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Ranking point guards has been in fashion of late. Given the number of outstanding lead guards in the NBA right now, that's understandable. The topic was hotter than ever last night, with Derrick Rose and Steve Nash going head-to-head in Phoenix while a little to the north, Deron Williams and Chris Paul were going toe-to-toe in Salt Lake City. It seems like all of the top fives and such that I've seen have identified Williams and Paul as the top two at the position, with the order between the two often flip-flopped. Without doing a thorough treatment of the subject, I'm not going to quibble with any one list. I do think you have to be careful not to leave Nash or Rajon Rondo out of the discussion, and Russell Westbrook is near the upper tier as well. By the end of the year, we may need to put John Wall up there.
For now, I'll just make two subjectively based observations. First, if we determine that Paul and Williams are indeed the top two, how much weight do we give the head-to-head matchups between them? Williams is ahead of Paul in my 2010-11 ratings by a comfortable margin and is an early front-runner for the MVP award. Going back over the course of the careers of these two sixth-year players, they are very close statistically, and if you're talking about who the better player is, you want to look at multiple seasons. However, to my recollection, Williams has almost always won his head-to-head matchups with Paul. To me, that gives him the edge. After saying all of this, however, if I'm starting a team from scratch and looking at the long-term picture, I'm taking Derrick Rose.
With only two games scheduled for this Thanksgiving Day and the news wire likely to be silent, we're going to call it a week for PBP Roundup. So you'll find the next four days' games listed below. We'll recap everything from Thursday through Sunday in Monday's morning's piece. On Friday, we'll have our updated Fantasy Projections ready for download, and I'm sure we'll have at least an item or two of new content. Happy holiday everyone. Eat well and be safe.
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LIVE AT BASKETBALL PROSPECTUS
1. Asher Fusco shares his impressions of the NIT semifinals, highlighted by a narrow escape by Bruce Pearl's Tennessee Volunteers. (premium)
2. Sebastian Pruiti shared some thoughts on Boston's narrow win over the Nets on Wednesday. (Unfiltered)
3. The Thunder's Nick Collison got a contract extension that pays him like an All-Star for this season, but works well for the Thunder down the road. (Unfiltered)
4. Kyle Whelliston notes some recent triumphs of several Mid-Major programs. (Unfiltered)
5. Defending national champion Duke is off to a fast start, even though their top player, Kyle Singler, is not. (Unfiltered)
6. Kevin Pelton breaks down the hot start by the Lakers' offense. (premium) (Unfiltered)
7. In the latest Poll Position, John Gasaway looks at North Carolina's issues on offense. (premium)
8. What does Utah's propensity for comeback wins foretell? Kevin Pelton has the answers. (premium)
9. Asher Fusco says that college basketball's version of the perfect game happens more often than you'd think. (premium)
10. Kevin Pelton's latest Trend Watch has items on the Nuggets' offense, Kris Humphries and this year's surprise rookies. (premium)
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FANTASY PROJECTIONS
This week's first downloadable fantasy projection spreadsheet is available for anyone that has at least a free basic subscription to Prospectus. If you don't have one, just go here and register. As I say, this one is free, but to get further updates, you'll need a subscription to Basketball Prospectus Premium. Once you're registered, the sheet will be available on your 'Manage Profile' page.
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HOT FIVES
POWER RATING (POW) GR (11/24/10) WP82 -- ALL WP82 -- ROOKIES
celtics,boston, 60.9 james,lebron, 40.0 james,lebron, 24.9 griffin,blake, 10.4
spurs,sanantonio, 60.6 williams,maurice, 37.8 williams,deron, 24.1 wall,john, 10.2
hornets,neworleans, 59.3 thomas,tyrus, 36.2 bryant,kobe, 21.6 bledsoe,eric, 4.6
bulls,chicago, 59.2 iguodala,andre, 35.1 durant,kevin, 20.5 cousins,demarcus, 2.9
lakers,losangeles, 56.1 nowitzki,dirk, 34.8 rose,derrick, 19.9 turner,evan, 2.7
Note: GR leaders are from previous night only.
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WEDNESDAY'S BOX SCORES & RECAPS
NOTE: Glossary is at bottom of page.
KNICKS 99, BOBCATS 95 (box): The Knicks completed a back-to-back sweep of the Bobcats, winning their fifth in a row and evening their record 8-8. None of New York's wins in the streak have been by double figures, and it's been an offense-fueled stretch. The Knicks have posted a 111.5 Offensive Rating or better in all five wins, and their best Defensive Rating in that span has been 107.0. Raymond Felton had 23 points and 13 assists on Wednesday, this time winning his head-to-head matchup with D.J. Augustin, who had 14 points and seven assists.
