Dustdevils

Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals will be played on Thursday, June 2. Remarkably, that date is the exact one-year anniversary of the Boston Celtics' announcing Brad Stevens had stepped away from head coaching duties to assume the role of president of basketball operations in place of the departing Danny Ainge.
Let's have a look back at what has been an extraordinary and almost unimaginable 12 months&hellip;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
During his eight seasons on the sidelines in Boston, Stevens was viewed as one of the league's better head coaches. He was regarded as an elite tactician and considered an important part of the Celtics' sustained success. Under his stewardship, Boston advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals three times in four years.
So when the club announced that its long-time top executive in Ainge was retiring and that Stevens would be promoted to team president last June, it came as a shock to most. Would Stevens be able to replicate the regular-season success he enjoyed as head coach? Could Boston get over the hump and advance all the way to the NBA Finals?
Although Ainge left a roster stocked with a budding superstar in Jayson Tatum, his All-Star caliber sidekick in Jaylen Brown, veteran stalwart Marcus Smart and a few promising youngsters, Stevens took control at a precarious juncture. Boston entered last summer capped out (with a directive from ownership not to incur a costly luxury tax bill) and lacking excess draft capital.&nbsp;
Stevens' first order of business was parting ways with Kemba Walker and his cumbersome contract. With two years and $73 million remaining on his deal, Walker was the team's highest-paid player. When healthy, the four-time All-Star Walker was highly productive on the offensive end for the C's, but his balky left knee had robbed him of his quickness. Some suggested the Celtics sit tight, hoping that an entire offseason of rest would allow Kemba to re-establish himself as a quality starter. If Boston wanted to trade Walker, Stevens would have to get creative.
The week before the 2021 NBA Draft, Stevens dealt Boston's first-round pick (16th overall) and a 2025 second-round draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Al Horford and a 2023 second-rounder.&nbsp;
At the time, Stevens' first significant move as team president was considered highly questionable.&nbsp;
Following the 2019-20 season, when Horford posted career-worst numbers for the Philadelphia 76ers after signing a monstrous four-year, $109 million pact, the veteran big man's contract was viewed as one of the worst in the league. In December 2020, the Sixers were forced to attach a future first-round pick and the draft rights to Vasilije Micic (who just won his second EuroLeague Final Four MVP) in a trade with OKC just to get out from under Horford's contract.
During his lone season in Oklahoma City, Horford appeared in just 28 games for the Thunder. After the trade deadline passed in February 2021, the Thunder shut him down for the rest of the season. At the time, it felt like Stevens was trading for a potentially washed-up 35-year-old center with two years and $53.5 million left on his contract ($41 million of it guaranteed).
But after struggling at times to find his groove in the regular season, Horford has been a crucial cog in the Celtics' run to the Finals. During these playoffs, he is averaging 11.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.9 three-pointers,1.6 blocks and 0.9 steals per game, all while shooting 50.0% from the floor, a scorching 43.2% from downtown, and 83.3% from the free-throw line.
Per Basketball-Reference, Horford is just the third player in NBA history (joining Draymond Green and Rasheed Wallace) to average more than 1.5 blocks and more than 1.5 made treys in a postseason (minimum 15 games played). Horford is also the first player ever over the age of 35 to tally more than 25 blocks and more than 25 three-pointers in a single postseason.
To say the Walker/Horford trade has worked out well for Boston would be a dramatic understatement.&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3S4rPBgUeQg" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
After acquiring Horford, Stevens' next critical decision would be choosing a new head coach. After interviewing several candidates, Stevens zeroed in on Ime Udoka and officially hired him in late June. Udoka was a bit of a gamble, as he had never been a head coach, having spent the previous nine seasons as an assistant with San Antonio (2012-13 to 2018-19), Philadelphia (2019-20) and Brooklyn (2020-21).&nbsp;
Udoka's job was made that much more difficult when the C's stumbled out of the gates this season. By the turn of the new year, there was some finger-pointing in the locker room with the Celtics losing too many winnable games. Three weeks into January, Boston was still below .500 with a 23-24 record.
However, Udoka remained stoically stern, providing a calm and reassuring presence in the locker room and on the sideline. His ability to outcoach opponents and his command of the X's and O's gained him the trust of his team. Over the second half of the season, Boston ranked in the top three in Defensive Efficiency, and led the league in Offensive Efficiency (122.6) and Net Rating (plus-12.7) by a wide margin.
Udoka earned Coach of the Month honors on multiple occasions, and would go on to finish fourth in the NBA Coach of the Year voting. The league-wide respect he's garnered has only increased as he's helped guide his team to the championship series.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
When the free agency frenzy commenced in July 2021, Stevens had to decide what to do with shooting guard Evan Fournier. Ultimately, Boston opted to let Fournier leave for New York.
The Celtics' only free-agent addition of note last summer was inking Dennis Schroder to a team-friendly, one-year deal for $5.9 million. However, Stevens signed Marcus Smart (four years, $76.5 million) and Robert Williams III (four years, $48 million) to lengthy extensions.
The Smart signing, in particular, looks genius in retrospect.&nbsp;
It had been rumored that Ainge was seriously considering trading away Smart in different deals in years past. However, Stevens made it clear that he was committing to Smart for the long term. Just as importantly, Stevens let it be known he would entrust Smart with the team's primary point guard duties. This may seem like an easy decision with the benefit of hindsight, but it's important to point out that entering this season, Smart had started in just 228 of the 449 games he had appeared in. And a large percentage of those starts were alongside point guards such as Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas.&nbsp;
The C's flourished with Smart installed as the floor general, especially on the defensive end. Smart, as we know, would be named NBA Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first guard to win the award since Gary Payton in 1996.
Starting in each of the 71 regular-season games he played, Smart finished the season ranked seventh in the NBA in steals per game (1.68), ranked fifth among all guards with a Defensive Rating of 105.2, and led the NBA with 1.1 loose balls recovered per contest. He was also near the top of the league in deflections, charges drawn and defensive rebounds. On the offensive end, he averaged a career-high 5.9 assists per game and posted an Effective Field Goal percentage above 50% for the first time.
Had Stevens not locked up Smart last summer, he would undoubtedly have been one of the most highly sought-after players on the free-agent market next month.&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rj0RcxvFqAY" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Before being sidelined by a knee injury late in the season, Williams had also been enjoying a breakout 2021-22 campaign, averaging career-highs in points (10.0), rebounds (9.6), blocks (2.2), steals (0.9), field-goal percentage (73.6%) and free-throw percentage (72.2%). Like Smart, Williams' value now exceeds his salary.&nbsp;
In February, Stevens recognized Boston's backcourt needed an upgrade. Hence, he sent Josh Richardson and Romeo Langford and a top-four-protected 2022 first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Derrick White at the trade deadline. Udoka, who was familiar with White having spent time as an assistant in San Antonio, asked him to sacrifice some of his offense. White would serve as a reserve, which meant fewer field goal attempts and fewer minutes. White embraced the role, supplied solid defense on the perimeter and knocked down a handful of big buckets during Boston's run to the Finals.
Ironically, of all the trades and signing Stevens has made over the past 12 months, arguably the most important and impactful are the ones he did NOT agree to. It sounds outlandish now because the C's are four wins away from the franchise's 18th championship, but plenty of pundits and fans in New England had been calling for the Celtics to break up the duo of Brown and Tatum.
While there was no denying their collective talent, many argued the roster was unbalanced, and that the skill sets Tatum and Brown brought to the table were a bit duplicitous. Thus, some folks contended that the best path forward was trading Brown (possibly in a package with Smart) for a pure point guard (such as Damian Lillard).
Pressure and the corresponding rumors reached a fever pitch in the dark days of December and January.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Damnit I&rsquo;m holding everybody in Boston accountable, from the front office, to the coaching staff and down to Jaylen and Tatum. It&rsquo;s time to break them up! Carry on&hellip; <a href="https://twitter.com/FirstTake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FirstTake</a> <a href="https://t.co/2fNHMFavfd">pic.twitter.com/2fNHMFavfd</a>
&mdash; Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/KendrickPerkins/status/1479494503765524483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

As noted above, Boston was below .500 for much of the season. On Jan. 15, the Celtics had a worse record than both the Knicks and Washington Wizards. Boston was 11th in the East, on the outside of the Play-in Tournament looking in.&nbsp;&nbsp;
But Stevens never budged, trusting in the roster he helped construct. And the results speak for themselves. Twelve months after he was hired, Stevens's squad is preparing for the NBA Finals.&nbsp;
Earlier this month, the NBA announced Memphis Grizzlies General Manager Zach Kleiman as the winner of the 2021-22 Basketball Executive of the Year Award. Stevens came in sixth, receiving only one first-place vote. However, that award is based on regular-season accomplishments.
Given how well Boston has performed in the playoffs, there is little doubt about which executive's moves have looked best in the postseason.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Tommy Beer reviews Brad Stevens' first season as Celtics president with his one-year anniversary coinciding with NBA Finals Game 1.

Brad Stevens deserves massive credit for the Celtics' success

Nekias Duncan breaks down the 2022 NBA Finals between the Celtics and Warriors from a multitude of angles.

2022 NBA Finals Scouting Report: How the Celtics and Warriors match up

Klay Thompson drained the 3-pointers. Draymond Green anchored the defense and even chipped in on the offensive end for a change. Stephen Curry capped off an MVP performance.
The trio that led Golden State to so much success in recent years is whole again and and has the Warriors in position for another title after advancing to the NBA Finals with a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dallas-mavericks-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-stephen-curry-3fe45e8158653547bb782fe769242a60">120-110 victory</a> over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.
&ldquo;Like I&rsquo;ve said over and over again, I&rsquo;m going to keep saying it: No one has proven that they can move us off that spot,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the mindset we come into this thing with. We understand what it takes to win a championship.&rdquo;
The triumvirate of Curry, Thompson and Green is in rarified air in NBA lore as the core of a team that has made it to six NBA Finals in an eight-year span. It's an accomplishment only the greatest groups have reached with Bill Russell's Celtics of the 1950s and &lsquo;60s, Magic Johnson's Lakers in the 1980s and Michael Jordan's Bulls of the 1990s doing it.
Now the Warriors hope to add a fourth title to the ones they captured in 2015, &lsquo;17 and &rsquo;18 when the Finals start June 2.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re happy to be here, but it would help our legacy a lot if we completed the mission and won the whole thing,&rdquo; Thompson said. &ldquo;We can be happy tonight, and we will be, I&rsquo;ll celebrate tonight. But tomorrow when this Game 6 comes on, I&rsquo;m turning the page and I&rsquo;m scouting because we want to finish this thing off the right way.&rdquo;
(Editor's Note: The Boston Celtics will represent the Eastern Conference after Sunday's Game 7 win in Miami.)
The last time the Warriors made it to the Finals they fell short, starting a two-year spiral filled with losing and injuries. Thompson tore his left ACL during a season-ending Game 6 loss in the 2019 NBA Finals.
Kevin Durant tore his Achilles' tendon earlier that series and then left for Brooklyn that summer, leading to the Warriors finishing an NBA-worst 15-50 in the pandemic shortened 2019-20 season.
Thompson then tore his right Achilles' tendon just before the start of the next season and the Warriors were unable to make it back to the playoffs, getting knocked out by Memphis in the play-in game.
But Thompson returned in January and the combination of the aging trio of stars with an infusion of youth from players like Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole and others has Golden State back at the top of the league again.
&ldquo;We never lost the faith, but you understand how hard of a process it was going to be to climb the mountain again,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;I think internally we are all extremely proud of what it took to get back here. Yeah, it&rsquo;s definitely sweet based on what we went through.&rdquo;
Thompson led the way in the clinching Game 5 win of the Western Conference finals over Dallas, making eight 3-pointers for a record-setting fifth time in his playoff career and scoring 32 points.
Green added 17 points, six rebounds and nine assists to go along with his usual defensive brilliance and Curry had 15 points and nine assists as he was named series MVP.
It's a level of play that reminds coach Steve Kerr of the Bulls teams he played on with Jordan and Scottie Pippen that won so many titles in the 1990s.
&ldquo;The common denominator is just talented players who are fierce competitors,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;Whether you talk about Michael and Scottie, Steph, Draymond, Klay, it takes a special kind of athlete to have both dynamics. The skill and the athleticism and all that, but to also be just incredibly competitive and to want to win so badly. It&rsquo;s the only way you can have a run like that because you get exhausted, you get tired, you get frustrated. If you don&rsquo;t have that type of competitive desire and that type of skill combined, it&rsquo;s just not going to happen six times out of eight years.&rdquo;

The trio that led Golden State to so much success in recent years is whole again and and has the Warriors in position for another title.

