NBA Week 13 Rewind: Warriors put Cavaliers in their place

Who’s Heating Up?

DeMarcus Cousins added a career-high 48 points to the end of his week to make yet another statement. It’s hard to argue that he isn’t the best center in the NBA and the fact that he wasn’t even in the top seven for the Western Conference frontcourt All-Star voting, behind the apparent legend that is Zaza Pachulia and even Enes Kanter (who hasn’t started a single game this season), is a major snub to say the least.

Yet again, Cousins is simply dominating his opponents. He’s hard to stop as always in the paint, with a combination of footwork, shooting touch and strength that few can handle. Besides the fact that his per game averages of 26.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks are the kind of numbers that are almost nonexistent with big men today, he’s added even more range to his attack. He’s used far more near the perimeter now, and is shooting 34.7 percent from three. Which, seeing as he’d made 11 threes in the last five years combined and he has 43 already this season, speaks volumes about his improvement and more diverse role.

Last week was even more dominant than usual. Thanks to a 36 point, 16 rebound night against the Lakers and a career-high 48 points against the Pacers, he’s averaged 36 points, 14.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists over his last three games. In fact, in January so far, Cousins has seven games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds — no one else even has more than one such game.

Thanks to Cousins’ play and the way this young Kings squad has been playing so well offensively, they now have a five-game win streak and are still in the playoff picture at 8th in the West.

Derrick Rose, without stating the obvious that he’s not his 2010-11 MVP self, is starting to show more flashes of the Rose that so many basketball fans fell in love with. Until a 5-of-21 shooting night in a win against the Cavs that showed the inconsistencies he’ll still have at times, he had a highly respectable week.

Highlighted by a 29-point game (albeit in a crushing blowout) against the Warriors and a 27-point night in a loss to the Boston Celtics, Rose had a far more productive and efficient week. He looked more comfortable attacking the basket and was quick to take opponents off the dribble, his jump shot was falling and he was even making series of bank shots off glass from range.

If it wasn’t for that 5-of-21 shooting display, Rose’s stats would have been even better. However, 22 points on 44 percent shooting last week (including 44 percent from three) is the best kind of offensive input the Bulls can hope for from Rose right now. When he can create his own shot successfully and blow past opponents on drives to the basket, Chicago’s offense is instantly better. It just comes down to consistency and most importantly health now.

The Toronto Raptors are second only to the Spurs (13) for the longest win streak in the NBA with eight. Kyle Lowry is an All-Star starter, DeMar DeRozan should certainly make the cut as a reserve, and the bench is chipping in, too. Overall, they’re a top 10 team in the NBA for both offensive (5th) and defensive (10th) efficiency.

For the last couple of years we’ve been used to the Raptors thriving with their elite backcourt and looking like a solid team throughout the regular season, but it’s a different story when the playoffs roll around. For the last two years, they’ve been no more than a first round exit. This season, however, things are starting to look like they could change.

Bismack Biyombo is providing a new board-crashing, shot-blocking presence off the bench, while Luis Scola is averaging 15.3 points per 36 minutes. As for their key backup guards, Terrence Ross is shooting 39.1 percent from three and Cory Joseph is averaging a career-high 8.3 points per game.

For their latest win on Sunday, they came back from a slow start and simply out-worked and out-played the Clippers in a 112-94 win. DeRozan didn’t have a great shooting night after a hot first quarter and finished just 6-of-17 for 18 points, yet their other two top players led the way. 21 points from Lowry and 20 more from Jonas Valanciunas sparked the team’s 49.4 percent shooting night, while they pushed the pace consistently against a lacklustre effort from the Clippers.

To put their overall performance into context, the Raptors now have the 5th best net rating in the NBA this season (+4.5). In fact, they’re only 0.7 behind the Cavs.

What makes their recent success even more impressive? They don’t have their top perimeter defender DeMarre Carroll who’s currently out after having knee surgery. As they still stand firmly at 2nd place in the East with a 29-15 record, maybe this Raptors team has a playoff run in them this year.

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