NYK (8-8) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR CHA (5-10) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
felton,raymond 83% 32% 1.15 + 3 24.6 thomas,tyrus 71% 29% 1.35 + 6 36.2
stoudemire,amare 70% 24% 1.12 - 4 17.6 jackson,stephen 83% 30% 0.72 + 5 17.4
gallinari,danilo 75% 16% 0.88 - 6 14.9 wallace,gerald 83% 12% 1.15 + 5 14.8
chandler,wilson 71% 22% 1.41 + 7 14.0 diaw,boris 80% 11% 1.65 + 5 12.3
douglas,toney 42% 16% 1.37 +11 13.6 augustin,d.j. 71% 18% 1.42 + 6 10.8
walker,bill 34% 21% 1.44 - 4 12.3 livingston,shaun 32% 32% 1.00 - 9 8.1
fields,landry 66% 12% 1.20 + 8 11.4 brown,derrick 43% 8% 1.56 -14 3.1
mozgov,timofey 23% 7% 0.76 +10 2.0 mcguire,dominic 8% 32% 1.07 - 5 1.8
turiaf,ronny 35% 7% 0.71 - 5 1.1 carroll,matt 8% 35% 0.58 - 4 1.3
mason,roger (DNP) brown,kwame 15% 3% 1.86 - 9 1.2
randolph,anthony (DNP) collins,sherron 6% 19% 0.00 - 6 0.0
rautins,andy (DNP) mohammed,nazr (DNP)
PACE: 88.8 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 88.8 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
knicks,newyork 111.5 .560 .216 .169 .099 bobcats,charlotte 107.0 .460 .375 .180 .104
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CAVALIERS 83, BUCKS 81 (box): Mo Williams hit a 19-footer at the buzzer for the Cavs, sinking his former team. Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings closed out well on the play, but Williams still nailed the high-arching fadeway. The Bucks could certainly use Williams' offense. Milwaukee has lost four straight, with its last three Offensive Ratings as such: 89.0, 91.8, 92.7. The Bucks have been an extreme team, the opposite of the Golden State teams of the last few years. They are last in Offensive Rating, eFG%, True Shooting Percentage and two-point field goal percentage. They lead the league in Defensive Rating. The win snapped a three-game skid for Cleveland.
MIL (5-9) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR CLE (6-8) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
dooling,keyon 52% 33% 1.21 + 5 18.2 williams,maurice 68% 39% 1.01 +11 37.8
mbahamoute,luc 53% 18% 1.09 -15 14.7 parker,anthony 63% 17% 1.32 +15 13.7
gooden,drew 70% 15% 0.95 - 6 13.9 jamison,antawn 59% 18% 0.73 - 5 8.7
sanders,larry 49% 20% 1.02 +10 12.0 gibson,daniel 47% 25% 1.03 - 9 7.3
salmons,john 90% 16% 1.09 - 6 9.5 varejao,anderson 65% 9% 1.74 + 8 6.5
maggette,corey 68% 21% 0.78 + 8 9.2 sessions,ramon 32% 25% 0.79 - 9 5.4
ilyasova,ersan 33% 21% 0.69 + 5 6.7 hickson,j.j. 41% 17% 0.49 + 7 4.5
brockman,jon 27% 18% 1.11 - 8 4.3 moon,jamario 22% 24% 0.65 - 9 4.2
jennings,brandon 57% 19% 0.65 - 3 4.3 hollins,ryan 35% 10% 1.21 - 6 2.7
bogut,andrew (DNP) graham,joey 56% 10% 0.73 +10 2.6
boykins,earl (DNP) williams,jawad 13% 15% 0.98 - 3 1.7
delfino,carlos (DNP) powe,leon (DNP)
PACE: 87.4 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 87.4 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
bucks,milwaukee 92.7 .409 .217 .092 .111 cavaliers,cleveland 95.0 .461 .103 .137 .096
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RAPTORS 106, 76ERS 90 (box): Andrea Bargnani has been consistently good this season. He's averaging 27.5 point over his last four games, all Raptors victories. Toronto is now 5-2 since Sonny Weems replaced Linas Kleiza in the starting lineup. One of the newest Raptors, Jerryd Bayless, scored 13 points in 15 minutes off the bench, while the other, Peja Stojakovic, scored seven points in six minutes.
