Derrick Rose stunned the basketball world Wednesday night, hanging a career-high 50 points on the visiting Utah Jazz, and leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 128-125 win.
An emotional D-Rose talked afterwards about how hard he had to grind just to get back on the court after so many injury-related setbacks throughout the years.
Per the Star Tribune:
“It means a lot, man,” Rose said. “It shows we’re coming together as a team. We’re getting close. And it’s touching, bro. Just being in this position. It still didn’t even hit me yet. Words can’t explain how I feel right now. It’s been a while.”
Perhaps it’s fitting that the performance came against Utah, the team that waived him late last season after acquiring him in a three-team trade. Rose was signed by the Wolves, then re-signed over the summer. But he said he’s not in this for revenge. Citing Frank Sinatra, Rose said the best revenge is massive success.
“When I’m at my best, I react instead of think,” Rose said. “The last couple years I didn’t have that rhythm. … It’s all just coming together. But it took six or seven years. … But, for me, it’s only the beginning.”
As ESPN's Bobby Marks pointed out recently, "Green would be eligible for a five-year, $235 million extension that would start in 2020. Keep in mind that because of Stephen Curry's contract, Golden State can sign only one more player to a super max."Green said he wakes up each morning with the award on his mind.
"Absolutely," he said. "I'm pissed. Second-team All-Defense, that's disrespectful."
After missing several weeks of training camp because of a sore knee, Green has found his form as the Warriors continue rolling through the league. Green almost racked up a triple-double, scoring 16 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and dishing out 8 assists Wednesday.
Detroit Pistons
No one's taking the Detroit Pistons' 4-2 start away from them, but it's easy to poke holes in their remarkable early-season pace—one that puts them on a 55-win trajectory. For perspective, a 55-27 record would be the No. 5 win-loss mark in franchise history, better than even the 54-28 mark produced by the title-winning iteration in 2003-04.
On the most basic level, the four victories came against the 2-5 Brooklyn Nets, 2-4 Chicago Bulls, 4-4 Philadelphia 76ers (playing without Ben Simmons) and 1-6 Cleveland Cavaliers. The Sixers, who weren't operating at full strength during their 133-132 overtime loss Oct. 23, are likely the only playoff squad among that bunch. Moreover, the Pistons' victories came by a combined 13 points, whereas their first loss (to the Boston Celtics) featured a 20-point margin.
Basketball Reference's simple rating system (SRS), which looks only at the strength of schedule and margin of victory, gives Detroit a score of minus-5.31. That leaves the Motor City at No. 23 overall and No. 11 in the Eastern Conference, sandwiched between the Orlando Magic (minus-5.18) and Washington Wizards (minus-5.52)
Sure, Blake Griffin could keep lighting up scoreboards after opening his 2018-19 campaign by averaging 27.7 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists while slashing 50.0/48.4/73.3. But offensive regression is likely, even if Andre Drummond can mitigate the ill effects by rounding back into his 2017-18 form.
Beyond the bigs, Reggie Bullock, Langston Galloway and Stanley Johnson could start shooting the ball more effectively, though they're at least contributing in other areas. Luke Kennard, recovering from an AC joint sprain in his right shoulder that will keep him out of the lineup for at least two weeks, is the only man on the injury report. So even if everything breaks right and the guards/wings catch fire, there's only so much higher this rotation can rise.
Detroit might have started hot, but the record from the opening salvo is a mirage. The fight to make the playoffs will be enough of an uphill battle by the time calendars are switching to 2019, even if the baseline will be slightly higher than we've seen thus far.
Houston Rockets
Chris Paul has missed time while serving a suspension for his role in the fight with the Los Angeles Lakers. James Harden has watched from the sidelines with a balky hamstring, and that same muscle has kept James Ennis III out of the lineup for all but three games. Meanwhile, Eric Gordon has forgotten how to shoot, and the lack of depth has been a glaring issue during the 1-5 start.
Nothing seems to have gone right for the Rockets, but that should all normalize as the season progresses and healthy bodies begin to forge chemistry.
Of course, Houston has valid flaws.
The defense, which finished 2017-18 ranked No. 7, has taken a massive step backward. Now sitting at No. 24, it's suffering from Trevor Ariza's departure (by no means the only issue), Carmelo Anthony's arrival and, perhaps most importantly, the retirement of point-preventing mastermind Jeff Bzdelik, who served as an assistant coach the last few years. Just take a gander at the progression in each of the defensive Four Factors between the two campaigns:
- Opponents' effective field-goal percentage: 52.1 in 2017-18 (No. 13); 54.1 in 2018-19 (No. 25)
- Opponents' turnover percentage: 13.4 in 2017-18 (No. 11); 12.6 in 2018-19 (No. 16)
- Defensive rebounding percentage: 79.9 in 2017-18 (No. 3); 76.2 in 2018-19 (No. 19)
- Opponents' free throws per field-goal attempt: 0.171 in 2017-18 (No. 4); 0.25 in 2018-19 (No. 29)
That's a troubling trend, but it also provides hope for an imminent turnaround.
Houston has the pieces to thrive on the defensive end. It just needs to play with discipline and effort, rather than flailing away in a vain pursuit of turnovers that leave it out of position to box out and prevent second-chance opportunities while sending more foes to the charity stripe. The team should improve as the year progresses and the system solidifies.
The Rockets have legitimate flaws, and they'll have trouble replicating their 65-17 record from the prior go-around, which helped them topple the Golden State Warriors in the regular-season battle for the Western Conference's No. 1 seed. They're far better than we've seen, though, as will become clear when the defense regresses toward a more reasonable mean and all the key pieces play together.
As Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said, per CBSSports.com's Reid Forgrave, after his team dropped a close contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night: "You probably don't want to be around when my patience runs out. I'm serious."
Fortunately for everyone around him, that probably won't happen.
The close losses are infuriating for a team that expected better than a 2-5 record at the start of the James era, but this is a process. Especially while boasting a roster filled with so many young players still learning how to win—some of whom haven't been fully healthy throughout the offseason (Lonzo Ball) or have been suspended (Brandon Ingram)—the Lakers have to realize they'll only trend upward.
Already, the Purple and Gold have been better than their record might indicate.
No doubt boosted by an 18-point victory at the expense of the Phoenix Suns, their SRS (minus-1.67) places them in the middle of the Western Conference pack, as they fall between the Oklahoma City Thunder (0.16) and Minnesota Timberwolves (minus-2.72) for the No. 10 spot in their half of the NBA. They haven't been that bad, even if they've consistently struggled at the beginning of games and in the opening portions of final periods.
The offense is already chugging along, ranked No. 7 in the overall hierarchy. The defense should come around as the pieces coalesce, especially once head coach Luke Walton has the luxury of no longer shuffling bodies and instead playing an established rotation.
To that point, the league has already seen 203 unique quintets used for at least 10 minutes—an average of 6.8 per team. The Lakers have accounted for just five because they've been toying with different player combinations due both to a dearth of incumbent lineup options and the suspensions levied after the fight with the Houston Rockets.
Those five losses are already frustrating for a player who demands so much excellence from himself, his teammates and his organization. But they shouldn't pile up at the same rate as the season progresses.
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