ATL: Hawks fall to Mavericks as Luka Doncic pours in 73 factorsLauren Williams, AJC
BOS: The evolution of Sam HauserAdam Taylor, Celtics Movie Room
BOS: How Porzingis helps the Celtics offense resolve a lotAdam Himmelsbach, Boston Globe
CHI: Alex Caruso’s soiled little secret is out, and the Bulls are benefittingJoe Cowley, SunTimes
The primary-team All-Protection guard is likely to be choosing his spots by way of taking expenses, however that hasn’t taken away from his protection. And it actually has made him extra out there to proceed climbing offensively.
CLE: Donovan Mitchell appears to be like All-Star worthy in Cavs’ bounce-back win over BucksChris Fedor, cleveland.com
CLE: Jarrett Allen’s underappreciated dominance involves gentle towards the NBA’s finestEthan Sands, cleveland.com
CLE: Isaac Okoro Praised For Defensive Effort After Cavaliers Defeat BucksLogan Potosky, Sports activities Illustrated
DAL: Dončić’s 73 factors units career-high, Mavs fileTim Cato, The Athletic
DAL: Doncic’s 73 factors places Mavericks star in rarified air with all-time scoring legendsBrad Townsend, Morning Information
GSW: Movie Evaluation: Analyzing the Warriors’ open-three drawback on protectionJoe Viray, Golden State Of Thoughts
The operative phrase in terms of the Warriors’ three-point protection this season appears to be “lack” — an absence of communication, lack of connectivity, lack of element, lack of pressure, lack of doing one’s work early, and lack of presence. Opponents don’t appear intimidated in any respect by the Warriors’ protection, usually benefiting from the shortage of all the above which were prevalent this season.
The Warriors are literally the crew with the bottom opponent rim price within the league — 25.5% of opponents’ shot makes an attempt this season have come from inside 4 toes of the basket, per Cleansing The Glass. The crew in second place (Minnesota Timberwolves) have an opponent rim price that’s 3.9% greater.
That looks as if it needs to be an indicator of an elite protection, however given the movie and the speed of opponents’ three-point appears to be like, that is likely to be an indicator of one thing extra regarding: their troubles by way of containment on the point-of-attack are inflicting them to scramble and sink inside in an effort to forestall photographs on the rim; in flip, they’re giving up snug appears to be like from past the arc.
At 19-23, the query then turns into this: Is it an issue fixable by a mid-season change in personnel and/or method? Or is it an excessive amount of of an ingrained drawback, a structural flaw that may solely be correctly addressed after a season that’s on the verge of being misplaced?
GSW: The Warriors invested in Jonathan Kuminga, and it’s paying offMarcus Thompson II, The Athletic
GSW: Video: Steph Curry helps Jonathan Kuminga dazzle in back-to-back massive video games vs Hawks and KingsEric Apricot, Dub Nation HQ
GSW: Warriors Podcast with Michael Scotto & Anthony SlaterHoops Hype
IND: How the Pacers flipped the script on iso-ballCaitlin Cooper, Basketball She Wrote
