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How bad was Glen Taylor as a Minnesota Timberwolves owner? He betrayed Kevin Garnett multiple times, and it wasn’t until Taylor was gone that KG agreed to have his jersey retirement night in Minnesota. KG is now back with the organization. Taylor is definitely on the Mount Rushmore of horrendous NBA owners.
Cavalier attitude
What is behind Cleveland’s struggles?
Cleveland was one of the best stories of the regular season a year ago. The Cavs got off to a historic 15-0 start and added two more win streaks of 12 or more — the first team ever to do that. They won 64 games, had one of the most efficient offenses we’ve ever seen and earned Kenny Atkinson the Coach of the Year award. They didn’t get past the second round of the playoffs, losing to the Pacers in five games, but they felt injuries kept them from a deeper playoff run.
This season, we’ve seen nothing resembling last year’s Cavs squad. Cleveland is 15-13 and sits eighth in the Eastern Conference. You might be wondering if the team has been ravaged by injuries. I wouldn’t say this is the reason the Cavs aren’t performing at a much higher level.
Missed games: Donovan Mitchell (two), Evan Mobley (three and currently out for two-to-four weeks), Darius Garland (16), De’Andre Hunter (four), Jarrett Allen (11), Sam Merrill (16) and Max Strus (28).
You can see that Garland, Allen and Struss have all missed significant time. But is that a reason for this team to be barely over .500? They were 24-4 through 28 games a year ago. They’ve had Mitchell, Mobley and Hunter for most of this season, and they’re on par with an Atlanta Hawks team that hasn’t had Trae Young for most of the season. How is that possible?
This team is significantly worse offensively than the juggernaut we were introduced to in Atkinson’s system. This is how the offensive numbers have changed from what we saw:
- Field-goal percentage: 49.1 percent (second) 📉 45.7 percent (23rd).
- 3-point percentage: 38.3 percent (second) 📉 33.8 percent (28th).
- 3-point rate: 0.457 (fourth) 📈 0.476 (third).
- eFG: 57.8 percent (first) 📉 53.7 percent (18th).
- Free-throw percentage: 77.6 percent (17th) 📉 77.4 percent (23rd).
- Free-throw rate: 0.241 (18th) 📈 0.270 (18th).
- Assist percentage: 63.1 percent (19th) 📈 63.6 percent (11th).
- Turnover rate: 13.1 percent (fourth) 📉 13.6 percent (sixth-tied).
- Offensive rebounding rate: 29.6 percent (15th) 📈 30.9 percent (15th).
- Offensive rating: 121.0 (first) 📉 115.4 (11th).
Almost every major shooting statistic is down. Why is this team so bad at making shots all of a sudden? Is it just bad luck? Its open 3-point percentage has dropped from 37.0 to 31.6, and the wide-open 3-point percentage has dropped from 42.0 to 37.2. That’s either unlucky or last season was lucky. What else could it be?
The Cavs are generating more points off turnovers, second-chance points and fast-break points this season. But their points in the paint are down. This team just can’t really make shots. That part doesn’t apply to Mitchell, whose scoring is up (24.0 to 30.7), along with his true shooting percentage (57.5 to 62.8) and usage rate (27.2 to 33.3). Some of Mitchell’s increased scoring and usage is definitely because of Garland’s injuries and Ty Jerome (now with the Grizzlies) no longer being on the team. We made such a big deal about Mitchell taking down his stats for the greater good of the team last season. He’s been so much better and more efficient this season, though.
Cleveland’s defensive rating has gone from 111.8 (eighth) last season to 113.4 (13th). It’s worse, but not as dramatically as the offense. Sometimes basketball is as simple as making shots. But people have been openly wondering if Atkinson might be feeling a little heat. If the Cavs don’t start making shots, maybe it’ll get really hot.
The last 24
Mile-high marksmanship
🤝 Trade board! Sam Vecenie has his trade board. It’s like a draft board! But where is Giannis?
🏀 What a nugget. Law Murray did the math on all the teams’ shooting. Denver (20-6) is the best in the NBA.
🟢 Sonic boom soon? Like me, Hall of Famer David Aldridge wants the SuperSonics back in Seattle. It’s long overdue.
⏱️ New trend? The Pelicans beat the Rockets in overtime with Zion Williamson benched for the final 17 minutes. Was this a preview of what’s to come in New Orleans?
😞 Not great, Bob. The Warriors aren’t very good right now. Just ask Steph Curry.
🏀 Forged early. How did Cade Cunningham become such a good leader for the Pistons? He developed those traits in high school.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass
Giannis speaks
But did he say what Bucks fans want to hear?
