I'll freely admit that I have very little social life. If it's not golf season, then I don't get out much. What that means is a typical Saturday night is spent watching NBA games on TV or pouring over boxscores online. This past Saturday was Christmas come early, not only because of the mega-trades involving about half of the guys mentioned in my recent worst contract column, but also because the Heat vs. Wizards and Clippers vs. Bulls were on the tube at the same time. The TiVo "Live TV" button was getting a workout.
Although the game featured two of the worst teams in the league, you wouldn't have been able to pick them out of a line-up for the first, oh, 46-47 minutes of the game. First, the suddenly-liberated-from-Agent-Zero Wizards outplayed the Heat for most of the game, with Kirk Hinrich running thangs as their only point guard. I wouldn't have believed it if I wasn't watching it with my own eyes. Then the Clippers were flying all over the court and dunking on the Noah-less Bulls. By the third play of the game I openly wondered why I had missed my only opportunity to see the Freak Show otherwise known as Blake Griffin this year. For the first time in my life, I was having weird feelings in my body, like urges to call up a friend and ask, "Dude, do you want to go to the U.C.? The Clips are in town." It was like puberty all over again.
That's the interesting subplot to the 2010-11 NBA Season. Many of the worst teams in the league are among the most fascinating to watch. The Clips are an obvious example, but throw in the Wizards when John Wall is playing (which sadly is only half the time), the Warriors with Monta Ellis and Steph Curry and the oddly-compelling Minnesota Timberwolves, featuring a rag tag bunch of a cast-offs and a leader who drops 20/20's on the regular despite having an ass like my Dad. Even the Kings are mildly entertaining for just how dysfunctional they are. I'd watch any of those teams play as long as they weren't facing the Cavs, Pistons, Bobcats or Raptors (for the Sixers or Pacers, I'd flip a coin).
Despite the entertainment value and raw talent, these teams are still bad for a reason. Even while outplaying a quality opponent for most of the game, you are just waiting, fully expecting things to fall apart. You know it. The fans know it. The announcers know it. Even the players know it. It's just the natural order of things. I don't know how many times I've checked boxscores this year and saw that the T-Wolves were up 13 on somebody like the Jazz or the Suns, went to bed knowing full well that they'd eventually blow it and received confirmation first thing the following morning.
Saturday night, the Wizards found a creative way to snatch defeat from the claws of victory. After blowing a 5-point lead with 30 seconds left, their hopes of halting the Heat's 11-game win streak boiled down to Hinrich challenging both Chris Bosh and LeBron James at the rim for the game-winning basket. As you can imagine, it didn't end well. For some reason, Bosh and the others celebrated on the court afterwards like that had just beaten the Lakers in the NBA Finals, not the 6-19 Wizards in December. Although come to think of it, it may have been the biggest "W" in Bosh's career.
An hour later, I was fully expecting the same type of collapse from the Clippers. Untimely turnovers. Difficulty getting a decent shot off. Adidas jersey collar getting a little tighter. All signs pointed towards a Bulls OT victory after Derrick Rose drove to the basket and (finally) got a foul call, down two with less than a second left. First free throw...money. Second free throw...Memphis versus Kansas, part deux. Clippers 100, Bulls 99.
Had the Bulls come back and won, it would've been their NBA-leading 8th victory when trailing after 3 quarters. How do I know this? Because I spent most of the weekend researching team quarter-by-quarter performance this season. Clips loss aside, the Bulls are still one of the three best team in terms of 4th quarter performance, and are the only NBA team that hasn't lost a game when leading after three periods. Below is the season-to-date average 4th quarter (and overtime) point differential, with number of wins/losses when either trailing/leading after three quarters.
