Dose: DeMarre Goes Down
NBA fans were treated to a one-man show from J.R. Smith on Wednesday, but he wasn't the only storyline of the day. DeMarre Carroll's knee injury looms large for the Hawks, Dwight Howard (knee) remains questionable for Game 2, the All-Defensive teams were announced, and we’re already hearing some free-agent whispers. We’ll run through the day’s biggest stories before recapping the Cavaliers’ Game 1 victory in Atlanta.
Headlines
Nuggets C Jusuf Nurkic had left knee surgery to repair a partially torn patellar tendon on Wednesday, a surprise injury that should sideline him roughly 3-4 months. Nurkic won't play in EuroBasket but he could be ready for training camp based on the initial timetable. He tentatively projects as the Nuggets' starting center ahead of J.J. Hickson and Joffrey Lauvergne, but his fantasy value is completely up in the air – it hinges upon his health, the Nuggets' moves in the draft, and whomever they name as head coach for 2015-16.
Dwight Howard's MRI revealed that he has a sprain in his left knee, whereas he was initially diagnosed with a bruise. He was noncommittal about his status for Game 2 on Thursday, saying, “If I feel like I can tolerate it and play through it, then I will. I'm going to do whatever I can to help this team but I can't help the team if I'm hurt." Clint Capela played well in Game 1 and has proven to be an underrated asset off Houston's bench, and Terrence Jones and Josh Smith can play spot-minutes at center, but this could be a short series if Howard continues to be limited.
The NBA announced the All-Defensive teams on Wednesday.
First Team: Chris Paul, Tony Allen, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green and DeAndre Jordan
Second Team: John Wall, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Davis, Tim Duncan and Andrew Bogut
No vehement arguments there. Andrew Bogut's low playing time (23.6 minutes) makes him stand out, but he ranked second in Defensive Efficiency among players averaging at least 20 minutes, and he was third in opponent FG percentage at the rim (41.4 percent). His selection triggered a $1.9 million bonus incentive in his contract and he vowed to thanks his teammates for their contributions, joking that he'd go to "Chipotle or something, or get them a Jamba Juice."
John Wall's name may also seem somewhat surprising, as his offense garners far more attention, but he's quietly established himself as a fearsome defender. He finished 11th in the league in steals (1.6) and was fifth among guards in blocks (0.6), helping the Wizards hold opponents to a franchise-low 43.3 percent from the field.
The Nuggets are reportedly warming to the idea of retaining Melvin Hunt as their head coach, though Mike D'Antoni is "still in the mix." From a fantasy perspective, the prospect of D'Antoni coaching Denver's offense is tantalizing, especially if you own Ty Lawson or Kenneth Faried in a keeper/dynasty league.
Mike Conley isn't interested in signing a contract extension as he'd prefer to enter free agency in 2016, according to ESPN's Marc Stein. It's not hard to see Conley's logic -- his contract ceiling will be far higher one year from now with the league's TV revenues leading to another spike in the salary cap (to around $90 million).
The same report about the Grizzlies states that GM Chris Wallace "firmly" believes Marc Gasol will re-sign in Memphis as a free agent this summer. He'll have plenty of suitors but he reportedly loves Memphis and it's hard to see him going elsewhere, especially since the Grizzlies can pay him the most money. Kosta Koufos is also a free agent and his return is far less likely, as he reportedly wants to be a starter in the NBA. Then again, so does Kevin Seraphin. We don't always get what we want.
The Wolves adamantly denied a report that Ricky Rubio's camp continues to push for a trade. Flip Saunders said it was "totally untrue" and beat writer Darren Wolfson left no doubt in his assessment of the report: "Rubio's camp isn't pushing for anything after the year he had. Don't trust the report." End of story.
In happier Wolves news, Kevin Garnett reportedly hopes to play next season despite missing the final 21 games of this season with hobbled knees. He can't play more than 20 minutes per game at this stage in his career, and may not even play that many with Minnesota expected to pick either Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor with the No. 1 overall pick this summer.
In the rumor-mill department, the Celtics may still have interest in signing unrestricted free agent JaVale McGee. Boston made an effort to sign McGee this season after he was waived by Philly -- nothing came of it because the Celts wouldn't give him a player option for 2016-17, but beat writer A. Sherrod Blakely reports that "the door hasn’t been totally slammed shut on the two coming together." General Manager Danny Ainge suggested back in March that McGee could reach his potential under Brad Steven's "tutelage," a level of optimism which shouldn't be shared by fantasy owners on draft day no matter where McGee is playing.