There has been a lot of speculation over the last two weeks about Giannis Antetokounmpo and his future with the Bucks. Or presumed lack thereof! Well, it’s been a lot longer than two weeks, but we’ve ramped it up again in the past fortnight. Giannis is hurt with a calf injury, and there have been reports about him and his agent possibly requesting a trade before the Feb. 5 deadline.
Giannis finally spoke to the media yesterday, and Bucks fans were hoping all this trade rumor stuff would be squashed. During a 24-minute conversation, this was probably the quote that was most alarming if you’re a Milwaukee fan.
“If my agent is talking to the Bucks about it, he is his own person,” Antetokounmpo said. “He can have any conversation he wants about it. At the end of the day, I don’t work for my agent; my agent works for me. And there’s going to be conversations that are going to be made between him and the Bucks, and him and his other players, and him and other teams and other GMs, executives around the league.
“It’s something that you can’t control. But at the end of the day, I personally have not had the conversation with the Bucks.”
To be fair, he did say he’s still “locked in.” But that’s not going to overshadow playing the semantics game about his agent being his own person who can talk if he wants. Giannis said a lot of words in that quote without saying the key ones. He made sure we know that he personally has not had the conversation with the Bucks. That’s not exactly denying any of the rumors about him wanting out, though.
I said this summer on podcasts and shows that I don’t think Giannis wants to be the bad guy with Bucks fans. That’s not any reporting. Just my outsider read of the situation. I think he likes Milwaukee and the organization. But this is the farthest he’s been from competing for a title in a long time, and it’s not getting any better — the Bucks are 11-17. It’s tough to be the bad guy who wants out. It would be easier if someone made the call for him, should he decide enough is enough in Milwaukee.
I guess that’s where his agent comes in?
About last night
Don’t look now edition, starring Clutch Cooper
Don’t look now, but the Mavericks (11-17) have won six of their last eight. The Pistons came storming back from down 18 but were a disaster in the final two minutes of last night’s game. That allowed Dallas to force overtime and squeak out the win. Cooper Flagg led the way with 23 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. He also had some clutch buckets. That’s something he’s been doing all season.
Flagg, who turns 19 on Sunday, has the fourth-most clutch points this season with 62, behind Tyrese Maxey (73), Cade Cunningham (91) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (91). The Mavs blocked 14 shots in this one.
Let’s start each game off with “Don’t look now but …” since it’s the DLNB edition of ALN.
Hornets 133, Hawks 126: … the Hornets (9-18) have won five of their last 10. They lit up the Hawks with 24 made 3-pointers. Trae Young returned for the first time in 23 games and had eight points and 10 assists in 20 minutes. Jalen Johnson had 43. Brandon Miller had a sick poster.
Knicks 114, Pacers 113: … the Knicks don’t believe in the Cup Curse. Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart missed the game, but Jalen Brunson (25) hit the go-ahead 3 in the final seconds.
Pelicans 133, Rockets 128 in OT: … the Pels (6-22) have won three straight! They were down 74-51 in the third quarter, but Saddiq Bey helped them force overtime and eventually win. He had 29 to help overcome Kevin Durant’s 32.
Nuggets 126, Magic 115: … Nikola Jokić has the most assists in NBA history for a center. His 23-point, 11-rebound and 13-assist night moved him ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Suns 99, Warriors 98: … Dillon Brooks did not learn his lesson and managed to do another entirely dirty shot for no reason. This time, it was hitting Steph Curry in the stomach after a closeout. Luckily for him, his teammates closed out the game to get the win.
Lakers 143, Jazz 135: … Luka Dončić became the second player ever (Cunningham the other) to record at least 45 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals in a game. Luka went for 45 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists and five steals.
Heat 106, Nets 95: … the Heat are knocking on the door of top six in the East. Kel’el Ware had 22 points, 12 boards and four blocks.
Thunder 122, Clippers 101: … OKC still hasn’t had two losses in a row this season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points to improve the Thunder to 25-2. They haven’t lost at home, although the Vegas loss counted as a home game.
Spurs 119, Wizards 94: … Victor Wembanyama is still coming off the bench. He had 15 points, eight rebounds, four dimes and four blocks in 17 minutes. Dylan Harper had 24 points in 23 minutes.
Raptors 101, Bucks 95: … Toronto improved to 9-5 on the road with 29 points from Brandon Ingram and 24 from Scottie Barnes. It was 12-29 on the road last season.
Blazers 134, Kings 133 OT: … Portland avoided a completely embarrassing collapse by just getting by in overtime. Deni Avdija had 35 points to overcome 12 missed free throws by the Blazers.
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