PHI (3-12) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR TOR (6-9) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
iguodala,andre 93% 17% 1.28 -16 35.1 bargnani,andrea 69% 35% 0.97 + 9 22.3
holiday,jrue 68% 22% 1.32 - 2 14.3 bayless,jerryd 31% 28% 1.58 - 1 20.5
young,thaddeus 60% 19% 1.17 - 3 9.7 calderon,jose 67% 15% 2.11 +17 15.4
meeks,jodie 50% 7% 1.87 -17 8.5 evans,reggie 72% 14% 1.72 +21 15.4
speights,marreese 44% 27% 0.71 - 6 8.1 barbosa,leandro 57% 24% 0.82 +10 12.4
williams,lou 56% 26% 0.57 -11 5.9 johnson,amir 46% 14% 1.50 + 6 7.9
nocioni,andres 26% 23% 0.69 - 8 5.8 derozan,demar 45% 14% 0.83 + 6 7.6
hawes,spencer 38% 28% 0.57 -14 5.1 weems,sonny 73% 13% 0.82 +18 7.4
brackins,craig 21% 33% 0.71 - 1 3.6 stojakovic,peja 13% 29% 1.73 - 4 5.9
turner,evan 33% 0% 9.17 - 2 3.1 kleiza,linas 27% 17% 0.74 - 2 3.9
battie,tony 11% 17% 0.85 0 1.6 dorsey,joey (DNP)
brand,elton (DNP) wright,julian (DNP)
PACE: 89.4 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 89.4 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
76ers,philadelphia 100.7 .457 .244 .145 .094 raptors,toronto 118.6 .538 .256 .145 .133
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CELTICS 89, NETS 83 (box): Shaquille O'Neal had 25 points and 11 rebounds, as Boston improved to 2-2 with Rajon Rondo out of the lineup. According to a graphic I saw (ESPN?), O'Neal is the second-oldest Celtic behind Robert Parish to put up a 25/10 game. He shot 9-of-10 from the floor, leading Boston's 44-28 edge on points in the paint.
NJN (5-10) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR BOS (11-4) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
harris,devin 65% 28% 1.14 - 5 26.4 pierce,paul 82% 24% 1.03 +11 22.7
morrow,anthony 82% 19% 1.06 -14 14.0 o'neal,shaquille 66% 24% 1.47 + 9 21.8
farmar,jordan 65% 22% 1.04 + 1 13.6 allen,ray 83% 17% 1.57 +12 15.3
lopez,brook 78% 27% 0.72 -10 10.3 garnett,kevin 68% 20% 0.75 +12 13.3
humphries,kris 67% 8% 1.16 - 9 9.7 davis,glen 58% 22% 0.70 - 7 9.8
petro,johan 22% 18% 1.39 + 4 9.3 daniels,marquis 60% 9% 1.50 0 8.2
outlaw,travis 51% 20% 0.59 - 7 6.4 west,delonte 25% 15% 1.36 -10 6.7
favors,derrick 33% 19% 0.64 + 3 3.9 robinson,nate 41% 14% 1.42 - 2 6.1
james,damion 38% 4% 2.08 + 7 3.5 harangody,luke 1% 74% 0.36 0 0.3
graham,stephen 1% -% 0.00 0 0.0 erden,semih 5% 82% 0.00 - 2 0.0
smith,joe (DNP) wafer,von (DNP)
uzoh,ben (DNP) bradley,avery (DNP)
PACE: 85.3 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 85.3 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
nets,newjersey 97.3 .493 .235 .211 .113 celtics,boston 104.3 .481 .171 .117 .119
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MAGIC 104, HEAT 95 (box): Jameer Nelson had 17 points and a career-high 14 assists as Orlando avenged its earlier loss to Miami and extended the Heat's losing streak to three. Miami is 4-6 over its last 10 games. With Vince Carter out with knee trouble, J.J. Redick--who is ailing himself--scored a season-high 20 points and logged 43 minutes of court time. Dwyane Wade shot 6-of-21 and is now 11-of-47 during Miami's current skid.
