The Knicks managed a three-game winning streak despite suiting up relative unknowns
The Knicks break their streak of ineptitude. We also said goodbye to Kobe and hello to Klay. ATL is on the up-and-up, but Brandon Jennings goes down-and-out. Plus, the fans delivered a mostly worthy group of All-Star starters.
This is The Week That Was.
Slick Knicks?
The New York Knickerbockers actually managed to pull off a three-game winning streak. Utterly shocking I know! They’ve achieved this feat with guys like Cleanthony Early, Quincy Acy, Pablo Prigioni, and Langston Galloway. Everything about this franchise seems lackluster, whether it be their motivational speeches, or the names of the scrubs they throw out on the court. Seriously, can you expect a guy named Pablo to find any success in the NBA? And what is a Langston Galloway? That sounds like something you step on…kinda like the Knicks.
The second win of the Knicks’ winning streak came against the (less) awful 76ers in a game no one watched. All kinds of ineptitude was displayed in this NBA embarrassment. Take a look.
ICYMI: Not in Jerami Grant's house. https://t.co/ZHZSL4gu9F via @vine
— Jonathan Ebanks (@hogz4lyfe) January 24, 2015
-This Vine was posted by the Sixers
Mr. Hardaway, ’tis a great honor to be denied by your opponent’s third-best rookie shot-blocker, Jerami Grant.
The Struggle is Real https://t.co/N359enwKMG via @vine
— Jonathan Ebanks (@hogz4lyfe) January 24, 2015
-This Vine was posted by Tommy Beer
Knicks allow six straight layup attempts. Sixers hit none. My reaction – speechless.
Bye Bye Kobe
If you haven’t heard the big news, Kobe Bryant tore his right rotator cuff against the Pelicans on Wednesday, Jan. 21, and his season is officially over. The injury happened during a third quarter dunk he executed, and he soon left the game. However, what’s crazy is that he decided to return with five minutes left, facing a 13-point deficit and solely shot left-handed! The game was virtually a lost cause at that point and the Lakers ended up losing 96-80. During final five minutes, Bryant shot twice with his left hand. He impressively made the first one, but missed the second one quite badly.
-This GIF can be found on Giphy.com
It’s a testament to his toughness that he came back out there and no one can ever say that he has never given his team 110 percent. In reality though, what he did was dumb. So you’re going to risk aggravating your injury in a game your lottery team has little shot of winning? That’s just pure stupidity and selfishness. Only someone with the largest ego would trot back out there with one arm thinking that they will be the savior. Even after Bryant comes back for next (likely his last?) season, you’d have to think that the Lakers would keep him on a minutes cap and give some more time to the youngsters on the roster. The future is now in Los Angeles.
Man On Fire
For one quarter, Klay Thompson was hotter than any other player in the history of the league! At just 24-years-old, Thompson set the league record for most points in a quarter after dropping 37 in the third quarter against the Kings on Friday. He finished with a crazed stat line, featuring a career high 52 points with 11 triples on 16-of-25 shooting and 9-of-10 free throws. Thompson as added two rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks!
-This GIF was posted on Imgur by user Srirachachacha
The Kings put up a great fight in the first half and entered the third quarter tied with Golden State at 58, but Thompson obviously made sure that Warriors would gain control and maintain it in the 126-101 win. To put things into perspective, the Kings only scored 22 points in that third quarter. Take a look at this shot chart of Klay Thompson‘s third quarter.
Correction: Klay averaged 2.64 points per shot in the third. His True Shooting percentage was a mere 132%.
— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) January 24, 2015
Thompson was already hitting an exceptional 44.4 percent of his threes before Friday, but now that number has jumped up to 49.2 percent! The Hawks and Warriors matchup on Feb. 6 looks more-and-more attractive with each passing day.
