Around the NBA: Running of the Bulls iffy ... Klay can play
Fred Hoiberg’s out as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls after a rather head-scratching firing this week, let go from a bad team playing without three fine young players in Lauri Markkanen, Bobby Portis and Kris Dunn for basically the entire season. Was it his fault? No, not in the least, but he’s not the most dynamic guy in the world and that played a role in his dismissal. At some point, don’t his bosses have to be held somewhat accountable? Having elevated assistant Jim Boylen to the head job, the upper management duo of vice-president of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Foreman are now on coach No. 5 of their rule. They hired — and fired — Scott Skiles, Vinny Del Negro, Tom Thibodeau and Hoiberg — before giving the gig to Boylen. Wonder when their numbers will be up?
THREE-ACT KLAY: It’s right that so much of the attention focused on the Golden State Warriors centres on Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, two transcendent stars who will likely vie for most valuable player honours. But the third member of the Big Three is killing it, and who knows where the Warriors would be without him. Klay Thompson rattled off nine straight games of 20 points or more, a career best for him and the last one being a 21-point outing earlier this week against Atlanta. The streak ended Wednesday night, but Thompson is still averaging 22.7 points per game and shooting 46 per cent from the field.
BOTTLED ROCKETS: A season ago, when the Houston Rockets won a league-best 65 games, the threesome of James Harden, Chris Paul and Clint Capela was basically unstoppable when they all played, going an astonishing 42-3. Not so much this season. In the first 15 games they’ve appeared in together, the Rockets have already lost five times.
KING GEORGE: Oklahoma City’s Paul George has had some dominant quarters in his career, but none better than the fourth quarter he threw up against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night. George had 25 points in that fourth quarter, the most by any Thunder player since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City. George not only outscored the Nets 25-19 singlehandedly in the quarter, he had four three-pointers to one for Brooklyn and outrebounded the Nets 6-4. Not bad for a guy who was going to play one season in Oklahoma City before moving on to be LeBron James’ sidekick with the Lakers.
SPEAKING OF JAMES …: The most dominant player in the game has somehow dragged a rather ragtag group of Los Angeles Lakers — young kids still learning the game and veterans on the downside — to four straight wins and a 15-9 record. He punctuated the streak by scoring 20 fourth-quarter points in a win over San Antonio on Wednesday. Much has been made of James’ role with the Lakers and whether he’s a good teammate for a developing roster. He doesn’t seem to care. “I’m past the (taking things) personal stage,” James told reporters after the Spurs game. “I can do whatever. I can have a huge workload, I can have a not so huge workload … It doesn’t matter for me. What’s most important is seeing my teammates make huge shots in the fourth quarter … That’s what’s most important to me. I (couldn’t) care less about the narrative about me. It doesn’t matter. I’m a staple in this game.” Information from other publications and websites was used in the compilation of this report.