Thursday NBA Takeaways: Warriors Machine Broke
Or, Grizzlies machine functional... plus more!
Now that was a night of basketball — I need to vent.
Very loose writing in this one. As opposed to my usually very tight writing, I guess.
Grizzlies 144, Warriors 93.
First off… what’s the craziest part about Memphis beating Golden State by 51?
I'll volunteer Santa Aldama outscoring all of the Warriors starters. Or Golden State shooting 35% as a team. Or Steph Curry not making a shot. Or Draymond Green recording 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 4 turnovers and a -42 in 19 minutes, a number I’m struggling to grasp.
Steph wasn’t much better than Dray — he was -41 in 24 minutes and laid enough bricks to build multiple affordable housing units in San Francisco, an idea that scared him so badly he refused to speak with media postgame.
Enough jokes! Which team does this game say more about?
Golden State. Because they’re not who we thought they were. Or, they’re not who they thought they were after a 10-2 start. We learned something about them tonight. Something we suspected after a 4-7 stretch, but now I’m confident saying; they’re just kind of bad. It’s not always going to be “51-point loss to the Grizzlies” bad, but it’s nowhere near “playoff run” good, either.
The offense is clunky, Steph can’t produce the high-volume barrages he once could (I’m not saying washed yet, but it’s not the same) and a 23rd-ranked defense over the past 10 games is closer to this team’s real defensive outlook than the top-five defense they posted prior to this stretch. This is a play-in team. I’m not saying that based on one disastrous game, either — the roster just isn’t good enough to compete in 2025. Do you think this team has a chance in a series against OKC? Houston? Dallas?
On the other bench… Memphis can win the West.
I know we like to move on to the next fun, young team as quickly as possible, but this team won 107 games in two seasons and was pretty widely thought of as next up before one of the worst injury luck seasons ever in 2023-24. They haven’t gone anywhere.
Recently, the NBA world has realized the Grizz still are who we thought they could be two years ago. The roster is great, the chemistry is great, the opportunity is there. I’m bought in. Plus, Draymond Green talked shit about Zach Edey and the rookie immediately got his get back and now this picture exists.
Memphis and Golden State were heading in opposite directions before tonight. A 51-point decimation kept each team on those respective paths. Whew.
Zach LaVine Was Good the Whole Time?
Well, I’m not sure about that. He’s had some rough patches. But he did become weirdly underrated recently and I’m glad he’s hooping again. He scored 36 on Thursday, his third 30-piece of December. He’s mixed in some duds but he looks healthy and springy overall. Good for you, Zach.
Chicago is still on pace to win about 38 games and its ownership doesn’t seem itching to make moves, which at this point I’m forced to respect.
Fuck it, Phoenix Should Trade for Jimmy Butler
Why not? This team already lacks young talent and can’t defend, so why not double down on old guys — at least this one will help your POA ball-stopping. Jimmy would also help the “dawg” levels of Phoenix considerably. Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal don’t not care about winning… but I think they’re ambivalent about this team’s success.
Phoenix lost 120-111 to Indiana on Thursday, and now the Suns are 14-12 with the 9th-ranked offense and 22nd-ranked defense for the season. I’m looking into my crystal ball and it’s showing a seven-game first-round exit for the Suns. Get Jimmy, Mat Ishbia. Draft picks are made up anyway.
Karl-Anthony Towns Revenge Game Was Fun
Speaking of guys who were always good despite propaganda you may have been fed… Karl-Anthony Towns! New York’s big man went off for 32 & 20 in his Minnesota return which made me happy — the Knicks blew out the Wolves 133-107.
KAT is an obvious All-Star and might be barrelling toward his thirdAll NBA selection. He’s played some incredible basketball. You couldn’t artificially create a better fit for this team.
I won’t lie; I couldn’t shake a feeling of worry about the Knicks ceiling early in the season. Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby felt a little repetitive and I didn’t know if Cam Payne could be trusted as a backup point guard. But they’ve won me over the past few weeks. Fourth-ranked net rating in December!
Minnesota made the Western Conference Finals, traded its second-best offensive player (and best shooter) and now its can’t score. Go fucking figure.
Christ, I’ll Pay Attention to the Clippers
For the record, I don’t want to. Signing Kevin Porter Jr. should have banished them from the league and our collective conscious but here we are. At least Kevin Porter Jr. really sucks — 23.1% from 3-point range. What a loser.
With that out of the way… after crushing Dallas 118-95 on Thursday, the Clips are now 16-12 and playing better than a lot of other teams in the middle of the Western Conference standings.
James Harden might be having the best season ever for someone shooting under 40% from the field. He’s 15th in the NBA in offensive EPM and has made this team’s offense go without another All-Star flanking him — except perhaps Norman Powell, whose strategy of “don’t miss 3s” has somehow continued. 23.7 points per game, 48% 3PT.
“Vote for me for All-Star” -Norman Powell
You know what… I will!
As good as Powell has been offensively, Kris Dunn has been that good defensively… or maybe better. I’m so happy Dunn found a home in the NBA and folks are appreciating how nasty he is guarding the ball. Here’s the top 10 players in defensive EPM via Dunks & Threes:
Chet Holmgren
Alex Caruso
Isaiah Hartenstein
Amen Thompson
Joel Embiid
Rudy Gobert
Evan Mobley
Victor Wembanyama
KRISTOFER MICHAEL DUNN
Jonathan Isaac
I must address that the top three DBPM players are all on the same god damn team; OKC is disturbing. But Dunn cracking this list (as one of two guards, mind you) is confirmation of what you see when you watch Clips games. He’s a monster.
The Kings Need More Good Players
NBA basketball is complex. Team building is hard. But sometimes the issue for a team is as simple as… get more good players. That’s what the Kings need to do. They’re 13-15, lost to the Lakers 113-100 on Thursday, and the offense has looked better recently but they simply… don’t… have… enough… good… players.
The starting lineup is fine (and should end up being good) but man things get iffy really quickly. Isaac Jones is playing an awful lot of minutes. Doug McDermott is playing an awful lot of minutes.
Sacramento’s deadline moves don’t have to be crazy, flashy star trades. But they need to make multiple moves for bench pieces if they want to recapture the magic of the past two years. #MoreGoodPlayers2025