Star trio leads Warriors to 6th NBA Finals spot in 8 years

After an impressive season that culminated in a third-place finish for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham recently opened up about a valuable lesson he learned during his first year as a pro.
&ldquo;I think the biggest thing I learned is that the league, the media, nobody will care until you&rsquo;re winning,&rdquo; Cunningham <a href="https://www.slamonline.com/the-magazine/cade-cunningham-slam-238/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told SLAM</a>. &ldquo;I could feel bad for myself all I want about [how] people didn&rsquo;t respect or appreciate the season I had or anything, but I didn&rsquo;t win a lot of games.
"I think that&rsquo;s been the biggest thing that I&rsquo;ve locked in on and I decided within: I have to win games if I want people to respect my name. And if not, then I can&rsquo;t be mad at people not watching enough games and how I really play. That&rsquo;s the challenge that I&rsquo;ve tried to take on. I&rsquo;ve talked to teammates [and] we&rsquo;re all trying to take that challenge on. I think that&rsquo;s the next step for us.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Cunningham played well as a rookie, averaging 17.4 points, 5.6 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 threes and 1.2 steals in 64 games. And he looked significantly better in the second half of the season, posting 21.1 points, 6.5 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 1.3 threes and 1.1 steals per game after the All-Star break.
However, to his point, the Pistons finished the season 23-59, which was the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference (and the third-worst record in the NBA). Detroit boasted the league's 28th-ranked offense (scoring 103.3 points per 100 possessions) and 23rd-ranked defense (allowing 111.1 points per 100 possessions).
Cunningham seems determined to change that. It's not uncommon for a young player to spend years trying to put up numbers and prove he is a star, so it's great to see Cunningham already prioritizing team success over individual accolades and taking a mature approach as a 20-year-old.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Perhaps Hall-of-Famer Isiah Thomas has helped Cunningham see the bigger picture, as SLAM notes that Thomas has had several conversations with Cunningham about leadership and other topics.
Fortunately, the Pistons are in excellent position to add some some reinforcements alongside Cunningham. Detroit has the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, and our <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock currently projects</a> that the Pistons will select Kentucky's Shaedon Sharpe.
Also, the Pistons currently project to have the second-most cap space in the NBA this offseason ($25.80 million), trailing only the Orlando Magic ($28.67 million). If Detroit is able to add some key pieces alongside Cunningham, perhaps the organization can right the ship and return to the playoffs sooner than later.
Cunningham was also asked about this season's Rookie of the Year award, which went to Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (with Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley finishing as the runner-up). While Cunningham felt he should have won the award, he's happy for his former high-school teammate and he's glad the debate is over.
&ldquo;Scottie is my brother, I&rsquo;m happy that he got that award," Cunningham said. "I feel like it&rsquo;s great that it&rsquo;s him, [my] Montverde teammate. I&rsquo;m super excited [for him]. I mean, it&rsquo;s never really been about that award for me. I&rsquo;ve had a ton of questions asked about it, you know&mdash; 'Rookie of the Year, what do you think about you winning?' So, I&rsquo;ma answer the question, you know? I feel like I should win it. That&rsquo;s natural. But it was never a knock on those guys. I love their game and I&rsquo;m happy that now we can quiet that question down. Congrats to Scottie, man, I love my dog.&rdquo;
While Cunningham didn't win the Rookie of the Year, award there's no question that he has a bright future and the Pistons are thrilled to have him.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-1habvwh r-eqz5dr r-11rk87y r-1dye5f7 r-m611by r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-eqz5dr r-glunga r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-eqz5dr r-glunga r-13qz1uu">
<div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Cade Cunningham learned a valuable lesson during his rookie season — something that many young players take years to grasp.

Cade Cunningham shares valuable lesson he learned as a rookie

The Oklahoma City Thunder came out of last Tuesday&rsquo;s NBA Draft Lottery as the night&rsquo;s runner-up, taking home the No. 2 overall pick.&nbsp;
The Thunder have never received the first-overall pick in their franchise history, which technically goes back to 1967 when they were still the Seattle Supersonics. They have selected second on two occasions though, and both worked out really well (Kevin Durant in 2007 and Gary Payton in 1990).
The Thunder have a war-chest of draft picks in the coming years, but those picks are meaningless if they don&rsquo;t select a franchise-altering talent. Fortunately, the No. 2 pick should provide an opportunity to do so. The 2022 draft class features a few &ldquo;can&rsquo;t-miss&rdquo; prospects, including Auburn&rsquo;s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga&rsquo;s Chet Holmgren and Duke&rsquo;s Paolo Banchero. All three have their pros and cons, but adding any of them to the existing core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey should work out beautifully.
In the 2021 NBA Draft, the Thunder made six selections, but they traded three of those players. They added Giddey (who was named to the 2021-22 All-Rookie Second Team), Tre Mann and Aaron Wiggins &ndash; none of whom are bigs. The Thunder did trade for a seven-footer in the 2020 draft (Aleksej Pokusevski), but he&rsquo;s still extremely raw and is not the same caliber of player as the top-three prospects.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done through the scouting process to effectively evaluate all three of this draft's most-coveted prospects, but a look back at the last 10 NBA drafts reveals a murkier history than one might assume. After <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-the-success-of-teams-selecting-first-in-the-nba-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">examining the success of teams selecting No. 1 in the NBA Draft</a> last week, let's look at how recent No. 2 overall picks have fared.&nbsp;
2012 NBA Draft: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets
The Hornets bombed with the second pick in 2012. Kidd-Gilchrist had a fine career, averaging 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game across eight seasons in the NBA. The thing is, Bradley Beal was selected third and Damian Lillard was selected fifth, and both of those guys are All-NBA-caliber players annually. Comparatively, that&rsquo;s a huge miss for Charlotte.
Verdict: Failure.
2013 NBA Draft: Victor Oladipo, Orlando Magic
The Cavaliers certainly surprised many of us by picking Anthony Bennett with the first overall pick, but the Magic stuck to the script. Oladipo was universally seen as a top-three player in this draft, and he became the second-best player in the class before knee and quad injuries derailed his career.
As much as injuries have robbed much of what Oladipo was, he is still an intriguing player, and he&rsquo;ll probably command some decent free-agent offers this offseason. Obiously, CJ McCollumn (selected 10th) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (selected 15th) are better players, but neither was being considered by the Magic. Considering that Oladipo is a two-time All-Star, an All-Defensive selection and a one-time All-NBA selection, I&rsquo;d say the Magic did a fine job in picking Oladipo.
Verdict: Success
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H5-mCm7rAds" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
2014 NBA Draft: Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks
The 2014 draft was a weird one. Neither the first nor the second pick ended up being the best player from this draft class. Andrew Wiggins found a good role, even if he is far less successful than most thought he&rsquo;d be, but Jabari Parker really underwhelmed. Granted, Parker stuck around in the league for eight seasons, including some of the current one, but his career simply never materialized even if it&rsquo;s not his (nor Milwaukee&rsquo;s) fault.
Parker tore his ACL twice. He looked like he was becoming a pretty darn good player (even if he was a defensive liability) before the second ACL injury, averaging 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in 2016-17. However good Parker could have been, the fact of the matter is that Joel Embiid was intriguing enough as of draft night to be taken one pick later, and that stings.
Verdict: Failure
2015 NBA Draft: D&rsquo;Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers
Here&rsquo;s an instance where a player actually was worth a top-three pick. The problem is that the Lakers had the second pick, and there&rsquo;s a big difference between Karl-Anthony Towns or Devin Booker and Russell. Making matters worse, the Lakers sent Russell to Brooklyn before he matured. His immaturity was part of the reason he was traded, but that doesn&rsquo;t change the fact that the Lakers picked him and moved on very quickly. Russell may or may not end up being a franchise-altering talent, but he hasn&rsquo;t realized his full potential yet, and he clearly won&rsquo;t do so for the Lakers.
Verdict: Failure
2016 NBA Draft: Brandon Ingram, Los Angeles Lakers
Ingram is one of the best No. 2 picks in the last 10 drafts. He&rsquo;s a true number one option on a playoff team, a career 18.5 points-per-game scorer and a one-time All-Star. It&rsquo;s debatable that Jaylen Brown (selected third) and/or Jamal Murray (selected seventh) are as good or better players, but both have played alongside more talented teammates throughout their careers.
Ingram has been the best player on the New Orleans Pelicans for a few years now, and we shouldn&rsquo;t take for granted the fact that Ingram led a playoff team this season. Sure, the Lakers didn&rsquo;t cash in on him specifically, but he was part of the package that led to Anthony Davis landing in Los Angeles. So, it worked out for them too.
Verdict: Success
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
2017 NBA Draft: Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers picked second overall again in 2017. They weren&rsquo;t as successful this time around. First, there&rsquo;s Jayson Tatum to consider. Tatum was selected third and is the best player in the 2017 draft class. Being selected by the Lakers wouldn&rsquo;t have changed that, and that should be enough. But there&rsquo;s also Ball&rsquo;s rough shooting mechanics to consider. Sure, he&rsquo;s grown into a good shooter, but the Lakers didn&rsquo;t benefit from that. It&rsquo;s hard to categorize Ball&rsquo;s selection as an outright failure because like Ingram, he helped facilitate Davis to the Lakers. Still, it's tough to classify his selection a success.
Verdict: Push
2018 NBA Draft: Marvin Bagley III, Sacramento Kings
Bagley might be the worst second pick in the last 10 years. The 2018 NBA Draft will forever be remembered as the Luka Doncic class. The Kings could have drafted Doncic, as he was still on the board, but they chose to go with Bagley instead. Bagley isn&rsquo;t even on the Kings any longer, and his time in Sacramento was not memorable.
Bagley is a sub-par defender and three-point shooter. He&rsquo;s scored the ball at a decent pace, averaging 19.5 points per-36 minutes, but he&rsquo;s never earned a big enough role to demonstrate what he can really do, and he&rsquo;s exclusively been on losing teams. Comparatively, Doncic and Trae Young (selected No. 5 in 2018) have turned their franchises around.
Verdict: Failure
2019 NBA Draft: Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
Ingram was the best second pick in the last 10 years, until 2019. Morant stole that made-up accolade almost immediately in his rookie season. The thing is, the 2019 NBA Draft was supposed to be all about Zion Williamson. However, unlike Williamson, Morant has backed up all the hype and then some. So, while Williamson has dealt with injuries for much of his young career, Morant has brazenly become the face of his draft class.
Morant is drawing comparisons to numerous superstars, and he was named to the 2021-22 All-NBA Second Team. No one selected after him comes close to making the Grizzlies think twice about their decision.
Verdict: HUGE success
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/928PEn9h-J0" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
2020 NBA Draft: James Wiseman, Golden State Warriors
Unlike his brother Lonzo, LaMelo Ball was deserving of the second pick in 2020. Instead, the Golden State Warriors went with James Wiseman, though the logic behind the pick is clear, even in retrospect. The Warriors already had two All-NBA guards. The thing is, Jordan Poole looks pretty good alongside Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, doesn&rsquo;t he? So, it&rsquo;s feasible to assume that Ball would have fit too.
After two seasons, Ball is a significantly better player, but he&rsquo;s also had plenty of opportunity to demonstrate that fact. Wiseman has had terrible health-related luck. He played in 39 of the Warriors' first 53 games in 2020-21, but he tore his meniscus in Golden State&rsquo;s 53rd&nbsp;game of the season and hasn&rsquo;t been seen since. Wiseman could still be a serious contributor, as his per-36 numbers were impressive for a rookie (19.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 assists on .542/.316/.628 shooting). This is one we&rsquo;ll have to continue monitoring.
Verdict: Unclear
2021 NBA Draft: Jalen Green, Houston Rockets
Basing the success of a pick on only a rookie season is tough. Green posted an impressive rookie campaign, but his defensive deficiencies were clear. That&rsquo;s an understandable flaw for a rookie. Green was the assumed second-best player in the class. Having the luxury of hindsight, we now know that Scottie Barnes (selected fourth) and Evan Mobley (selected third) translated to the NBA incredibly well. But wing scorers have a tougher time making the jump, as they must shoot deeper three-pointers and compete against far more athletic competition. Green&rsquo;s floor may be lower than that of Barnes and Mobley, but I'd argue that his ceiling is still higher. Let&rsquo;s give him a little more time.
Verdict: Unclear&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
In the last 10 drafts, the second overall pick has clearly been one of the best players in the draft class just three times (2013, 2016 and 2019).&nbsp;
A deeper examination of No. 2 overall picks reveals a limited number of franchise-altering talents. For every Kevin Durant, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Earl Monroe and Bill Russell, there are a number of players who didn't live up to expectations. Sometimes, there isn't a generational player on the board; other times, the team picking No. 2 overall just overthinks it or goes in the wrong direction. Either way, No. 2 hasn&rsquo;t produced as many all-time greats as you might expect, but there have been quite a few significant contributors.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Oklahoma City will pick No. 2 in the 2022 draft. A look back at the last 10 drafts reveals that there are no guarantees for No. 2 picks.

