It was a light, but exciting, Monday night in the Association. Portland dropped their first game of the season, Toronto versus Sacramento was the most exciting game of the evening, and the young guns gave us a glimpse of the future in the Spurs-Clippers game. Let’s break down Monday’s action and end up with a few status updates geared towards tomorrow’s busy seven game slate of action.
Portland (98) at Chicago (110)
Derrick Rose’s scoring came back down to earth a bit on Monday, as evidenced by his shot attempts (11, down from 29 attempts per in Chicago’s first two games). However, this dip in scoring was offset by a career-high 13 assists. Likewise, Joakim Noah’s rebounding came back to down to earth as well, with a very pedestrian (by Noah’s standards) ten point, ten rebound double-double.
Deep leaguers take note. Omer Asik played well in limited minutes (six points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 26 minutes), putting a damper on Taj Gibson’s evening (12 points and three rebounds in 22 minutes). James Johnson’s solid line from Chicago’s prior game looks like a fluke.
For the Blazers, LaMarcus Aldridge played extremely well against the team that drafted him second overall and then immediately traded him for Tyrus Thomas. Aldridge scored 33 points (12/19 FG, 9/9 FT), nine rebounds, one steal, one block and zero turnovers. Brandon Roy struggled from the field (4/12 FG) as a result of Tom Thibodeau’s trademark defense, which seeks to stifle and frustrate the opponent’s leading scorer. Mission accomplished, coach.
Nicolas Batum (three points, one rebound) and Wesley Matthews (five points) both dropped duds while getting absolutely abused by the Bulls on the defensive end. With four more games for Portland this week, Batum should obviously be held but Matthews is starting to become a tougher call regarding whether he deserves a roster spot in standard sized leagues. His performance has been slipping to the point that it might be better to look for production elsewhere.
Also of note, Rudy Fernandez saw 22 minutes of action off the bench (six points, three steals) and Dante Cunningham got 19 minutes of run (six points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals). However, don’t read too much into this game, as the Blazers got thoroughly outplayed by the Bulls.
Toronto (108) at Sacramento (111)
Sacramento pulled out an exciting victory down the stretch against the Toronto Raptors in the Kings’ home opener. Arco Arena was absolutely rocking on Monday night, and is poised to be one of the best crowds in the NBA again this season. Tyreke Evans (23 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, one block) led the charge, with Beno Udrih (17 points) and DeMarcus Cousins (16 points) also making big plays late in the game.
As of now, Cousins is still starting over Samuel Dalembert, but the frontcourt rotation is looking as messy as ever. Check out the distribution of minutes among the Kings’ big men: Cousins (17 minutes), Carl Landry (32 minutes), Dalembert (22 minutes) and Jason Thompson (18 minutes). Yuck.
In terms of uncertainty of rotations, Kings’ head coach Paul Westphal is starting to look like the second coming of Don Nelson. Just to be clear, that is not a compliment. Only ‘Reke, Udrih and Landry look like safe plays until the rotation settles down and normalizes.
The Toronto Raptors let a close game slip away from them, despite extraordinary efforts from key players. Andrea Bargnani contributed 28 points, three threes, one assist, one steal, two blocks, one turnover and only two rebounds. While he takes quite a bit of heat for his rebounding deficiencies, coach Jay Triano has found the perfect complimentary piece for Bargnani: Reggie Evans. Evans has been a force on the glass, and is looking like the early favorite to win the rebounding title if he can keep turning in performances like he did against the Kings (19 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end). Evans is making a strong case for universal ownership.
Toronto also got strong performances from Linas Kleiza (18 points, three threes) and DeMar DeRozan, who scored a career-high 24 points while doing serious damage from the free throw line (10/14 FT).
On the other hand, Leandro Barbosa is looking downright awful this season, and appears to be seriously hampered by his lingering wrist injury. As my distinguished colleague Matt Buser has been preaching ad nauseum this season, Barbosa is looking like he is destined for surgery at some point. A few more performances like Monday night’s performance might force Toronto’s hand.
Let the point guard battle continue, with Jarrett Jack receiving the starting nod but playing less minutes than Jose Calderon (23 minutes versus 25 minutes). Calderon’s shooting down the stretch (15 points, two threes, two rebounds, five assists, one steal and zero turnovers) kept Toronto close, with Jack laying an egg (two points, three rebounds, five assists, five turnovers). Calderon is worth holding onto in case of a trade if you can afford to stash him away and await a resolution to the position battle.
