The NBA Roundup: November 7, 2013

The Orlando Magic are riding high on a three-game winning run, while the Oklahoma City Thunder won their 11^th straight against the Dallas Mavericks in today’s NBA action. Also, the Wizards finally nailed a W and the Wolves tumbled to their second loss in a row.

Jet Zero and KD produced big numbers as the Thunder
rolled past the Mavericks.
(image by Sue Ogrocki/AP)

The Best:

• Nikola Vucevic dropped a huge double-double on the heavily-favored LA Clippers, scoring 30 points and grabbing 21 rebounds to lead the Magic in a big home win. The 23-year old Swiss-born big man shot 11/19 from the field and a perfect 8/8 from the line in a jaw-dropping effort.
• The inside-outside duo of John Wall and Marcin Gortat clicked against the Sixers, with Wall dropping 24 points and 9 assists. He also hit 5 triples. Gortat, for his part, finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds on 8/12 FG shooting. This is Washington’s first win of the season.
• David Lee and Klay Thompson also formed quite the inside-outside pairing for GSW. Lee had 22 points and 15 boards while Thompson hit 6 treys on his way to another 30-point effort. The Warriors are currently second in the West with a 4-1 slate.

The Worst:

• Steph Curry left the game against Minnesota in the third period and didn’t come back. Apparently, it’s another ankle injury for the young gun. Tsk tsk. Right now he’s listed as day-to-day, and he even tweeted that he’ll be ready for the Spurs, but, hey, this is Curry. His ankles are as fragile as your mom’s ceramic vase. Be wary.
• What is up with the Bulls? They went unbeaten in the preseason, but are now mired in a 1-3 hole. Chicago is in the bottom third of the league in terms of three-pointers made, three-point percentage, blocks, field goal percentage, and total offense. They better win some games soon, or things might get shaken up before Christmas.

The NBA Opening Night Roundup: October 30, 2013

Please remember that all times are MANILA TIME, which is why the title reads October 30, 2013 and NOT October 29. This blog’s biggest market, after all, is right here in the Philippines, so there.

Now that THAT little details has been cast aside, it’s time to look at what happened on day one of the 2013-2014 NBA season, which will now be known as the Miami Heat’s historic three-peat effort. I, for one, won’t lie. I don’t want them to win (gulp gulp gulp down that haterade!).

But I think they will.

Especially if they play the way they did against the Bulls for most of their remaining 81-game schedule. I mean, seven Heat guys scored in double-digits, and they pretty much obliterated the #1 ranked (at least if you ask Bill Simmons) Chicago five from the second quarter onwards. They let Carlos Boozer drop 31 points on 13/18 FG shooting, which they will choose to live with any day, but limited the erstwhile super impressive Derrick Rose, who settled for a dozen markers on 4/12 FG shooting. He also coughed the ball up five times.

Derrick Rose returned to the NBA with a whimper, struggling
against the tenacious Miami Heat in Day 1 action.
(image by J Pat Carter/AP)

Looks like it will be another looong season, folks. The Evil Empire definitely looks to be the team-to-beat.

The NBA: This is NOT a joke – The Knicks Are Unbeaten

Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks continue to rise
after beating the Orlando Magic.
(image by John Raoux/AP)

The New York Knicks, essentially the same Knicks who go booted in the first round of the 2012 Playoffs and who are missing the services of Amar’e Stoudemire and sophomore Iman Shumpert, have beaten Miami, Philadelphia (twice), Dallas, and Orlando.

Win number 5 makes New York the only unbeaten team in the league, but perhaps even more surprising is how they’ve beaten their opponents.  They beat Miami by 20, Philly by 16 at home and then 22 on the road, Dallas by 10, and now Orlando also by 10.

This 5-0 start is the Knicks’ best in almost 20 years, and a big part of this is their commitment on the defensive end.

“Our defense is right where it needs to be," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "So when we do have to get stops, we were able to get it done."

New York forced Orlando to commit 7 turnovers and miss 11 of its 16 shots in the fourth quarter. This resulted in the Magic producing a measly 13 points in the period, which effectively sealed their doom.

