And then there were none.
We are less than 10 days into the season, and there are no more unbeaten teams. The last two were the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder, who were picked by three SheridanHoops staffers to meet in the NBA Finals.
The Heat took a 5-0 mark into their home showdown with the Atlanta Hawks, who racked up 33 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 100-92 win. It remains to be seen whether the Hawks got the attention of the Heat. But they certainly got the attention of Miami Herald beat writer Joseph Goodman:
“Note to Eastern Conference contenders: Ignore Atlanta at your own peril. The Hawks are afterthoughts of the Southeast Division no more. Gradually improving in each of the past four seasons, Atlanta delivered a statement game on Monday, handing the Heat its first loss of the season and handcuffing the Heat offensively. One night after winning by 39 points, the Heat lost to the Hawks 100-92. The Hawks (4-1) have yet to allow more than 100 points in a game this season.”
The Hawks used the same strategy that the Dallas Mavericks used on Miami in the NBA Finals, employing a zone defense that neutralized the Heat’s explosiveness. Greg Stoda of the Palm Beach Post let the “Big Three” sum it up:
“It wasn’t all a result of the zone – Atlanta’s man-to-man was stifling, too – but that was the fulcrum on which things turned. … “Just be aggressive,” Wade said. “I think the zone makes us passive.” Which, of course, is the purpose of the defense. “We rushed too many shots,” James said, “and other times we got stagnant.” Again, the purpose of the defense. “We get back on our heels when we see a zone,” Bosh said. And yet again, the purpose of the defense. It doesn’t take a genius to know what’s coming next and next and next. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says a zone is what his team should “see quite a bit” unless or until it learns how to solve one.”
Atlanta’s fourth-quarter comeback was spearheaded by Tracy McGrady, who scored 13 of his 16 points in the final period. Last month, I said McGrady was the best offseason free agent signing for the money spent because I felt he would help offset some of Jamal Crawford’s lost scoring and move the ball, which Crawford doesn’t do very well. In the fourth quarter, McGrady had three 3-pointers and threw a beautiful alley-oop to Josh Smith off a designed play after a timeout, a great draw-up by Larry Drew.
The Heat won’t have to wait long for their chance at revenge, visiting Atlanta on Thursday.
The Thunder arrived in Dallas with a 5-0 mark and three wins (two in preseason) over the defending champion Mavericks but left with their first loss of the season, 100-87.
Dallas finally got what it had been looking for from its new pieces. Vince Carter – again coming off the bench – scored a season-high 14 points, getting to the line nine times. Lamar Odom – who came in shooting just 16 percent from the field – had eight points, five boards and moved the ball smartly. They helped give the Mavs a 47-25 edge in bench points over the Thunder, whose bench was reduced to James Harden and Eric Maynor – not a good sign when you have just begun a stretch of seven games in 10 days.
The win prevented the Mavericks from falling to 1-5 and staved off a strategy advanced by Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News: “With every loss, the pressure mounts to get Dwight Howard. If this team ends up .500, the pressure on Cuban is going to be immense to deliver on what he was envisioning, and that will be Dwight Howard. That will give them a chance to win another title, but anything short of a power center, a Dwight Howard type, will look like a bad gamble.”
Before tipoff, there was a distraction as owner Mark Cuban blasted the NBA for not scheduling his team for a road game at Washington – and the customary trip to the White House for sports champions.
From the DMN’s Eddie Sefko: “The Mavericks’ 2011 championship will get the presidential seal of approval on Jan. 9. Though they had to do all the legwork themselves after the NBA schedule did not have them visiting the Washington Wizards, the Mavericks arranged for their trip to the White House next Monday to meet President Barack Obama, a big basketball devotee. “Either the league was stupid, dumb-asses or something worse for not putting that together,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said. “That’s just ridiculous. All you got to do is, when you’re putting in the scheduling software, say ‘Dallas at Washington, yes.’ It’s not that hard. It’s only happened every single year. Even with the lockout schedule, it’s not that hard.” The Mavericks organized the visit before a two-game trip to Detroit and Boston that starts on Jan. 10. The team will fly to Washington on Sunday, get honored at the White House on Monday, then travel to Detroit for the Tuesday night game.”
The Spurs owned a 17-game winning streak over the Timberwolves, but now it is the same condition as Manu Ginobili’s left hand – broken. “El Contusion” will be examined in San Antonio today and tweeted Monday night that he is out a couple of weeks. However, Jeff Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News has a piece that suggests it will be more like four to six weeks.
Ginobili is San Antonio’s leading scorer and one of just two Spurs to score 20 points in a game this season. James Anderson will start in his place, and Gary Neal (appendectomy) could be back later in the week.
Rookie Ricky Rubio (say that five times fast) of Minnesota had a quiet game but did produce another highlight reel play – on defense. He did a “LeBron” rundown on Danny Green and blocked a breakaway layup at the end of the third quarter.
Before we get to other games, Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee explains why Paul Westphal and DeMarcus Cousins have to make nice in Cowbell Kingdom:
“Trading Cousins would be dumber than the dumb things Cousins does that get him in trouble. It would be a panic move, not a panacea. It would be an attempt at a quick fix that removes the foundation of a rebuilding franchise.Two years from now? After Cousins presumably has been surrounded by a more complementary cast, has had time to shed body fat and settle into his 6-foot-11, 270-pound frame, and has had ample opportunity to prove whether he is an underachieving goofball or a maturing veteran gaining control of his life and his career? If the behavior issues persist? Then we talk trade. Now, we talk peace. But this also begs the question. Since Cousins, 21, stays, how exactly does coach Paul Westphal repair the relationship?”
Elsewhere …
- The vultures should be circling in New York, where the Knicks returned from a three-game road trip. They began a stretch of five winnable games in seven days with a 90-85 loss to Toronto as Amar’e Stoudemire again sat out with a sprained ankle. That’s three games of 85 points or less for the Knicks, who got 35 on 31 shots from Melo, 22 on 19 shots from Toney Douglas and 28 on 7-of-28 shooting from everyone else.
- The Celtics are 0-3 without Paul Pierce and 3-0 with him after beating Washington again. Oh, yeah, and here’s a surprise: Jermaine O’Neal sat out with another injury, this time a hamstring.
- The Magic lost at Detroit, ending their four-game winning streak. Dwight Howard was 3-of-8 from the line and has made 22-of-53 free throws this season. By comparison, teammate Ryan Anderson has made 22-of-50 3-pointers.
- The Pacers finally shot better than 40 percent in a 108-94 road win over the Nets. Indiana is 4-1.
- Great line from Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. Utah’s Josh Howard had a flagrant-1 foul against James Anderson upgraded to a flagrant-2 and $25,000 fine following a league review. Genessy’s brief read, “Howard asked Anderson if he was OK after the play, and the guard responded that he was “fine.” Coincidental word selection.”
- TNT’s Jim Huber died. He was 67.