NBA 02/20 Game Previews Articles

Game Preview Article: Oklahoma City Thunder @ Houston Rockets

This will be the final game of the regular season between these two teams. Not only Oklahoma City won the first two games against Houston, as they simply dominated both contests by winning them by 22 points at home and 30 points at Houston! I simply can't imagine the Thunder crushing Houston once again today, given the Rockets's current form on offense, however the All Star Break might not have been great for them, as it is possible that it broke their offensive rhythm. Oklahoma City had their revenge game at home against Miami before the All Star Game, but they got completely outplayed by the Heat, after having lost at Utah as well. This will be the second spot this season that Oklahoma City is playing a game after having lost twice in a row and in the first time, they struggled to beat Dallas at home and they only did it on overtime.

The first two games between these two teams this season hide something that it is vital to analyze in tonight's game. In both contests, Houston was on a terrible physical spot. We know that the Rockets have no depth on their roster and due to the frenetic pace they use on their games, they need their starters to perform well and that didn't happen in the two games against Oklahoma City. In the first game, the Rockets was playing a back to back game after having defeated Toronto at home. Besides that, they went to Coach McHale's daughter funeral earlier on that day and they were really on a poor spot. In the second game, Houston was on their worst spot of the season by playing their fourth game in five nights, while being also on a back to back spot. The first three games on this span had been on the road, so the spot was really super tough.

No wonder the Rockets got crushed in both games. For tonight, Houston will be rested, so things should be a bit different. The All Star Weekend was also played in Houston, so their players didn't have to travel as well.

Game Recap 02/19: Memphis Grizzlies @ Detroit Pistons

I had warned that Memphis's offense was playing really well before the All Star Break and so, I took the Over on this game. This good offensive moment from the Grizzlies continued last night at Detroit, with a pure domination game from Memphis! Curiously, the Grizzlies had a slow start especially on defense with Jose Calderon and Greg Monroe pounding Memphis with ease. The Grizzlies trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, but they ended the half with a 23-3 run to give them a 53-42 lead at halftime. 

Memphis's great defense especially in the second quarter allowed them to create good offense. Memphis simply crushed Detroit by forcing 17 turnovers and turning them into transition chances (26 points off turnovers, 24 fast break points, 12-17 FG and 1.29 on transition plays). Memphis also pounded Detroit down low and they attempted just 9 treys, while shooting 27-35 (77.2%) FG at the rim! If that wasn't enough, Memphis dominated the boards battle as well by grabbing almost 60% of the rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds, even though they shot 56.3% FG!

Detroit didn't even have a bad offensive game. They shared the ball, but they had too many turnovers, while they really couldn't stop this new look Grizzlies offense.

Game Recap 02/19: Charlotte Bobcats @ Orlando Magic

If I had some doubts about Orlando's focus on these days before the trade deadline, there isn't much to say when Orlando gets to halftime down by 20 points at home against... Charlotte! The Bobcats took advantage very well of their edges that they would always have against the Magic. First of all, Charlotte scored 18 fast break points while shooting 7-11 FG and 1.17 PPP on transition plays. Then, at the PG position, Jameer Nelson has no foot speed to defend Charlotte's guards in Kemba Walker and Ramon Sessions. Thanks to this, Kemba had 9-16 FG, 24 points and 7 assists! Also Gerald Henderson had 8-16 FG and 10 points, in another sign of the lack of defensive intensity from Orlando last night, especially on the backcourt with J.J. Redick, Jameer Nelson and Arron Afflalo. However, it's important to note that the Bobcats didn't show a great offensive flow with 18 assists for a poor 47.4% assist rate! Also according to MySynergy, the Bobcats had almost 16% volume of isolation plays! Good for them that they were effective in those with 7-12 FG and 1.12 PPP! 

On the other side, Orlando's offense showed some good ball movement with 26 assists and they were able to use their frontcourt players well on offense with 54 points in the paint and 20-29 FG at the rim. However, they simply missed too much from the outside with 5-17 FG from 16-23 feet and 4-25 treys! We are talking about 9-42 FG from +16 feet! Their best three guards Nelson, Redick and Afflalo shot a combined of 3-20 from behind the line! However, it's also important to mention Orlando's comeback in the second half, where they were down by just 2 points at a time, in a clear sign of their lack of effort during the first half!

Game Recap 02/19: Toronto Raptors @ Washington Wizards

What an ugly game this was! Both teams showed horrible offensive flow, something that didn't surprise me. Toronto led the game because they took advantage of Washington's turnovers, but down the stretch it appeared that the Raptors was trying to lose the game on propose with some ridiculous errors. Washington should have taken more advantage of the edge they had down low, but that didn't happen. Still, they shot 17-26 (65.4%) FG at the rim, but their volume of inside plays was low. The Wizards's main offensive problem was on their guards, as John Wall and A.J. Price combined a shooting night of 3-19 FG, with both players running some of the worst pick and roll ball handler plays that I've watched lately. Wall's aggressiveness put him out of control on his penetrations and this resulted not just on a 1-12 FG shooting night but also in 7 turnovers committed!   

On the other hand, Toronto is a much more aggressive team in pressuring the ball handler on the defensive end but offensively they keep struggling on their ball movement. Their offensive flow was non-existent in some moments of the game with a lot of isolation plays and few passes. The Raptors were completely perimeter oriented with just 26 points in the paint (10-14 FG at the rim) versus 9-25 FG from 16-23 feet and 8-20 treys! Toronto is 5-0 on their last five games, but they are definitively struggling on offense!