What I liked:
1. First road win to open the season in 23 years and they did it without Allen and Wade.
2. Strus 27 and 12 with a +13. Talk about announcing your presence with authority.
3. Okoro 18/6/4 with 2 steals (but also two offensive fouls in the last two minutes).
4. Mitchell of course, taking over in the final minute with 5 points and a steal. I wish he would have avoiding fouling with a loose ball on the floor and one second on the shot clock, however.
5. Holding Cam Thomas to 3 points in the 4th quarter. Okoro blocked one of his shots and Mobley got right on him to force the bad miss on the final shot. They made some adjustments that worked.
6. Uptempo transition game with 43 shots from deep, making 39.3%.
7. Only 10 turnovers while forcing 17.
What I didn't like:
1. Getting beat 50-38 on the boards and giving up 13 offensive rebounds. But part of that was due to Allen and Wade being out.
2. Niang. I said he looks fat and slow in the preseason and tonight he had zero points in 20 minutes and was awful defensively. I repeat, before long Wade will be the backup 4 and Niang will be out of the rotation.
3. Damian Jones picking up three quick fouls and finishing with a -7 in 11 minutes. Once Allen is back Jones won't be seeing much action if any.
4. LeVert was 4-for-17 but that will improve. He still can't make open ten-footers, unfortunately, and if he can't by now he never will. He's at his best driving and passing.
