This week the coaching carousel goes round, Russell Westbrook’s amazing streak comes to an end, the Portland Trail Blazers take a blow, and the best in the East square off. Let’s take a look at the week that was in the NBA.
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The Denver Nuggets did not have the highest of expectations heading into this season. Still, with the way that the team was breaking apart from the inside, it was obvious something had to be done.
Brian Shaw was relieved of his position as head coach of the team on Tuesday last week. While the team did not have very high expectation heading into this season, they certainly showed little sign of progress in Shaw’s first year at the helm.
Denver had lost 19 of 21 games played between January 16th and the day of Shaw’s firing, and the discord between the players and Shaw was becoming more pronounced.
His struggles to relate to his players (Denver is one of the eight youngest teams in the league) is what ultimately did Shaw in.
It was reported that Shaw was reading books on how to work with millennials and even rapped the game plan one night in a desperate attempt to connect with the team. When those tactics failed, Shaw turned to strict rules including a cell phone ban in order to gain control.
Shaw garnered a lot of attention as a potential head coach while he served as an assistant under Phil Jackson in LA followed by a stint on Frank Vogel’s bench in Indy.
He has gone from being the most coveted NBA head coach prospect to another former HC. He may land on his feet yet, with reports suggesting that the Magic are taking a long look at him for their vacant head coaching position.
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Russell Westbrook’s phenomenal stretch of triple-doubles finally came to an end on Thursday in Chicago when the Thunder fell to the Bulls, 108-105.
Though he wasn’t able to extend his streak to five straight triple-doubles, Westbrook was able to put in 43 points along with eight rebounds and seven assists in a losing effort.
It was Serge Ibaka who got the Thunder off to a hot start by scoring 10 points in the opening quarter, giving OKC a 12-point lead after one.
The Thunder’s second unit grew their lead to 16 before the Bulls charged back thanks to hot shooting from Nikola Mirotic and the surprising E’Twaun Moore. The Thunder lead was down to two at the break.
Westbrook took charge of things in the second half. He scored 26 of his game-high 43 in the second stanza. OKC held on to their lead for the majority of the game until Mirotic got hot.
He scored eight straight points for the Bulls down the stretch and sank two free throws with less than 30 seconds left to pull Chicago within one at 104-105.
Russell Westbrook had the ball in his hands with 28 seconds to play, and dribbled out the clock before heaving a jumper that did not draw iron. The shot clock violation gave the Bulls the ball with four seconds remaining.
Out of the timeout, Pau Gasol found E’Twaun Moore, who connected on a triple that gave the Bulls their first lead since the opening quarter at 107-105 with two seconds left.
Westbrook received the subsequent inbound, but was pressured into stepping out of bounds, effectively sealing the win for Chicago.
Though Westbrook's incredible streak came to an end, he came close to extending and scored 43. He served notice that he remains on a tear that should put fear into the hearts of his opponents.
This week another conference title contender suffered a major injury blow.
On Thursday, Portland lost Wesley Matthews for the year when he tore the Achilles tendon in his left leg. Matthews was driving to the basket early in the second half against Minnesota when he fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, clutching his left ankle.
The loss of Matthews deprives Portland of their best 3-point shooter. Matthews is fourth in the league with 173 made threes this season. Matthews had been their most reliable wing defender this season as well and was a key part of the team’s playoff success last year.
The Blazers were able to pick up Arron Afflalo at the trade deadline and he should provide some cushion for Portland. He will now be seeing more playing time than he or the organization anticipated.
Unfortunately for Matthews, he will be a free agent after this season. His play prior to injury had him set up for a nice contract from some lucky team.
This injury changes things significantly. Hopefully Matthews will recover fully and be back on the court sometime in 2016.
On Friday night, the East’s two top teams faced off in Atlanta when the Cavaliers took on the Hawks.
Atlanta was honoring Dominique Wilkins that evening, installing a statue of the legendary high flyer. Between having ‘Nique in the building, facing LeBron James and the positions of these two teams in the standings, this game had the atmosphere of a playoff game.
Atlanta opened the game hot, scoring 11 straight thanks to their characteristically efficient passing. The Hawks opened up a 17-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
The frenetic defense of the Hawks got to LeBron, much like it did when the Houston Rockets employed the same tactic.
DeMarre Carroll played dogged defense against LeBron all night. Carroll held to LeBron to just five points on 14.3 percent shooting while the Mizzou product guarded King James.
The Cavs' second unit made progress by eating into the Atlanta lead, but the Hawks had an answer for every Cleveland run. The home team maintained a 10-point lead at the half.
Atlanta controlled the game by establishing themselves down low early and often. The Hawks outscored the Cavs by 30 in the paint with both Al Horford and Paul Millsap scoring in the double digits from close range.
The Cavs went on a 14-2 run in the third quarter, keyed by none other than LeBron and Kyrie, to take a one point lead at 66-65.
Atlanta regained a slim lead heading into the fourth quarter, and opened the final period on a 17-4 run thanks to big 3s from Kyle Korver and Dennis Schroder.
Atlanta had a 12-point lead with a little over six minutes remaining and did not look back. The Hawks took this contest 106-97.
It was the fifth straight win for the Hawks, as they opened up an 11-game lead on the second-place Cavs. The Hawks have now won the season series against the Cavs, winning three of their four meetings this season.
