Welcome back to Open Floor, from Boston this week, where I grabbed my old press row seat to watch the Celtics kick away a game against Utah and look like they were going to do the same against Washington before pummeling the woebegone Wizards over the final three quarters on Wednesday to salvage a win. Strange times in Boston. The C’s still shoot a lot of threes (an NBA-high 47 per game) but don’t make them (31.9%, 27th in the league) and the offseason gutting of the frontcourt has left Boston vulnerable on the glass. On the flip side, Jaylen Brown is proving he is more than capable of being a top option, albeit one on a team with a low ceiling.
Pod Alert: Evan Turner is back again with a fresh take on the Ja Morant situation in Memphis, which does not seem to be getting any better. Plus some thoughts on Boston and why the Mavericks have struggled so much early. Subscribe here, here and here.
Key to Bucks’ hot start
The easy answer to why Milwaukee is off to a 5–3 start is Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is putting up astonishing numbers even by his own lofty standards. But we expected Antetokounmpo to be great because he is great. What we maybe didn’t expect was Kyle Kuzma sliding into a sixth man role and shooting 53.1%. Or AJ Green shooting 52.9% from three. Or a Bucks team without Damian Lillard flirting with 40% shooting from beyond the arc.
Here’s what we really didn’t expect: Ryan Rollins emerging as a backcourt star. Rollins showed flashes of potential last season—he connected on 48% of his threes after the All-Star break—and he has been outstanding in this one. He’s racking up points (16.3 per game) super efficiently (51.5% from the floor, 38.5% from three) while playing at an All-Defensive level on the other end. Among the bigger questions in Milwaukee was who would fill the post-Lillard void. Rollins has stepped right in it.
What’s happening in Dallas?
While many expected the Mavs offense to suffer without Kyrie Irving, no one could have anticipated Dallas sputtering to a league-worst offense that ranks more than two points worse than Washington in offensive efficiency. The Mavericks’ three-point shooting has been dreadful. D’Angelo Russell (31.1%), P.J. Washington (28.1%) and Anthony Davis (27.3%) can’t buy a bucket while Klay Thompson has been so bad (29%) that this week Jason Kidd pulled him from the starting lineup. Kidd has hinted that Irving could return before the end of 2025. The Mavs badly need him.
Has Mike Brown’s offense started to take hold in New York?
The Knicks’ offensive rating the last three games—wins over the Bulls, Wizards and Timberwolves—is a league-best 128. Jalen Brunson has adapted to Brown’s more free-flowing offensive system. His scoring is up (28.3 points) while his dribbling is down. After a rocky start—and some interesting quotes—Karl-Anthony Towns seems to be settling in. OG Anunoby is posting some of the best efficiency numbers of his career. It’s a small sample size but this Brown offense is headed in the right direction.
Magic need a true point guard
My continued fascination—or maybe befuddlement—with the Magic, who dropped to 3–5 after a loss to the Trae Young–less Hawks on Wednesday, had me check in with a couple of scouts who had been monitoring Orlando this week. One noted the first couple of weeks highlighted the Magic’s need for a true point guard. “They don’t have a guy that can keep Paolo [Banchero], Franz [Wagner] and [Desmond] Bane happy,” he said. Another noted that even with Bane—who has struggled with his shot this season—Orlando still doesn’t have enough shooters to space the floor. I continue to be confused as to why the Magic are playing at such a high pace. The Bane trade ratcheted up the expectations in Orlando. So far they have not come close to meeting them.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mannix’s NBA Notebook: What’s Behind Bucks’ Hot Start .
