The Los Angeles Lakers looked to have turned a corner but a stunning collapse and “inexcusable” mistake has sparked a debate on how involved Anthony Davis should be.
Meanwhile, Ben Simmons has picked up another injury but how worried should we be?
Plus — the “freak of nature” breakout star who is right in the middle of the ‘Most Improved Player’ discussion.
That, and more, in ourNBA Talking Points.
“Everything has to go wrong in order for you to lose a game like that,” James said post-game.
“And everything went wrong.”
“This one stings for sure,” Davis added. “The way we lost, it was all self-inflicted wounds.”
So, just how unlikely was L.A.’s stunning 17-point collapse?
Well, any team James has been a part of entered Tuesday’s game with a 403-1 record when leading by 17 points or more in a fourth quarter. The Lakers also became the first team in the league this season to lose a game when entering the fourth quarter with that kind of a lead.
Naturally, attention then turned to who should take the blame and coach Darvin Ham was quick to point the figure at himself. Kendrick Perkins though was not so sure about that.
Speaking on ESPN, Perkins said that James should take responsibility for the loss, arguing the Lakers superstar needed to get teammate Davis more involved.
“We talk about, ‘Who is the best player on the Lakers right now?’ and that is Anthony Marshon Davis,” he said on ‘NBA Today’.
“And so when I look at last night collapse, I’m thinking to myself, ‘How in the hell did Anthony Davis only shoot two shots? Why didn’t LeBron James take control and go to the point guard position and force-feed Anthony Davis?’ … I think it’s time that LeBron James — not halfway, but all the way — give him the keys to the car.”
For context, Davis touched the ball for a total of 10 seconds in the final three minutes of the game, per Second Spectrum. Former NBA player Vince Carter described that as “inexcusable” and called on James to solve it, even if it means conceding he is no longer top of the “pecking order”.
“We talked about this yesterday… can they [Davis and James] co-exist together and play great basketball? Yes, and understanding how important this pecking order needs to be,” he said.
“Yes, LeBron was the pecking order. Well, that pecking order needs to change and you need to allow Anthony Davis to be the top. LeBron just has to have patience with this. You need to allow him to succeed and fail. 10 seconds of touching the ball in this situation, inexcusable.”
WNBA star Chiney Ogwumike, meanwhile, said the “priority” for the Lakers moving forward needs to be centred around getting Davis the ball in those key situations.
“That’s not a recipe for success at all for success for the Lakers,” she said.
“You need to feed him the ball, he’s bringing it up and those turnovers happen because he’s not fully engaged. This should be the priority, getting Anthony Davis to play his best brand of basketball alongside LeBron, not when LeBron is out, but when those two are together.
“They need to know that AD comes first just because schematically he’s most important for you to really have a shot alongside LeBron at winning.”
‘CONCERNING’ ELEMENT OF SIMMONS SETBACK
Is it time to start worrying about Ben Simmons’ body?
Simmons exited the Brooklyn Nets’ game against the Orlando Magic this week with knee soreness and didn’t return – the same knee he had surgery on two years ago and he needed fluid drained from this season due to swelling which caused him to miss games.
And the Aussie has already been ruled out of the Nets’ next three games – which would be eight matches missed of a possible 25 this season – due to an upper calf strain before he’ll be reevaluated.
It comes after Simmons, who missed all of last campaign due to mental health issues and a back problem – the latter requiring surgery – was just finding form at the Nets after an early-season slump.
It included a six-game stretch where he averaged 14 points on 80 per cent shooting, eight rebounds, eight assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks, and crucially, the Nets went 4-2 over that period to charge up the Eastern Conference standings and get their season back on track.
Simmons has PERFECT night against Pacers | 00:45
Even if Simmons’ setback is just minor, anytime he suffers any sort of ailment, there’s cause for concern given his recent history.
And especially after such a long layoff, where one setback – like his ongoing knee problem – can lead to another.
“Injuries happen and they’re going to happen to everybody … but with Simmons it’s always super concerning when this stuff comes up, because we have had cascading stuff happen with him happen in the past,” Locked On Nets’ Doug Norris noted.
“He’s not too far removed from back surgery and he’s talked about the knee pain he’s had in the past, so this is somewhat recurring for him.