Finally, the Warriors confirmed that Marreese Speights (strained calf) won't play on Thursday. This is the least surprising news of the day, as he already told reporters that he's unlikely to return until at least Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. His absence leaves Festus Ezeli and David Lee with bigger roles off the bench, though in Game 1 Lee was limited to two points in four minutes, while Ezeli had six points and four boards in 11 minutes.
Cleveland wins Game 1 in Atlanta, 97-89
J.R. Smith was amazing in this game. The much-maligned swingman has found a groove in Cleveland and he erupted off the bench on Wednesday for a personal playoff-high 28 points and a franchise-record eight 3-pointers, single-handedly blowing the game open in the fourth quarter. You can watch all eight of his makes here. Swish was launching 3-pointers with zero hesitation even though the Hawks were playing respectable perimeter defense, and he even mixed in a few nifty drives to keep ATL on their heels. It was the type of performance that demoralizes a defense, and it allowed LeBron James to get a bit of rest in what was otherwise a close contest.
Speaking of LeBron James, he sprained his right ankle after stepping on a cameraman's foot while trying to block a shot on the baseline in the third quarter. He only missed a few minutes, however, finishing with 31 points (12-of-26 FGs, 7-of-8 FTs), eight rebounds, six assists, one steal and four turnovers. There's no reason to think he'll be limited in Game 2 but we're sure to have multiple updates in the coming day and a half.
King James has scored 72 percent of his postseason points in the paint or at the free throw line, a trend that continued tonight with only four of his points coming outside of the paint. That's a testament to his savvy play and desire to exploit his abilities against smaller defenders, but to a less extent it's an indictment of his poor perimeter shooting in the playoffs -- he's a combined 7-of-48 from downtown, just 14.6 percent.
The Hawks' coaching staff emphasized the importance of keeping Tristan Thompson off the offensive glass, but that didn't pan out too well in Game 1. Thompson racked up 10 boards, including five on the offensive end, helping Cleveland finish with 12 second-chance points. He's a steady if unspectacular points-league option, though 8-cat and 9-cat owners should be leery of him next season -- beyond rebounds (8.0) and FG percentage (54.7 percent) he did very little to help fantasy squads in 2014-15.
Kyrie Irving (knee) played hurt again on Wednesday, posting only 10 points, two 3-pointers, three rebounds and six assists in 27 minutes. He was coming off a five-day break and it sounds like he'll be less than 100 percent for the duration of the playoffs. The speed of Jeff Teague (27 points) and Dennis Schroder threatens to expose Irving defensively and he won't have an easy time chasing Kyle Korver through screen after screen, so it will be interesting to see which assignments Kyrie gets in Game 2. The matchups weren't a decisive issue for Cleveland on Wednesday, however, largely because Teague and Schroder failed to make the Cavs pay for giving them open lanes and wide-open jump shots. It's worth noting that coach David Blatt also opted to keep Matthew Dellavedova (zero points, three assists in 25 minutes) on the court during the final few minutes of a close game.
J.R. Smith's 28-point eruption masks a potential issue for the Cavs, however, as he was the only reserve to score in the game. Dellavedova missed all six of his shots, James Jones went 0-of-3, and nobody else stepped on the court. That didn't matter tonight since Smith smuggled a flamethrower into Philips Arena, but it's unlikely to be sustainable over the course of a seven-game series.
As for the Hawks, their night went from bad to abysmal when DeMarre Carroll hopped off the court on one leg in the fourth quarter. He planted with his left leg while driving to the hoop and immediately knew he was hurt, lying on the court for a minute in agony before being helped into the locker room by multiple trainers. He will have an MRI on Thursday and TNT's David Aldridge reported that there's some "optimism" that it's not as bad as it looked, but he left the arena on crutches and we won't know more until test results are disclosed.
Losing Carroll would be devastating for the Hawks. They're already without Thabo Sefolosha (leg surgery) in a matchup vs. LeBron where both Carroll and Sefolosha are crucial defensively. Atlanta eventually switched Paul Millsap onto LeBron down the stretch and the PF performed admirably, though LBJ's quickness led to a costly blow-by dunk in the game's final minute. If Carroll is out of commission in Game 2 the Hawks may need to swarm LeBron with double-teams and dare everyone else to beat them, though that's not an easy thing to do vs. one of the league's best passers.
On a lighter note, Kent Bazemore had the dunk of the night, easily, with this baseline explosion over Tristan Thompson to bring the Hawks within five points late in the third quarter. Bazemore's offense is a luxury for the Hawks, but his ability to help defend LeBron James and J.R. Smith may prove to be a necessity as the series progresses -- especially if Carroll's injury causes him to miss any games.