A-Town’s Rising
-This GIF can be found on DimeMag.com
The superstar-less Hawks finished off the week with their franchise-record 15th straight win in a great performance against Kevin Durant and the Thunder. The 103-93 victory marked their 29th win in their last 31 games as of Jan. 24. These Hawks are the NBA’s true ‘Cinderella’ team so far. Not a single person gave them a chance to a win a title this season, but they look like the best team in the East right now, without question. In each of those 15 wins, the Hawks had commanded a double-digit lead at some point throughout. When you look at the road ahead, it doesn’t look like any of the next five teams on their plate can seriously stand against them. The Timberwolves, Nets, Trail Blazers, 76ers and Pelicans are all that’s in the Hawks’ way of achieving 20 straight. After those five come a tough test in the Wizards on Feb. 4, which precedes the main showdown against Golden State on February 6th.
During Atlanta’s impressive streak, their offensive rating is 112.5, which is tied for fourth with the Warriors. However, Atlanta’s defensive rating in that span is a NBA-best 99.4 and if you ever examined their defensive strategy then you may know why. The Hawks are built with lots of size and players with relatively long wingspans, so they usually congest the post to prevent high-percentage shots. Plus, their long-armed forwards clog kick-out lanes and effectively trap ball-handlers who manage to get into the post on them.
-This GIF can be found on ESPN
Maintaining that high-quality, defensive post play will be a necessity to take down the Wizards and Warriors. However, if they can extend their win streak to 22, then it’s anyone guess as to who might be able to vanquish them.
On a side note, the Atlanta Hawks may indisputably be the best in the league when it comes to honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on MLK Day.
Tough Break Brandon
-This GIF can be found on DimeMag.com
The surging Josh Smith-less Pistons, who have gone 12-3 since waiving Smith, have taken a huge blow with Brandon Jennings‘ injury. Late in third quarter to Saturday’s loss to the Milwaukee, Brandon Jennings suffered a complete tear of his left Achilles’ tendon. As soon as you see a guy go down with a non-contact injury in any sport, you immediately know that a serious injury is more than likely. In this instance, the Pistons initially feared an Achilles issue and unfortunately their assumption was correct. Jennings will mess the rest of the season.
The 25-year-old point guard had elevated his play after Josh Smith was released and has been the catalyst for Detroit’s offensive success since then. Jennings averaged 20 points and 7.2 assists per game since Smith’s absence, while draining 40.4 percent of his threes in that span. We here at FantasyPros wish Jennings a speedy, healthy recovery.
Here Are Your Starters for the 2015 NBA Popularity Cont…Er…All-Star Game
So the NBA All-Star voting system has long since been dubbed as imperfect, but it’s not a wholly terrible system. The fans actually managed to get the starters mostly right, for a change. Stephen Curry rightfully deserved to earn more votes than LeBron James. Anthony Davis is the best defensive player in the game and needs to start just on that reason alone. The Gasol brothers are both making MVP cases, so they are shoe-ins. I like it for the most part, but the glaring mistake on this list is Kobe Bryant.
I get that Bryant is a legacy pick, but how can one justify voting for a guy who has only hit 37.3 percent of his shots this year over this season’s scoring leader, James Harden (27.3 points per game), or the league leader in assist percentage and box plus/minus, Russell Westbrook. Even Klay Thompson, Chris Paul and Damian Lillard would all have been a better pick for the starting unit over Kobe Bryant this season. His injury will most likely elevate either Harden or Thompson into the starting lineup though, so this wrong will be righted.
Kyle Lowry is not a bad starter pick and it’s always nice to see new faces starting the All-Star game. I won’t complain about him getting tons of help from Justin Bieber, Drake and the Canadian Prime Minister to help him pass Dwyane Wade for the starting nod. I will say that even though Wade is empirically having a better season than Lowry, the fans could have made an even better backcourt choice than Lowry or Wade by voting for Jeff Teague. Teague has more assists per game (7.5) than anyone in the East aside from John Wall. He’s one of the game’s best offensive catalysts and his unselfishness along with his smart play-calling have fueled the league’s best example of what team basketball looks like. The Hawks’ offense would just not be as efficient without him calling the shots.
Jonathan Ebanks is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Jonathan, check out his archive and follow him @hogz4lyfe.
