Weekly NBA Wrap With The Mid Range Jumpers
MVP watch
Fresh Prince
Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors, 23.1ppg, 7.7apg, 5.2rpg)
Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans, 24.5ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.9bpg)
Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies 19.9ppg, 8.2rpg)
James Harden (Houston Rockets, 27.0ppg, 7.0apg, 6.2rpg)
Notable Mentions
LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
John Wall (Washington Wizards)
Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors)
It’s hard to separate the top 4 at this stage with all players having up and down performances. The main difference for me is Davis is playing on an underperforming team where the others are all comfortably sitting near the top of their respective conferences. Curry’s Warriors are on a slide and will need him to get back to his best to get some momentum going. Harden faces another challenge with the signing of shot-chucker Josh Smith. A low-risk, high-reward option for the Rockets however it will mean less touches for Harden.
The player on the move is one of my own favorites being John Wall from the Washington Wizards. Wall, a former no.1 draft pick has slowly been refining his game and now has good support in the form of Bradley Beal, Paul Pierce and Marcin Gortat. Wall has turned in some strong performances this season and in my mind is already a top point guard in the league, a big complement considering the talent at the position in the NBA right now.
Standout Team
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks are currently sitting 2nd in the East with an impressive 21-7 record. They’ve won nine of their last ten and deserve a little more respect than what theyre getting at this stage. I say that because they are a team that often goes unnoticed. Wins @ Dallas, Houston and Cleveland, while also beating the Clippers and Bulls in their own backyard. While those wins are very impressive they were just beaten by 30 @ Milwaukee which is a head scratcher however the Hawks have my attention and shall not go unnoticed no more.
Teams on the rise
Chicago Bulls
Phoenix Suns
Atlanta Hawks
Portland Trialblazers
Teams on the slide
New York Knicks
Golden State Warriors (Sliding from their hot start)
Memphis Grizzlies
Minnesota Timberwolves
Performance Of The Week Thus Far
Damian Lillard 40 points, 11 Assists, 6 Rebounds vs Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec 23
Play Of The Week
James Johnson dunks over Detroit’s Andre Drummond in this one. Drummond responds by flattening him on their next possession, but that dunk was special!
Steven Adams Watch
7.8 ppg , 7.5 rpg, 25 mins per game
Steven has had a good week in the NBA playing an important role with the team once again playing with star Kevin Durant. Adams notched up two double-double performances doubling his season total to four. This included a monster game against the defending champions Spurs team with Adams filling the stat sheet with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks in 31 minutes of game time culminating in a W over San Antonio on Christmas day in the US. Adams has linked well with Russell Westbrook and I believe this is showing on the box scores with Adams being a lot more active racking up double figures in rebounds in four straight games. With Adams being the out and out starting center it seems the big fella is getting comfortable with his new role and hopefully for OKC and Kiwi NBA fans it will result in Adams having more games like his one against the Spurs
Storyline Watch/Random thoughts
Christmas Day games
The NBA is a huge business and their games on Christmas day are an integral part of their overall entertainment package. The marketing, scheduling and broadcasting of their Christmas day games is somewhat impressive and the players also rise to the occasion making for a great spectacle on what is Boxing Day for us here in New Zealand. I didn’t care much for the jerseys however I am glad they were all sleeveless this year. Lebron returning to Miami was the one I was most interested in and Miami did a good job of keeping Lebron quiet with some vintage D-Wade magic in the first half. I was impressed with the video and reception Lebron got and the embrace between Wade and Lebron during the game. I think its quite a cool thing to be playing on Christmas day, Lebron and Wade showed some love and it was a nice touch on Christmas day to see the former teammates sharing a laugh during the game.