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junker-town · 8 years ago

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The 7 most important NBA storylines at the All-Star break

Here’s what this NBA season has shown us.

All-Star weekend has arrived for the NBA. It’s a chance to look back on a few of the biggest storylines of the season. Here’s seven.

1. The NBA wants to break every offensive statistic we’ve ever known

Russell Westbrook through 57 games: 31.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 10.1 assists. If Westbrook can maintain this, he’ll be the second NBA player to ever average a triple-double for an entire season. Oscar Robertson, of course, was the first.

James Harden — the de facto MVP favorite, although there’s still plenty of time left — isn’t terribly far behind Westbrook. He’s averaging 29.2 points and 8.3 rebounds while leading the league with 11.3 assists per game. He’s also recorded two 50-point triple-doubles this year. He’s only the second person in NBA history to do that, and he’s done it twice. This other is Westbrook ... earlier this season.

In Boston, Isaiah Thomas is averaging the most points in the fourth quarter since we started tracking points scored by quarter. He’s earned a Game of Thrones-inspired ‘King of the Fourth’ nickname and doing this all despite standing, like, 5’9 or something.

Teams are doing this, too. Three-pointers have been steadily on the rise since the shot was introduced, but we’ve especially seen a spike in the past five years and it’s happening even more prominently this season. Before this year, teams had shot at least 47 three-pointers only three times in NBA history. This year, it has already happened 12 times — eight times for the Rockets, but also once each for the Knicks, Mavericks, Celtics and Warriors.

In general, teams are relying more and more on superstars to run their offenses. That trend is prevalent league-wide and NBA head coaches don’t see it going anywhere.

Those are a few stats. You could find any number more. The point is this: offenses — on both the individual and team level — have never been more dynamic.

2. We lost an NBA legend this season

Craig Sager was a colorful light and a beautiful man who could always make us smile. He was damn good at his job, too. In December, he passed away after a long struggle with cancer. Of the many, many touching tributes, I especially thought TNT’s was wonderfully done.

We are forever #SagerStrong http://pic.twitter.com/t9C3x6znkb

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 15, 2016

Rest in peace, Craig.

3. The poor sympathetic 73-win Warriors finally got a superstar

Obviously, the moment Golden State signed Kevin Durant this summer, we knew they were going to be the most important team to follow this season. After losing their first game to San Antonio, there really hasn’t been any major problems for the basketballers in Silicon Valley. They needed about a month to adjust to full Death Star status, and they did blow a big fourth quarter lead to the Cavaliers on Christmas day, but they’ve more or less dominated the league the whole season.

The one thing we can say is that Golden State plays a little better with Stephen Curry leading the charge, not Kevin Durant, something Durant has recognized and allowed to happen in recent weeks.

4. No one’s tanking (except the Lakers lmao)

The upcoming draft is looming loaded with talent, with Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball emerging as the stars of the draft but plenty more players well respected behind them. However, NBA teams aren’t rushing to the bottom — most are trying to win.

Dallas and Miami were both careening towards the bottom, until they weren’t. The Mavericks, once 4-17, are 22-34 now while winning 11 of their last 18. Somehow, the Heat inexplicably went on a 13-game winning streak that started when they were just 11-30. You can heap tons of credit on both team’s coaches, Rick Carlisle and Erik Spoelstra, who are the longest tenured coaches in the league after Gregg Popovich and for good reason.

Philadelphia emerged from the gutter of the NBA to field a surprisingly coherent, fun team for a month. Joel Embiid’s recent knee injury has pulled the team back down, but he’s expected to return within a few weeks while Ben Simmons debut should happen at any point after the All-Star break.

The Nets are miserable. Phoenix has twice as many wins as them, but is the worst team in the Western Conference. Third worst is Los Angeles, who won a few games early in the season but have fallen off dramatically. It may be on purpose — their first-round pick is top-three protected, meaning being one of the three worst teams is highly beneficial for them. Still, just three teams that are truly awful is a welcomed departure from years past.

5. Basketball was set back at least a decade because of this sequence

When you playing pick-up and everybody is trash http://pic.twitter.com/APilOqFyV8

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 3, 2016

Guys, c’mon ...

6. The 2016 Draft class is nowhere to be found

I can’t remember the last time a draft class collectively was this disappointing their first season in the league. Here’s the lottery:

Ben Simmons: hasn’t played with an injury

Brandon Ingram: playing but struggling

Jaylen Brown: playing sparingly

Dragan Bender: wasn’t playing and now out for the year

Kris Dunn: has barely played

Buddy Hield: been solid since entering the starting lineup

Marquese Chriss: playing but very inconsistent

Jakob Poltl: hasn’t really played

Thon Maker: hasn’t really played

Domantas Sabonis: has been a solid if unspectacular starter

Taurean Prince: hasn’t really played

Georgios Papagiannis: has only played four games

Denzel Valentine: has played decent in limited minutes

That’s your lottery. Don’t worry — you can check out the rest of the first round, and there’s really no one that stands out. The best player in this draft has, by far, been Malcolm Brogdon in Milwaukee, who was the 36th overall selection. As long as Joel Embiid can finish out this season relatively healthy, then he’s the favorite to win Rookie of the Year. Of course, he was a 2014 selection.

All this has hid that the 2015 draft class has taken a pretty big step back. But they have a few stars (Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Myles Turner and Devin Booker) that carries that class and project to be the league’s top echelon for years. In the 2016 draft, no one is really showing it yet.

7. The increasingly political NBA

After the surprising events of the 2016 election, the NBA has remained much more outspoken about current events and the political climate in America than other major leagues. The league pulled the All-Star Game from Charlotte after an anti-LBGTQ law was passed in the state. Coaches and players — notably Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich — have expressed distaste for Donald Trump. Teams have refused to stay at Trump hotels. A number of NBA figures have spoken out against Trump’s brief ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries that was halted by the federal courts system. The league continues pushing a global initiative as Trump’s presidency ran on nationalism, and there’s a chance the NBA could even expand to Mexico in the coming years.

Those are just a few examples. Both now and as we tumble further into the future, it’s clear the NBA will not stray from its moral compass.

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