NBA Releases 2016-2017 NBA Regular Season Schedule
The Warriors have won 11 consecutive games entering Monday, and they have the best record in the league. They have lost only one game at home and one game on the road, and are pouring in an obscene 118.4 points per game, a pace that would outdo the remarkable 2015-16 team.
The Warriors marquee players are doing what marquee players are supposed to do. Take a look, for instance, at Kevin Durant.
Entering Sunday, Durant and Anthony Davis shared the title of most efficient player in the league. Despite sharing a court with the reigning most valuable player, Stephen Curry, Durant is averaging 27.2 points per game (seventh in the league), 8.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists. His shooting percentage is at a career high, a testament to his not having to carry the full weight of a team anymore.
And he is still casually doing stuff like this:
Durant is the Warriors most notable newcomer, but the teams roster has changed more than many fans realize. Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut decamped for the Dallas Mavericks, Marreese Speights moved down the coast to the Clippers and Festus Ezeli went to the Portland Trail Blazers.
An assortment of big men has replaced them, including three journeymen, Zaza Pachulia, David West and JaVale McGee. Of the three, McGee, now in his ninth season and on his fifth team, has been the biggest surprise. He has been efficient off the bench, providing the kind of energy that he is known for.
Depth is the key advantage the Warriors have over a team like the Rockets. Houston is having a good season, anchored by the nearly constant bravura performances of James Harden, who entered Monday averaging 28.9 points, 12.2 assists and 7.5 rebounds a game. But while the Rockets have other exciting players, most notably the young big man Clint Capela, they live and die with Harden.
The Warriors do not rely on a single superstar. They have three, arguably four (depending on how you feel about the relative merits of Klay Thompson and Draymond Green). And even if all four were to go flat simultaneously, it seems as if the Warriors always have someone to pick up the slack.
Predictably, fans panicked when the Warriors lost two early games. But roster changes take time to adjust to, and it is extraordinary that the team has started rolling as quickly as it has. The Warriors most likely will not equal last seasons win total. But if they continue to play this well, they are likely to compete in June for something that last seasons Warriors failed to bring home: a championship.
Three Others to WatchLos Angeles Clippers at Cleveland, Thursday, 8 p.m., TNT
The Cavaliers have the second best record in the league, and the Clippers have the fourth best record entering Monday. But Cleveland has yet to face any of the four best teams in the Western Conference, and the Clippers visit will represent their biggest test yet this season. You can see why I agonized about picking Warriors-Rockets over this as game of the week. My advice? Catch both games.
Houston at Utah, thursday, 9 p.m., nbatv
the exciting young Jazz have won two games in a row entering Monday, including a blowout win over the very decent Atlanta Hawks. Utahs new point guard, George Hill, seems to have found himself in Salt Lake City and, in his ninth season in the league, is scoring significantly more than ever before. He complements three hugely entertaining players: Rudy Gobert, Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood.
League Pass Game of the Week: Minnesota at New York, Friday, 7:30 p.m.
I think Dont Sleep on the Knicks might be one of my N.B.A. mantras this season. The Knicks have won three of their last four games entering Monday, all of them against good teams, and with Kristaps Porzingis continuing to grow and Coach Jeff Hornacek at the helm, they have a chance at a very solid season. It will be fun to watch them compete with the Timberwolves, who, while underperforming, have some of the best young talent in the league.
Triple-Double, ExponentialOn Friday night, Russell Westbrook notched his sixth triple-double of the season, on the road in Denver.
And then Saturday, at home against the Detroit Pistons, he got his seventh, managing the tremendous feat of back-to-back triple-doubles. Westbrook is now tied with LeBron James for the sixth most career triple-doubles (and, as Royce Young at ESPN points out, in far fewer games than James).
Westbrook is not the only player to notch more than one triple-double in this season of wealth. Harden has four. And James has two.
In the 2015-16 season, Harden and James recorded three triple-doubles apiece. And while Westbrook had a league-high 18 while still playing with Durant, he is on track to beat that handily.
Dig into the numbers a little further and you start to get a sense of just how mind-boggling these statistics are. In 2014-15, Westbrook led the league with 11 triple-doubles in 82 games. After 18 games this season, Westbrook is four away from matching that number.
In 2013-14, Lance Stephenson led the league with five triple-doubles. Rajon Rondo ruled with five triple-doubles in 2012-13 and six the season before. And James led with four in 2010-11.
So, to put it simply: Triple-doubles, about the coolest achievement that a player can notch on offense, have gone through the roof.
Its tempting to think that this means todays N.B.A. players are more talented than ever. And its true that, at least since LeBron entered the league, players have steadily become more versatile, with the bigs passing better and the littles rebounding more. But its not quite that simple.
The game has sped up, meaning more offensive possessions. More offense means more offensive statistics, which has translated into more triple-doubles.
And this statistic gives us a perfect window into why nerds like me are so enthusiastic about the league these days. The N.B.A. is at one of its highest points in its history as a spectator sport, and this number shows why. Sure, defense wins championships, yadda yadda yadda. But you know what offense wins? An increased television audience.
Thats all for now. See you next week.
Continue reading the main storySource: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/sports/basketball/nba-schedule-cavaliers-clippers-warriors-rockets.html
