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Basketball is not a sport, it's a way of life.

QUICK HITS

• Coby White is getting right. Riding the hot shooting of fifth-year guard Coby White, the Chicago Bulls are on a surprising four-game winning streak. Their first time winning four in a row since a six-game win streak—from 2/9/22 to 2/24/22—nearly two seasons ago. White, for his part, is in the midst of his best season. The former UNC Tar Heel is averaging 15.6 points per game, on 41.7% from behind the arc—both are career highs. But it’s since a win over Miami on November 18^th that White has been particularly hot, averaging 21 points, on 48.6% from the field and a scorching 51.1% from behind the arc on 4.7 makes per game. During the ten-game stretch, Chicago has actually played .500 basketball.

• Apparently forget what you know about free throw percentage predicting anything about winning and losing; though if I were any of the teams on the bottom, excluding Denver of course, I would be concerned about what this could mean come playoff time:

Top-5 

Philadelphia 76ers (14-7) – 85.1%                

Oklahoma City Thunder (14-7) – 84.9%      

Miami Heat (12-10) – 84.5%                        

Phoenix Suns (12-10) – 84.0%

Atlanta Hawks (9-12) – 83.1%

Combined record of 61-46: 57% win percentage

Bottom-5

Denver Nuggets (14-9) – 70.8%

Toronto Raptors (9-13) – 73.4%

Dallas Mavericks (13-8) – 73.5%

Sacramento Kings (12-8) – 74.2%

New York Knicks (12-9) – 74.6%

Combined record of 60-47: 56.1% win percentage

• Since we’re talking about potential Knicks playoff foibles, we could continue with the fact that Tom Thibodeau’s career record in the postseason is a not-so-great 31-41. Or that Julius Randle’s career playoff averages are just 17 points on 34.4% from the field. But that’s history. Let’s talk about the here and now, and what that potentially means for the Knicks playoff future. Because there are a ton of statistical crumbs leading straight to another devouring of the Knicks faithful’s playoff hopes. New York’s 45% from the field as a team ranks them 26^th in the league, and they are the only team that ranks below the Kings (21^st) that has a winning record. The Knicks are 25^th in the league in assist percentage at 58.2%, an ominous number for a team that consistently struggles to generate easy shots in the postseason. And their pace of 97.05 ranks 28^th in the league, meaning we can expect more summer slog in the half-court. Yes, it’s still relatively early, and you could accuse me of parsing a bit, but statistical omens portend a bit of New York’s postseason history repeating.

• Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to have to decide at some point that he’s willing to be more involved in the two-man game with his new batterymate Damian Lillard. I don’t care if it’s as the roll man, or inverted with Dame feinting as the screener in hopes of getting the defense on tilt. As it stands, Giannis seems reluctant to do either. His 15% frequency as the ballhandler in pick and roll ranks just 62^nd  in the league. While his 7.9% frequency as the screener ranks 79^th.  

• Whoo, life in the NBA moves fast. Anyone remember when the Warriors were 6-2 and feeling the good vibes from the addition of Chris Paul? Since that fun and optimistic beginning, Golden State are just 4-9, giving up 118.6 points per game, including a whopping 124.5 points on the road during that stretch. Those numbers rank them a respective 25^th and 29^th in the league over the 13-game span. But it’s not just the defense that’s been the problem. The Golden State Warriors have a scoring issue. Not so much the quantity, as their 115.5 points per game (11^th in the league) is more than respectable. No, it’s the quality that’s the issue. Both the quality of shots, and unfortunately perhaps the quality of player. Golden State loves to operate in the mid-range, a penchant that puts them in woeful company, as highlighted two weeks ago. And the difference between leading scorer Steph Curry at 29.4 points per contest, and second leading scorer Klay Thompson at 15.8—a difference of 13.6 points—is the biggest disparity on a team in the league this season. Moreso, while Kevon Looney (57.8%) is the only Warrior seeing significant playing time that is shooting 50% or better from the field, Andrew Wiggins (42.1%), Klay Thompson (40.4%), and Chris Paul (39.5%) have been struggling to the point of significantly hampering the team offensively. Added to this is the viewable fact that Steve Kerr seems to be struggling to adapt his coaching style to a very different manifestation of this Warriors group. All of this seems to spell that it’s time to shake things up with a trade and see if maybe Golden State can get the good times rolling again. And they need to do it fast.