TEAM
|
4Q Diff
|
4Q Wins
|
4Q Loss
|
UTA (19-9)
|
+3.86
|
6
|
1
|
SAS (23-3)
|
+3.65
|
4
|
1
|
CHI (16-9)
|
+3.52
|
7
|
0
|
BOS (22-4)
|
+1.50
|
3
|
1
|
PHO (13-13)
|
+1.19
|
4
|
3
|
PHI (11-16)
|
+0.85
|
2
|
5
|
MIA (21-8)
|
+0.83
|
2
|
1
|
MEM (12-16)
|
+0.75
|
3
|
3
|
TOR (10-18)
|
+0.71
|
3
|
2
|
LAL (21-7)
|
+0.64
|
3
|
2
|
DAL (21-5)
|
+0.54
|
5
|
2
|
CHA (9-17)
|
+0.46
|
1
|
2
|
NJN (8-20)
|
+0.43
|
3
|
4
|
DEN (16-10)
|
+0.08
|
2
|
3
|
OKC (19-9)
|
+0.07
|
5
|
2
|
CLE (8-19)
|
+0.04
|
4
|
2
|
MIN (6-22)
|
-0.54
|
1
|
3
|
NOH (16-11)
|
-0.56
|
1
|
4
|
POR (14-14)
|
-0.79
|
4
|
6
|
MIL (10-15)
|
-0.96
|
2
|
2
|
WAS (6-19)
|
-1.00
|
2
|
2
|
NYK (16-12)
|
-1.07
|
1
|
3
|
HOU (12-15)
|
-1.19
|
2
|
2
|
SAC (5-20)
|
-1.36
|
1
|
4
|
GSW (9-17)
|
-1.46
|
0
|
2
|
DET (9-19)
|
-1.79
|
3
|
4
|
ATL (17-12)
|
-1.79
|
1
|
1
|
LAC (7-21)
|
-1.86
|
0
|
4
|
ORL (16-10)
|
-2.12
|
1
|
2
|
IND (12-14)
|
-2.54
|
1
|
4
|
Note: for a more updated version of this table, see the "Random Stats" tab.
A few observations:
- I guess it's no surprise that the teams with many of the leading MVP candidates have the most fourth-quarter comeback wins. Chicago (Rose), Utah (Deron Williams), Dallas (Dirk Nowitzki) and Oklahoma City (surprisingly, Russell Westbrook instead of Kevin Durant) all have five or more wins after trailing after three quarters. San Antonio (Ginobili) is 2nd in 4th quarter differential. We've all seen these guys on Sportscenter coming through in the clutch, by either hitting a game-winner, breaking down the defense or drawing charges that are NEVER called at the end of the game (that's for my buddy Wyatt, a die-hard Nuggs fan). You see these guys put their team on their back repeatedly, and eventually you think to yourself, "Man, that guy's playing like a MVP." I guess that's why Bulls fans have been chanting it for Rose for most of the season.
- Orlando is near the bottom of the list for fourth-quarter differential. I think it speaks to their struggles this year and probably one of the key reasons they decided to shake things up. With Howard's free-throw struggles, they are forced to play one way for most of the game and look elsewhere down the stretch. They had success when Turkoglu had the ball in crunch time a couple years ago, but will he be able to bring himself back from the dead? He was atrocious in Toronto and Phoenix. I'm not optimistic.
- I was surprised to see that the T-Wolves had only blown 3 third-quarter leads. It certainly seemed like a lot more. But if you look at halftime leads instead, Minnesota has blown six of them. Detroit (ye of two 19-point halftime leads lost) leads the category with nine blown halftime leads. I blame Ben Gordon. Other teams at the top of this list include New Jersey (7), New Orleans, Portland and the Clippers (6 each).
- 10 of Utah's 19 wins came when trailing at halftime. I do wonder how long teams like that can keep up that kind of pace. Perhaps Utah just isn't as good as their record indicates? I'll be interested in tracking these stats throughout the season to see if they're are correlated between one half of the season and the other.
