Highlights are awesome on their own. But they’re even better with a little context. Here’s a look back at the best of week eight.
“Let’s see what you got to get the ball up the floor”
James Harden knows how to end a first quarter. Don’t let anyone tell you different.
Harden’s buzzer-beating slam came in Houston’s 116-112 win over Golden State last Friday. The normally deadeye Warriors’ backcourt of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined to shoot 2-for-12 from deep, but Dwight Howard hit a three. It was a weird game.
Golden State turned the ball over 18 times (not uncommon as they average 17.3 a game, the third-highest mark in the league), they were outscored 27-8 in fast-break points, allowed the Rockets to shoot 49.4 percent from the field and still kept the game tight.
They managed that by out-rebounding the league’s second-best rebounding team 56-32 and beating Houston up inside, pouring in 66 points in the paint. Marreese Speights was crucial to that interior presence, grabbing eight offensive boards and scoring 16 points in 15-and-a-half minutes of work. It was a breakout game for Speights, who came in shooting just 32.7 percent on the season.
Harden’s dunk was a pretty exceptional bit of basketballery, but it was typical of this year’s Rockets in one important sense: it wasn’t a mid-range jumper. Basketball analytics—and those who indulge in them—tend to frame long twos as only slightly more appealing than a punch to the windpipe.
Being the NBA’s most publicly stats-driven team, the Rockets tie themselves in knots to avoid mid-range shots, taking just 9.2 a game. The next lowest mark in the league is Philly’s—18.6.
“Putting it right on the platter for him”
Former Raptors Quincy Acy and Rudy Gay have been doing pretty well for themselves in the handful of games since they were shipped from Toronto to Sacramento.
Acy is 5-for-7 from the floor through his first three games and has logged 20 minutes apiece in his last two (his season high). In addition to turning in his best Chocolate Thunder impression, against the Bobcats on Tuesday night he also led the team with two blocks.
Gay, meanwhile, has shot better than 50 percent from the field in three of his first four games. In Toronto this season, he only topped the 50 percent mark once.
“That would’ve been the showtime shot”
After missing 12 games with a hamstring injury, Golden State’s Andre Iguodala returned Tuesday night against the Pelicans and, as you can see from the clip above, he looked downright giddy at times.
Getting stuffed at the rim sort of summed up Iggy’s night overall, as he went 1-for-4 in 17 minutes of run, but Golden State couldn’t be happier to have him back.
With Iguodala healthy, the Warriors went 8-5 in their first 13 games of the season and allowed just 96.5 points per 100 possessions (roughly equivalent to San Antonio’s second-ranked D). Without him, they allowed 105 points per 100 possessions and went 5-7. They eventually stomped the Pelicans by 11.
“At the horn”
This week, Portland’s Damian Lillard made some serious progress in his quest to become the Mariano Rivera of basketball, hitting two game winners in three days to push the Blazers past the Pistons and Cavs.
This season, Lillard is shooting 80 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from deep in the last 30 seconds of games in which the score is within three points.
For his career in overtime, Lillard is 5-for-9 from behind the arc (55.6 percent) and has never missed a two-point shot (10-10) or a free throw (8-8). Clutch.
“You think the Heat are getting pretty good in the open court?”
LeBron James ran all over the Jazz on Monday night. Yes, it’s the Jazz, but James racked up 30 points, nine rebounds and nine dimes on 13-for-17 shooting.
Take a moment to appreciate the play above. After getting in on the strip of Utah’s Gordon Hayward, James starts the fast break lying facedown on the court and still beats everyone but Trey Burke and Mario Chalmers back. Chalmers is fouled on the lob and James reacts to the whistle in mid-air while finishing the play with a monster dunk. He also almost hits his head on the rim.
LeBron is so big and so fast that he’s said to be the only player in the league who causes papers to rustle when he sprints past media row in transition. Whether that’s true or not, it definitely seems epic enough for the occasion.