Examining the success of teams selecting No. 2 in the NBA Draft

Here&rsquo;s a bit of trivia for you: Which rookie from this <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/why-they-are-all-special-a-guide-to-the-best-rookies-of-the-2021-class" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stacked</a> 2021 NBA Draft class has played the most minutes in the Conference Finals?
Considering most of the top rookies didn't advance very far, surely the answer has to be the Golden State Warriors' heralded No. 7 overall pick, Jonathan Kuminga &mdash; the same player who earlier this postseason was <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/warriors-jonathan-kuminga-vows-learn-despite-historic-nba-playoff-game" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the youngest rookie to start a playoff game since 1971</a>, right?&nbsp;
Wrong!
The answer, with an impactful 64 minutes played over the course of five games, is none other than Golden State&rsquo;s other rookie: the No. 14 overall pick Moses Moody.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Our story begins in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, where a 104-76 score prompted both the Golden State and Dallas coaches to empty their benches for the home stretch of the blowout series opener.
In response, Reggie Miller on the call proclaimed: &ldquo;I have a sneaky feeling. I think these minutes are going to be important for [Nemanja] Bjelica and Kuminga because, at some point, those two guys are going to have to play significant minutes in this series.&rdquo;
Unbeknownst to him, he made a glaring omission in his statement; the player who really needed these repetitions was Moody. And during that seemingly meaningless stretch, Moody flashed two features that would prove useful to Golden State later in the series &mdash; his play-finishing and defensive versatility.
Play-Finishing&nbsp;
Nowadays, NBA offenses are so prolific that even the most venerable defenses can&rsquo;t eliminate every piece on the board. This leads to teams having to strategically <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-nba-playoffs-and-the-art-of-concessions-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concede</a> certain shots in order to hone-in on the player(s) they deem the most dangerous (see the Milwaukee Bucks' defense vs. the Boston Celtics in Round 2).
When you&rsquo;re going up against the Warriors, the Splash Trio receives the highest priority, and these standards lead to open looks for the group&rsquo;s least esoteric marksman.
As of this moment, Moody falls under this designation. And to his credit, he did an excellent job of burning the Mavericks for their negligence in defending him, draining 50% of his triples (albeit in a miniature sample size).
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/ae5swl" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Cutting and movement rule the day in Golden State's perpetual motion offensive system. Moody got the memo, and he did a great job of knowing when it was appropriate to shag back and maintain his spacing on the perimeter, and when it was time to fill the lane and shake the Golden Gate bridge with a <a href="https://streamable.com/k3xuy0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seismic eruption</a> at the rim.
Defensive Versatility&nbsp;
As Seth Partnow noted in his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/seth-partnow-qa-a-sitdown-with-the-author-of-the-midrange-theory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent book</a>, "The Midrange Theory," versatility is the key to playoff success &mdash; the ol' Carlos Boozer and Robert Horry paradigm.
This maxim reigns especially true in defense, where we&rsquo;ve already seen multiple playoff runs abbreviated due to a lack of scheme versatility. (I hope the folks in Utah are doing well on this fine Friday afternoon.)
Moody was far from the anchor out there, but the Warriors&rsquo; defense stayed afloat during his minutes, partially because of his ability to wear multiple hats on that end of the floor.
We&rsquo;ll start with his off-ball work and this snag-tastic reception:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Moses Moody legit Odell Beckham-ed this ball. <a href="https://t.co/tC54YzUzhG">pic.twitter.com/tC54YzUzhG</a>
&mdash; Mat Issa (@matissa15) <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1530189122886897664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Along with that reception, Moody deflected two additional passes in that very same quarter, prompting Warriors writer Marcus Thompson to cite Moody&rsquo;s contributions as an <a href="https://theathletic.com/3332392/2022/05/25/warriors-mavericks-young-game-4/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">integral part of the team&rsquo;s Game 4 comeback</a>.
Despite only authoring 2 steals the entire series, spurts like the one he demonstrated in Game 4 leave room for potential growth into a future defensive playmaker.
Moody also did surprisingly well navigating the <a href="https://medium.com/the-basketball-dictionary/2-9-6fb93080023c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2.9 spot</a> as a low-man. He was well attuned to his positioning, consistently swaying in and out of the paint to avoid garnering a three-second call, while also timing his re-entries in a manner that enabled him to wall off forays at the rim when the moment presented itself.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/xhqc92" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Lastly, Moody even showed some chops as a man defender. On <a href="https://streamable.com/b6cjoa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this play</a>, he manages to stay attached to Jalen Brunson amid Jordan Poole&rsquo;s hedge endeavor, and then mirrors his movements before hindering his attempt at the rim.
Moody&rsquo;s point-of-attack prowess is more apparent when you understand the amount of leeway he was granted within the Warriors&rsquo; scheme. In my <a href="https://theanalyst.com/na/2022/05/western-conference-finals-can-the-golden-state-warriors-continue-to-slow-luka-doncic-and-the-dallas-mavericks/">recent article</a> on this series, I looked into how Golden State has specific principles for Luka Doncic ball screens. Well, Moody was one of the few players given the green light to switch onto him immediately.
He was also empowered by Steve Kerr to captain the ship of the Warriors' revered Box-and-1 alignment a few times during the third quarter of Game 3. And Moody even got the chance to moonlight as the team&rsquo;s defensive coordinator, <a href="https://streamable.com/a8geaq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling for a zone formation on defense</a> at one point in Game 4. (For the Warriors, you can tell it's a zone when the signal-caller executes a <a href="https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2022/5/21/23133463/warriors-mavericks-game-2-steph-curry-kevon-looney-luka-doncic-film-breakdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised double fist</a>).
To conclude our tale, let&rsquo;s take a gander at Moody&rsquo;s best two-way sequence of the series, where he blocks Doncic and then proceeds to commandeer free-throw attempts at the other end of the floor. A perfect encapsulation of his imprint on this series.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/pwilkx" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Nice.
In a class as talent-laden and promising as the 2021 draft pool, who would have guessed that the player picked last in the lottery would be the last rookie standing.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Mat Issa gives props to Moses Moody for his finishing and defensive contributions to the Warriors when his number was called upon.

Moses Moody: The last rookie standing in the 2022 NBA Playoffs

One of the breakout stars of this year&rsquo;s NBA playoffs has been Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson. He&rsquo;s old-school, unconventional, talented, savy and up for a big pay day this summer. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound guard and Villanova alum was selected No. 33 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft and is one of the better second-round draft picks over the past few classes.
Last year, he was a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, averaging 12.6 points and 5.5 assists on 52/41/80 shooting splits in this third season with the Mavericks. This season, as a full-time starter, while watching his minutes jump from 25.0 to 31.9 per game, his productivity increased to 16.3 points and 4.8 assists per game on 50/37/84 shooting. In the playoffs (35.2 minutes per contest), Brunson jumped to 21.6 points and 3.7 assists per contest on 47/35/80 shooting.
His 2022 postseason included signature performances like a 41-point game in a win over the Utah Jazz in Game 2 without Luka Dončić and a 31-point effort against the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. He also had a meaningful 24 points on 11-of-19 shooting in Dallas&rsquo; shocking Game 7 romping of the Phoenix Suns.
But now, he&rsquo;s an unrestricted free agent. Dallas has a lot of questions to answer. How can they best build around Dončić? What do they do with Tim Hardaway Jr.? If they want to upgrade at center, what's the best answer at that position?
Among the most important questions is: do they extend Brunson? Here are some teams to watch in the Brunson sweepstakes this offseason.
NEW YORK KNICKS
The New York Knicks haven&rsquo;t had a reliable point guard since Raymond Felton in their famed 54-win season back in 2012-13. Since then, it&rsquo;s largely been a revolving door of meh at the point of attack at Madison Square Garden. Jose Calderon was past his peak when he got to New York. Iman Shumpert, though very talented, wasn&rsquo;t a natural point guard. Frank Ntilikina is closer to a three-and-D wing than a true floor general. Jerian Grant never panned out. Neither has Kemba Walker. Derrick Rose has arguably been the best of the bunch.
Walker, Rose, Alec Burks, Immanuel Quickley and Miles McBride make up the Knicks' point guard depth chart for 2022-23, in no particular order. Walker&rsquo;s health can&rsquo;t be trusted for an entire season. Burks isn&rsquo;t a true point guard and might be a trade chip. Quickley, if he starts, is probably better suited next to a natural point, and the same could be said for R.J. Barrett. And McBride is young, raw and inexperienced. Brunson is better than all of them, hard stop.
Because Brunson will be unrestricted, the highest-bidder has a chance. The bad news for the Knicks is that <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/new-york-knicks/cap/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they&rsquo;re pretty much capped out</a>.
That means getting Brunson to New York would require a sign-and-trade. The good thing is that the Mavericks need a Mitchell Robinson type of center, and for about two years, I've been pushing for Brunson-Robinson swap. The Knicks should throw in something else, be it draft capital and or an additional young piece to make the deal work (for cap purposes too), but that&rsquo;s the framework that can come from this. Robinson gives Luka a lob threat, gives the team a higher upside defensively, and gives the coaching staff a player who can share the floor with just about anyone on the roster.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
If Brunson can play with Dončić and Spencer Dinwiddie, he can share a backcourt with Reggie Jackson. Kawhi Leonard has <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2020/10/19/report-kawhi-leonard-wants-clippers-to-add-point-guard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wanted a point guard</a>, but the Clippers still don&rsquo;t have one. It&rsquo;s Jackson, and that&rsquo;s it. Norman Powell, Luke Kennard and Terance Mann are guards, but they're all wings. 2021 second-round pick Jason Preston still hasn&rsquo;t played due to injury, and Xavier Moon was a two-way guy last year who played just 10 games. <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2020/10/19/report-kawhi-leonard-wants-clippers-to-add-point-guard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leonard&rsquo;s been wanting a point guard for two seasons</a>, and it&rsquo;s time for the Clippers to address that spot since both Leonard and Paul George are due back next season.
Given the Clippers' cap situation, this would most certainly be a sign-and-trade. Powell, Marcus Morris, Kennard and Robert Covington all make between $12 and $16 million next season, and any of them could make sense going to Dallas. Only one or two of them would probably need to go at most, among other compensation (i.e. young players and picks).
Brunson in L.A. would join the starting line-up alongside Jackson, Leonard, George and a center. Ivica Zubac is an expiring $7.5 million contract next season, and he could actually be a piece Dallas wants in return. Assuming he stays in Los Angeles, Zubac rounds out their starting five and gives Los Angeles a true point guard, which they&rsquo;re clearly missing.
DALLAS MAVERICKS&nbsp;
The Mavericks reportedly had multiple opportunities to sign Brunson to a four-year, $55.5 million deal before and during the season, <a href="https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/04/25/report-mavericks-didnt-offer-jalen-brunson-contract-extension-until-after-trade-deadline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per reports</a>, but did not. As a result, he could be looking at <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2952513-latest-nba-trade-intel-lakers-realistic-targets-myles-turner-landing-spots?share=sms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">something in the $80 million range</a>, and possibly more after these playoffs.
Clearly, the offense works with him and Luka in the backcourt, blending in Dinwiddie in a natural role as a combo guard off the bench who can finish games. Dallas can keep their core together (those three and Dorian Finney-Smith) and work around the margins.
After losing to the Warriors in Game 5, Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban said that keeping Brunson is a priority, and damn near guaranteed that it&rsquo;ll happen.
"We can pay him more than anybody,&rdquo; Cuban said. "I think he wants to stay, and that's most important. I think [Jason Kidd] has a big part to play in that... JB blossomed as a player as much as anybody on this squad. From where he was last year to how far he came this year is a tribute to how hard he worked. And the support he got from his dad and his family and his girlfriend, but also, what he was able to learn from [Kidd]. I think he recognizes that, and I think he wants to stay."

