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We’re eight days into the season and we only have two undefeated teams left. Cleveland and Oklahoma City, you should be proud. We have one winless team left. Is that you, Utah? For shame!
Ratings Review
Does the NBA’s product have a problem?
If you are not online enough to know what the Twitter argument of the day is everyday, bless you for being a better person than I. Yesterday, two conversations on #NBATwitter converged into one, with low TV ratings from the first week — Awful Announcing unveiled some TV ratings that were down across the board for the nationally televised games — being a story before people argued whether the 3-point shot has ruined the league’s on-court product.
On opening night, we saw strong and increased viewership for those two games. Then, the rest of the week, we saw big drops in percentage last season. Some of that could be matchup-based (76ers without Joel Embiid and Paul George), especially compared to last year’s debut of Victor Wembanyama. Other reasons could simply involve the product on the floor. The 3-point shot is beyond prevalent in the NBA at this point. In fact, almost every single offense is centered around firing 35 to 50 attempts per game from beyond the arc. Here are some of the points brought up about the current NBA product:
- Given Anthony Edwards’ supreme athleticism, many people ask if shooting 13 3-pointers per game is the right style for him, especially considering his almost countless jaw-dropping plays at the rim in his young career.
- Others question if the Celtics’ style of trying to make 20 to 25 3-pointers per game with their rotation of great shooters is the right product.
- There is a lack of resistance to the offense due to the rules and how it’s officiated. Many games feel like a slightly more competitive version of the All-Star Game now.
I’m not sure I’m willing to go that far with these three points, even if we were to discuss complaints about the competitiveness allowed in the game today. I look back at the second half of last season and its ensuing playoffs. The NBA decided to allow a more physical game, which provided stellar results. People raved about defenses being given a chance. We saw truly inspiring basketball.
On top of that, the basketball to begin this season has been incredible – like legitimately good. This might be the best opening week of basketball that most of us can remember. There hasn’t been this slow lull to get into the flow of things. Teams have come out of the gates competing and executing. It’s been fascinating and encouraging to watch. So, why aren’t more people watching it?
For some reason, the NBA doesn’t feel like appointment viewing for the casual sports fan when we’re in the heat of the NFL season, have college football and are enjoying the MLB playoffs. The NBA typically takes a back seat until around Christmas, and the NFL has been coming for that too. Also, I’m not sure how worried the NBA has to be when the league just secured a historic broadcasting rights deal. This happened despite us seeing so many pundits talk about struggling ratings for years.
The NBA doesn’t market the game enough, in my opinion. And the product did get a bit cartoonish for a couple years as shooting skills quickly mutated. I don’t know what adjustments can fix that, or if they should even be made. The NBA should focus less on gimmicky influencer stuff and more on making the moments on the court celebrated more. The latter should be emphasized more.
If the product is good, the audience will follow. You just might have to wait until football is over before those ratings get steady.
The Last 24
What you need to know from the past day
🏀 A Wizard you should watch! Bilal Coulibaly is in his second season, and he’s really good. Scouts love what they see.
🤕 Scottie Barnes is out three weeks. That’s the minimum timeframe for the Raptors All-Star as he deals with an orbital fracture. What’s next for Toronto?
👶🇫🇷 The three young French rookies are off to a rough start. Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr and Tidjane Salaün need to pick it up. John Hollinger has the rest covered.
🐺 Minnesota can’t stop anybody right now. What happened to the NBA’s top defense? Jonny K explains.
📺 Game of the Night. Rockets (2-2) at Mavericks (3-1), 8:30 p.m. ET on League Pass. Is Dillon Brooks going to make Luka Dončić mad?
Big Disappointment
Chet-Wemby wasn’t at all what we craved
Six points? That’s it? Six damn points? That’s all we saw from Victor Wembanyama in his latest matchup with Chet Holmgren as the Thunder stayed undefeated with a 105-93 victory over the Spurs. Last season, even in the preseason, we saw fireworks from these two impossibly lanky and coordinated individuals. Wemby had a big boy And-1 through the chest of Holmgren, and Holmgren took to Twitter to complain about the no-call. They had a rough but spirited battle in an In-Season Tournament game, when they first faced off for real. Then, in their other two meetings, we saw these two really go at it and show why skinny skyscrapers masquerading as humans were the future of basketball.
