NBA Week 4 Rewind: Warriors remain historically dominant
By Tom West
Who’s Heating Up?
To keep track of the NBA’s top performers from week 4, here’s a look at some of the teams and players who stepped up.
The Warriors are still winning. What a surprise. With their 118-105 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, they advanced to 15-0 to become just the third team in NBA history to do so. Only the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and 1993-94 Houston Rockets have achieved such a perfect start, and what’s even scarier is that the Warriors can easily continue their streak even further. Firstly, they can go to 16-0 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night to break the all-time record, and with the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings next, 18-0 is an obvious possibility. They face the Utah Jazz at the start of next week, but even their tough defense shouldn’t be enough to stop the Warriors — especially as Rudy Gobert can’t do anything to stop a three point barrage.
They’ve simply been dominating so far and that’s all there is to it. Stephen Curry’s performance has been off the charts, everyone on the roster steps up when they need to, and their defense has been resilient as always. That’s all that needs to be said. There’s no reason to echo the thoughts and praise of every other basketball fan or critic. So, now we have a new question to consider as the NBA season progresses. Which will we see first: the Philadelphia 76ers win, or the Warriors lose?
The Dallas Mavericks, believe it or not, haven’t been nearly as disappointing early on as most would have expected. They’re one of only four teams in the NBA to have more than nine wins, and they rank 3rd in the West with a 9-5 record after winning six of their last eight games. Zaza Pachulia is their new double double guy with 10.6 points and 10 rebounds per game, Deron Williams looks a little more more like his usual self after a few down years, and Wesley Matthews has had his moments as he adjusts after returning from injury. The Mavs just look better than we thought they would — especially after recent wins over the Clippers and Rockets.
Dirk Nowitkzki deserves an individual mention. Simply because even though he’s 37 years old, he won’t stop reminding us how he resists father time better than most players we’ve seen throughout NBA history. He may be slow and he may be a weak defender, but 18 points per game on a remarkable 53.9 percent shooting with a 53.3 percent three point stroke, Dirk is shooting as well as ever.
The New York Knicks aren’t going to contend in the East this season. No matter how many missed shots Kristaps Porzingis slams home, they won’t climb near the top of the Conference. However, as they already have basically half as many wins as their entire total from last season (17), the Knicks are doing far better than a year ago with 8-6 record after going 4-0 last week.
They’ve remained perfectly average so far by ranking 15th in both offensive and defensive efficiency, which is a drastic leap forward so far after finishing last season in the bottom three in the NBA in both categories. Now that Porzingis fever is sweeping the basketball world, Langston Galloway is playing well while making 55.3 percent of his threes, Carmelo Anthony has upped his efficiency, and they’re generally less pathetic, the Knicks are gradually on the rise.
Paul George is carrying the Indiana Pacers right now. They’ve won seven of their last nine games and have risen to 4th place in the East with an 8-5 record, and the return of their two-way superstar has sparked their success. George was able to make a confident entrance this season after having more time off to get in the best condition possible this summer, and he’s done far more than just return to form.
He’s playing the best basketball of his career at both ends of the floor. He’s 6th in the NBA for scoring with 24.8 points per game, while averaging 8.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. All of those numbers are career-highs, and he also has a career-best PER of 24.2 to show for it. And regardless of his defensive issues at power forward when it comes to guarding opposing bigs in the paint, George has been delivering the kind of overall, elite performance that should catapult him to the top of NBA stardom again.
LeBron James seems like an obvious name as a top performer. As the NBA’s best player (unless you’re ready to award that title to Stephen Curry), he’s been the most complete force over the last decade. From his tireless ability to assault the rim to the way he can play and defend practically every position, he’s probably going to be worth a mention almost every week in this segment. Yet, what with the Warriors’ historical start, LeBron’s performance and the Cavaliers’ 10-3 record has been somewhat overlooked.
As per usual, he’s among the top few scorers in the NBA and ranks 4th in points per game with 26.6, and over his last six games he has four with at least 30 points. While Kyrie Irving is out, it’s LeBron that’s largely responsible for the Cavs’ 3rd place spot in offensive efficiency. Don’t forget The King just because the Curry craze is fashionable now.
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