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/mcuban?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mcuban</a> reflecting on the 2021-22 Dallas Mavericks season with Marc Stein. <a href="https://twitter.com/dallasmavs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dallasmavs</a> | 📺 BSSW | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/dALLasIN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#dALLasIN</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAPlayoffs</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheSteinLine</a> <a href="https://t.co/YZROfVsnq0">pic.twitter.com/YZROfVsnq0</a>
&mdash; Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) <a href="https://twitter.com/BallySportsSW/status/1530038560673435658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Brunson didn&rsquo;t have the exact same tone, but he&rsquo;ll cross that bridge when he gets there, it seems.
"When it&rsquo;s time, it&rsquo;s time. I&rsquo;m not worried about it right now," Brunson said, <a href="https://twitter.com/sixfivelando/status/1530037759955636242" target="_blank" rel="noopener">via Landon Thomas of Mavs Fans For Life</a>. "I&rsquo;m just really happy I got to play with these guys and what we did this year. I&rsquo;ll think about that later.&rdquo;
For Dallas, this is probably the move. Keep Brunson and build around the margins, particularly on the interior. Four years in, we can now say, as long as you have Luka, you have a chance. You just have to nail what&rsquo;s around him, and Brunson is someone you should want back in Dallas.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Jalen Brunson was a breakout star for the Mavericks this postseason and is now an unrestricted free agent. Where will he end up?

Examining potential free-agent destinations for Jalen Brunson

Klay Thompson shimmied his way to 32 points and the Golden State Warriors advanced to their sixth NBA Finals in the past eight seasons by beating the Dallas Mavericks 120-110 in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday night.
Thompson scored 19 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer that he punctuated with teammate Stephen Curry&rsquo;s signature shake as the Warriors raced out to a 17-point halftime lead and coasted the rest of the way.
Andrew Wiggins added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Draymond Green scored 17 points and Curry had 15 points and nine assists for Golden State.
Luka Doncic overcame a slow start to score 28 points for the Mavericks. Spencer Dinwiddie added 26.
After missing the playoffs in 2020 and &rsquo;21 in back-to back injury-plagued seasons, the Warriors are returning to a familiar stage. They are the first team to make six finals appearances in an eight-year span since the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls had a pair of three-peats from 1991-93 and 1996-98.
Golden State will host the winner of the Eastern Conference finals between Boston and Miami on June 2 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics hold a 3-2 lead heading into Game 6 at home on Friday night.
The Warriors followed their pattern from the first two rounds by bouncing back after squandering a chance to end a series on the road by winning at home. Golden State is now 9-0 at the Chase Center this postseason, tying the 2017 team for the the most consecutive home wins in a single postseason in NBA history.
The star this game was Thompson, who sat out the past two seasons with injuries but showed flashes of his old self in this clincher.
After making just seven 3-pointers in the first four games of the series, Thompson had eight this game. He gave the Warriors a 13-point lead in the first half when he hit one from the corner before dancing and added two early in the third quarter for a 23-point lead.
Dallas cut a 25-point deficit down to eight in the final minute of the third quarter but couldn&rsquo;t get over the hump in the fourth. Thompson&rsquo;s 3-pointer with just under 3 minutes left gave the Warriors a 15-point lead.
SLOW START
Doncic has typically been a playoff star. His 32.7 points per game in his first 27 playoff games were second best to Jordan&rsquo;s 33.4 ppg among players with at least 10 playoff games.
But he had a rough start in this elimination game against Golden State. He shot 2 for 10 in the first quarter with his eight misses, tied for the most in the opening quarter of a playoff game since LeBron James missed all nine of his attempts in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against Atlanta in 2015.
Doncic was held to six points in the first half, his lowest opening half of his postseason career, on 2-for-12 shooting before finding his stroke in the third quarter.
MOODY MANIA
With Otto Porter (left foot) sidelined for a second straight game, the Warriors got a big boost in the first half from 19-year-old rookie Moses Moody.
Moody scored all of his seven points in the second quarter with his 3-pointer giving Golden State a 56-38 lead. Moody scored just six points the first three games of this series for the Warriors before scoring 17 the past two games with Porter sidelined.

Klay Thompson shimmied his way to 32 points and the Warriors advanced to their sixth NBA Finals in the past eight seasons.

Warriors beat Mavericks 120-110 to return to NBA Finals

With a win over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday at Mohegan Sun Arena, the Dallas Wings recorded their first victory over the Sun in 1,064 days and snapped a seven-game losing streak against them in the process.
The Wings have put together solid games already this season, splitting a pair of games with the Washington Mystics and getting out to their best start of the season (4-2 prior to Tuesday) since 2015.
I had this matchup circled for the past week. Every Wings game this season has provided bright flashes and glimpses of what they can be. Yet, outside of the two games with the Mystics, the Wings hadn&rsquo;t quite faced one of the elite tests in the league, and Connecticut provided that and then some.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;ve seen intrigue and enticement from this young roster for a few seasons now, and often the flashes have been ousted. Dallas was the youngest team in the league last season, and it often played out that way with exuberant highs and dreary lows.
Down 39-27 at the half with the offense stuck in the mud, I contemplated whether or not this Wings team would be much the same as last year. Dallas went on to outscore the Sun 58-38 in the second half, including a remarkable run late in the third quarter with Arike Ogunbowale on the bench.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
WNBA average roster age (Multiple games played, still on roster, 10 mpg or more) SEA - 30.2 PHX - 29.78 CHI - 28.77 CON - 28.3 MIN - 27.6 LV - 27.6 WAS - 27.45 NYL - 26.1 ATL - 25.9 LAS - 25.64 IND - 24.8 DAL - 24.4
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) <a href="https://twitter.com/MG_Schindler/status/1529467131066298368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

They&rsquo;re the youngest team yet again this season, but things feel different.&nbsp;
That second half was indicative of a team that finally was able to turn the page and cast aside some of the demons that plagued it last year. They didn&rsquo;t fold when they presented with perhaps their most difficult moment this year; down double-digits, on the road, against one of the best teams in the league.
Wings head coach Vickie Johnson echoed similar sentiments during her postgame availability.
&ldquo;The last five minutes, we are valuing the basketball more," Johnson said. "We have the patience to run our sets, to get good looks, we are not one pass, shot, like before. We have the patience to move the basketball and give up a good shot for a better shot. And now, we are knocking down open shots.&rdquo;
The Wings currently have the third-lowest turnover rate in the WNBA, per HerHoopStats. Ogunbowale and Marina Mabrey were dynamic Tuesday night by getting into their pull-up games out of pick-and-roll, but also blending their ability to get into the paint and collapse the defense.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/wb1nln" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
This play was huge last night and speaks greatly to what Coach Johnson discussed after the game. Not that this pass wasn&rsquo;t made last season, but it feels like trust is there more. This could have been a contested layup, and heck, Arike may have hit it because she&rsquo;s that nice. But to fully collapse the defense and then make them pay with the wide-open three was an awesome process.
On that aforementioned third-quarter run (with Arike on the bench), Johnson went to a lineup of Mabrey-Allisha Gray-Kayla Thornton-Satou Sabally-Isabelle Harrison, and it outscored the Sun by 8 points in a five-and-a-half-minute stretch, per InStat.
The Harrison-Sabally frontcourt has really impressed since the latter returned from overseas play. Per PBP Stats, in the 18 minutes the duo has shared the court, the Wings have a 35.3 Net Rating, absolutely blitzing opponents on offense and stifling them on defense. They both have intriguing skills and coordination off the bounce. They can run dribble handoffs and make quick passes.
Harrison&rsquo;s confidence and aggression has her top-20 in the league in free-throw attempts per game, and 12th in makes at the line on the season.
&ldquo;Playing for AU (Athletes Unlimited) in Vegas helped her to become more of a leader, to think through the game a little more&hellip; I expect a lot from her. I put a lot of pressure on her and she is doing an amazing job," Johnson said of Harrison.
"She&rsquo;s getting to her spots and finishing in the paint and... In the first half she took three jump shots, and I ripped her kind of hard because they don&rsquo;t fear her outside the lane, they fear you when you get to the lane and make your move. She is one of the players who has multiple moves inside, so now she just has to use it and not settle for jump shots.&rdquo;
Harrison and Sabally got to the line seven times in that third-quarter stretch, and their mobility and quickness really gave Brionna Jones and the Sun's frontcourt problems. Catching on the perimeter or out to the high post gave them enough space to slice to the interior and draw fouls or finish at the rim.
The defense of this unit was the icing on the cake, however.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/51bbz0" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Just bask in and admire that activity. This Dallas team relies heavily on timely and proper peel switches, along with activity and mobility from the bigs playing the screen. They shrink the court to minimize interior penetration.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/3llzik" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The Sun go to empty pick-and-roll, and Jones pops after the screen for Williams. Harrison stunts and shows to stop a drive, Mabrey gets back in front and the ball is contained.
Note how Sabally also steps in on the back end to contain a potential drive from Jonquel Jones. Harrison then recovers out, and Jones takes the shot. It's not perfectly contested, but that's also part of the point; don't give up the middle.
Speaking of that peel switching, watch this.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/mcdbyj" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Alyssa Thomas sets a back screen on Harrison as Jones wheels to the opposite corner. Harrison calls for the peel switch, Mabrey takes Jones and Harrison takes Mabrey's assignment in Courtney Williams. The play with multiple back screens flattens out, but the Sun get the switch they're looking for with Jones on the much smaller Mabrey. Gray rotates over to help, forcing the rotation as the ball gets kicked to Natisha Hiedeman.
Harrison is already peeling to Hiedeman, and Williams relocates to the slot while DeWanna Bonner sinks to the corner and gets the ball on a skip. Sabally avoids the Thomas pin-in, closes to Bonner and stays in front, and Gray has already recovered back across the court to take Williams. Jonquel still has Mabrey isolated, and as soon as she gets the post-entry pass, the Wings sink in to help (probably a slight overhelp off of Thomas, part of why the rebound gets into her hands) and Gray zones up on the back end as the Wings end up forcing a turnover.
That is a stellar defensive possession. The amount of things going on in unison and as the play develops highlights how in sync this Wings team has been on that end. They certainly can still make mistakes, but they're becoming less frequent, and when it mattered most last night, they put together a dominant defensive stand.
Gray is coming for an All-Defensive Team, both in her own mission expressed this season and with her play. She's been forceful pressuring on the ball, developing into Dallas' go-to stopper. Her recovery skills have been arguably as, if not more, impressive. She took the primary assignment of an All-Star forward in Bonner, and, in spite of a sizable height disparity, routinely forced her into awkward shots and contested her well.
Gray is 4th in The W in blocks per game (1.9), a ridiculous number considering every player in the top 10 besides her plays the 4 or 5.
Johnson called Gray "probably the best two-way player in The W right now," and while I can't quite get there, she's making a case for certain as she puts together her best all-around season.
Everything is clicking, everyone is finding some sort of footing in the rotation, and the Wings are out to a great start.
It's early in the season to be sure, but this Dallas team has a different verve and readiness in Year 2 under Vickie Johnson, and Tuesday night was fully emblematic of it.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

The Dallas WIngs are now 5-2 after a signature win over the Connecticut Sun. Mark Schindler analyzes their hot start.