MIA (8-7) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR ORL (10-4) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
james,lebron 85% 28% 1.06 -15 40.0 howard,dwight 80% 29% 1.10 + 6 31.0
bosh,chris 75% 23% 1.09 - 3 15.8 redick,j.j. 89% 17% 1.46 + 6 26.8
wade,dwyane 83% 29% 0.85 -10 14.1 bass,brandon 54% 22% 1.47 - 5 18.3
house,eddie 55% 12% 1.20 -12 13.1 nelson,jameer 69% 32% 1.12 + 8 17.7
arroyo,carlos 45% 14% 2.08 + 3 10.1 lewis,rashard 59% 20% 1.10 +18 12.7
ilgauskas,zydrunas 52% 13% 1.04 + 4 6.6 richardson,quentin 51% 11% 0.93 + 6 6.1
anthony,joel 23% 11% 0.93 - 3 3.8 pietrus,mickael 45% 5% 1.40 + 3 3.5
howard,juwan 25% 13% 0.37 - 6 2.0 duhon,chris 30% 8% 0.38 + 1 1.2
magloire,jamaal 21% 7% 1.58 - 8 1.7 gortat,marcin 20% 2% 2.72 + 3 1.1
jones,james 35% 12% 0.16 + 5 1.1 williams,jason 1% 75% 0.00 - 1 0.0
chalmers,mario (DNP) allen,malik (DNP)
dampier,erick (DNP) anderson,ryan (DNP)
PACE: 87.8 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 87.8 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
heat,miami 108.2 .439 .283 .114 .145 magic,orlando 118.4 .557 .265 .148 .195
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GRIZZLIES 105, PISTONS 84 (box): In what has become a familiar pattern for the Pistons, Detroit led at the half, then collapsed in the second half. Memphis enjoyed a 58-34 edge after the break. Detroit shot 30.2 percent in the second half. Zach Randolph led the Grizzlies with 21 points, leading an amazing 68-34 edge on points in the paint.
DET (5-10) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR MEM (6-9) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
hamilton,richard 43% 32% 0.94 -17 22.8 randolph,zach 58% 32% 1.23 +16 31.5
stuckey,rodney 54% 37% 0.70 -17 13.1 gay,rudy 72% 29% 0.71 +33 15.1
prince,tayshaun 43% 17% 0.91 -10 8.7 conley,mike 66% 19% 1.37 +24 14.8
bynum,will 46% 23% 0.88 - 4 8.7 gasol,marc 74% 6% 2.16 +21 14.7
villanueva,charlie 45% 24% 1.03 - 2 8.3 mayo,o.j. 48% 23% 0.93 + 5 14.4
gordon,ben 57% 16% 0.87 - 4 7.9 young,sam 46% 23% 1.09 +16 10.0
monroe,greg 44% 17% 1.21 - 3 7.1 arthur,darrell 55% 15% 1.54 + 2 8.1
wilcox,chris 8% 51% 1.45 + 2 6.2 allen,tony 23% 27% 0.72 - 6 5.5
mcgrady,tracy 49% 4% 2.50 -13 6.1 vasquez,greivis 34% 11% 1.80 - 3 4.9
wallace,ben 50% 6% 1.01 -18 4.3 henry,xavier 26% 5% 0.48 - 3 0.5
maxiell,jason 48% 15% 0.37 -16 2.0 law,acie (DNP)
daye,austin 13% 15% 0.15 - 3 0.3 thabeet,hasheem (DNP)
PACE: 88.0 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 88.0 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
pistons,detroit 95.5 .419 .250 .159 .100 grizzlies,memphis 119.4 .535 .250 .091 .085
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SPURS 113, TIMBERWOLVES 109 (box): Despite yet another nice outing from Darko Milicic and a huge game from Kevin Love, San Antonio still managed to push its winning streak to 12 games. The Spurs last lost on Oct. 30 and have three games left in November in their quest for a perfect month. Love had 32 points and 22 boards, while Milicic had 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists and five blocks, though he did commit seven turnovers. He's now scored 20 points or more in his last three game. Milicic has just seven games of 20 or more points in his seven-plus seasons in the NBA.
