This has been a fascinating year thus far. It’s not just the off-season transactions, the Lakers going for another three-peat, or the hype in South Beach. From rookies to veterans, we are in the middle of one of the most exciting statistical seasons, ever. Most of that can be attributed to some of the all-time great players reaching the end of their careers or young guys trying to make a name for themselves. We are a quarter of the way through the year and here are the statistical standouts thus far:
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San Antonio Spurs (1st, 20-3)
Old Dog, New Tricks: The Spurs built a dynasty on their hard-nosed defense but this year it’s their offense that has propelled them to their best start in franchise history (20-3). Their offense is ranked #2 overall (113.0 ORtag) and it’s mainly due to their league leading 3-point shooting as a team (41.4%). The Red Rocket leads the way, connecting on 33 of his 65 3-pt attempts this season. It’s raining sandwiches!
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Dallas Mavericks (2nd, 19-4)
Dirkus Circus: This is straight from Scott Carefoot at The Basketball Jones:
“According to 82games.com, they outscore their opponents by 15.1 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor and they get outscored by 17.0 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the bench. If Nowitzki keeps up his scoring average over the next month, he’ll be 24th in all-time scoring by the time I do next month’s power forward rankings — passing Larry Bird and Gary Payton along the way.”
If Dirk and Dallas keep this up, how can you deny the “Tall Baller from the G” his second MVP?
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New Orleans Hornets (3rd, 14-9)
Point Man: If you still don’t realize who the best Point Guard in the NBA is let me make it easy for you. Chris Paul is averaging 16 points and 10 (#3 in the NBA) assists per game. Not bad but lets dive a little deeper. He is taking a career low 11 shots per game and shooting 49.6% from the field. He is also shooting a retarded 49.1% from 3 (#7 in the NBA) and 91.4% from the free throw line (#2 in the NBA). His 3.2 steals per game are #1 in the NBA and his 3.85 assists/turnover ratio is just bonkers.
And if all that doesn’t set your panties on fire, CP3 is averaging more steals (3.2/per game) than turnovers (2.6/per game). Best point guard in the NBA? Try best point guard in the galaxy!
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Memphis Grizzlies (4th, 10-14)
45 Million What?: According to PER, Mike Conley is the 17th best PG in the NBA. According to his paycheck next year, he is in the Top 5. Memphis also has the 13th highest payroll in the NBA and next year will jump into the top 10 if they decide to sign Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol (their two best players). All of this and the Grizzlies haven’t sniffed the playoffs in 5 years.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Chris Wallace.
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Houston Rockets (5th, 9-14)
He’s On Fire: Kevin martin is lighting it up. This season he has a TS% of 63.1%. He is hitting 41.9% of his 3’s and 91.85 of his free throws. According to The Dream Shake – In the Rockets win over the Cavs, Martin shot an unbelievable 92.4% TS% for the game on his way to 40 points. Scorching.
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Previous Posts:
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
Keep your pencils sharp and your calculators handy, NBA geeks! We’ll be back soon with the next installment of ‘NBA Stats To Watch For’.
@Suga_Shane