Great start by young Dallas Wings signals improved readiness

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors have won nine consecutive games in the Western Conference finals.
They can make it an even 10, eliminate Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks and return to the NBA Finals after three years away with a victory in Game 4 in Dallas on Tuesday night.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to fast forward,&rdquo; Curry said after a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dallas-mavericks-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-klay-thompson-2f6a0c58ab25f6512ffe1f090224f272">109-100 victory in Game 3</a> for a 3-0 series lead. &ldquo;We can play better, but we&rsquo;re finding ways to win games. There&rsquo;s no expectation other than what&rsquo;s the challenge ahead of us, and the challenge now is to close out a series against a really good team to get back to an opportunity to win the Finals.&rdquo;
The Warriors haven't lost in the West finals since erasing a 3-2 deficit to Houston in 2018, when they won the last of their three titles in four years by beating Cleveland in the NBA Finals. Golden State swept Portland for a fifth consecutive trip to the Finals in 2019 before losing in six games to Toronto.
The Mavericks are playing beyond the first round for the first time since <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dallas-mavericks-golden-state-warriors-milwaukee-bucks-brooklyn-nets-nba-7e323815c5abcc72eefbad4c6a6b2f36">first-year coach Jason Kidd</a> was the point guard on the Dirk Nowitzki-led team that won the 2011 title.
Dallas was down 2-0 to top-seeded Phoenix in the West semifinals before winning twice as the home team took the first six games. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/phoenix-suns-dallas-mavericks-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-1e6827985892edd105afa343820edddb">The Mavs stunned the Suns</a> with a 33-point victory in Game 7 in Phoenix, putting Doncic a year ahead Nowitzki's schedule in reaching his first conference finals.
Golden State rallied from 19 points down to win Game 2 at home before erasing a nine-point deficit in the final four minutes of the first half in Game 3 &mdash; and ending any hope of Dallas repeating its Phoenix feat.
Instead of winning four out of five, the Mavericks have to win the last four games of the series. No NBA team has done that.
Doncic scored 21 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter, but a desperate Dallas rally never gained traction. The young superstar masked a mediocre first half by hitting a 32-footer at the first-quarter buzzer.
&ldquo;I think the first two quarters I played very bad. That&rsquo;s on me,&rdquo; Doncic said after the Mavs fell to 2-6 in three playoff years when their All-Star scored at least 40. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m still learning. I think after this season is done, whatever we are, I think we&rsquo;re going to look back and learn a lot of things. I&rsquo;m 23, man. I&rsquo;m still learning a lot.&rdquo;
Doncic also learned what it's like to be on the wrong end of a moment that will live forever on highlight reels.
The three-time All-Star who is used to sending defenders stumbling with crossover and step-back moves was posterized on a dunk by Andrew Wiggins.
Yes, the same Wiggins was who criticized by some after being chosen as an All-Star starter in his first appearance this year. He got the nod over Doncic, who started the season poorly by his standards because of issues with weight and conditioning.
That wasn't Wiggins' only dunk on his way to a playoff career-high 27 points, and he had another off one of his six offensive rebounds, just one fewer than Dallas had as a team.
The 2014 No. 1 overall pick also has been one of the primary defenders on Doncic in a multifaceted scheme that has limited Dallas' career triple-double leader to five assists per game &mdash; three below his career playoff average.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a fantastic two-way player,&rdquo; coach Steve Kerr said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t win in the playoffs without guys like Wiggs. We&rsquo;re basically mirroring Doncic&rsquo;s minutes so that Wiggs can stay on him and he&rsquo;s another guy like Steph who just never seems to get tired. He&rsquo;s in amazing shape.&rdquo;
The Mavericks are in bad shape in this series because they've been outscored on average 62-47 in the second half. Part of the reason is the inconsistency of Doncic's supporting cast.
In Game 3, Spencer Dinwiddie scored 26 of Dallas' 28 bench points after the Mavs' reserves were outscored 36-13 in Game 2. But key 3-point specialists Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber and Reggie Bullock combined for just nine points &mdash; all of them from Finney-Smith after Kleber and Bullock missed all 12 of their 3s and all 15 of their shots overall.
Pardon the Mavs if they sounded a bit defeated, knowing the history of 3-0 deficits.
&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re in a battle, you&rsquo;re not thinking about the big picture,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;But as we reflect this summer, whenever that starts, we&rsquo;ll understand what we did and how we can get better. And that&rsquo;s the blessing of this whole thing is, we truly believe we belong here.&rdquo;
For now, the Mavs have to believe they can prolong things.
&nbsp;

The Warriors look to eliminate the Mavericks and return to the NBA Finals after three years away with a win in Game 4.

Curry, Warriors go for sweep of Doncic, Mavs in West finals

James Harden has averaged at least 15 field goal attempts per game in each of his last 10 regular seasons, encompassing his entire tenure with the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers. He's put up at least 12 shots per game in 10 ten postseason appearances since 2013.&nbsp;
So when Harden took just two attempts in the Sixers' Game 6 exit against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals, it was jarring to those who watch Harden and those who have followed the drama of the franchise over the past year. After all, it was just one season ago where Ben Simmons' shot selection created a firestorm that ultimately led to February's blockbuster deal.
But this felt different. Harden is one of the greatest scorers the NBA has ever seen. And the performance distracted from the fact that, even in his battle against Father Time, Harden is still one of the most talented floor generals in the world.&nbsp;
His "down" year included 22.0 points, 10.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game spanning a tenuous winter with the Nets and a midseason trade to Philadelphia. He still has the step-back, the strength and the court vision, even as his quick first step appears to be sputtering with age and injuries.
Harden is a game-changer for the 76ers, and it's why he is by far the chief offseason storyline. The 32-year-old holds a player option for next season. He could either opt-in and potentially sign an extension that could pay over $60 million in 2026-27, or decline and test the waters in unrestricted free agency. One more interesting wrinkle: According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, few around the league expect Philly to pony up with that max contract extension:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/WindhorstESPN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WindhorstESPN</a> says to pump the brakes on Harden returning to Philadelphia next season with a max deal. "Nobody in the NBA believes that the Sixers are going to give James Harden a max contract.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/vASDx6p0ek">pic.twitter.com/vASDx6p0ek</a>
&mdash; Get Up (@GetUpESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/GetUpESPN/status/1525118767511924736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

It's a pivotal summer for Harden and the franchise. Should Philadelphia <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/signing-james-harden-to-a-max-contract-could-cripple-the-sixers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commit upwards of $200 million to a guard showing signs of physical decline who turns 33 next season</a>? Or should the team lower the offer and risk seeing an extremely talented, experienced playmaker (and a great fit with Joel Embiid) walk?
So Harden's contract is item No. 1 on president of basketball operations Daryl Morey's agenda. The next is evaluating which current rotation players are fit for long-term success.&nbsp;
Ten different Sixers averaged 10 or more minutes per game in the playoffs. It often felt like Sixers head coach Doc Rivers didn't know where to look for help outside of Embiid, Harden, Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey. DeAndre Jordan, Matisse Thybulle and Georges Niang, among others, frequently drew the ire of fans on social media.&nbsp;
Jordan will hit the open market this summer along with fellow veteran big man Paul Millsap. But Philly doesn't have many other free agency decisions to make; Shake Milton (team option), Myles Powell (restricted) and Harden are the only others to monitor.
The luxury tax hampers the 76ers, who will only have the taxpayer mid-level exception to add free agents unless Harden leaves and opens up some cap space. That MLE is valued at approximately $6.3 million. Maybe Philly locks in a permanent backup center like Thomas Bryant or Chris Boucher? Or perhaps they look for wings, whether it be a shooter like Bryn Forbes or a playmaker such as Kyle Anderson. Either way, it's at least a chance to reel in a rotation-caliber addition.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The Sixers are also absent from the current NBA Draft picture. They traded their first-rounder to Brooklyn in the James Harden trade (though the Nets can defer that pick to 2023) and their second-rounder is headed to Miami.&nbsp;
If Philly wants to make a serious splash, it'll have to turn to the trade machine. Morey has reasonable pieces at his disposal. Thybulle, for all of his offensive warts, is one of the best wing defenders in the NBA and will make just $4.38 million next season before entering restricted free agency. Niang is set to enter the final year of his current contract and will collect $3.47 million. Harris still has two years left on his massive deal, but the 29-year-old deserves credit for a resurgent playoff effort.
Ultimately, Morey's maneuvering will only do so much for a Sixers roster in need of tweaks and growth. The biggest development might come in the offseason gym with young players who have yet to realize their potential.
Paul Reed emerged as a high-energy bench big in the playoffs, but still has leaps to make away from the boards. Charles Bassey, picked 53rd overall last season, is another athletic center preparing for his opportunity. We're still waiting on 22-year-old Isaiah Joe (non-guaranteed for next season) to round out his flashes of microwave perimeter scoring.
I was a fan of Jaden Springer, last year's No. 28 overall pick, at draft time. Springer averaged 15.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game with the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League, flying around on defense. But he still has a long way to go as an NBA guard on offense.
If any of these players break through into the full-time rotation next year, that's a major win for the 76ers development system. Trades can only accomplish so much when teams are sending pieces out to make additions. For Philly to take that next step as a championship contender, they'll need to see in-house improvement from Harden, the supporting cast and the young guns.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

James Harden's pending player option highlights a pivotal summer for the 76ers. Ethan Fuller dives in.

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the Philadelphia 76ers?

DALLAS (AP) &mdash; Stephen Curry scored 31 points, Andrew Wiggins added 27 while posterizing Luka Doncic on a dunk and the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 109-100 Sunday night for a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Klay Thompson scored 19 with a pair of big fourth-quarter 3-pointers as the Warriors moved within a victory of a return to the NBA Finals, three years after the end of a run of five consecutive trips that yielded three championships.
Golden State, which swept Portland in its most recent West finals in 2019 before Toronto won the title, goes for the sweep in Game 4 on Tuesday in Dallas. No team has rallied from 3-0 down to win an NBA playoff series.
Doncic scored 40 and beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 32-footer that got the crowd going with the Mavericks again at home trailing 2-0, as they did against top-seeded Phoenix before winning the West semifinal series in seven games.
But that shimmy-inducing bucket was a blip on an otherwise rough night from 3-point range for the Mavericks, who missed their first seven and finished 13 of 45.
Reggie Bullock and Maxi Kleber, two long-range specialists for Dallas, missed all 12 of their 3s combined and were 0-15 overall. Both went scoreless, offsetting Spencer Dinwiddie's 26 points off the bench. Jalen Brunson scored 20.
Wiggins' dunk over Doncic was originally ruled an offensive foul midway through the fourth quarter. The Warriors challenged, and the ruling was Wiggins' elbow to Doncic was incidental contact, giving Golden State a 93-83 lead.
About a minute later, Wiggins, who had 11 rebounds, moved quickly down the right baseline for a follow dunk on a miss by Curry as the Warriors extended their NBA record with a 26th consecutive series in which they won at least one road game.
One of Dinwiddie's 3-pointers got Dallas within five points with 1:15 remaining, but Jordan Poole answered with one from the left wing just inside the final minute.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
The most tense moment of the series came late in the first half after <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1528557592779165697?s=20&amp;t=cABubKSbS8jV6RFWmjglSw">a corner 3 from Curry capped an 8-0 run</a> that put the Warriors in front by a point and helped them to a 48-47 halftime lead. And it left Curry confused.
Curry ran the length of the court with his tongue hanging out after Dallas called timeout. As he circled back toward his bench, Curry walked by Doncic with teammate Juan Toscano-Anderson nearby.
Doncic appeared to take issue with something Toscano-Anderson said and started toward the Golden State bench before officials along with coaches and players from both teams intervened. Meantime, Draymond Green and injured Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr. exchanged unpleasantries about 45 feet apart.
After the timeout, Curry could been seen saying, &ldquo;What happened?&rdquo; and approached Doncic to talk about it. The exchange ended with Green as the peacemaker with Doncic.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Green got a technical foul, his second of the series, after an extended conversation with official Marc Davis when he was called for a backcourt violation when he hurriedly tried to step back over the midcourt line to catch a long, unexpected pass from Curry. The crowd was howling for a technical and finally got it. Seconds later, Green was called for his first foul and didn't like the call. But he directed his complaint at his own bench instead of the officiating crew. ... Otto Porter Jr., who averaged 10.5 points on 82% shooting the first two games, limped to the locker room in the first half and was ruled out with left foot soreness.
Mavericks: <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1528536430280065024?s=20&amp;t=cABubKSbS8jV6RFWmjglSw">Bullock won the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar social justice award</a>. He has been active in the LGBTQ+ community. His sister, a transgender woman, was killed in 2014. Bullock worked with several organizations in the Dallas area after signing as a free agent in the offseason and has long been active in similar pursuits in his native North Carolina. ... Dorian Finney-Smith got a technical early in the second half for an elbow to the back of Green after a made Dallas free throw.

Behind big games from Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, the Golden State Warriors took a 3-0 series lead over Dallas.