SAS (13-1) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR MIN (4-12) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
parker,tony 78% 18% 1.25 + 3 26.7 love,kevin 86% 26% 1.33 0 25.8
ginobili,manu 72% 28% 1.29 + 7 22.1 milicic,darko 63% 37% 0.84 + 3 24.2
jefferson,richard 71% 22% 1.03 + 2 20.8 ridnour,luke 77% 14% 0.84 - 1 11.5
bonner,matt 49% 12% 1.05 + 9 9.5 beasley,michael 57% 24% 0.78 - 2 10.1
splitter,tiago 42% 8% 1.34 + 1 7.4 johnson,wesley 67% 9% 1.78 + 3 9.8
hill,george 47% 20% 1.17 + 1 7.1 brewer,corey 53% 13% 0.78 - 6 8.6
duncan,tim 57% 18% 1.03 + 1 6.8 ellington,wayne 24% 25% 0.75 - 3 5.1
mcdyess,antonio 40% 20% 0.86 - 1 4.5 tolliver,anthony 40% 9% 0.94 -12 4.9
neal,gary 28% 18% 0.96 - 2 3.4 telfair,sebastian 23% 14% 1.86 - 3 4.3
blair,dejuan 11% 42% 0.41 - 4 1.5 koufos,kosta 11% 14% 1.67 + 1 2.2
udoka,ime 6% 30% 0.36 + 3 0.6 gaines,sundiata (DNP)
quinn,chris (DNP) hayward,lazar (DNP)
PACE: 102.4 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 102.4 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
spurs,sanantonio 110.3 .452 .255 .127 .155 timberwolves,minn 106.4 .511 .279 .176 .103
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MAVERICKS 111, THUNDER 103 (box): Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 points on 15 shots as the Mavericks rallied in a 36-22 fourth quarter. Nowitzki scored 17 points in the final period. He's off to a fast start offensively, with his highest usage rate in years coupled with a spike in shooting percentages that has him at .620 in True Shooting Percentage. The Mavericks improved to 5-1 on the road and snapped Oklahoma City's five-game winning streak.
DAL (10-4) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR OKC (10-5) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
nowitzki,dirk 81% 29% 1.36 +13 34.8 durant,kevin 83% 30% 1.30 - 4 28.1
kidd,jason 74% 18% 1.26 +14 22.8 westbrook,russell 75% 23% 1.02 -10 17.2
chandler,tyson 74% 17% 1.42 +16 13.1 ibaka,serge 48% 26% 0.78 -11 15.7
marion,shawn 42% 24% 1.23 +10 12.4 sefolosha,thabo 61% 11% 1.47 - 9 13.8
butler,caron 62% 22% 1.04 - 3 11.7 green,jeff 87% 16% 1.16 -16 13.4
terry,jason 61% 19% 1.08 + 2 11.5 harden,james 36% 14% 1.38 + 7 8.8
barea,jose 30% 28% 0.64 - 5 6.3 krstic,nenad 41% 25% 0.79 + 5 5.6
stevenson,deshawn 35% 6% 2.85 + 5 4.4 maynor,eric 25% 19% 1.02 + 2 5.3
haywood,brendan 26% 6% 1.85 - 8 3.4 collison,nick 45% 5% 1.92 - 4 3.8
cardinal,brian 15% 4% 0.00 - 4 0.0 ivey,royal (DNP)
jones,dominique (DNP) peterson,morris (DNP)
mahinmi,ian (DNP) white,d.j. (DNP)
PACE: 92.2 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 92.2 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
mavericks,dallas 120.4 .500 .317 .130 .162 thunder,oklacity 111.7 .518 .182 .130 .110
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ROCKETS 111, WARRIORS 101 (box): The Rockets went 39-of-51 from the line, including a 14-of-15 performance from Kevin Martin, who scored a team-high 25 points. The Warriors have dropped six of seven, all without David Lee, but are also missing Brandan Wright and Ekpe Udoh from its big-man rotation. As a result, Golden State has put up Defensive Ratings of 117.8 or worse in each game of its current four-game skid.
GSW (7-8) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR HOU (4-10) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
wright,dorell 94% 23% 1.12 -12 24.0 scola,luis 83% 26% 1.06 +15 28.8
ellis,monta 87% 25% 0.80 -13 20.0 martin,kevin 70% 29% 1.13 + 5 26.2
curry,stephen 74% 28% 1.02 -11 19.7 hayes,chuck 60% 17% 1.80 + 9 20.0
williams,reggie 59% 15% 1.41 + 8 15.1 lowry,kyle 82% 16% 1.53 +20 15.5
lin,jeremy 26% 21% 1.28 - 2 14.6 lee,courtney 45% 13% 1.55 + 2 11.6
radmanovic,vladimir 31% 21% 0.74 -17 5.9 battier,shane 75% 20% 0.93 +10 8.5
biedrins,andris 62% 7% 1.30 - 1 5.4 budinger,chase 51% 16% 1.18 + 3 7.0
carney,rodney 29% 15% 0.74 + 3 3.7 miller,brad 6% 15% 1.47 - 1 1.2
adrien,jeff 24% 6% 0.35 - 4 1.1 smith,ishmael 18% 9% 1.00 -10 0.9
gadzuric,dan 14% 12% 0.00 - 1 0.0 hill,jordan 10% 9% 0.37 - 3 0.4
bell,charlie (DNP) jeffries,jared (DNP)
wright,brandan (DNP) taylor,jermaine (DNP)
PACE: 92.3 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 92.3 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
warriors,goldenst 109.4 .494 .234 .119 .086 rockets,houston 120.2 .563 .206 .162 .243
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BULLS 123, SUNS 115, 2OT (box): The Bulls rallied from a 23-point deficit and improved to 3-2 on the Circus Trip with two games remaining before they return to Chicago. Derrick Rose needed 33 shots to get his 35 points, but the shot total isn't as alarming a it might have been earlier this season. Rose has established a pattern of taking over when he senses the offense is sagging and that's pretty much what happened on Wednesday. He's also been happy to distribute the ball when the attack is clicking. He was helped by Kyle Korver, who scored 24 points on 14 shots and played 47 minutes. Hakim Warrick scored all 23 of his points before halftime for Phoenix, who built their lead on a bunch of Warrick-Steve Nash pick-and-rolls. Nash finished with a season-best 16 assists, but Chicago put the clamps on the pick-and-roll in the second half.
