NBA Week 3 recap: Enjoying the Kings and Thunder on the rise

Outlet passes

These are some lesser storylines and trends that have caught my attention this past week and the season as a whole.

OKC Thunder back to normal

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s slow start should have been predicted. Russell Westbrook missed the first three games of the season and they lost to the Boston Celtics in his first game back. But they are winners of five straight games and have returned to what made them a contender: defense.

In their last five games, the Thunder have forced the most turnovers per game (21.0), tied for eighth in opponents 3-point attempt percentage per game (32.8 percent), first in steals (14.4) and sixth in defensive rating (103.6). This has helped their offense, which leads the NBA in points off turnovers during this stretch (27.0 per game).

Getting Westbrook back is vital and has seen their offensive numbers spike since his return, but this team was built on deploying as many long, athletic bodies as possible to hound opponents defensively. We’re starting to see this come to life, as rookie Hamidou Diallo illustrates.

https://twitter.com/okcthunder/status/1059639901728268288

Figuring out their rotation has been tough, but seeing these young athletes get minutes is great to see. Also, the Dennis Schroder addition has been a massive upgrade in their backcourt, and sharpshooter Alex Abrines playing more has opened up space on their offense. This team is as fun as they’ve been since Kevin Durant departed.

Denver Nuggets: Clear second best team in the West

Coming into the NBA season, there were a couple suitors for who would rival the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference as the second-best team. The Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and even the Los Angeles Lakers were pegged as true challengers. Three weeks into the season, the Denver Nuggets are the clear second-best team.

Nobody doubted their ability to score with Nikola Jokic pulling the strings with budding stars Jamal Murray and Gary Harris forming one of the NBA’s best backcourts. They are deep with Paul Millsap, Mason Plumlee, Malik Beasley, Torrey Craig, Trey Lyles, Monte Morris and Juan Hernangomez forming a strong rotation.

But their defense elevates them to elite contention if it sustains. They are fourth in points allowed per game (102.4), sixth in opponent 3-point field goal percentage (32.7 percent) and are third in the NBA in defensive rating (101.8). They are getting creative in their schemes with Nikola Jokic being more aggressive on screens, forcing ball-handlers to make quicker decisions with the ball instead of dropping into the paint in years past.

With wins over the Warriors and Boston Celtics and only one loss on their record, the Nuggets are on their way to being ahead of schedule in becoming a powerhouse.

Serge Ibaka renaissance

While the Nuggets are the second-best team out West at the moment, the Toronto Raptors are the clear best team in the Eastern Conference. They have the deepest team in the NBA with so many willing passers, ball-handlers, shooters and guys who can defend. This is why I picked them to make the NBA Finals and win it all.

I did not expect Serge Ibaka to play this well, however. Head coach Nike Nurse rotates his frontcourt depending on matchups and Ibaka is thriving in whatever role he’s asked. He is thriving in his most comfortable role as a small-ball 5 that roams the rim defensively and does a little bit of everything offensively, something that was hard to come by last season in Toronto.

Ibaka had a ludicrous 34 points on 15-of-17 shooting from the field against the Los Angeles Lakers as well as 10 rebounds on Nov. 4. He’s averaging 18.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.3 blocks and 0.8 steals per game this season. Having Ibaka playing at this level makes the Raptors a terrifying opponent now, and come playoff time.

New York Knicks: No guards to too many guards?

The New York Knicks have lacked a competent point guard since Raymond Felton navigated pick-and-rolls from 2012-14. To solve this problem, the Knicks drafted Frank Ntilikina in the 2017 NBA Draft, but he was seen as too raw on the offensive end to appease their offensive needs.

Take a look at their roster now, and they are taking a committee approach to this guard drought. Trey Burke was the team’s best point guard at the tail end of last season and still logs 20.1 minutes per game. They traded for Emmanuel Mudiay last season, who gets some time. Allonzo Trier went undrafted and is on a two-way contract, but has been the best of their guard quadrant with Ntilikina leading this group in minutes.

It’s an interesting strategy to crowd your backcourt with this many young guards, but at least it’s been exciting watching David Fizdale use multiple guard sets. They won’t win, but they have been exciting to watch and who knows? Four is greater than one.

Latest entry in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s growing highlight reel

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