Another big reason for New York’s rise is the impressive play of Carmelo Anthony. Melo netted 16 points before halftime against Orlando, helping the Knicks stay within striking distance before JR Smith rallied them in the third period. Anthony, who was a vital cog in Team USA’s romp through the 2012 FIBA Worlds, leads New York in points (26.8) and rebounds (7.4) per game. Both of those stats are the highest Melo has put up since putting on a Knickerbocker jersey.

But that’s not even the best thing about it. Throughout this brilliant beginning to the season, it seems Anthony’s stellar play has helped light a fire in his teammates as well. Backcourt partners JR Smith and Raymond Felton are norming a combined 32 points, 8 rebounds, and nearly 10 assists per game, while Tyson Chandler, Rasheed Wallace, and Steve Novak have all done well rotating in the frontcourt.

"My focus level now is really high,” said Anthony after their latest win. “I know what I want for myself and this team. It starts with me to lead us on both ends of the floor. It is carrying over to everyone else."

Melo is right on the money there, and he’ll definitely need to remain focused as the Knicks take on a tough sked in their immediate future. They visit San Antonio and Memphis in a tough back-to-back that should really show us what NYK is made of. Should New York win those two games, they will tie the 7-0 start they enjoyed in 1993 – now that’s definitely no joke.

The NBA: D’Antoni’s Lakers

Mike D'Antoni is the new LA Lakers Head Coach -- Yikes.
(image by Kathy Willens/AP)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Lakers need to work on their defense?

And, again, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Mike D'Antoni the last coach in the world anybody would think of when it comes to good defense?

Good offense? Yeah, sure. He'll probably inject some jet fuel into the Lakers' loaded lineup. Maybe Kobe, Dwight, and Gasol will all average more than 20 per game after all. Maybe Nash has another chance to lead the league in assists. And, maybe, Antawn Jamison can be to LA what Tim Thomas was to Phoenix in 2006 (the Suns finished #2 out West and came back from a 1-3 series hole to eliminate the Lakers in the first round).

Good defense? Yeah, right. His teams in Phoenix and New York were always bottom 10 in the league in defensive metrics. He had 2 losing seasons with the Knicks before steering them to the Playoffs in 2011 only to get swept by the Celtics in the first round (and that's with both Melo and Amar'e already).

So, for sure, he'll be an utter failure.

Or maybe not.

For one, he's never had four potential Hall-of-Famers in one team (Kobe & Nash are shoo-ins, while Dwight and Gasol have more than fair chances of making it). He's never had a guy likes Howard patrol the paint and bail out the porous defense that's bound to perpetuate Laker games the rest of the way.

The only teams D'Antoni has been directly involved with that had comparable talent to the current LA roster are the USA National Teams he's helped assemble. Those teams didn't do too shabbily in the past few years.

Perhaps all is not lost for Los Angeles after all. Perhaps D'Antoni, for all his faults, can surprise everyone and make the Lakers fulfill their potential.

Or it could all blow up in Jerry Buss's face and we see yet another D'Antoni team crash and burn.

The NBA: I Worry for the Celtics

Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics are struggling
out of the gates after five games.
(image by Michael Dwyer/AP)

The original super team, albeit one of veterans drafted in the 90s, has all but crumbled.

The mighty Celtics’ new big three no longer includes Ray Allen, who has since moved to archrival Miami and is currently busy hitting game-winners left and right. Instead, the playmaking prowess of Rajon Rondo has now combined with the aging duo of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to make a competitive, if nebulous, core. Then again, one might make the argument that Ray Allen stopped being the third member of Boston’s big three as far back as two years ago.

Still, the entry of Jason Terry and Leandro Barbosa, and re-entry of Jeff Green, should have more than made up for Allen’s defection, right?

Right, at least in theory, but a big fat WRONG in reality.

Terry is norming about 4 points less than he was last year, Barbosa’s value has steadily declined along with his offensive prowess, and Green is still trying to find his place in the whole scheme of things.

Still, these are THE Boston Celtics. They should be better than their 2-3 record, where both wins were against the effin’ Washington Wizards. THE WIZARDS. Heck, both those games even went down the wire.

In their latest game, the Celts were beaten by the young and restless Philadelphia 76ers, the team, the 8^th seed to boot, that unexpectedly pushed Boston to seven games in the Conference Semifinals last season. In this game, the Sixers, now without Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand, and Lou Williams, spanked the Celtics worse than the 6-point spread implies.