CHI (8-5) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR PHX (7-8) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
rose,derrick 87% 37% 0.92 + 7 32.5 warrick,hakim 62% 20% 1.40 -24 22.9
korver,kyle 81% 17% 1.42 +22 27.3 richardson,jason 74% 28% 0.78 - 3 21.0
deng,luol 92% 24% 0.93 + 3 17.0 hill,grant 80% 22% 1.11 + 6 20.9
noah,joakim 76% 14% 1.61 + 5 12.8 nash,steve 84% 18% 1.26 + 2 15.6
johnson,james 39% 19% 1.45 +10 10.8 frye,channing 79% 16% 1.11 + 2 10.2
asik,omer 24% 6% 2.40 + 2 5.0 turkoglu,hedo 58% 16% 1.24 +11 9.2
brewer,ronnie 43% 2% 5.25 -17 3.3 dragic,goran 15% 20% 0.79 - 4 3.1
watson,c.j. 26% 20% 0.41 +12 2.8 dudley,jared 28% 16% 0.81 -10 2.0
bogans,keith 19% 15% 0.47 -14 1.3 childress,josh 20% 5% 0.90 -16 0.6
scalabrine,brian 13% 7% 0.11 +10 0.1 clark,earl 0% -% 0.00 - 4 0.0
gibson,taj (DNP) barron,earl (DNP)
thomas,kurt (DNP) siler,garret (DNP)
PACE: 109.0 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 109.0 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
bulls,chicago 112.8 .510 .346 .147 .109 suns,phoenix 105.5 .460 .278 .128 .121
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JAZZ 105, HORNETS 87 (box): The Jazz outscored New Orleans 25-15 in the fourth quarter, holding the Hornets to 4-of-14 shooting and forcing seven turnovers. Deron Williams (26 points and 11 assists) won his individual matchup with Chris Paul (17 points and nine assists). The Hornets have lost two straight and have struggled to get stops in both contests.
NWO (11-3) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR UTA (11-5) PLY% USG PCP +/- GR
paul,chris 75% 16% 1.80 - 6 19.2 williams,deron 75% 33% 1.35 +12 30.7
ariza,trevor 57% 24% 0.69 + 7 18.7 jefferson,al 72% 25% 1.26 + 7 21.6
west,david 65% 27% 0.71 -10 15.8 millsap,paul 68% 18% 1.36 + 8 19.5
green,willie 45% 29% 0.99 -19 11.2 price,ronnie 30% 21% 1.55 +19 13.4
belinelli,marco 60% 13% 1.19 - 8 9.8 bell,raja 56% 11% 1.36 -11 9.5
okafor,emeka 52% 23% 0.65 - 8 6.7 miles,c.j. 42% 20% 0.74 +24 8.8
smith,jason 38% 23% 0.59 - 7 4.5 elson,francisco 38% 19% 1.17 +17 5.2
jack,jarrett 28% 17% 0.72 -11 3.0 watson,earl 39% 14% 1.25 +16 4.2
thornton,marcus 25% 19% 0.46 - 9 3.0 evans,jeremy 4% 25% 1.65 - 1 1.6
ilungambenga,didier 27% 6% 1.94 + 1 2.7 kirilenko,andrei 54% 10% 0.23 - 5 1.2
gray,aaron 20% 3% 1.16 -12 1.5 hayward,gordon 4% 27% 0.34 - 1 0.5
pondexter,quincy 12% 16% 0.00 - 8 0.0 fesenko,kyrylo 19% 9% 0.00 + 5 0.0
PACE: 90.5 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA% PACE: 90.5 ORTG eFG% oRB% TO% FTA%
hornets,neworleans 96.2 .449 .189 .199 .156 jazz,utah 116.1 .524 .216 .133 .092
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NEWS & MOVES
Minutiae from around the league
76ERS: "Elton Brand of the Philadelphia 76ers has been suspended one game without pay for his Flagrant Foul, Penalty Two against JaVale McGee of the Washington Wizards, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations." (press release)
Brand is one of the more gentlemanly types in the NBA, so this incident was definitely out of character. He was no doubt frustrated by McGee's career night.