Curry, Warriors take 3-0 lead on Mavericks with 109-100 win

It is common for the players who score the most points to get the most praise. They get the credit on SportsCenter and are viewed as the stars of the night. But there is another kind of player who typically doesn't get the credit they deserve, whose importance to the team is not often illuminated.
Enter Victor Oladipo.
In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, Oladipo's 5 points didn't make the ESPN highlight reel or pop out in the box score. His stat line wasn&rsquo;t highlighted on the NBA TV recap.
After being bumped out of the rotation in the first half in favor of Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson, Oladipo could have pouted and had an attitude. This is something that happens at every level: a player doesn&rsquo;t play in the first half and mentally checks out. Sometimes, they are visibily disgruntled. You may be able to see it during halftime warm-ups or in his demeanor on the bench.&nbsp;
Oladipo didn&rsquo;t do any of that. He stayed locked in and was ready and prepared if his number happened to be called. Then, it happened. Jimmy Butler went down and could not return to the game in the second half. Butler has been carrying the team throughout the series; he is who the offense runs through, who the team relies on every trip down the court in some capacity. When he couldn't return due to a knee injury, Oladipo&rsquo;s number was called and he was ready.
In just 20 minutes, Oladipo had 4 steals (twice as many as the Celtics had as team for the entire game) and 8 pass deflections (one more than the Celtics). After the game, PJ Tucker raved about Oladipo's play.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s usually his offense everybody talks about,&rdquo; Tucker said. &ldquo;He comes in with a spark. But his lateral slides and quickness were unbelievable. I told him tonight, 'That was some of the best lateral foot speed I&rsquo;ve seen anybody have.' Jaylen Brown, when he gets going &mdash; especially right &mdash; he's tough to get back in front of. For Vic to square him up was unreal. He gave us a spark.
&ldquo;We talked about it at the half, knowing he was about to start the half and play. To not play at all and then step in and do what he did in the second half, that level of professionalism is few and far between.&rdquo;
Former NBA guard Jamal Crawford tweeted: &ldquo;Vic Oladipo&rsquo;s stats won&rsquo;t justify the game he actually played. They don&rsquo;t win this game without him.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Vic Oladipo&rsquo;s stats won&rsquo;t justify the game he actually played. They don&rsquo;t win this game without him.
&mdash; 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) <a href="https://twitter.com/JCrossover/status/1528214518660157440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

&ldquo;Everything about it, it speaks to his competitive character,&rdquo; Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Oladipo. &ldquo;That was not easy. We went with a slightly different rotation because Kyle [Lowry] came back. That is going to force some changes throughout the rotation, so he didn&rsquo;t play in the first half. We&rsquo;ve had so many guys that have had to take on different roles and sacrifice. We say it&rsquo;s always easy to sacrifice when you&rsquo;re not the one doing it, and he&rsquo;s had to sacrifice many times. That wasn&rsquo;t easy. That wasn&rsquo;t necessarily the way we were going to go the first half. Just things were going really well. We just kept going with that. Then, all of a sudden, boom: Jimmy is not going to go in the second half.
"For him to be stable enough and not be frustrated and not be rolling his eyes and like, 'Oh, okay, now I get an opportunity.... he&rsquo;s just steady. Stays the course. He&rsquo;s made himself available, made himself vulnerable through this whole process. He&rsquo;s prepared behind the scenes. His minutes in the second half were so important defensively against their two studs (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown), and then offensively, he just gave us a facsimile of a lot of the stuff we do with Jimmy. And I mean that as the ultimate compliment.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
This isn&rsquo;t the first time during these playoffs that Oladipo has had to be ready to jump right in and be a determining factor when his number was called. Oladipo was actually outside of Miami's rotation in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks. However, he ended up being one of the key reasons for the Heat's 97-94 win in Game 5, which could have easily gone in the Hawks favor. Oladipo poured in 23 points, 3 assists and 3 steals, while shooting 50% from the floor and 50% from three. After that game, his play was featured in ESPN's highlight reel and his stat line jumped out when looking at the box score.
But again, if he hadn't been ready when his number was called, none of that would have been possible. Time and time again, Oladipo has shown that when given the opportunity, he can produce at a high level and be a game-changing player. Any questions about his past injuries (including a ruptured right quadricep tendon) should be laid to rest as he's proven that he's back in terms of his lateral movement, athleticism, ability to create his own shot, outside shooting and transition defense.
&ldquo;Signing Victor Oladipo [to a veteran-minimum deal] was one of the biggest steals in NBA history for the Miami Heat," said Daniel Abraham, Oladipo&rsquo;s former AAU coach. "To get a former All-Star and All-Defensive Team player still near his prime like that for very little and be able to wait patiently for him to get healthy is the type of move that will likely land them in the NBA Finals! And if you know Vic like I do, you know the level of the dedication and work ethic he has always had, so none of this would surprise you.&ldquo;
Many in the NBA world were ready to write him off into irrelevance after he re-injured his leg in 2020 and got traded twice. In January 2021, Oladipo was traded to the Houston Rockets in the four-team blockbuster deal that also sent James Harden to Brooklyn and Caris LeVert to Indiana. Two months later, the Rockets sent Oladipo to Miami for a first-round pick swap, Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk.
But with all that behind him, Oladipo is proving all of his doubters wrong. He is far from finished and he has proven that he's still capable of being an impact player and a X-Factor for his team &mdash; whether it&rsquo;s by solely playing defense on one of the best scorers in the league or stepping in and being one of the game's high scorers himself. Regardless of his role, Oladipo will have the right attitude and energy, even if those opportunities don&rsquo;t present themselves each and every game.
This is the type of player whom any organization would want on their team, and Oladipo should receive plenty of interest from teams when he hits unrestricted free agency this summer.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/violalogo1_lg-1_lg.png" alt="" width="546" height="273" />
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-1habvwh r-eqz5dr r-11rk87y r-1dye5f7 r-m611by r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-eqz5dr r-glunga r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-eqz5dr r-glunga r-13qz1uu">
<div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Regardless of what the box score showed, Victor Oladipo played a crucial role in the Heat's Game 3 win over the Celtics.

Victor Oladipo staying ready and making the most of every opportunity

Through two weeks of the WNBA season, where does each team stack up and what are some prime takeaways?

WNBA Power Rankings 5/22

Luka Doncic didn&rsquo;t have another &ldquo;believe&rdquo; in him with the Mavericks facing a 2-0 deficit for a second consecutive series.
Not that the Dallas superstar doesn&rsquo;t believe. There&rsquo;s just a difference after&nbsp;losing a 19-point lead against title-tested Stephen Curry&nbsp;and the Golden State Warriors.
The Mavericks are headed home to try to stay in the Western Conference finals after they beat championship-less Chris Paul and Phoenix four times in five games, starting in Dallas, to get there. Game 3 against Golden State is Sunday night.
If Dallas is going to repeat what Doncic said he believed his team could pull off against the top-seeded Suns, it&rsquo;ll start with defense. The Mavericks got 42 points from their All-Star guard, but they quit defending the Warriors when the shots stopped falling.
Golden State shot 61% in the second half of a 126-117 victory &mdash; 79% in the fourth quarter, almost matching Phoenix from Game 2 in the West semifinals &mdash; as Dallas fell to 2-5 in Doncic&rsquo;s three playoff seasons when he scores at least 40.
&ldquo;We play defense when we play offense, and we play no defense when we can&rsquo;t score,&rdquo; Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something that we have to get better at this time of the year. You can get away with it in the regular season.&rdquo;
There&rsquo;s a little something about offense Kidd wants the Mavericks to understand too. Always reliant on 3-point shooting, Dallas took its big lead because those shots were going in.
When the 3s stopped falling in the third quarter, Doncic and company kept shooting them. He missed a pair and Reggie Bullock was off on all three of his as Dallas ended up 2 of 13 from deep while a 14-point halftime lead was cut to two.
&ldquo;We got to attack the paint more, like they did,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;They attacked the paint a lot. They have two of the best shooters in the world, and they still attack the paint.&rdquo;
Curry did his thing with 32 points while fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson had another relatively quiet night with 15 points &mdash; except for two driving dunks after halftime.
When the Warriors didn&rsquo;t have free runs to the basket, center Kevon Looney was often waiting underneath. His career-high 21 points, regular season or playoffs, helped the Warriors to a 62-30 advantage in the paint, the most points the Mavericks have allowed inside in the postseason.
With 12 rebounds, Looney became the first Golden State center since Robert Parish in 1977 to have at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in a playoff game, according to StatMuse.
&ldquo;Playing center for the Warriors, it&rsquo;s a different type of job from other teams,&rdquo; Looney said. &ldquo;A lot of the scoring and stuff, we don&rsquo;t really need us to do. I&rsquo;m going to remember that stat, so I can tell somebody else about it.&rdquo;
The Mavericks found a way to limit the efficiency of Deandre Ayton after a big game from the Suns center in the opener of that series.
The growing ineffectiveness of Dwight Powell (zero points, two rebounds in eight minutes in Game 2) has forced Dallas to go small. The Mavericks can&rsquo;t keep doing it if they can&rsquo;t limit Looney, who had five offensive rebounds and helped offset a dud from Draymond Green (minus-19 before fouling out with six points).
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the guys that no one writes about or talks about,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;But we understand the impact he has on the game of giving those guys second or third opportunities.&rdquo;
Golden State is 14-1 when leading a series 2-0 since Kerr took over in 2014-15. It is two wins from a return to the NBA Finals after the last of five consecutive appearances in 2019. The Warriors are in control because they won when trailing by as many as 19 for the first time in these playoffs.
&ldquo;Hopefully this is a game that we can kind of put in our back pocket and remember because there&rsquo;s a good chance we&rsquo;ll be in this situation again,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;This is a team that is explosive and you&rsquo;re dealing with one of the great players in the game who can create for himself and others, and it will be a hard series.&rdquo;

The Mavericks overcame an 0-2 deficit to beat the Suns in the last round. Can they do the same against the experienced Warriors?

Can the Mavericks climb out of an 0-2 hole once again?

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic was dominating, yelling in celebration and flexing his arms in Stephen Curry&rsquo;s house.
Then Curry and the Golden State Warriors delivered one of those signature third-quarter flurries that have defined so many of their postseason runs &mdash; with this one being sparked by Kevon Looney.
Just like that, they&rsquo;re two wins away from getting back to another NBA Finals.
Curry scored 32 points with six 3-pointers and eight more rebounds, Looney had a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Warriors rallied past the Dallas Mavericks 126-117 on Friday for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
&ldquo;I feel honored just to be a part of the ride,&rdquo; Looney said.
Doncic scored 42 points and the Mavericks led most of the way before the Warriors took their first lead of the night on Otto Porter Jr.&rsquo;s 3-pointer 18 seconds into the fourth.
Doncic had 18 points in the first quarter &mdash; two shy of his 20-point Game 1 total. His 3-pointer with 13 seconds before halftime &mdash; the Mavs&rsquo; 15th of the first half &mdash; made it 72-58 at the break and gave him 24 points.
<div class="Component-dfp-0-2-150">
&ldquo;Against someone that good you&rsquo;re just trying to limit some of the easy stuff,&rdquo; Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Doncic even got a Twitter shoutout from&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://twitter.com/MCHammer/status/1527835832458960898" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oakland&rsquo;s own MC Hammer</a>: &ldquo;Ok young Luka &hellip; We see you.&rdquo;
But Golden State answered with a 25-13 third quarter to pull to 85-83 going into fourth &mdash; coming out of halftime with a performance reminiscent of those thrilling third quarters of past.
&ldquo;We know how good they are as a third-quarter team,&rdquo; Dallas forward Reggie Bullock said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just something that slipped away from us as the game continued to go on.&rdquo;
Doncic shot 12 for 23 and shined in a game of brilliant shotmaking &mdash; the Warriors finished 56.1% from the floor. In the first half alone, Dallas edged Golden State 52.3% to 51.2%, including a remarkable 55.6% to 53.3% from 3-point range.
The series shifts to Dallas for Game 3 on Sunday. Golden State is two wins from a return to the NBA Finals for the first time since making five straight trips from 2015-19.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re on the road against one of the best teams in the league. It happens. They held serve,&rdquo; Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen this in Phoenix so now we have to go back and just focus on Game 3.&rdquo;
Jordan Poole scored 23 points off the bench, Andrew Wiggins had 16 and Klay Thompson &mdash; held scoreless in the first half of the series opener &mdash; added 15 points for a second straight game. Golden State scored 62 points in the paint.
Jalen Brunson scored eight of the first 14 Dallas points on the way to 31. The Mavericks didn&rsquo;t have to see as much of Draymond Green, who picked up his fifth foul with 6:01 left in the third, then returned with 6:33 left before fouling out with 2:25 to go.
The teams tangled with 8:03 left in the second quarter in front of the Dallas bench. Warriors reserve Damion Lee closed out as Davis Bertans hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Bertans tripped Lee and sent him in a flip hard to the floor. Lee had to be held back by official Eric Lewis.
The players were issued double technicals.
In Game 1 two days earlier, Doncic faced smothering defense from Wiggins and shot just 6 for 18 and 3 of 10 from deep. Kidd expected a far better outing in Game 2.
Golden State continued to push the pace and committed 16 turnovers after 15 in the opener.
RELIABLE LOONEY
Moved back into the starting lineup for the clinching Game 6 of the semifinals against Memphis, Looney shot 10 for 14 after making all five of his field goals in Game 1.
He notched his second career postseason double-double.
&ldquo;Tonight was my night to make a big difference and I just stepped up,&rdquo; Looney said.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Dallas led by as many as 16 in the opening quarter. ... The Mavs were outrebounded again at 43-30 after a 51-35 disadvantage in Game 1. They committed one fewer turnovers with 12 after Doncic had seven in the series opener. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to take care of the ball because the Warriors once you turn the ball over, they&rsquo;re gone, and a lot of times it&rsquo;s an open 3,&rdquo; Kidd said beforehand.
Warriors: G Gary Payton II &mdash; who broke his left elbow on a hard foul when Memphis star Dillon Brooks clobbered him May 3 on a fast break for a Flagrant 2, ejection and one-game suspension &mdash; is doing light individual work on court that includes shooting with his non-dominant right hand and will be re-evaluated in a week. ... F Andre Iguodala missed his ninth straight game with a disc injury in his neck is continuing his rehab with physical therapy and training in the weight room with some light on-court work. The Warriors said they will provide an update when he&rsquo;s cleared to practice. ... Golden State improved to 8-0 at home this postseason and is 18-5 in Game 2s dating to the 2015 title run. ... Green was voted to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.
QUOTABLE
&ldquo;Steph is the best-conditioned athlete in this game, he never stops moving.&rdquo; -- Kidd
</div>

