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5 crazy NBA Stats at the halfway point of the season

By Dallin Duffy

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 30: Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors tries to dribble as Jaren Jackson Jr. #13 of the Memphis Grizzlies defends during the first half of their NBA game at Scotiabank Arena on November 30, 2021 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 30: Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors tries to dribble as Jaren Jackson Jr. #13 of the Memphis Grizzlies defends during the first half of their NBA game at Scotiabank Arena on November 30, 2021 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) /
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5 crazy NBA Stats at the halfway point of the season
TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 7: Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors drives against the Utah Jazz during the first half of their basketball game at the Scotiabank Arena on January 7, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 5 crazy NBA Stats at the halfway point of the season. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images) /

NBA stats are fun. The NBA is fun. Putting them together is a blast and thanks to stats.NBA.com, doing that is easier than ever. The league tracks almost everything you’d want to know. These stats range from helpful and resourceful numbers to interesting tidbits you didn’t think you needed to know.

I’ve recently dug through the stats database and found some eye-opening figures as we reach the halfway mark of the 2021-22 NBA season. Without further intro-ing, let’s take a look at some crazy stats.

Note: stats are accurate through Jan. 24, 2021

5 crazy NBA Stats at the halfway point of the season: 1. Fred Vanvleet tops the league in minutes with 38.1 per game

If someone walked down to the Toronto bench and pulled off Nick Nurse’s mask and revealed him to be Tom Thibodeau, you shouldn’t be surprised. Rest assured, there’s no Scooby Doo-style trickery going on in Canada. Nurse is just playing his starters a whole lot.

Three Raptors sit in the top six spots of the minutes per game leaderboard, with Fred Vanvleet logging a head-turning 38.2 per night. The last player to average over 38 minutes for a season was James Harden in 2015-16. The last Raptors player to do so was DeMar DeRozan in 2013-14.

No one is going to give coach Nurse a hard time for that, as not only is VanVleet clearly the best option in Toronto, he’s having the best season of his career. The guard is not only a likely All-Star, he is cruising towards All-NBA votes.

Unless the Raptors bring in a veteran playmaker at the deadline or he suffers an unfortunate injury, VanVleet will likely top all players in minutes played. If that doesn’t signal that it’s officially his team now, I don’t know what else does.