San Antonio (97) at Los Angeles Clippers (88)
Another game and another loss for the Los Angeles Clippers. Baron Davis missed Monday night’s game with a sore left knee, and could be in line to miss additional games as a result of his poor conditioning. Anyone surprised? Davis’ absence gave rookie guard Eric Bledsoe the opportunity to start and showcase his skills in extended minutes. Bledsoe’s nine points, one three, five rebounds, three assists, four steals, two blocks and three turnovers illustrates Bledsoe’s multi-cat potential in the future.
Los Angeles’ frontcourt looked good, with Kaman logging his best game of the season (18 points on 53 FG%, eight rebounds, five assists, one steal, one block and three turnovers). Kaman’s partner in crime and ROY front-runner, Blake Griffin, chipped in 17 points and eight rebounds of his own. Ryan Gomes also contributed 14 points and two threes and looks locked in as the Clippers’ starting small forward.
For the Spurs, Tim Duncan (14 points, seven rebounds), Manu Ginobili (14 points, seven assists, four steals) and Tony Parker (19 points, nine assists, three steals) all ended up with decent, albeit unspectacular, lines. Of note, however, was Richard Jefferson’s line of 18 points, two threes, three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Jefferson looks much more confident in San Antonio’s system this season and is reasonably available (36% owned).
The Clippers’ resident hustle-guy, Craig Smith, took down George Hill by the shoulders on a fast break attempt. Hill was down for a couple of minutes after landing on a cameraman. Smith received a flagrant-two foul and was ejected from the game, as he clearly did not make a play for the ball. Afterwards, Hill appeared to be in pain but not seriously injured. He left the game with muscle spasms in his right trapezius, which (according to Wikipedia) is located in the shoulder and neck region.
Tiago Splitter made a very quiet NBA debut, but figures to be brought along slowly until he proves he has fully recovered from his offseason calf injury. In ten minutes of action, Splitter contributed two points, two rebounds and one steal and generally appeared to be out of sorts. He has nowhere to go but up, and should easily supplant Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair in San Antonio’s rotation in the long-run.
Finally, rookie Gary Neal looked much better than advertised for San Antonio, and makes for an intriguing deep league prospect. In 20 minutes, Neal poured in 16 points, four threes, six rebounds, two assists and two turnovers. Fellow rookie James Anderson also gave coach Popovich quality minutes (eight points, two threes, two rebounds, three assists, one block). Watch both of these guys if George Hill is expected to miss any significant time as a result of his Craig Smith-induced trip to the locker room.
Status Updates - quick hitters from around the league
• NBA pariah Gilbert Arenas remains questionable for the Washington Wizards’ upcoming game against the Philadelphia 76’ers on Tuesday. Arenas recently visited a foot and ankle specialist in Baltimore and should not be inserted into lineups until he proves that he is actually healthy.
• The Detroit Pistons’ season is not off to an auspicious start, with Will Bynum sidelined, and Charlie Villanueva and Richard Hamilton both questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Boston Celtics. The injury bug has hit Detroit hard in the early parts of this season.
• A couple of players signed contract extensions just before Monday’s deadline lapsed. The big winner was Mike Conley, Jr., who inked a contract extension for five years and $45 million, much to the chagrin of the blogosphere. Jared Dudley was a steal in comparison at five years and $22.5 million.
• Antawn Jamison is questionable for the Cavaliers’ game against the Hawks on Tuesday with a knee injury. Jamison has had an extremely rough start to this season, with an as-of-yet undefined role with the rebuilding Cavs.
• Jason Richardson has been nursing a sore back this season, which was apparently also giving him trouble last season. Richardson’s lingering back issues have gotten little-to-no press, and is one story worth watching as the season progresses.
• Zach Randolph’s MRI results came back clean, putting Randolph’s status for Tuesday in play, but questionable. The main limiting factor will likely be Z-Bo’s threshold for pain, as he recovers from a painful bruised tailbone.
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Photos via Getty Images
Håkan Andersson Victor Arbekov Les Archer Nicolas Aubin Rene Baeten
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