NBA Week 10 Rewind: West elite emerging above all others
By Tom West
Who’s Heating Up?
Draymond Green is back. Not that he went anywhere, but his league-leading triple double ways have made him a more than deserving of a place in this segment again. Only three players have more than one triple double this season: Russell Westbrook (3), Rajon Rondo (4) and, of course, Green (6). The latter puts others to shame, as not only is he a power forward with point guard assist numbers and rebound averages beyond his 6’7″ frame, but he’s delivering more well-rounded performances than anyone else.
With his 10 points, 11 rebounds and 16 assists on December 31 in a 114-110 win over the Rockets, Green notched his fifth of the season. As if that wasn’t enough, he tallied another triple double in the following game against the Nuggets with 29 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists (plus 4 steals). For a power forward who used to just be considered an undersized defender, these performances are special.
And now that he’s not only an exceptional and versatile defender, but a playmaker, a focal point on offense, a 40 percent three point shooter and a constant triple double threat, Green is easily on his way to his first All-Star appearance. If he doesn’t make the cut, then some fans really don’t have a clue how deserving he is.
Russell Westbrook has done nothing but show people how well-rounded his game is this season. Besides being a scarily athletic and angry dunker, he’s also a stellar passer, hustler, rebounder and defender. And while all that is great, it’s his never-ending energy and passion that allows him to be such a force.
Averages of 25.6 points, 9.3 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game are rarely seen, yet Westbrook makes it look easy. Last week was no different, as he put up 27.3 points, 9.5 assists and 3 steals per game with 50 percent shooting.
An even better element of his performance has been the reduction in the amount of long twos he’s taking. Everyone who watches him play knows that his quick-trigger, pull-up jumper is one of his favorite shots, but it’s not always efficient. Yet, after decreasing the amount of 16 foot jumpers he’s taking from 18.4 percent of his total shots last season to 11, he’s now hitting them at a career-high 44.3 percent rate.
Plus, with career-highs in overall field goal percentage (46.7) and player efficiency rating (an absurd 30.7), he’s more efficient and effective than ever.
The Los Angeles Clippers are making an appearance this week for actually finding some consistency. And, believe it or not, it’s come while they’ve been without arguably their best player of the season, Blake Griffin. He’s currently out for at least another week after partially tearing a quadricep tendon, which means the Clippers have to survive without their leading scorer and all-around force. Which, if you’ve seen them play, should be asking an awful lot from Chris Paul and an extremely turbulent second unit.
However, they’ve won six straight games after an easy return home in a 60 percent shooting, 130-99 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, and have a 22-13 record. Now, they sit comfortably at 4th in the West, three wins ahead of the 5th place Mavericks.
Their recent wins haven’t just been coming from CP3 stepping up with his sudden dunks either. Jamal Crawford and Paul Pierce have actually had some efficient shooting nights, J.J. Redick has three 25+ point games since Griffin’s injury, Cole Aldrich has been a major defensive presence at center off the bench, and the team have generally come together to play with intensity and fire on all cylinders.
Except for Josh Smith, that is. He’s received five DNP’s in his last seven games, despite being the most expected choice to be the new starting power forward while Blake is out. Besides his likely frustrations, though, the Clippers are getting themselves together, and they’re doing it without a vital superstar.
Klay Thompson is well and truly on heat-check alert. Sorry to include a second Warriors player if you’re sick of hearing about them, but what Thompson has started doing as of late has catapulted him closer to the forefront of people’s attention. Especially with the absence of Stephen Curry (a left shin contusion), this has been even more apparent. Plus, after helping lead the team alongside Draymond Green, Thompson has more than earned a spot in this week’s segment.
Over the first few weeks of the season, he remained fairly quiet. Besides Curry going above and beyond as a ridiculous scorer to hog the spotlight, Thompson was also shooting only 36 percent from three over the first 11 games. Now, over his last 12 games, he’s averaging a scorching hot 25.8 points on 47.2 percent shooting with a far better 44.1 percent three point stroke.
With three nights scoring more than 38 points in this span, it’s safe to say opponents can’t leave him out of their sight for a second.
There are few players more exciting to watch when they find a shooting rhythm than Klay Thompson, and he’s in a pretty good rhythm right now.
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