15 lessons from 15 NBA games: Here’s what we learned from an eventful night

NBA Lesson 10. New York Knicks vs. Minnesota Timberwolves:

Thibs needs to unleash Obi Toppin in a greater capacity.

Does New York Knicks head coach lack faith in Julius Randle logging minutes at the five? Does he not believe in Obi Toppin as being worthy of significant minutes? Is there some kind of personal vendetta? Whatever the answer might be, the esteemed head coach needs to unleash Toppin in a larger role. The 24-year-old is a killer on the offensive end, leading fastbreaks and cashing triples like it’s nobody’s business while slowly but surely picking up on the intricacies of NBA basketball.

Toppin, who is playing just 17.3 minutes per contest this year, had 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists in 26 minutes against the Timberwolves. It’s time to make that the norm.

NBA Lesson 11. Denver Nuggets vs. San Antonio Spurs:

Denver and San Antonio are playing like they have the same goal.

From the Nuggets’ perspective, things are going fantastic. Although San Antonio fought hard, Denver felt like it was in control for most of the game with a top-eight rotation that’s ripe for the 2023 NBA Playoffs so long as they stay healthy. It looks like Jamal Murray is steadily gaining momentum in his long-awaited return from injury, so all is well in the Mile High City.

But San Antonio is playing like they have the same championship aspirations. Their young core is motivated to prove that it’s worthy of the investment this front office made. Keldon Johnson is taking a huge step, as is his running mate, Devin Vassell. Point guard Tre Jones had a Dejounte Murray-Esque stat line and they simply refused to go away — even if losing games is in the franchise’s best interest in the long run.

NBA Lesson 12. Brooklyn Nets vs. Dallas Mavericks:

The Nets play more like a team with Kyrie Irving out of the lineup.

In a roundabout way, the Brooklyn Nets might be a better team when Kyrie Irving is out of the lineup — at least for the purposes of a regular-season game in November. Although they came up short against an impressive Dallas Mavericks squad led by a 36-point night from Luka, the Nets held their opponent below 100 points and narrowly missed a third victory in a row. Five players scored in double-figures, they managed more team assists than Dallas and again, the defense was much improved with everybody in sync. We’ll see how this pans out.