BUCKS: "Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond announced the following medical update on forward Carlos Delfino: Carlos Delfino (6-6, 230) was evaluated today by nationally recognized neuropsychologist Dr. Michael McCrea and Bucks team physician Dr. Sam Idarraga. The evaluation showed Delfino to be about 90 percent free of his concussion-like symptoms. Drs. McCrea and Idarraga recommended 2-to-3 days of additional rest for Delfino followed by a few days of progressive low-impact physical activity (stationery bike riding or elliptical). Based on his daily progress, Delfino may follow his low-impact activity with progressive basketball activities. The nature of head and neck injury recovery makes it a slow process which is difficult to predict. Without any setbacks, Delfino could return to normal basketball activity in approximately two weeks. Including tonight’s game at Cleveland, Delfino has missed the last seven games due to his injury." (press release)
Delfino can shoot and goodness knows the Bucks need shooters right now.
CELTICS: "Delonte West broke his right wrist on Wednesday night when he fell to the floor, after attempting a layup. He's expected to miss a good portion of the season." (press release)
West had been lights-out in five games since returning from suspension, so this hurts the Celtics. Von Wafer will get more time and Avery Bradley recently saw his first court time as a professional.
HEAT: "The Miami Heat now have five centers on the team and the decision has been made to send rookie Dexter Pittman to the D-League's Sioux Falls Skyforce for some game action." (ESPN)
Yep, send the one young guy on your roster down the minors. That's an exaggeration, but you get the gist.
HORNETS: "New Orleans acquired Marcus Banks, as part of the five-player trade with Toronto, but he will not be joining the team. The Times-Picayune reports the Hornets and the agent for the player have agreed that the point guard doesn't need to report to the team." (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
I kinda thought Banks was worth having at the end of the bench, but guess not.
SPURS: "The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed guard/forward Ime Udoka. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. " (press release)
The deal is surely non-guaranteed, so Udoka's fortunes with the Spurs aren't assured. But he's played well in the San Antonio system in the past.
THUNDER: "Leave it to Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti to conceive a contract extension for glue-guy forward Nick Collison that forces me to consult every salary-cap reference book I can find. This is a fun one. Sources with knowledge of the contract specifics told ESPN.com that the value of the four-year extension that starts in the 2011-12 season is a modest $11 million and change. Highly favorable numbers for the Thunder. However ... The Thunder -- as a team roughly $6.5 million under the salary cap before re-signing Collison -- took advantage of their below-the-cap status to unexpectedly award Collison all of that space as a signing bonus that takes his 2010-11 compensation to a whopping $13.3 million." (ESPN)
Details brought to you by Marc Stein.
THUNDER: "Oklahoma City Thunder has assigned center Cole Aldrich to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. Aldrich has appeared in five games this season for the Thunder averaging 1.0 points and 2.2 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per game." (press release)
Aldrich has barely seen the court this season, so down to the minors he goes. His rebound and block rates in college were promising, and we'll see how those skills translate to the D-League.
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FAB FIVE
A selection of our favorite NBA links
1. On this day in 1947, poor Howie Dallmar of Philadelphia went 0-of-15 from the field--a record for most attempts, none made, in a game. That record was broken by Tim Hardaway's 0-of-17 debacle in 1991.
