NBA Weekly Recap 2: ‘Upsets Aplenty’
Recapping the biggest stories from the second week of the NBA regular season
The starting pistol has been fired and we’re off to the races! Some of the teams in the league got off to a hot start, while others stumbled off the line. And with the second week of the NBA regular season in the books, let’s look back at some of the most attention grabbing and pot-stirring stories of the week.
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What happens when the best sword meets the best shield?
In a league of so much talent, it feels like every other matchup is a ‘main event’ caliber meeting. Hyperbole makes up a big part of the media and marketing machines, and when it feels easier than ever to record ridiculous stat-lines, more often than not I find myself rolling my eyes at pundits and bloggers gushing about upcoming games being ‘grudge matches’ or ‘meetings between future hall of famers.’
That being said, I’m not gonna sit here and act like the matchup of the Boston Celtics versus the Minnesota Timberwolves wasn’t gonna be an intriguing one. Going into last night’s game, the Celtics boasted the best offense in the league as judged by the numbers, whereas the Timberwolves had the best defense in the league. It’s the quintessential age old debate. Which matters more: getting buckets or getting stops?
If last night was any indication, I feel even more vindicated as being of the latter point of view. In a game that went into overtime, the Timberwolves edged out a 5 point win over the Celtics, handing Boston their first loss of the season. Notable performances include Anthony Edwards’ 38 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, as well as Jayson Tatum’s 32 points which he accompanied with 5 rebounds and a pair of assists.
Efficiency was the key factor in this one, as the Timberwolves made over half of their shots whereas Boston made just under forty percent. Despite free throw woes and plenty of turnovers, Minnesota managed to eke out a win. We will only see this matchup one more time in the regular season. Will the Celtics be able to get their win back on January 10th? Or will the Timberwolves be able to prove that this wasn’t just a lucky break? Either way, I am sure that the second meeting between these teams will be a hotly anticipated date for both of them. But as far as the ‘offense vs defense’ debate, the defense camp won the day on this night.
The Young Giant Wards Off the Slim Reaper
When a new star comes into the league, everyone puts them against the ‘measuring sticks’ in the league. When Zion Williamson arrived, the world couldn’t wait to see him go against LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and the other superstars in the league. In that same vein, every game Victor Wembanyama plays against teams like the Phoenix Suns on November 2nd feels like required viewing in order to see just how good the ‘French Phenom’ is.
In his first outing against Kevin Durant and Co., the San Antonio Spurs claimed an 11 point win over the Phoenix Suns. Despite Durant and Booker scored 28 and 31 points respectively, it was not enough to outweigh Wembanyama’s 38 points double-double, as well as the solid contributions from Zach Collins, Jeremy Sochan, and Devin Vassell.
So far, Wembanyama seems as good as advertised. He’s not an outright cheat code and guarantor of victory, but if he continues on this trajectory, he definitely seems like a perennial MVP and DPOY candidate. San Antonio’s future also seems bright, with its younger pieces developing and meshing nicely. While I don’t see them winning the title this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw them in the playoff bracket.
As far as the Suns go, I’m going to go ahead and say that they are no longer one of the frontrunners in the West. For years this team seemed on the cusp of championship glory, only to be stopped short. When Durant was acquired, many thought his arrival would widen that championship window. That didn’t happen either. Personally I’m not going to say they have zero chance to make noise in the West, but I’ve been saying they’re not a genuine title contender for years now. After that embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Mavericks, this team has never felt the same. And I don’t see that changing this year. But hey, I’m open to being proven wrong.
Grizzlies and Blazers trade win; a tale of two games
This has been one of the weirdest pairs of games between the same two teams I’ve ever seen. On one hand, you have the Portland Trailblazers, a team that is officially in ‘rebuilding mode’ after trading away Damian Lillard. It’s a team that has no false hopes about competing for a championship for the foreseeable future. It’s a team full of young prospects that if developed well, could be greats someday. On the other hand, you have the Memphis Grizzlies, who despite not having star player Ja Morant are still a well built team with plenty of quality pieces and one that has been a perennial playoff team. The Grizzlies also just added former DPOY Marcus Smart. Surely this shouldn’t even be a competition right? Surely, the Grizzlies should make easy work of the Trailblazers every time they matchup right?
Wrong.
Because on November 3rd, in another game that went to overtime, the Trailblazers came away with the win. Despite Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane both scoring 30 or more points, the Blazers came out on the winning side of a game that was decided by just two points. This game would give the Blazers their third win of the season, while the Grizzlies would be handed their seventh straight loss.
But then on November 5th, the result would be reversed, with the Grizzlies blowing out the Blazers. Seeing this notable change, I assumed the Grizzlies did something different to secure the win here. Maybe different players stepped up, maybe it was more of a team effort as opposed to relying on two players for the majority of their offense. Hell, maybe Portland had a bad night across the board.
Wrong again.
Like in their first meeting, ‘Triple J’ and Bane shouldered most of the offensive load for Memphis. Once again the Blazers saw a balanced approach to offense with several players contributing double-digit points. The only real difference I could see when analyzing the stats of both games was that in the second game, Portland didn’t have nearly as many free throw attempts as they had in the first meeting with Memphis. But that doesn’t feel like an adequate explanation for such a stark difference in outcomes over two games that were just days apart.
The only thing I can say for certainty is this: ‘The Wild West’ certainly has lived up to its nickname early on in the regular season.
The Rockets beat the Kings in shocking fashion….TWICE
Let’s just be honest with each other for a second. Let’s not be contrarians or purposefully obtuse, alright? Did anyone see the Houston Rockets beating the Sacramento Kings? And not just beat them, but to blow them out?
I certainly didn’t.
But that’s what happened on November 4th, as the Rockets beat the Kings 107–89. Led by Dillon Brooks (another thing I didn’t see coming) who dropped 26 points, as well as newly acquired Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith Jr., both of whom racked up over 20 points in the win as well. The Rockets were just better than the Kings on this night, pure and simple. They beat them on the boards, in field goal percentage, in three-point accuracy, and assist numbers just to name a few. Considering that Houston was predicted to be a bottomfeeder team before the start of the season, this victory over the Kings, who last year were going toe-to-toe with the defending champion Warriors in the playoffs, was a complete shock.
That being said, upsets happen all the time. And if this was a one-time occurrence, I’d be able to make arguments for Sacramento. Maybe they were still trying to find their groove. Maybe they just had a bad shooting night. Maybe something about the Rockets threw them off their game.
But then they did it again!
Last night, the Rockets once again beat the Kings. Once again they blew them out. And this time, they blew them out by even more! And now both the Rockets and Kings have identical win-loss records. Absolute insanity.
This leaves me with a few questions: are the Rockets further along in their rebuild than we originally assumed? Are the Kings really as good as we thought they were? Was last year merely a flash in the pan? I don’t want to answer these questions too soon, but I’m certainly drawing up some answers…
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And that concludes the weekly recap for the second week of NBA action. What stories did I miss? Do you have different viewpoints on the ones I did? Share all your thoughts in the comments. If you enjoyed this piece, follow me on Medium and subscribe to my email list so you get notified everytime I post. Also if you would like to support the independent work I do here, consider becoming a patron at https://www.patreon.com/HMShaikh . Thank you, and stay blessed!