The Colton Index:
Teams of the Week:
 |
1. Memphis Grizzlies (from 20th to 14th) - Wins vs Portland, vs Charlotte; loss at Houston, at San Antonio. Memphis is 8-7 after 4-9 start. Can they get it to .500 and battle Houston, Portland and Phoenix for that last playoff spot in the West? |
 |
2. Los Angeles Clippers (from 27th to 23rd) - Wins at Detroit, at Chicago; Loss at Philadelphia. Two wins in a row is cause for celebration. Have we ever established why Vinny Del Negro is a head coach in the NBA? |
 |
3. Philadelphia 76ers (from 21st to 17th) - Wins at New Jersey, vs LA Clippers, at Orlando. Loss vs LA Lakers. The Sixers are 9-6 after a 2-10 start. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but the Sixers are winning ball games and are now 8th in the Eastern Conference. |
Teams of the Weak:
 |
1. Atlanta Hawks (from 7th to 10th) - Loss at Detroit, at Boston, at New Jersey; Win vs Charlotte. I'm not sure what to make of the Hawks. They get blown out by the Pistons and looked absolutely lifeless against the Celts on national TV. They are 17-12 overall but only have 2 wins against teams over .500. |
 |
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (from 5th to 9th) - Wins vs Houston, vs Sacramento; Loss at Phoenix. It was awfully nice of that rogue ref to decide that normal continuation rules don't apply when a player is shooting from half court. How is that not three free throws? I can't really kill the Thunder for that one, although they probably should've put the short-handed Suns away long before that. |
 |
3. New York Knicks (from 10th the 12th) - Loss vs Boston, vs Miami, at Cleveland. We knew the test for the Knicks would start this week. They looked great against Boston despite the loss, then hung with Miami for a half before getting blown out. I guess you can forgive those two L's. But what do we do this OT loss at Cleveland? Still some work before we put them in the upper echelon. But it was great seeing die-hard fan Spike Lee back in the building for the first time in years. |
Updated with Games as of Sunday December 12th
| Rk | Move | Team | W-L | Last 15 | Avg Diff | SOS | SOS Rk | Colton |
| 1 | +1 | Boston | 22-4 | 13-2 | 9.58 | 0.5122 | 23 | 64.29 |
| 2 | +1 | Dallas | 21-5 | 14-1 | 6.04 | 0.5097 | 20 | 64.24 |
| 3 | +1 | Miami | 21-8 | 13-2 | 9.76 | 0.5290 | 28 | 62.29 |
| 4 | -3 | San Antonio | 23-3 | 13-2 | 9.15 | 0.5282 | 27 | 61.65 |
| 5 | +7 | LA Lakers | 21-7 | 10-5 | 8.54 | 0.5395 | 30 | 55.07 |
| 6 | +2 | Utah | 19-9 | 11-4 | 3.04 | 0.4901 | 12 | 55.03 |
| 7 | -1 | Chicago | 16-9 | 10-5 | 3.72 | 0.4934 | 14 | 54.32 |
| 8 | +3 | Denver | 16-10 | 10-5 | 2.27 | 0.4852 | 9 | 49.73 |
| 9 | -4 | Oklahoma City | 19-9 | 10-5 | 2.04 | 0.5013 | 17 | 48.04 |
| 10 | -3 | Atlanta | 17-12 | 9-6 | 1.07 | 0.5170 | 24 | 46.62 |
| 11 | -2 | Orlando | 16-10 | 8-7 | 3.73 | 0.5203 | 26 | 46.34 |
| 12 | -2 | New York | 16-12 | 11-4 | 0.64 | 0.5344 | 29 | 45.17 |
| 13 | +4 | Houston | 12-15 | 9-6 | 0.96 | 0.5030 | 18 | 43.17 |
| 14 | +6 | Memphis | 12-16 | 8-7 | -0.75 | 0.4821 | 6 | 42.78 |
