Notes From Night One: 12/23/2020
Nets 125 Warriors 99
My massive Game One over-reaction: The Brooklyn Nets did what the Clippers wanted to do last season- they’ve added two stars to an existing playoff team without compromising the existing squad.
Two years ago, the Nets and Clippers were coastal mirrors- both had built solid, scrappy teams that were lower-end playoff teams built on young, egalitarian cores. They both added pairs of superstars who excel with the ball in their hands.
The Clippers , though, had to add their second star via a trade that greatly impacted the core of their previous team, sending out a young potential All-Star, a very useful sniper with size, and multiple draft picks. And that’s after they shed some skill and salary at the deadline the previous season. What they did was more akin to the Heat signing LeBron and Bosh, except instead of Wade, they had like 7 high-quality depth pieces.
The Nets, on the other hand, pretty much just straight added two championship-tested superstars directly to a fringe playoff team. Theirs was a bit more of an investment, with KD sitting out all of 2019/2020, and Kyrie deciding he was done with the season pre-bubble. It turns out, that just gave Caris LeVert more time to incubate, and Joe Harris more time to coalesce his talents into a real-deal NBA player confident in his role on a good team.
Last night, Brooklyn’s investment paid off. Who knows if Kyrie can keep his malaise at bay, or whether KD can stay healthy in this compacted season so recently back from one of the most devastating injuries an NBA player can endure? Those are questions for the future. Right now, they look like a juggernaut, with four dynamic ball handlers all capable of getting their own shot, active bigs, and more shooters than a sniper training program. The rest of the East should be worried.
On the Warriors’ side, this game will hopefully be an aberration. Klay is obviously still out, and so was DG last night, but this looked an awful lot like last year’s pre-Curry-injury Warriors- a bunch of pieces who weren’t real sure what they were doing on an NBA court.
Curry looked solid, like he had 73% of his swagger back. As a plus for James Wiseman, I think he moved really well and looked like an NBA player, which is a bigger accomplishment than it might sound like. I don’t know if this team can make the playoffs without a strong season from Draymond Green accompanying Steph having an MVP-caliber season.
Can Steve Kerr convince these guys that they are NBA players (on a potentially good team, no less?), and that they need to execute their sets with confidence and aggression? There are two truths to the NBA: You have to focus on process over results, because you simply cannot force the ball through the hole on 70% of your possessions, and because people (especially KD and Kyrie) are going to drill shots in your eye as you play fantastic defense. The second is that you can generally only get one step ahead of your talent, no matter your strategy and execution. Kerr needs to get that one step from his coaching, but he needs his talent to shoulder more of the load where they can.
Lakers 99 Clippers 116
The night opened with the Lakers receiving their rings in a sweet ceremony where each player was treated to a video message from their families. Jeanie Buss also shouted out departed Lakers such as JaVale McGee and Danny Green. They made sure to put some respect on Kobe.
As happens fairly often, the Clippers, who were waiting out the ceremony in their locker room, in what is putatively their home arena, too, laid the wood when given the opportunity.
Serge Ibaka immediately showed his potential value, knocking down shots and picking up a charge call. Paul George played like, well, like it wasn’t the playoffs. Kawhi was a sniper at key points, despite not having a great shooting night overall.
It was definitely a solid win for the Clippers, but even in triumph, there are causes for concern. If Nicholas Batum consistently leads the team in assists, they will once again top out as a second-round playoff team.
After falling down huge, the Lakers fought back and came close to pulling it out (shout out to Jeff Goldblum, the Pull-Out King), but the Clippers just had a bit too much.
As for the new pieces, Schroder and Harrell are going to have very good years. Gasol might be an issue defensively if they plan on playing him more than 15 minutes a game, but that will only be an issue in the regular season.
Talen Horton-Tucker played solid in his too-few minutes- he probably should have gotten Mathews’ minutes, because Mathews basically didn’t exist in this game.
One thing that will be very curious is what LeBron does on this team. He was playing off the ball more last night than is typical, and even got a couple catch-and-shoot looks. Does he duplicate his 10APG ‘point grown’ season from last year? Or does he take an intentional step back, and ride the additional depth they have at playmaking, and put up a 24/5/5 season before turning it up in the post season?
Can’t Wait
I’ll be at my first NBA game in ~ 11 months on Sunday, and I can’t wait. I’m hoping my Cavs can put up a good fight against a revitalized 76’ers team. I am so damn excited for those season. Not only will it hopefully be the distraction I need while waiting for a certain vaccine and the resumption of our world, but the NBA is maybe the most interesting it has ever been this year.
Between realized potential [KD/Kyrie], elevated partnerships [Giannis/Holiday, CP3/Booker, Ben Simmons/Shooters, Beal/Westbrook], compelling villains [Harden], and youth looking for their ‘Stand By Me’ experience [Sexton/Garland/Porter Jr/Okoro], there are so many teams that both have a chance to compete or will be fun to watch even if they’re not championship material this season. Pretty much every night will have games worth at least peaking in on.
Stop back next week for my definitive League Pass rankings!