The Golden State Warriors rallied from an early deficit to take their second straight win in the Western Conference Finals.

Steph Curry, Warriors rally past Mavs for 2-0 lead in West finals

The energy in The Bay was palpable, a crowd starved for its team's first Western Conference Finals berth since 2019. The dominant rule of this Golden State dynasty had been rudely interrupted by a once-in-a-generation global pandemic, a slew of untimely injuries and a superstar migrating across the country to skyscraping lands. Even the Chase Center flooring glimmered in anticipation.
The only thing that gleamed more was the twinkle in the eye of the Warriors' team defense.
The Warriors faced a new challenge in the West Finals, going from containing the quick-twitch athleticism strewn across the Memphis Grizzlies' roster to now containing the pick-and-roll craftsmanship of Luka Doncic, arguably the best player of the 2022 postseason. Luka's a nightmare to deal with, to say the least. He can attack your bigs or smalls on switches in isolation. He makes passes that only a select few across the globe can make should he even gain the slightest bit of an advantage. Most of all, he's a true-blue three-level scorer, geared up with step-back threes, post-ups with Dirk Nowitzki-legged fadeaways, sikly floaters and elongated layups at his disposal.&nbsp;
Containing a player of that ilk is not as simple as just throwing one perimeter player his way and hoping for the best. And while Luka's primary defender, Andrew Wiggins, did an admirable job on Wednesday of holding Doncic to 4-of-10 shooting, it was Golden State's medley of defensive coverages that kept Dallas at bay during the 25-point evisceration.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Steve Kerr's crew threw out six different coverages in the first half &mdash; blitzes, hedge-and-recovers, a shallow drop coverage, pick-and-roll switches, a 3-2 zone and even a Box-and-1 &mdash; to stifle Dallas' second-ranked playoff half-court offense to a crawl. Golden State's coordinated chaos worked effectively, as Dallas put up just 78.8 points per 100 possessions in the half-court during Game 1 (10th percentile, yikes!), well below the 101.3 Offensive Rating that Dallas normally averages in this setting.&nbsp;
We'll touch on a few of those coverages momentarily, but it was Golden State's zone looks that were particularly interesting. The Mavericks haven't seen a ton of zones this postseason, especially coming off a series against the Phoenix Suns that featured mostly drop coverage or the occasional switch with Deandre Ayton manning the middle.
Interestingly, Golden State aligned its 3-2 zone so that Stephen Curry was atop the formation, meaning that he was typically Luka Doncic's primary defender. This goes against conventional thinking; normally, you'd expect the Warriors to hide Curry in the corners on one of Dallas' non-threatening options (think: how Miami deployed Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro in the 2020 postseason) instead of guarding the best mismatch-hunter on the floor. The Warriors, however, felt confident about shuttling defensive possessions to Curry at the point-of-attack, trusting their superstar to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/stephen-currys-defense-continues-to-shine-for-the-warriors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">utilize his best defensive attribute</a> &mdash; his quick hands&mdash; to frustrate Maverick ball-handlers.
Of course, it helps with Wiggins and Draymond Green situated at the nearby wings, able to sink down and contain should Doncic bullrush his way past the slighter Curry. That's exactly what happened during this first-quarter possession below; Curry bothered Doncic's dribble by sticking in an arm, and when Doncic gathered himself and prepared his attack, Wiggins provided assistance at the nail to erase the driving lane and coerce the kick out. Jalen Brunson, of course, misses the spot-up three (a trend on Wednesday night), and Golden State gets its desired result from the 3-2 zone.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NPsmPpIC3SE" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
There's some irony in the Warriors &mdash; the same team that once complained about Toronto's "junk defenses" in the 2019 NBA Finals &mdash; throwing out Box-and-1s to fluster Dallas' heliocentric offense. And yet, a minute later, Golden State busted out that janky look, with Curry, Jordan Poole, Green, and Otto Porter Jr. spread across the lane lines to form the "box," and Wiggins smothering Luka from basically the mid-court line.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/box-and-1_lg.png" alt="" width="701" height="348" />
When Maxi Kleber comes to set a screen for Doncic, Poole and Wiggins trap Luka and use the sideline as a third defender to force the pass. Dallas hot-potatoes the ball across the perimeter, frantically searching for a vialble option, and eventually the Mavs are left with a 27-foot three from Kleber. A result the Warriors will live with.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HxxAJcUQFVk" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The Mavericks mustered up just 18 total points in the first quarter, which effectively set the tone for the rest of Game 1. Looking ahead after the brutal loss, it begs the question: Where can the Mavericks go next?
Well, there's the obvious answer, for one: Make more friggin' threes. Duh. The Mavericks whiffed on 37 of their 48 total outside looks, with some of those misses being <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT-vnjKYwf0&amp;ab_channel=MattBrooksNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pretty dang brutal</a>. But there's more to the game than just blindly hoping for better results.
Thinning Out the Hedges
As mentioned, one of the coverages that Golden State threw at Luka was hedging and recovering on pick-and-rolls. Typically, this was done when Doncic and the Mavericks looked to target Curry in screening actions. Dallas would have Curry's defender &mdash; Reggie Bullock in the first clip; Spencer Dinwiddie in the second&mdash;set a screen on Luka's defender, Wiggins.
Rather than having Curry switch outright onto Doncic, Steph would instead jump out toward the 6-foot-8 ball-handler to buy Wiggins time as he recovered back to his assignment. Though it goes in, a tightly contested step-back three &mdash; which Luka is shooting just 32.1% on in the postseason &mdash; is a result the Warriors can stomach, especially with one of its smallest defenders (Curry) involved in the play.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I-rPUXtU8wY" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Thus, going at Curry with a slew of straight pick-and-rolls wasn't particularly profitable in Game 1. Golden State is too experienced, too disciplined and too even-tempered to be caught off-guard by opponents repeatedly targetting its superstar. After all, that's been the game plan since, what, 2015? Steph is well-versed in evading such narrow offensive game planning.
But Dallas has some unexplored avenues.
One such way could be to mix in more slips to the rim. Below, after Golden State pre-switches to initially neutralize the Doncic-Bullock pick-and-roll, Luka calls for a second screen from Brunson to bring Curry into the fold. When Steph hedges, Brunson then cuts to the rim instead of flaring out to the perimeter. And although the possession is smothered by Draymond Green audibling a switch with Curry and playing some free safety (goodness was he ever incredible in Game 1!), Dallas was able to get two feet into the middle of the paint to make decisions.&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ae7EGP5ofcs" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Flipping the angle of the screen at the very last second, which is something the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/grizzlies-flattening-out-the-warriors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grizzlies did against the Warriors</a> in the second round, is a counter yet to be tested by the Mavericks' offense. When Dallas did elect to re-screen in Game 1, it was only because the initial screen failed to connect.&nbsp;
Dallas could also add some intricacy to its pick-and-rolls by forcing Golden State to navigate secondary screens. Screen-the-screener (STS) plays were, once again, something the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/memphisminnesota-game-5-was-a-masterclass-in-playcalling-wizardry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grizzlies tinkered with</a> in the earlier rounds of the postseason, and forcing Curry to navigate an off-ball screen before being dragged into a ball-screen for Luka could put him behind the play, thus throwing off the timing of his hedge.
All Doncic needs is a moment of hesitation to create for himself or others, so mixing in each of the following&mdash; re-screens, slips to the rim, ram screens and/or STS plays and straight pick-and-roll&mdash;to keep the Warriors on pins and needles could prove to make the difference going forward.
Sniffing Out the Proper Switches
So yes, scoping out Curry on pick-and-roll-induced switches didn't go as planned for Dallas in Game 1 given his comfort level with hedging those plays into oblivion; but that's not to say that Dallas failed to get any sort of traction when Golden State swapped assignments after ball screens.
Here's something that should keep Mavericks fans up at night: Dallas was hunting the wrong Warrior guard. Poole was tested by both of Dallas' secondary and tertiary options (Brunson and Dinwiddie), and he looked like a fish out of water on switches. Collectively, Dinwiddie and Brunson went 2-for-3 from the field when defended by Poole in Game 1.
Dinwiddie is both too tall and too quick to be even slightly bothered by Golden State's prolific 22-year-old, and Brunson's veteran craft left Poole stumbling. Jalen's portfolio of pump-fakes, B-Boy dancer pivots and up-and-unders was one hell of a handful for the third-year player.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HxNEy4W2Lqw" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Even when Golden State attempted to hide Poole with hedges, he just wasn't disciplined enough to masterfully pull off this coverage with regularity. Here, he "shows" (or hedges) way, way too high up the floor against Brunson, who has yet to burn Golden State with pull-up threes, and Poole ends up getting flamb&eacute;d in isolation.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S07T62TXJIE" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Dallas' one-two punch of Doncic and Brunson also got off some pretty clean looks when served up Kevon Looney on a platter. Look, Looney had himself one hell of a Wednesday evening and was maybe the Game 1 MVP, but his lateral mobility was tested by Dallas' lead options. Take a look for yourself:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uvKVVoWWnwA" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Dallas should continue to hammer this home in the series. Though it's admirable that Looney feels empowered to pick up individual creators of Doncic and Brunson's ilk so high up the floor, his hip flexibility doesn't afford him the requisite oomph when changing directions on either player's array of dribbling moves. Doncic found relative consistency in forcing Golden State rotations and passing to open shooters after beating Looney off the dribble; Brunson, meanwhile, danced and jitterbugged his way to his spots to go 3-of-4 when defended by the Warriors' starting center.
It's integral that Dallas continues to exhaust Curry by involving him in a never-ending loop of pick-and-rolls. The more mileage put on his body defensively, the better. But there's also some value in getting some easy ones against guys like Looney and Poole.
Other notes:
<ul>
<li>Testing Klay Thompson, still fresh off two major injuries, is inherently not a terrible idea. Doing so by posting him up and allowing him to use his strong base and 6-6 frame, however, is not so brilliant. Doncic wasn't able to gain any ground against Golden State's sturdy wing, and the Mavericks would be better suited having the bursty Dinwiddie or even the guileful Brunson go at Thompson in space.</li>
</ul>
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bpvem8GA9Rg" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<ul>
<li>Speaking of Brunson, how often he can make Golden State pay via pull-up threes should be a major theme in the West Finals. Golden State regularly went under ball-screens against Brunson, daring him to shoot, and he responded with a whole bundle of record-scratch moments. Brunson has shot a combined 30.4% on pull-up three-pointers in the regular season and the postseason on just 105 total attempts, and if he continues to feign at chucking them up when the defense drifts underneath screens, Dallas' offense will sludge itself to death.</li>
</ul>
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gl63W8B4LoI" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<ul>
<li>The Mavericks are one of those teams where you just wish they'd incorporate a little more movement into their offense. Dallas leaves food on the table with screening actions on the weak side of the floor, and it allows the low man to stay engaged when helping over should Doncic (or Brunson or Dinwiddie) discover a crack in the defense. That's particularly problematic against a team like the Warriors and Green, a hellish secondary defender to tangle with. Notice how Golden State preoccupies Luka, the low man in the clip below, with screening action between Wiggins and Thompson. When Looney slips to the rim, Doncic is late on his rotation because of the ensuing traffic on the weak side.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cRDrbXUmlTY" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
It'd be great if Dallas could incorporate some of&nbsp;that&nbsp;stuff into their pick-and-roll heavy offense.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Matt Brooks goes in-depth to break down what the Mavericks can improve on offensively against a stout Warriors defense.