Needless to say, anticipation was high for last night’s showdown. Holmgren came to play, scoring 19 points and being very active early on. Wemby … just kind of existed? Which is not what you expect from him in any given game. He finished with six points on 1-for-5 shooting in 27 minutes. The eight rebounds and three blocks made it a little less embarrassing. There was just an oddness to how little Wemby was involved.
Meanwhile, the Thunder flexed their muscles as often as possible, weathered the Spurs’ final push and made sure Holmgren enjoyed his third victory in four career contests with Wemby. The Spurs struggled to get Wemby the ball. Even when he had it, he didn’t do much with it. And, with how good the Thunder are and how much ground the Spurs have to make up, it’s safe to wonder if this “rivalry” might take years to truly get off the ground.
Shoutout to the guys 🫡
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 31, 2024
About Last Night
KAT cooks Heat; Bronny scores first NBA points
The Pacers took a weird way to get it, but they may have started bringing a little redemption to being swept by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals back in May. Indiana was cruising to a blowout victory over a Celtics team that has looked unbeatable to start this season. The Pacers led by 21 in the fourth quarter with a massive performance from the bench, led by Bennedict Mathurin’s 30 points.
Then … the Celtics just happened again. Neemias Queta checked in and was suddenly everywhere. Jaylen Brown got going. Derrick White made plays. Jayson Tatum started hitting shots. Next thing you know, it’s a tie game with 14 seconds left. We went to overtime, and it felt like Indiana was going to suffer more disappointment in this matchup. Thankfully for the Pacers, Pascal Siakam closed things out with a big 3-pointer with seven seconds left in OT. Indiana gets to boast a little bit now with its 135-132 overtime win, and handing the defending champs their first loss.
Knicks 116 (2-2), Heat 107 (2-2): Karl-Anthony Towns put 44 points on 17-for-25 shooting on Jimmy Butler and the Heat to take the win on the road. Also, do the Heat now have a distended basketball hanging from their scoreboard? It looks infected.
all hands on deck 🙌
KAT 44 PTS | 13 REB | 2 AST
Jalen 22 PTS | 9 AST
Mikal 17 PTS | 6 AST | 2 STL
Josh 10 PTS | 14 REB | 6 AST
OG 11 PTS | 3 REB | 2 STL
Deuce 10 PTS | 3 REB | 2 AST pic.twitter.com/KY9QiACAWK— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 31, 2024
Bulls 102 (3-2), Magic 99 (3-2): There were 24 combined missed shots between these two teams to start the fourth quarter. Ayo Dosunmu made the first basket of the fourth with 4:50 left. It was a beautiful mess and a great win for Chicago.
Cavaliers 134 (5-0), Lakers 110 (3-2): Nobody can stop the 5-0 Cavs! Evan Mobley held his own with Anthony Davis, and this was a blowout right away to ruin the LeBron James–Bronny James homecoming. However, we did see Bronny get his first NBA bucket.
Warriors 104 (4-1), Pelicans 89 (2-3): These Warriors games without Steph Curry have been a little ugly, but this defense might be legitimate for Golden State. The Dubs beat the Pelicans for the second straight game, and we should wonder if New Orleans is okay.
Pistons 105 (1-4), 76ers 95 (1-3): The Pistons won’t have a 28-game losing streak this time! They grabbed their first win of the season with Jaden Ivey and Cade Cunningham being too much for a Tyrese Maxey attack. The Sixers desperately need Paul George or Joel Embiid or both.
Wizards 133 (2-2), Hawks 120 (2-3): Bilal Coulibaly balled out, and the Wizards lit up the Hawks with a tremendous offensive night. This is why you never trust the Hawks. They looked great the first three games and then lost two straight to Washington.
Nets 119 (2-3), Grizzlies 106 (2-3): Marcus Smart and Desmond Bane both suffered injuries in this one, which opened the door for Dennis Schröder and Ziaire Williams to close the door for the Nets. I’m a little worried about Memphis.
Hornets 138 (2-2), Raptors 133 (1-4): How do you overcome 81 combined points from RJ Barrett, Gradey Dick and Jakob Poeltl? You have Tre Mann (27) and Cody Martin (25) light it up coming off the bench. The Hornets are getting kind of fun!
Blazers 106 (2-3), Clippers 105 (2-2): Look at the mighty Blazers taking down the Clippers on the road. Anfernee Simons dueled with Norm Powell, and a turnover on the final possession kept the Clippers from going for the win. Also, Scoot Henderson looked pretty good in the last two games. 👀
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(Top photo: AAron Ontiveroz / Getty Images )