“It doesn’t look like anything bad, but at the same time this is not new with him either. You’re always going to be probably catching a falling knife with his injury stuff.
“I don’t think he’s necessarily injury prone, but he has stuff on the ledger here that does lend itself to more long-term issues.
“I’m not predicting anything, but I will say, I don’t think any of us thought we were getting a full season of health out of Ben Simmons, because he’s ramping up and this is the way it goes.”
As mentioned, the timing is probably the thing that hurts the most, both from an individual and team standpoint.
Brooklyn has started to look more and more like the playoff threat many thought it’d be over the pre-season, while Simmons has played like the All-Star Simmons of old as a central part of the team’s around.
Continuity has been the key for the Nets after a disrupted start to the season including the firing of coach Steve Nash and Kyrie Irving’s off-court drama.
So for Brooklyn’s sake, here’s hoping it can maintain its upsurge without the 26-year old, and that he’s back on the court soon.
“The problem is that we’ve seen over the last few games where he’s turned it on to a different level – the Nets really need this. They need him on the court for 30 plus minutes because he does too much for their team,” Norris added.
“Whether it’s guarding the opposing threes, fours of fives, he can handle switches, obviously the court vision has been looking great and he’s been getting more aggressive getting to the basket.
“That’s all stuff we were hoping would continue to build here, and so when you hear there’s a problem … you kind of sit and wait at the edge of your seat to know what it’s going to be and hope it’s not something too bad.
“And probably recognise this will not be the last time it happens this season.”
WHY MAVS WON’T WIN A TITLE UNDER ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ LUKA LOAD
An NBA team has never previously relied on one player like the Dallas Mavericks have with Luka Doncic, at least not statistically.
According to NBA.com stats, Doncic this season has averaged 10.1 minutes of handling the ball per game – the most in the NBA – with James Harden (8.9 minutes) and Ja Morant (8.3 minutes) ranked second and third respectively.
So, on average, Doncic has the ball in his hand for more than a minute more than any other player in the league.
And in terms of every team’s third and fourth highest players of average minutes usage, the Mavericks rank the lowest each in each category.
Furthermore, no NBA player has ever previously averaged over 9.5 minutes of handling the ball – a stat the NBA has tracked since 2013-14.
“Basically it is unprecedented in NBA history for one person to be on the ball as much as Luka Doncic has been so far,” NBA writer Kevin Pelton said on Howdy Partners.
“Over a long season you wonder if that is going to have some ramifications in terms of fatigue.
“Last year, you had this three-headed ball handler option with Luka, Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie as they were making it to the conference finals.
“All of a sudden it is Luka and Dinwiddie and a whole lot of nothing else.”
Sure, Doncic has averaged an astonishing 33.1 points per game, 8.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists as one of the MVP frontrunners – underlined by an epic 40-point triple-double against Golden State on Wednesday. But under his current workload, the Mavericks simply aren’t genuine championship contenders.
After making the conference finals last season, the 10-10 Mavs only just snapped a four-game losing streak and have tumbled all the way down to the West’s 10th seed, meaning if the play-in tournament started tomorrow, they’d only just scrape in.
Dallas this week did sign four-time All-Star Kemba Walker to give Doncic the help he desperately needs on the offensive end and to bolster the backcourt – not that Walker is the second star the Mavericks are crying out for.
For NBA legend Charles Barkley, Doncic also needs to make changes to his game for the betterment of the team.
Morant’s pretty up and under layup | 00:24
“He’s a great player, but he’s going to have to learn to play without the ball and give it up more,” Barkley said on TNT.
“He’s got to empower those other guys instead of waiting on him to do everything. Those guys are like: ‘Let’s see what Luka is going to do.’
“Like nah man, y’all are in the NBA too, y’all can play.
“But they’re never going to win a championship the way they play right now because it’s all Luka, all the time.”
The need for Doncic to do less and the need for a second star go hand in hand though.
Christian Wood has been a solid enough addition, but isn’t a star, nor is, Dinwiddie who’s currently the second guy on this team.
Although Dinwiddie is enjoying a fine season and is a productive player, he’s better suited as a sixth man or third option – not the second best player on a team serious about winning a title.
