The first week of 2021 in the NBA brought it all. From confirming that, despite their brand, different teams considered candidates continue to develop their chemistry in search of a defined game identity, to the surprises of certain teams from whom little or nothing was expected at this point. the competition.
Spectacular performances were also starting to be seen, especially in terms of scoring, with several grades crossing the 40-point limit and even multiple triple-doubles in other cases.
Injuries were unfortunately also part of the equation, with Orlando Magic guard / guard Markelle Fultz being the most important of all.
Next, we’ll get into the details of what the week brought us and what’s to come from the NBA in the near future.
Awakening the figures
At the start of the season we talked about the excellent duos in the league, but so far in 2021 we need to focus and highlight the individual performances that took place.
Undoubtedly, most importantly, Stephen Curry reminded the entire League of the kind of player he is. His 62 points scored last Sunday in a win over Portland are the most of a Warriors player since Rick Barry scored 64 in 1974.
But that’s not all: he also became the first to score 30 points in each half since Kobe Bryant did on December 20, 2005. Plus, he rivaled Kobe by reaching that number in 36 minutes. or less on the track.
Another member of the 60-point club was Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who added so many to his team’s loss to Philadelphia by hitting 7 three-pointers in 10 tries and leveling Gilbert Arenas’ record for most points. in a game in the history of the franchise.
But they weren’t the only luminaries: Jason Tatum contributed 40 points to Boston’s victory over Toronto, Gordon Hayward added 44 points and 7 rebounds for Charlotte to beat Atlanta, Giannis Antetokounmpo added 43 and 9 rebounds in the win against Detroit, while Paul George was on the edge of 4 tens when he added 39 points in the victory over Phoenix Suns with 70% fertility in triples (7/10) in a face-to-face showdown against Devin Booker (Suns) who came to treat him of a smooth player as the encounter developed.
Finally, we must highlight the triple double that was achieved by Dallas point guard Luka Doncic (33-16-11) against the Houston Rockets, and that achieved by Nikola Jokic against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, January 3, when he scored 19 points, 12 rebounds and identical number of assists in 32 minutes of play.
Knicks: From Ignored to Surprise of the Week
Who would have bet that the Big Apple team would have a winning record after the first 8 games of the season? Few, certainly.
However, the team led by Tom Thibodeau is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, thanks to a score of 5-3 (the same as Milwaukee Bucks) after winning the last three games played.
What this team has achieved in the middle of the rebuilding period becomes more relevant when one sees that the victories came against good teams like Milwaukee (who outperformed them by 20 points), in Cleveland (+9), in Indiana (+4), in Atlanta (+5) and against Utah (+12).
Julius Randle has become the founding part of the team averaging 22.1 points, 11.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game and is the leader in these three statistical categories. He was the top scorer of the Knicks in 6 games, his best rebounder in 7 and his best assistor in 5. If we add to that a 50.9% effectiveness in shooting from the track and an astonishing 40.7% in triples, we can conclude that the power forward adds averages as well as any superstar in the NBA.
Austin Rivers is another of the Knicks surprising finds this season. Although the guard comes off the bench, his goal is put to good use by coach Thibodeau at the closing moments of the game. In just 26 minutes on average per game, Rivers has 13.3 points, with a 60% effectiveness in shooting from the field and a ridiculous 55.0% in triples at a rate of 5 tries in the 4 games he played.
Can you keep up this winning step for the next few weeks? It’s the million dollar question. While the following 5 rivals don’t have a winning record like them, there are some matchups where they are clearly not favorites to win, such as against Denver (3-4) and Brooklyn (4-4). But the story can be different as they compete against Oklahoma City (3-4), Charlotte (3-5) and Cleveland (4-4). Time will testify.
Fultz, out for the season
Barely 4 minutes into the game against Cleveland when Markelle Fultz sustained a torn ACL in his left knee, an injury requiring surgery and a lengthy period of rehab that will make him miss the rest of the season.
The injury occurred when Fultz recorded the best averages of his career in points with 12.0 and 5.4 assists after 8 games and added 14 3-pointers scored, which was a personal best. Also, the point guard / guard had recently signed a three-year, 50 million contract extension that will keep him on the Orlando team for the foreseeable future.
“It’s a big blow for us,” said teammate Nikola Vucevic. “Unfortunately for (Fultz) this is really sad, because he had a shoulder injury for two years, last year he could finally play and this year was going to be a great year for him. I was ready and the season started amazingly. This is really worthless to a man like him who has worked hard to get back. It’s hard to see and you feel sorry for him. “
We must not forget that Orlando also regrets the absence of another promising youngster such as Jonathan Isaac, who suffered an injury similar to Fultz’s last season and has been ruled out for this season to complete the rehabilitation process.
The weekend program
Between Friday and Sunday you can watch matches that arouse a lot of interest. Here we explain the most important.
The Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors play the second game of this mini-series in Sa Francisco on Friday. The first game ended with the Angelino team winning 108-101 with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard as the protagonists, adding 42 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists together, in addition to limiting Stephen Curry to 13 points and slowing down of the Warriors’ 3-point effectiveness making only 26.7% of 3-point shots.
On Saturday we have to prepare for the game between Denver and Philadelphia. The Nuggets will embark on a 3 games in 4 nights mini tour in the East, while the Sixers will try to stay on top of the conference positions. A full band shutdown is scheduled for Sunday as Miami and Boston meet again after the Celtics won the first of their 107-105 meetings with a fantastic performance from Jason Tatum with 27 points and Jaylen. Brown who had 21 and 12 rebounds.
The icing on the cake is the game of the defending champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, who host the Houston Rockets at home. Anthony Davis leads the defending champions in rebounding and steals 9.0 and 1.6 respectively, while LeBron James comes in as the team’s leading scorer (23.9 pts) and assists (7.4). Despite his desire to be traded to another team, James Harden leads the Rockets in points (29.4), assists (11.0) and steals (1.2)