NBA Best of the Week: Week 2—Someone Flipped The Atlantic Division Over
By Phil Watson
Another NBA week is in the books and a quick look at the divisional standings can be a bit of a shock, particularly when one gazes at the Atlantic Division.
Tied for first: The Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics. In third: The Toronto Raptors. Tied for last: The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.
Wait … what?
Of course, that’s not the only division that looks … odd. The Phoenix Suns are in first place in the Pacific and the Atlanta Hawks are tied with the Miami Heat for the lead in the Southeast.
The Indiana Pacers can’t lose and the San Antonio Spurs are the tops of the Western Conference, the latter point proving that some things don’t, in fact, change.
So with that, we roll into the Best of the Week. See if you can guess the theme for this week’s rankings.
Best of the Week—Players
Biff: Markieff Morris, Phoenix Suns
Markieff Morris was a beast for the Suns. (NBA.com photo)
Yes, I said Markieff Morris. The Phoenix Suns power forward had himself a heckuva week last week. Morris averaged 22.8 points, eight rebounds and two steals per game for the Suns, who were 3-1 last week. He also shot 69.8 percent, made 3-of-5 from 3-point range, posted an offensive rating of a robust 109.4 and a defensive rating of 95.7. A net rating of 13.7? Sign me up, please, particularly if you’re going to throw in a true shooting percentage of 74.7. He had a pair of double-doubles—a 23-point, 12-rebound effort in a loss at San Antonio on Wednesday (when he was also 11-for-13 from the floor) and 28 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Denver on Friday, when he slumped to a paltry 10-for-13.
Nurse Ratched: LeBron James, Miami Heat
LeBron James did LeBron-type things. (NBA.com photo)
LeBron James was his usual stat-sheet stuffing self for the Heat last week, averaging 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds a game as Miami went 2-1. James also shot 60.9 percent for the week. LeBron went for 35 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and was 13-for-20 from the floor in a win over Toronto on Tuesday and was 9-for-13 from the floor in the Heat’s stunning loss to Boston on Saturday.
Bishop: Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves
When Kevin Love is healthy, he’s pretty good. (NBA.com photo)
So, OK, he looks pretty healthy. In a 2-2 week for the T-Wolves, Love averaged 26.3 points, 15.8 rebounds and six assists a game while also selling 852 cups of beer a night (OK, so I made that last one up … maybe). Love was also 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) from 3-point land—a nice combination to have with the 8 gazillion rebounds. The season is eight games old and Love has, well … let’s count ‘em up … yeah, eight double-doubles. Love went for 32 points and 15 boards in a win over Dallas on Friday and had 23 points and 19 boards as Minnesota scared the bejeezus out of the Clippers in Lob City LosAngeles Monday night.
Best of the Week—Rookies
Bobby Kent: Steven Adams, Oklahoma City Thunder
We
have
make Big Kiwi stick as a nickname for Steven Adams.(NBA.com photo)
So maybe the folks who thought the Big Kiwi shouldn’t have left Pittsburgh after his freshman year should rethink things. Adams is still coming off the bench for the Thunder, who were 3-0 last week, and he’s inconsistent from night to night, but he put together a pretty good week. Adams averaged just 23.3 minutes per game, but put up eight points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots per night. In Oklahoma City’s win over the Pistons on Friday, Adams took over for a completely ineffective Kendrick Perkins and played 31 minutes and picked up 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks and was 7-for-10 from the floor. He also had nine boards in 20 minutes in a win over Dallas on Wednesday.
Deebo: Ben McLemore, Sacramento Kings
Ben McLemore can shoot the 3. (NBA.com photo)
The Kings were 0-3, but McLemore did his part, shooting 60 percent (6-for-10) from 3-point land and averaging 9.3 points a game in 19.3 minutes a night off the bench. His numbers are more impressive when you consider that at Portland on Friday night, the only thing McLemore could do effectively was commit fouls—as in four in seven minutes, the only stat line he put anything but a zero in that night. But he had 15 points in 23 minutes against Atlanta on Tuesday and 13 points (and was 3-for-3 from deep) against the Trail Blazers on Saturday.
Chet Donnelly: Nate Wolters, Milwaukee Bucks
Nate Wolters could make Larry Drew rethink the Bucks’ point guard situation. (NBA.com photo)
The Bucks were 1-1 and they did it with a second-round pick from the middle of nowhere (OK, South Dakota State) playing 34.5 minutes a night and running the offense. In two games, Wolters averaged seven points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists, shooting just 36.4 percent (4-for-11), but hitting 6-of-7 from the line and turning the ball over once in two games. With Brandon Knight playing again, it remains to be seen how much playing time Wolters will continue to get, but if he keeps averaging one turnover a game, coach Larry Drew might have to rethink that whole rotation thing.
Regina George (Team of the Week): Indiana Pacers
Suffice it to say they’ve been pretty good. In an insanely tightly packed week, the Pacers went 5-0 and held opponents to 85 points a game and 40.1 percent shooting. Oh, and they outrebounded opponents 44.4-38.8, just for good measure. Paul George’s “I’m A Superstar Now, B**tches” tour continued, as he averaged 24.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in five games, and Roy Hibbert continued to swat anything that looked round and orange, blocking 21 shots in five games while also finding time to average 10.8 points and nine rebounds. Lance Stephenson continues to be a revelation, as well, averaging 11.4 points, 6.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds for the week and putting up his first career triple-double Monday night against Memphis with 13 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds and he was 9-for-21 (42.9 percent) from distance for the week. And it’s worth pointing out that Indiana is only 65 victories shy of breaking the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 wins.
Gordie Lachance vs. Ace Merrill (Game of the Week): Boston Celtics 111, Miami Heat 110
Jeff Green’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave coach Brad Stevens the biggest win of his young NBA career Saturday night as the Celtics stunned the Heat on South Beach. Of course, Green’s heroics wouldn’t have been possible had Dwyane Wade not out-thought himself. He missed the first of two free throws with the Heat up two with 0.6 second remaining. On the second, Wade tried to intentionally miss—the thought being, of course, that time would expire while the rebound was being contested. One problem: Wade missed the rim. So instead, Boston was able to call a timeout, set up an inbounds play and come away with a shocking win over the defending champs on the road.
“And I was like, ‘Whoa!’ And he was like, ‘Dude!’ And I was like, ‘Whoa!’” (Plays of the Week)
My three favorite plays from the last week (CONTENT WARNING: Houston Rockets fans may want to look away).