How the Warriors' defense flummoxed Dallas, and where the Mavs go next

All year, it&rsquo;s been an abnormally frigid campaign beyond the arc for Stephen Curry.
He shot 38% from deep during the regular season, a career-low and the first time he&rsquo;s ever dipped below 41% (his five-game 2019-20 season notwithstanding). Through 12 playoff games, he&rsquo;s at 35.7% from three-point range &mdash; the worst mark of his eight postseason appearances.
Given his volume and degree of difficulty, neither mark is truly bad. But they are low based on his standard, and that&rsquo;s the barometer here. As a reminder, &ldquo;bad&rdquo; for Curry still means 26.4 points per game on 60% True Shooting. Just don&rsquo;t forget that. The decline is from supernova scorer to very good scorer.
Where Curry has maintained a widely rosy outlook, and what&rsquo;s helping him carry on as a superstar, is his playmaking and defense. Bouts of sloppy passes still arise intermittently. However, he&rsquo;s thrived as a facilitator and defender this season, perhaps enjoying the top campaign of his career in each regard.&nbsp;
Due to a month-long hiatus, the passing required a little rust to be shaken off before he began cooking again in the playoffs. What required virtually zero buffer period is his defense. Since Game 1 of the first round against the Denver Nuggets, Curry&rsquo;s defensive exploits have amplified the Golden State Warriors&rsquo; championship pursuits.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Steph Curry had the perfect reaction to being called a two-way player. 😅 (🎥: <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSWarriors?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBCSWarriors</a>) <a href="https://t.co/PLHIgSGXk4">pic.twitter.com/PLHIgSGXk4</a>
&mdash; theScore (@theScore) <a href="https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1526349023728254977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

The caliber of assignments have bounced around, but he&rsquo;s crafting a highly versatile impact. He&rsquo;s often hedging on ball-screens to avoid mismatches in isolation, yet he&rsquo;s also held his own on numerous occasions to stymie creation attempts.&nbsp;
Will Barton, Austin Rivers and Monte Morris all struggled to commandeer offense against him in Round 1. Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bane, the latter of which was hobbled by a back ailment for much of the series, also encountered difficulty. Even Luka Doncic didn&rsquo;t seamlessly chisel his way to the rim when Curry switched onto him in Game 1. The Warriors&rsquo; timely help contributed, but Curry offered notable resistance on Wednesday.
He&rsquo;s skinnying over screens to stay attached or prompting people to reject them altogether. Between his strength and lateral quickness, ball-handlers aren&rsquo;t turning the corner with routine success. Through two-plus rounds of playoff ball, he&rsquo;s absolutely been a very good on-ball defender.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/50lwhm" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
All of those clips don&rsquo;t even include his resume as a playmaker. Whether it&rsquo;s directly altering shots, ripping the ball from an opponent&rsquo;s clutches or poking the rock out of bounds, Curry&rsquo;s dexterity and stout center of gravity are flummoxing players.&nbsp;
Rivers and Brooks experienced the most significant issues, though they&rsquo;re hardly alone in this phenomenon.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/k2lqwr" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
According to NBA.com, players are 46-of-117 for 122 points (49.7% TS) with 20 turnovers when Curry is the primary defender. On the 868.2 partial possessions he&rsquo;s been involved in as a primary defender, the opposition has scored 882 points these playoffs (101.6 offensive rating).&nbsp;
Despite wielding his strength and hands to disrupt actions, Curry is largely staying out of foul trouble. He is averaging 3.4 fouls per 100 possessions and, through 12 games, he has just one outing with more than three fouls.&nbsp;
On-ball sequences are far from his sole talent in the postseason. He&rsquo;s also a terror off the ball. Although Bane was hampered early on by a back injury last round, his foibles were exacerbated by Curry regularly detonating dribble handoffs or back-cuts to engulf the sweet-shooting wing.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Ball denial has been a reliable area of expertise for the three-time MVP, and his closeouts are following suit. He&rsquo;s scurrying to shooters under control and with high hands to delay, dissuade or influence jumpers. On help-the-helper scenarios inside, he&rsquo;s crashing down at the proper moment to eliminate passing angles.
His start-stop ability enables him to mirror off-ball motion and contain shooters off the catch; his strength complicates their aim to generate separation or an advantage.
Fixate on Curry for a defensive possession off the ball this round and you&rsquo;ll likely witness a sound rotation, closeout or ball denial. His defense is superb across numerous contexts right now.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/qj3lh7" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Curry is reading offenses like an elementary book these days. Not only is he honing in on his own assignments, his off-ball awareness is brilliant. He&rsquo;ll slide in to help on an unattended player in the paint and immediately toggle back to his responsibility when necessary. The timeliness with which he&rsquo;s functioning is laudable.
Truly absorb the impact of these clips and recognize what he&rsquo;s doing defensively. Look how many shots in the paint or potentially open threes he prevents.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" src="https://streamable.com/e/5gkueh" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Selecting a favorite among that compilation is rather arduous, but the last one stands out. Klay Thompson and Otto Porter Jr. miscommunicate on a switch, leaving Dorian Finney-Smith open as he dives toward the rim.&nbsp;
Curry, playing the weak-side corner, is lurking off a middling shooter in Frank Ntilikina. He&rsquo;s monitoring the on-ball event the entire way. Once Thompson and Porter commit their mistake, Doncic slings a one-handed bullet to Finney-Smith. But Curry is prepared. He instantly sees Doncic readying for the dime, darts in and breaks up the pass to save two points.&nbsp;
That&rsquo;s how Curry is clicking defensively in the playoffs. He&rsquo;s not some All-Defensive stopper. Yet he&rsquo;s excellent nonetheless and doing a hell of a job for a defense that looks to be harmonizing at the ideal time.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-1habvwh r-eqz5dr r-11rk87y r-1dye5f7 r-m611by r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-eqz5dr r-glunga r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-13qz1uu">
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-eqz5dr r-glunga r-13qz1uu">
<div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Jackson Frank breaks down Stephen Curry's film and the outstanding defense he's playing during the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

Stephen Curry's defense continues to shine for the Warriors

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Stephen Curry had 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, Golden State's defense held Luka Doncic in check, and the Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-87 on Wednesday night for a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Doncic scored 20 points but shot just 6 for 18 and 3 of 10 from deep. He made back-to-back 3-pointers late in the first half to get his team within 54-45 at the break, but Curry and Klay Thompson helped the Warriors pull away in the second half.
Jalen Brunson scored 14 points but missed all five of his 3s for the surprising Mavs, who stunned the top-seeded Suns in a 123-90 thumping in Game 7 on Sunday in Phoenix.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Friday night at Chase Center, where the raucous, yellow-clad sellout crowd brought back memories of that 2007 &ldquo;We Believe&rdquo; Warriors playoff team that shocked the No. 1-seeded Mavericks in a six-game first-round upset at Oracle Arena.
That helped propel Golden State back to prominence. The Warriors reached five straight NBA Finals from 2015-19 but missed the playoffs the past two years before this run. Now, they're one win closer to getting back to the big stage.
Andrew Wiggins added 19 points, getting Golden State going by making six of his first eight shots on the way to shooting 8 for 17.
Doncic received a scratch across his face early from a first-quarter swipe by Wiggins. The mark went from the bridge of his nose across his right cheek under the eye. Donic also tugged at his troublesome right shoulder that has been taped previously during these playoffs.
Stopping Doncic is the tall task this time after the Warriors already handled two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic in the first round, then Ja Morant early last series before his knee injury.
Curry hit two quick 3s in sparking a 10-2 burst to begin the third for a Golden State squad that eliminated Memphis in a six-game semifinal series. Thompson scored all of his 15 points after halftime, his first of the game on a layup at the 10:22 mark of the third after missing his first four shots.
Curry, last season's scoring champ, missed his initial five 3-point tries &mdash; four in the first &mdash; before connecting with 50 seconds left in the first half when he was 1 for 7. But he got involved other ways by dishing out four assists and grabbing seven rebounds in the first half.
Kevon Looney remained in the starting lineup for Steve Kerr as the coach made his return to the bench after sitting out the final three games against Memphis with COVID-19.
Looney finished with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists after coming in to start in the Game 6 clincher against the Grizzlies.
Coach Jason Kidd&rsquo;s Mavericks couldn't keep up in a drastic contrast of styles featuring the slow-paced Dallas attack and up-tempo Warriors.
&ldquo;We would like to play our pace but the Warriors have a unique pace, they're going to get out and put a lot of pressure on your defense in transition," Kidd said. "We have to be cautious of that. We don't want a track meet.&rdquo;
MAVS FINED
Dallas received a $50,000 fine by the NBA &mdash; the team's second penalty this postseason &mdash; for &ldquo;team bench decorum&rdquo; during the Suns series after players and a member of the coaching staff remained standing for extended time far enough from the bench area that they were &ldquo;encroaching upon the playing court during game action&rdquo; during Game 7 against the Suns.
&ldquo;Just trying to figure out what we did wrong to get the fine,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;... Who complained? It was a blowout so I don't think the fans were complaining. I thought the guys did what they were supposed to do. They were cheering on their guys.&rdquo;
The previous fine against the Mavs was for $25,000 on May 6.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Reggie Bullock shot just 4 for 12 &mdash; 3 of 10 from long range &mdash; for 12 points. ... The Mavericks were outrebounded 28-18 in the first half as Curry led all players with seven.
Warriors: F Otto Porter Jr. returned after missing Game 6 with soreness in his right foot and contributed 10 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes, one of seven Warriors to score in double figures. ... Golden State, which averaged 19.2 turnovers per game last series, had six in the first half leading to 11 Dallas points and 15 overall. &ldquo;I'm confident we'll get that straightened out,&rdquo; Kerr said pregame. ... Golden State improved to 7-0 at home this postseason. ... The Warriors are 21-2 in Game 1s since their 2015 title run that ended with the franchise's first championship in 40 years. ...

Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals was a blowout, as Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors won 112-87.

Curry's 21 points, 12 boards lead Warriors in Game 1, 112-87

The NBA announced the 10 players who made the NBA All-Rookie teams in the 2021-22 season.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley were unanimously selected to the 2021-22 Kia NBA All-Rookie First Team. More ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/eqKb0CU5GU">https://t.co/eqKb0CU5GU</a> Voting results ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/sxxe12SfTu">pic.twitter.com/sxxe12SfTu</a>
&mdash; NBA Communications (@NBAPR) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1527080628625231875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

The All-Rookie First Team features unanimous selections Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, and Evan Mobley, while Franz Wagner and Jalen Green rounded out the squad.
The All-Rookie Second Team features Herb Jones, Josh Giddey, Bones Hyland, Ayo Dosunmu and Chris Duarte.

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Other players received votes but did not make one of the teams including Jonathan Kuminga, Davion Mitchell, Alperen Sengun, Jalen Suggs, Ziaire Williams, Jose Alvarado, Austin Reaves, Josh Christopher, Trey Murphy III and Cam Thomas.

The NBA announced which players were named to the league's All-Rookie First Team and All-Rookie Second Team.