Four Takeaways From First Four Days Of NBA Season

Well, we knew the Houston Rockets were going to score a lot of points. But this many? And beating the mighty Milwaukee Bucks on a night when they got outrebounded by 29? Heck, that one was tough to see coming.

The NBA has settled into a bit of a rhythm after the first four days of its restart, and aside from the basketball that rhythm is best discerned by watching all of the nearly identical national anthem displays.

These displays are not “protests” per se, but rather coordinated shows of solidarity with what is happening in the Black Lives Matter movement. With only a few exceptions, players and coaches have locked arms and knelt while the U.S. National Anthem is played.

This is all happening in a gymnasium in Orlando that has undergone a $180 million renovation and been converted into something resembling a giant studio. Microsoft
MSFT
has partnered with the league to deploy a backdrop of fans watching from home, their images piped in through technology to show them “virtually” attending the games, and the public address system and background lighting has given the feel of a regular NBA game in a very irregular year featuring extraordinary circumstances.

And hey, a bunch of the games have been mesmerizing, most notably the Lakers and Clippers on Opening Night, the Raptors and Lakers on Saturday night and the Bucks and Rockets on Sunday night.

Just think … in two weeks there will be playoff basketball being played …. and folks all over the world can watch from the beach.

But aside from the optics, what are the big takeaways following four days of games?

Here are four:

THE RACE FOR THE 8 vs. 9 MATCHUP IN THE WEST IS TIGHT: The workweek begins with San Antonio Spurs (29-36) in ninth place following a pair of victories, the Portland Trail Blazers (30-38) in 10th after falling short in their comeback against Boston on Sunday, and the New Orleans Pelicans (28-38) finding themselves with a lot of ground to make up after limiting Zion Williamson’s minutes in their first two games, both losses. Whichever team finishes ninth (the three aforementioned teams trail the eighth place Memphis Grizzlies (32-25) will enter a best-of-two — sort of — play-in series against whoever finishes eighth. The No. 8 seed will only need to win one games, while the No. 9 seed will have to win twice. If it ends up being the Spurs in the playoffs, Gregg Popovich will have gotten his team there for the 23rd consecutive year. So stay tuned.

WHY ISN’T WILLIAMSON PLAYING MORE? Let’s face it, we are seeing more of Zion during in-game commercials than we are on the court. The No. 1 pick of the 2019 draft logged just 15 minutes in the Pelicans’ opener; then played 14 in a loss Saturday to the Clippers. Williamson, who missed 13 days in the bubble because of a family emergency, is likely to have his minutes limited again today, according to what general manager David Griffin said Saturday, indicating the franchise is proceeding with the utmost caution. “We’ve got perhaps the brightest young future in the NBA, and we’re going to protect that coming through this,” Griffin said. “Zion’s being treated exactly like every member of our roster was. When it’s time for them to be opened up from a sports science standpoint, they were. And unfortunately, I know everyone watches our games — they want to see him. But he missed out on 13 days’ worth of what the rest of the team got. So unfortunately the nature of the bubble and the way the games are being played, we’ve just got to get him his 5-on-5 reps in these games.” Here is what Williamson had to say: “It’s very tough, to be honest, because as soon as I start to break that sweat, I look over and that horn’s for me and I have to come out of the game. Also, when I do catch the flow of the game, like I said, that horn goes off, and it’s for me.”

THE RAPTORS ARE BEING OVERLOOKED: In the sports gambling world, everything is about Lakers, Clippers, Bucks, Sixers, etc. Nobody ever says much about the defending NBA champs. But Toronto took an NBA-high four-game winning streak into the restart, then defeated the Lakers by 15 points Saturday night behind 33 points and 14 rebounds (with five 3-pointers) from Kyle Lowry. The Raptors closed the game by outscoring LeBron James’ team 35-22 in the fourth quarter, upping their winning streak to five heading into this afternoon’s game against the Miami Heat. Yes, Kawhi Leonard is no longer with the team that won the 2019 title, but the championship pedigree remains, and the guts of the roster remain intact — players including Fred Van Vleet, Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Doubt them at your own peril.

THE “ON ANY GIVEN NIGHT” FACTOR BRINGS GOOD AND BAD: The award for most prolific scoring outburst has gone thus far to Indiana’s T.J. Warren for his 53-point outing against Philadelphia as the Pacers overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit Saturday. Warren had never even scored 40 in a game. James Harden of the Houston Rockets had to take a back seat to Russell Westbrook offensively after he picked up his fourth foul shortly before halftime Sunday night against Milwaukee, and the NBA’s leading scorer finished with 24 points after dropping 49 against Dallas two nights earlier. In case you missed it, the Rockets attempted 61 3-pointers against Milwaukee, tying an NBA record. … On the flip side of the anything can happen ledger, Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic re-tore his ACL Sunday against Sacramento. It was the same injury that sidelined him in January, and he will reportedly need surgery. Isaac had made news by being one of the few players not to kneel during the anthem, citing religious reasons. Popovich was one of the few coaches who did not kneel, and he did not publicly disclose the reasons for his decision. Miami center Meyers Leonard also has stood rather than knelt during the anthem.