He meandered through the first 24 minutes, taking just six shots and rarely looking to attack his matchup. Then, in the second half, his motor revved high in a 98-79 victory that improved the Warriors to 4-1. He was the driving force of a third-quarter run that saw the Warriors turn a three-point deficit into a 15-point advantage in 12 minutes.
"We just have to do a better job early on of settling in quickly and being aggressive, and having a play style no matter what the call is [that's] about finishing drives," he said of New England's offense. "Defensively, [it's] about being able to answer," he added. "These are plays that they worked on. These are game-plan plays, trick plays that they've been working on."
The 4-2 49ers are broken. Fred Warner is gone for the season. So is Nick Bosa. Brock Purdy is still sidelined. Ricky Pearsall is, too. That's just a few of the many, many names. The Niners' defense is reeling, and the offense is sputtering. Now, the 3-2 Atlanta Falcons-a team that's won two straight-come to town with the NFL's scrimmage yards leader in Bijan Robinson and a quarterback in Michael Penix who isn't afraid to let it rip.
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra may have no choice but to embrace a defensive-first mentality this season after the injury to Tyler Herro. It may not be what Heat fans were hoping for, especially after their offensive struggles last season, but this is what will give the Heat the best shot to keep their head above water in the Eastern Conference until their All-Star guard returns.
It's exactly what we wanted, Hunt said. Coming into it, we didn't know we needed that but I think, on reflection, it was fantastic for us. Australia really brought it, especially in that first half. We felt pressure we hadn't felt in the start of the tournament so far and it was really good for us to get that under our belt. Also to work out that rugby contest and come out with a scoreline like that is a testament to the girls.
Mbeumo impressed with his touch and dynamism in the attacking third, linking up well with Cunha and Bruno Fernandes in an interchanging front trio.
"We love him. Loved him at school, loved him in the pre-draft process, love him at Summer League. He's tough. He plays hard. He has a high level of accountability for himself and his teammates. We're excited to see what that looks like with our veteran guys. We think that our group of forwards/wings are going to push each other every day. That's how they'll all get better." - Anonymous Raptors scout via Keith Smith
It's interesting, in my 40+ years I've never shown clips to my teams of NBA defense... Until this season. We watched the Thunder at least 3x a week.
