As the NBA season gets underway, I will be recapping every night of the season, keeping up with storylines, trade rumors, and top performances on a daily basis. Thursday, October 31st had 4 games on the slate and there is plenty to talk about across those contests.
First matchup was the Bucks and the Grizzlies and the stars showed out in Memphis, featuring a Ja Morant triple double with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists while Giannis scored 37 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Despite those numbers, the story of the night is that the Bucks continue to struggle and that Doc Rivers stinks so bad at his job that it might send Giannis packing. It is not all on Doc Rivers, although the record speaks for itself when compared to the record this same team had under previous coach Adrian Griffin. The team shot just over 21% from 3 last night including an 0/6 performance from Dame and 0/7 from Gary Trent Jr. I never understood the Adrian Griffin firing considering they were 30-13 when they let him go. And as the days go on with Doc Rivers who has a 19-24 record as the coach while having Giannis and Damian Lillard to work with, that firing continues to be a head scratcher. Giannis trade rumors picked up some steam as reports came out that his preferred destinations would be Miami and Brooklyn, and Giannis has hinted for the past couple of seasons that he could be on the move if the Bucks continue to struggle. With how they look right now, expect those rumors to get much louder if they continue to stink, and they have 2 tough matchups coming up on Saturday, and Monday, both against the 5-0 Cavaliers.
The next story of the night was Victor Wenbanyama and the Spurs picking up a win against the Utah Jazz in Utah. Wemby became the third player in NBA history to have multiple 5×5 games, joining Hakeem Olajuwon and Andrei Kirilenko. The second year budding star put up 25 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals, and 5 blocks. Just a ridiculous statline for a ridiculous player who very likely will surpass Hakeem for the most 5×5 games in NBA history who has 6. He has two in as many seasons and still seems to be trying to get comfortable in the NBA, which is a terrifying reality for the rest of the league. Wemby still has some holes in his game including scoring efficiency and perimeter shooting, showcased last night by his 4-13 performance from behind the 3 point line. The Spurs are off to a 2-3 start, and Wemby has shown flashes of unbelievable greatness, but he needs to hone in his game on the offensive side of the ball for this team to have a real chance at being competitive in the Western Conference.
The Rockets took on the Mavs in Dallas last night and the Rockets picked up a victory 108-102. Jalen Green showed out again with 23 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists, and he is off to a very hot start to his season, averaging 27.6 PPG through the first five games of the season. The Rockets have players who have shown flashes of greatness early in their career such as Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, and so far this year they look like a team who could be fighting for a playoff spot and become a tough out in the Western conference. As for the Mavericks, the story is the same as it has been often with this team, and that is that they need to find ways to get offensive production out of players not named Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Down the stretch of last season and throughout the playoffs, Dallas emerged as a top defensive team in the NBA and in today’s offensive heavy league, holding teams to 108 points is often enough to get yourself a win. However, Kyrie and Luka combined for 57 points last night, scoring 28 and 29 points respectively. The next highest scorer was Klay with 12 who had an off shooting night and nobody else had more than 6. As the season progresses, they are going to need to find ways to get some of their role players and their second unit into rhythms offensively or the offensive workload being asked of Kyrie and Luka may be too much to make them a real threat in the West.
The last game of the Thursday slate was the Suns and the Clippers at the new Intuit Dome. The Suns came away with a 125-119 victory on the back of a ridiculous display of shooting in the 3rd quarter where they made 15 consecutive shots. Devin Booker gave them a very efficient 40 points and Royce O’Neal added 21 points on 5 of 6 shooting from 3 point land. This Phoenix team has been a disappointment up to this point since they brought in Kevin Durant, but they are off to a 4-1 start and can hopefully turn the page and find ways to win games if they can continue getting production from their second unit and take some of the pressure off of Durant and Booker. The Clippers suffer another single digit defeat, which seems to be a theme for this team early on, as their 3 losses have been by a combined 10 points. James Harden continues to play well as he recorded a triple double in this game with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists and continues to lead the league in assists early on in the season. The Clippers look to have a pretty good team despite the 2-3 start but their fate may depend on the health of Kawhi Leonard, which is not something you want to depend on as the guy is never on the court. They get another crack at things Saturday night against the undefeated Thunder.