The Mavericks acquired Dinwiddie from Washington in the Kristaps Porzingis trade in February to add another ball handler – a deal Dallas may now be having second thoughts on.
Porzingis has arguably become the Wizards’ best player amid an All-Star calibre campaign, averaging 21.4 points 8.2 rebounds for the 11-10 team that sits seventh in the East.
Although the Latvian big man’s fit at Dallas never quite worked out – and of course, it did make the conference finals without him – the trade now makes for tough reading for the Mavericks given the opposing directions both teams have gone in since while Porzingis flourishes.
Plus, despite Porzingis’ injury history, you can’t help but wonder if it was the right lever to pull or if the Mavericks could’ve gotten better offers at some stage.
That’s all in the past now though, and under the status quo, Dallas will remain in NBA purgatory until something changes.
One player can only do so much.
THE ‘FREAK OF NATURE’ IN ‘MOST IMPROVED PLAYER’ CONTENTION
Elsewhere, the emergence of rookie sensation Paolo Banchero has given Orlando Magic fans a reason to smile. The man himself though does not want the spotlight all to himself.
Rather, Banchero heaped praise on breakout star Bol Bol this week, with the 23-year-old putting himself firmly in the Most Improved Player discussion this season.
There were high expectations for Bol when he first entered the league, expectations that he is starting to live up to after a fresh start in Orlando.
The 7-foot-2 talent is averaging 13.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 0.9 asssists and 2.0 blocks while shooting 60.1 per cent from the floor — all career-high numbers.
“Everyone talks about the Victor dude from France,” Banchero told HoopsHypein an interview this week when asked who he would compare Bol to.
“I’m not trying to compare them, but Bol’s 7-foot-2, shoots threes, brings it up the court, makes passes, and blocks shots. I feel like people kind of forget about him, but Bol’s a freak of nature.”
It is hardly a surprise for Banchero though, who immediately knew Bol could be a key contributor for the Magic from early first impressions in the summer.
“From the first day I got on the court with him in the summer, it was obvious,” Banchero added.
“I was like, “I don’t know how this guy hasn’t been playing.” He’s ultra-talented at 7-foot-2, can shoot pull-up threes, and block shots all around the court. He moves like a 6-foot-5 shooting guard. It’s crazy.”
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, meanwhile, highlighted just how selfless Bol is in his approach to the game, willing to take on whatever role is in the team’s best interests.
“He’s got a great basketball instinct,” Mosley said of Bol.
“I think there’s so much more that he can show, but the one thing that I really appreciate about him and what he’s done is he’s just accepted whatever we are asking him to do, and he does it willingly.
“I think that’s a great part about him, just trying to find his way to fit exactly what we are doing.”
WILD WEST AS WILD AS EVER
They don’t call it the wild West for nothing, with the playoff picture tight … very tight.
There’s currently just four games separating the first-seeded Suns (14-6) and 10th-seeded Mavericks (10-10), and really, it’s hard to know what to make of so many of the teams sandwiched in between.
It comes as the likes of the Warriors (11-11), Mavericks and Timberwolves (10-11) have all underperformed thus far from where they were pegged over the pre-season.
Then there’s the Lakers (7-12) all the way down in the 13th seed and the Clippers (13-9), who were originally tipped as the favourites to come out of the West, holding up in the fifth seed despite Kawhi Leonard’s ACL setback, but not where they were expected to be.
Meanwhile sides like the Blazers (11-10), Kings (10-9) and Jazz (12-11) have outperformed expectations to emerge as genuine playoff contenders – if not more.
The Suns have proven to be a level above, although not to their previous best heights, with the Blazers and Jazz also spending time as the No. 1 seed.
Utah is perhaps the greatest enigma of all. Considered one of the teams in the tanking race for Victor Wembanyama, the Jazz were first in the West a week ago before dropping five-straight games to fall to eighth.
The Suns, Nuggets (13-7) and Grizzlies (12-8) can all be trusted as teams that’ll be in the upper echelon in the business end, and any could finish the season on top.
The much-improved Pelicans (12-8) also look like the real deal, but remain unproven, while you sense the Clippers and Warriors will improve as the season goes on – not that finishing as high as possible is necessarily their priority.
It’s frankly anyone’s guess at this stage which final eight teams make the playoffs – and where they’ll all sit.
