kill it on Chopped. For those unfamiliar with the Food Network program, the premise is that a group of chefs are given mystery baskets. The baskets all contain the same ingredients, but they don’t really fit together…until the chefs work their magic and make a dish out of it.

  It feels like Daigneault shows up at the arena, finds out who is available that night, looks at who the Thunder are trying to beat, and then he throws together lineups and gameplans that just work.

• Along those lines, OKC matched the Clippers lineup of guards/wings around one big by playing the game way. It worked, because Lu Dort and Alex Caruso were able to make LA work for everything. And Isaiah Hartenstein was able to play Ivica Zubac to draw.

• A lot of times when a center piles up assists, you’ll see that most of them were out of handoffs where they didn’t really make a read. Isaiah Hartenstein has some of those, because he’s very effective in the DHO game. But he can also straight pass it too. These two setups for Alex Caruso are examples of how comfortable the Thunder are running their offense through Hartenstein.

• Jaylin Williams has given the Thunder some really productive minutes over the last month or so. He’s a good shooter and passer, so the Thunder don’t have to tweak much when he plays in place of Chet Holmgren. Defensively, Williams is mostly a positional defender. So, it was nice to see him get up to block this shot instead of just playing the verticality game.

• The Clippers have to be kicking themselves a bit. They got a relative stinker from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander against them and couldn’t get the win. That’s a testament to the Thunder having a bunch of guys who can step up.

• If he was a football player, analysts would rave about Cason Wallace’s recovery speed. He’s beaten here but makes the play anyway.

• Feels like LA is going through another “reorienting process” with Norman Powell back in the lineup. There’s enough time to figure it out, but the occasional loss like this is probably going to keep the Clippers in the PIT as opposed to challenging for a top-six seed.

• The Clippers are using Ben Simmons a lot as their backup five. Simmons or Nic Batum defends the opposing center when they share the floor. On offense, Simmons is doing a lot more screen-and-roll stuff, and he’s been aggressive looking to score vs always passing, like here:

• Kawhi Leonard looks good. He didn’t guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a lot, but when he did, Leonard was very effective. That’s another thing the Clippers can unleash in a playoff series to make life difficult on their opponent.

Denver Nuggets - 116 at Houston Rockets - 111

• The Nuggets need a win, and the Rockets came in hot. With Nikola Jokic sidelined, this one didn’t go as expected. Good, necessary victory for Denver.

• Jamal Murray was awesome. It didn’t matter who Houston put on him, Murray got where he wanted and scored. Denver also did a good job scheming Murray open, both in on- and off-ball actions.

• Throwback game from DeAndre Jordan! I don’t what’s more surprising: 11 points, 15 rebounds, four assists or 38 minutes. Jordan did a good job battling some foul trouble to make Alperen Sengun work.

• Denver is using Aaron Gordon in a lot of their Nikola Jokic spots. That includes functioning as a playmaker. Normally, Gordon is on the receiving end of this lob, but he’s the passer to Jordan here:

• It wasn’t a big game for Zeke Nnaji, but his minutes continue to go well for the Nuggets. This short jumper is a great shot for Nnaji:

• This game was a good example of how things can get sideways for Houston. They just don’t have a lot of on-ball playmaking and scoring. They defend like crazy, so they are in every game. But that lack of creation ability is going to hurt them in the playoffs.

• Amen Thompson is back and remains a menace on defense. He’s beaten here, but Thompson recovers to swat away Jamal Murray’s layup attempt:

• To get around their lack of traditional on-ball creation, the Rockets run a lot through Alperen Sengun. He has great chemistry with Amen Thompson. The two hooked up for several plays in the second half of the game, including these four setups from Sengun. Pssst, Denver…You might wanna guard Thompson on the baseline cut!