2. Where can you find referee assignments on the days I don't post it in the Roundup? This where.
3. For Bulls By the Horns, Chicago's comeback win at Phoenix was a rousing rally.
4. At the Valley of the Suns, it was Suns+%28Valley+of+the+Suns%29&utm_content=Twitter">an epic collapse.
5. Feisty Stan Van Gundy has some pointed words for Phil Jackson, who no doubt responded with a knowing smirk.
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ON TAP
This weekend in the NBA
----------------
THURSDAY'S GAMES
----------------
WTC VIS @ HOM, GAMETIME NBAPET LINE OFFICIALS
- 5 was @ atl, 8:00 PM EST [ atl by 11 ] Derrick Stafford, Leroy Richardson, Eli Roe
-14 sac @ lac, 10:30 PM EST [ sac by 2 ] Bill Kennedy, Brent Barnaky, Courtney Kirkland
----------------
FRIDAY'S GAMES
----------------
WTC VIS @ HOM, GAMETIME NBAPET LINE
+21 dal @ sas, 8:30 PM EST [ sas by 7 ]
+15 chi @ den, 9:00 PM EST [ den by 3 ]
+13 lal @ uta, 9:00 PM EST [ lal by 6 ]
+12 nwo @ por, 10:00 PM EST [ nwo by 0 ]
+ 9 okc @ ind, 8:00 PM EST [ ind by 6 ]
+ 4 hou @ cha, 7:00 PM EST [ cha by 5 ]
+ 3 tor @ bos, 7:30 PM EST [ bos by 15 ]
+ 2 phi @ mia, 7:30 PM EST [ mia by 16 ]
- 2 gsw @ mem, 9:30 PM EST [ mem by 7 ]
- 4 cle @ orl, 7:00 PM EST [ orl by 18 ]
- 5 mil @ det, 7:30 PM EST [ mil by 2 ]
-14 lac @ phx, 9:00 PM EST [ phx by 13 ]
----------------
SATURDAY'S GAMES
----------------
WTC VIS @ HOM, GAMETIME NBAPET LINE
+21 mia @ dal, 8:30 PM EST [ dal by 1 ]
+11 atl @ nyk, 1:00 PM EST [ nyk by 4 ]
+ 6 cha @ mil, 9:00 PM EST [ mil by 4 ]
+ 1 njn @ phi, 7:30 PM EST [ phi by 4 ]
- 3 chi @ sac, 10:00 PM EST [ chi by 6 ]
- 4 mem @ cle, 7:30 PM EST [ mem by 1 ]
- 5 orl @ was, 7:00 PM EST [ orl by 12 ]
-11 gsw @ min, 8:00 PM EST [ gsw by 1 ]
----------------
SUNDAY'S GAMES
----------------
WTC VIS @ HOM, GAMETIME NBAPET LINE
+20 sas @ nwo, 3:00 PM EST [ sas by 1 ]
+15 ind @ lal, 9:30 PM EST [ lal by 11 ]
+ 5 phx @ den, 8:00 PM EST [ den by 9 ]
+ 4 okc @ hou, 7:00 PM EST [ hou by 1 ]
+ 3 atl @ tor, 1:00 PM EST [ atl by 0 ]
+ 1 por @ njn, 7:00 PM EST [ por by 2 ]
- 5 nyk @ det, 1:30 PM EST [ nyk by 5 ]
-14 uta @ lac, 3:30 PM EST [ uta by 10 ]
Note: WTC is a junk stat rating the "watchability" of a game, taking into
account the quality of the opponents and the likelihood of a close game.
Referee assignments not yet available for Friday through Sunday.
Through Wednesday, 218 of 1,230 games (17.7%) have been played in the 2010-11 NBA regular season.
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GLOSSARY
+/- (Plus-Minus) Raw data is from official box scores from NBA.com.
GR (Game Rating) Reflects a player's Points Created total, or the portion of his team's offense for which he gets credit based on his box score line. This number is then adjusted for estimated defensive performance based on box score counterpart productivity. GR is pace-adjusted so you can compare players from game to game.
PCP (Points Created Per Possession Used) An estimate of each player's points created per possession used, a measure of offensive efficiency. The stat accounts for a player's entire box score line, not just the scoring categories.
PLY% (Play percentage) An estimate of the percentage of a team's possessions on which the player was on the court.
USG An estimate of how many of those plays a player used by shooting, going to the line or committing a turnover, with a portion the team's offensive rebound total subtracted.
TEAM STATS
PACE: Estimated possessions in the game.
ORTG: A team's points per 100 possessions.
eFG%: Team's shooting percentage with an extra half-point added for each made three-point field goal.
oRB%: Percentage of a team's misses that they retrieved off the offensive glass.
TO%: Percentage of at team's possessions resulting in a turnover.
FTA%: Percentage of a team's possessions resulting in a trip to the foul line.
You can follow Bradford on Twitter at twitter.com/@bbdoolittle.
The 2010-11 Pro Basketball Prospectus is now available in paperback form on Amazon.com. For sample chapters and more information, see our book page.
Bradford Doolittle is an author of Basketball Prospectus.
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