NBA Matchups: October 30

We’ve reached the back end of the back-to-back segment of the year, so I’m going to just hit macro notes and great/good/bad matchups for this edition. I’ll be back to writing novels on Wednesday.

BKN @ CHA | CHI @ IND | BOS @ WAS | MIN @ ATL | POR @ TOR | DAL @ MEM | MIA @ MIL | GSW @ NOP | DET @ OKC | UTA @ DEN | ORL @ LAL

Brooklyn Nets at Charlotte Hornets

Team Totals: Nets 114.8, Hornets 113.3

Injury Report: Cam Johnson (O, calf), Nic Claxton (O, ankle), Cody Martin (O, knee)

Nets projected starters: Ben Simmons, Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith

Hornets projected starters: LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, P.J. Washington, Mark Williams

Vaughn quotes: Said he liked how teams responded to guys being out, said he wants to mix up his defensive coverages, said Cam Thomas is being rewarded for being involved on both ends, said DSJ has run the O well in the second unit, said he can run guys longer minutes because of the time off, said they want to play Lonnie Walker IV minutes, said Thomas is “going to score the basketball” for them.

Clifford quotes: Said they need to fix the turnovers and rebounding.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Nets are really short-handed and are clearly going to miss Nic Claxton. The stats don’t matter, and what matters most is Jacque “divide these minutes up” Vaughn ditched those words with an extremely tight rotation over the weekend. Vaughn mentioned it could be a matchup thing to go smaller, but they just don’t have the personnel to do anything different. On the Charlotte side, we also saw the Hornets ditch their LaMelo minute limit, but the Pistons provided excellent defense against them. This should be a better spot for their O, as they haven’t been able to convert some of their good looks. I’d expect the Hornets to have success.

Great matchups: Mark Williams, Mikal Bridges

Good matchups: Terry Rozier, Cam Thomas

Bad matchups: LaMelo Ball (still very playable)

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Chicago Bulls at Indiana Pacers

Team Totals: Bulls 113.5, Pacers 116.5

Injury Report: Zach LaVine (P, back)

Bulls projected starters: Coby White, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, Nikola Vucevic

Pacers projected starters: Tyrese Haliburton, Bruce Brown, Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin, Myles Turner

Donovan quotes: Said DeMar galvanized the group, said Caruso guarded four different guys and he liked how he handled it, said Caruso and Craig can continue to cut into PF minutes (paraphrasing here).

Carlisle quotes: Said McConnell had a “major influence” on the game, said Jalen Smith has been great, said Nesmith had it going for them, said Nesmith had found a rhythm and can guard 1-4, said they “needed” McConnell, said their rotation is not set (McConnell got in there), said Nembhard knows the system, said it was “pitch perfect” on Haliburton running the O, said Nesmith was great on the boards.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Pacers are living up their name with an absurd speed to their offense, as their 12.8 seconds per possession lead the league, and only 10 teams are within even a second of their speed. They’re also first in offense at 132.6 points per 100 and first in the halfcourt at 114.2. It’s ridiculous, as Tyrese Haliburton is basically Tua Mahomes at offense (the hybrid and he’s better than both!). The Bulls have kept their word on C&S shots at seventh in the league, and they’re up to 16th in frequency after ranking last in 3PAs last season. However, they’re not playing great defense as a bottom-10 rim D per possession, and the Pacers are actually the worst there at a whopping 51.5 rim points allowed. This game should be an excellent environment and it should be basically all year in the Indy games.

Great matchups: Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin, Nikola Vucevic, Myles Turner

Good matchups: Everyone else

Bad matchups: Nobody

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Boston Celtics at Washington Wizards