NBA Week 4 Rewind: Warriors remain historically dominant
By Tom West
Weekly NBA Rookie Watch
As well as checking in on Porzingis mania, here’s a look at how a few of the top rookies are doing.
Justise Winslow is proving why he should have gone 10th overall in this year’s NBA draft. He knows he won’t can’t be a major offensive weapon yet with his 7.5 points per game and 22.7 percent three point shooting, but his defense has already looked impressive. Winslow can guard most perimeter players the league has to throw at him, and plays with the kind of intensity that’s vital for elite defense. He goes toe-to-toe with anyone, guards with physicality, has the lateral quickness to keep up with most players, and contests shots well on the perimeter. For his efforts, players shoot 5.5 percent below average from three point range against Winslow (per NBA.com Player Tracking), and he lowers the offensive rating of the Heat’s opponents by an entire 13.4 points per 100 possessions when he’s in the game.
Kristaps Porzingis continues to prove all his critics wrong at a terrifying rate. Not only did he record a new career-high of 29 points to defeat the Charlotte Hornets last week, he also scored 20+ points for the second time in his NBA career just a few days later as he led the Knicks past the Rockets. Porzingis’ range is increasing (he hadn’t hit two threes in a game until he did it twice last week), his aggressiveness is contagious, and he plays hard in the paint on defense. With 14 rebounds and 7 blocks (yes, 7) against Houston, that much became incredibly clear. He even added 24 points for good measure, too.
His interior play is an aspect of his game that’s surprising everyone. We all knew he was agile for his size and could space the floor despite being 7’3″, yet his aggression and physicality is an excellent quality to have already. And when he adds on some muscle, he’ll be even more dangerous inside. Now, with 13.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, Porzingis is giving all Knicks fans something to be excited about.
Karl-Anthony Towns had a few more big performances last week, although the Minnesota Timberwolves’ losing spell means his play can easily be forgotten. In week 4, he averaged 17.7 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks over three games, and went off for 21 points, 12 boards and a career-high 6 blocks against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. As for Towns’ chance to win Rookie of the Year, Minnesota’s team performance has little impact. It’s all about how well one rook performs, and just as Andrew Wiggins did last season in a major role with the Timberwolves, Towns will have the playing time and two-way game to be a top competitor for the award all year.
Jahlil Okafor is still leading this year’s rookie class with 17.9 points per game, but he had a bit of a down spell in week 4 in comparison to his first 10 contests. His scoring dipped to 14.8 points, although he did record 11 rebounds twice after only surpassing 10 rebounds in a game two times in the previous 10 games. And (you guessed it) his Philadelphia 76ers failed to win. When that finally happens, we really will have something to talk about.
Next: Under-the-radar Players to Watch Next Week