NBA Week 3 Rewind: Stephen Curry, Warriors can’t be stopped
By Tom West
Who’s Heating Up?
Stephen Curry is the reigning MVP and quite possibly the best shooter in NBA history, but he was still supposed to cool down a bit by now. As he continues to burn all his opponents, though, it’s clear he wants to keep his scoring binge going.
He leads the league with 33.4 points per game, and unlike many other superstars, he does so at incredible efficiency virtually every night. He’s shooting 51.7 percent from the floor and 45.2 percent from three, which speaks volumes about his ridiculous ability as he’s putting up 21.5 shots every night and still maintaining excellent accuracy. He’s also above everyone else with an absurd player efficiency rating of 35.4. Apparently he just isn’t going to slow down. And after performances like his 46 point showing against the Timberwolves (his third 40 point game of the season), it’s becoming increasingly clear he’s on a mission.
Besides Curry, the Warriors have been displaying their overall team input, ball movement, and elite defense. They’re the most overpowering team in the NBA by a noticeable margin (16.3 points per game, to be precise), and Curry being this hot extends that margin even further.
Russell Westbrook has once again been on a tear, although his poor shooting performance against the Celtics on Sunday night did end his week on a much lower note. However, that doesn’t take away from the Thunder earning a 3-1 record this week and Westbrook tallying back-to-back triple doubles in the process. Against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday the 13th, Westbrook was far from unlucky. Yes, it’s pretty difficult to have any bad luck or performances against the 76ers, but Russ still notched 21 points, 11 assists and a career-high 17 rebounds. So, for those who continue to say he hogs the ball, a league-best mark of 10.3 assists per game says otherwise.
The Cleveland Cavaliers can’t be forgotten. Despite losing their last game 105-108 in overtime against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Cavs’ strong 8-2 start has been somewhat overlooked amidst the hype surrounding Curry and the Warriors. Sure, the West is great to watch, but the East? Not as much. A healthy Thunder squad, the improved Spurs and the revamped Clippers has made that as clear as ever. So, as the Cavaliers set off on a journey to most likely win the East after the Hawks surprised everyone with 60 wins last year, they’re once again a force.
Despite LeBron James’ shooting struggles (26.2 percent from three), he’s still leading the way with 27 points, 6.8 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2 steals per game. Kevin Love has made his return with 17.2 points and 12.1 rebounds a night, and the bench is providing a solid input all around. With LeBron in charge and their amount of talent, it isn’t surprising they rank 4th in the NBA in offensive efficiency so far. The real way they’ve impressed is with a sturdy effort on defense in the paint, as they’ve currently risen from 20th in defensive efficiency last season to 7th right now.
The Boston Celtics are on a roll right now. When looking past their moderate 5-4 record, they’ve put together an impressive run (winning four of their last five) to take down the Wizards, Bucks, Hawks and Thunder. As mentioned in the game recap from the previous side, they excel in certain areas of the game due to having no star players to rely on.
Primarily, that leads to great ball movement, and when they can step up with their perimeter defense too, they can create more offense in transition. While they lack elite scorers, that defensive element of their game is vital. And the longer they remain 4th in defensive efficiency as they are now, the longer we’ll see the Celtics hovering around the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Paul George has elevated his game and the Indiana Pacers have been getting results because of it. A move to power forward has been the talk of the Pacers’ preseason and early weeks, and George admitted himself that it wasn’t something he was comfortable with. After a great start, though, it doesn’t seem to be much of a problem.
He’s split his playing time perfectly between both forward positions so far with 50 percent of his minutes at each, and he can use his stellar quickness and explosiveness to blow past slower power forwards on the perimeter. His interior play is obviously the problem, as he’s far too slender and easy to out-match in the post to defend opposing bigs on the block. The Pacers are able to compensate partly for that problem, though, with their imposing frontcourt containing Ian Mahinmi, Myles Turner and Jordan Hill.
As for George, he’s 9th in the NBA with 24.3 points per game to go along with a major career-best 8.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals. With a current career high PER of 23.6 too, he’s returned with emphasis in all facets of his game. And, as is always more important, his team are on the rise after winning six of their last seven games.
Hassan Whiteside, as expected, is dominating the paint this year. We need to look at others besides the league’s best perimeter scorers and superstars, and that’s where defensive towers like Whiteside come into play. He’s 4th in blocks per game (4), 5th in rebounds per game (11.7), leads the NBA with a defensive rating of 86.2. From the easy offensive threat he provides as a put-back machine and alley-oop target, to the way he limits baskets inside and controls the boards, he’s become an absolute force.
Also, his ridiculous stat line per 36 minutes just needs to be acknowledged for it’s sheer dominance: 17.8 points, 14.3 rebounds and 4.9 blocks. The paint is simply a horrible place to be for other teams when Whiteside is in the game.
So, how has his defensive emergence helped his team? The Miami Heat are now ranked 2nd in defensive efficiency and have won three straight. Talk about a young star coming out of nowhere.
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