Harden injury will test Paul, Rockets ... Will Cleveland’s wretched defence be even worse with Isaiah Thomas back? ... Curry sets things right ... Fultz back soon ... VC still has it
The 2018 portion of the NBA schedule has arrived and with it came some interesting injury-related angles.
Houston, regarded by many as the most viable threat to another Golden State Warriors coronation in June has Chris Paul back, but will have to make do without MVP front-runner James
Harden for at least a few weeks.
Harden had topped 40 points four times in December (twice notching 51), including 40 in 41 minutes on New Year’s Eve before he was diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. While the injury could have been worse he won’t even be re-evaluated for another two weeks and there are no guarantees a return will be imminent at that point or if he will be 100% the rest of the way.
Harden was having another spectacular campaign, ranking first or second in win shares, value over replacement player, and box plus-minus, while leading the NBA in scoring. Houston had been wobbling a bit even with Harden following its stirring run, and the brittle Paul had been in and out of the lineup. It will be all on one of the best point guards of this generation now to recalibrate the Rockets in the absence of the team’s best player. He got off to a good start in scoring 15 points in overtime with Harden out of the game against the Lakers.
It will also be fascinating to see how Isaiah Thomas meshes with his new teammates in Cleveland. Thomas was to finally make his debut last night in 8-12 minutes against Portland. Thomas has not played since hurting his hip while with Boston last year. The NBA’s shortest player needs the ball in his hands and while many of the Cavs excel in catch-and-shoot roles, how will LeBron James, one of the best creators to ever play the game, feel about ceding control? It was a sticking point at times with
Kyrie Irving. It’s also worth pondering just how long it will take before Thomas approaches his old form and the bigger question is how the team might hide him on defence. His size limits what he can do on that end and the Cavs already sit tied for 29th overall defensively with Phoenix.
Offence hasn’t been the problem for the Cavs and Thomas doesn’t shore up any of the defensive questions.
Still, Thomas will make Cleveland even tougher to contain.
He averaged 28.9 points a game last season and Cleveland point guards have averaged a thoroughly unspectacular 8.3 points combined so far in 2017-18.
Golden State is enjoying having Stephen Curry back. The two-time league MVP dropped 38 points, the thirdmost ever following a 10+ game layoff.
Curry said he didn’t like seeing his three-point percentage under 40%, so he promptly nailed 10-of-13 from beyond the arc in his return. The Warriors finished with 141 points in an easy win and Curry is up to 40.3%, still the lowest of his career, but we get the sense the number will keep heading north.
Meanwhile, the injuryravaged Los Angeles Clippers won’t stay down and remain in the playoff picture, just behind the 6-8 group.
With Blake Griffin back in action (24.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists in two games, both wins), the season isn’t lost yet.
FULTZ TIME?
The cryptic Philadelphia 76ers got some tongues wagging on Tuesday afternoon with the announcement that 2017 No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz has been officially cleared to begin the final stages of his “return-to-play program.” That means that the former Washington star could see his first action since October 23 in the near future. A bizarre shoulder issue had held Fultz back and prompted his time off to get things right.
Expect some G-League time for the 19-year-old in order to get his conditioning and timing up to speed.
With Philadelphia aiming to make the playoffs, head coach Brett Brown won’t have the easiest of tasks in trying to find minutes for the developing rookie, while still giving his team the best chance to succeed right now.
OLD MAN CAN STILL PLAY
Vince Carter still has at least a bit left in the tank.
Carter scored 24 points against Cleveland last Wednesday, hitting 10-of-12 shots including four threepointers. That prompted LeBron
James, who was outscored by Carter in a head-to-head matchup for the first time in a decade, to sing his praises.
“He’s a Hall-of-Famer for a reason,” James said.
“Let’s not take that for granted. Once he got going, we couldn’t slow him down.”
A 40-year-old reserve had never before scored 20 points in a game.
Carter is still undecided on whether he will return for one more season next year.
AROUND THE RIM
Jahlil Okafor has only made one appearance for Brooklyn as he tries to get back into shape following his exile in Philadelphia, but the Nets say that Okafor will be in the rotation starting today against Minnesota … Lou
Williams scored 40 points off of the bench for the Clippers on Sunday, marking the fourth year in a row he has achieved that feat as a reserve … Hawks starting centre
DeWayne Dedmon should be back in action for the club soon.