| 15 | -1 | Indiana | 12-14 | 7-8 | 0.5 | 0.4960 | 15 | 42.16 |
| 16 | -3 | New Orleans | 16-11 | 5-10 | 2.15 | 0.4880 | 10 | 41.98 |
| 17 | +4 | Philadelphia | 11-16 | 9-6 | 0.81 | 0.5121 | 22 | 40.74 |
| 18 | -2 | Phoenix | 13-13 | 7-8 | -1.46 | 0.4711 | 2 | 39.73 |
| 19 | -4 | Portland | 14-14 | 6-9 | -0.61 | 0.4818 | 5 | 37.54 |
| 20 | -1 | Milwaukee | 10-15 | 5-10 | -1.56 | 0.4744 | 4 | 35.25 |
| 21 | +1 | Charlotte | 9-17 | 5-10 | -4.27 | 0.4892 | 11 | 31.86 |
| 22 | -4 | Toronto | 10-18 | 6-9 | -3.21 | 0.5054 | 19 | 31.67 |
| 23 | +4 | LA Clippers | 7-21 | 6-9 | -4.96 | 0.4843 | 8 | 29.66 |
| 24 | -1 | New Jersey | 8-20 | 4-11 | -4.79 | 0.5002 | 16 | 27.62 |
| 25 | -1 | Golden State | 9-17 | 2-13 | -5.81 | 0.4621 | 1 | 26.59 |
| 26 | +3 | Detroit | 9-19 | 4-11 | -5.61 | 0.5108 | 21 | 23.68 |
| 27 | +1 | Cleveland | 8-19 | 3-12 | -8.89 | 0.4837 | 7 | 22.62 |
| 28 | -2 | Minnesota | 6-22 | 2-13 | -7.11 | 0.4740 | 3 | 21.62 |
| 29 | -4 | Washington | 6-19 | 3-12 | -8.28 | 0.4904 | 13 | 21.56 |
| 30 | - | Sacramento | 5-20 | 2-13 | -7.28 | 0.5195 | 25 | 16.98 |
Plan Accordingly:
Must watch games this week (all times ET):
Mon 12/20: Dallas at Miami (7:30 PM) - NBATV
Tues 12/21: Dallas at Orlando (7:00 PM) - NBATV Fan Night - Hopefully all physicals will have been passed by then.
Weds 12/22: Oklahoma City at New York (7:30 PM); Denver at San Antonio (8:30 PM) - There's a good chance that I'll be at the Garden!
Thurs 12/23: San Antonio at Orlando (8:00 PM); Miami at Phoenix (10:30 PM) - both on TNT
Fri 12/24: No games scheduled. Go to church instead.
Sat 12/25: Chicago at New York (Noon, ESPN); Boston at Orlando (2:30 PM, ABC); Miami at LA Lakers (5:00 PM, ABC); Denver at Oklahoma City (8:00 PM, ESPN) - There's a good chance I'll be in the dog house Saturday night for camping in front of a TV all day while at my in-laws. This slate of games is worth it.
Sun 12/26: Atlanta at New Orleans (7:00 PM ET)
Dunks of the Week:
Here's our Top 5 Dunks from the last week, as voted on by the official Wegobomber Dunk Committee.
5. Andre Iguodala seems to find his way in the Top 5 every week.
4. Dwyane Wade dunks on the break with Joey Graham hanging all over him.
3. Jordan Hill works the pick-and-roll and dumps it on Sam Dalembert.
2. Demar DeRozan cuts across the lane and throws it down over Tyrus Thomas. Impressive!
1. JR Smith flies through the air. Ride 'em cowboy! We have a new number one on our Dunk of the Year tab. James Harden held the throne for less only a week. [Negative points for Reggie Miller botching the call and saying its George Hill instead of Gary Neal. After we answer the Del Negro question can we find out why Reggie is still in the booth?]
Bonus: In honor of Vince's trade to Phoenix, here's his famous dunk over (literally) poor Frederic Weis.
Next Up on Wegobomber Basketball: What's the deal with Melo?
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I'm also stunned that the Wolves 4th quarter numbers are as "good" as they are. I expected much worse.
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