Welcome to Triple-Double Watch, a weekly check-in on everyone’s favorite arbitrary milestone of round, base-ten numbers.
The big news of the past seven days happened in Memphis with the firing of David Fizdale. It marks the second coach firing of the year, coming after the Grizzlies lost eight straight and 11 of their last 13. The final straw was the benching of cornerstone center, Marc Gasol, during the entire fourth quarter in a loss to the Brooklyn Nets. Gasol and Fizdale have apparently been bumping heads since last season and this move was not taken well by the front office.
Memphis began the season with a hot start, taking down the Warriors and Rockets, so the firing came as a surprise. Before taking over the Grizzlies, Fizdale served as an assistant coach with the Heat during LeBron James’ time in Miami. James, the NBA’s unofficial ombudsman, certainly didn’t think the firing was justified:
Coach Fiz shouldn’t be out of work for long. If nothing else, any coach who drops sound bites like this definitely has a place in the league.
We had a busy week at Triple-Double Watch, with three preeminent superstars all stopping by:
After a nine-game losing streak, Blake Griffin doused the Clippers’ dumpster fire with a triple-double against the Hawks. His first appearance in this space sparked three wins in a row for the Clippers – albeit against three of the worst teams in the league – who finally showed signs of capable basketball again.
In accordance with Clippers tradition, the good times would be fleeting. Griffin suffered a friendly-fire knee injury on Monday night when Austin Rivers fell on his leg. Griffin could be out for a while and early reports say he has a sprained MCL. Based on the Clippers’ overall struggles and cortège of injuries, we could see them go into rebuilding mode and shake up their roster depending on the severity of Griffin’s knee.
Following some early-season floundering, LeBron James and the Cavaliers seem to have righted the ship. All the talks of Cleveland possibly scraping to make the playoffs in the surprisingly-competent East have been reduced to silence. The Cavaliers are 13-7 on the season, including 9-1 over their last 10 contests, vaulting themselves into third place in the conference. Naturally, James is to thank for the resurgence. James averaged 28.3 points, 9 rebounds, and 7.8 assists over those games while asserting dominance over any plucky young upstarts. It all served as a wake-up call that their fledgling dreams of postseason runs will most likely end with any matchup with the King.
Speaking of royalty, the Triple-Double King added to his total. Russell Westbrook now sits at six, tripling the count of his closest competitors.
Westbrook looks more like himself as of late, seeing his usage rate spike to 33.5 percent over the last five games, up from 31.9 percent on the season. It still pales in comparison to the stratospheric 40.8 percent from 2016-17.
The second month of the schedule usually separates the wheat from the chaff, as teams shake off cobwebs and get in rhythm. The Thunder, however, still can’t find their footing. Oklahoma City lost four of their last five and currently reside at ninth place in the West with a disappointing 8-11 record.
Next: The Los Angeles Clippers need to consider tanking the season
Despite all this, Oklahoma City boasts the sixth-best point differential in the entire NBA. Their major problem lies in clutch-time situations. Ten of their losses have come in games decided by eight points or less. You don’t want to turn into the Chargers of the NBA. The answer for combatting this is clear; give Westbrook carte blanche to jack up 25 shots per game again. Is it the best basketball? Probably not. But Westbrook steamrolling through three defenders at once is like cutting a birthday cake with a katana. Is it necessary? No. Is it efficient? Also no. Is it amazing to watch? Absolutely.