If the Cs are to get better, it should start with their defense, which has been horrible of late.

Boston Coach Doc Rivers had this to say after the Sixers loss, ''I thought we hung in the game, kind of fought back, but every time we needed a stop tonight, we didn't get it.''

One reason for Philly keeping Boston at bay was getting easy points in transition, something that bothered Pierce.

''If we can do a better job of getting back on defense, limit the easy opportunities, we give ourselves a better chance,'' Pierce said. ''Guys on the perimeter have to get back.''

Right now, only Charlotte, Detroit, and Cleveland allow more points in the Eastern Conference. Right now, Boston’s foes are scoring, on average, 4 more points than the Celts are. Right now, Boston is allowing its opponents to shoot better than 46% from the field, which is 7^th worst in the league.

Things will probably get better, because these are THE Boston Celtics. Somewhere down the line, their collective experience should enable them to get back on track. That, however, will probably be later rather than sooner, and even the Celts themselves expect that.

''I'm very patient,'' Pierce said. ''I understand it's a process. We're only five games in. We're still building.''

Yes, Paul, it’s a process, but I worry about you guys. I worry about the Celtics.

The NBA: Obama and the Bulls

Chicago Bulls Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose
joke around with Pres. Barack Obama in this file photo.
(image by Pete Souza/White House)

Tuesday night was big for the city of Chicago.

The Bulls bounced back from a freak loss to the New Orleans Hornets by trouncing the erstwhile undefeated, and overachieving mind you, Orlando Magic.

A few hours after that, Barack Obama, one of Chicago’s favorite sons (though born in Hawaii, the President worked, taught, and currently has his private residence in Chicago), won another four years in the White House.

Both the Bulls and Obama were engaged in tight contests.

The Bulls had their hands full with the Magic, who, despite losing in the Dwight Howard summer sweepstakes, have started the season on fire. Glen Davis was norming 25.5ppg prior to this game, while guys like JJ Redick and Nikola Vucevic were contributing beyond expectation. Orlando actually led for the better part of this encounter, but a big run late in the third period erased the Magic’s lead and paved the way for a rousing Chicago win.

''We just found a way,'' Chicago center Joakim Noah said. ''We fought hard at the end.”

Davis shot just 7-of-22 from the floor before fouling out in the final frame, but Arron Afflalo picked up the slack with 28 markers for Orlando. E’Twaun Moore also did well with 17 points for the visitors.

The Bulls, meanwhile, continued to enjoy career numbers from Noah, who scattered 20 points, 9 boards, and 5 blocks. Luol Deng also sparked the impressive play of the home squad, scoring 23 points to go along with 8 caroms. Diminutive playmaker Nate Robinson stepped up, too, recording 11 markers and 6 dimes off the pine.

Deng actually had this to say about Robinson, ''I thought Nate did a good job of looking for his shot and running the plays we were calling.''

This win bumped the Bulls up to 3-1, which is good enough for solo second behind undefeated Milwaukee in the Central Division.

Obama’s win, however, bumped him back into the Oval Office. Many political pundits foresaw a tight presidential race, though Obama was still favored over the conservative (is there any other kind?) Republican bet, Mitt Romney.

Romney got the jump on Obama when early returns poured in, but the President’s key wins in the swing states (the Ohio victory eventually clinched it for the incumbent) enabled him to earn four more years to offer “change” in America. Like the Bulls, Obama made a late run and ended strong for the victory.

The question, though, for both the Bulls and Obama, is this: can they sustain the momentum and continue winning?

Can the Bulls continue winning even without Derrick Rose? Can Obama continue winning people over despite some of his promises not yet reaching fruition?

Tuesday night was big for the city of Chicago, but how many more “Tuesday nights” do the Bulls and Obama have in them?

Note: The Bulls have a tough schedule ahead, with OKC, Minnesota, and Boston all coming in before they go on a 5-game road trip. On election day, Barack Obama played alongside Chicago Bull legendScottie Pippen in a pick-up game with friends. This pick-up game has been an election day tradition for the President. Aside from giving him an avenue to unwind, playing on election day is something he has always correlated with good fortune (read: winning the election).