NBA Week 17 Rewind: Warriors, Spurs are only human
By Tom West
Weekly Rookie Watch
Myles Turner remains as one of the most unnoticed rookies of the season. Thanks to missing over a month due to injury he fell out of people’s attention span as other big men like Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor and the much-hyped Kristaps Porzingis stole the show. Yet, as the smooth jumpers continue to fall and the rejections pile up, Turner is really making a name for himself.
In his first game after the All-Star break, Turner received a heavy workload with 35 minutes in the Pacers’ surprising 101-98 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He tallied 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while his six blocks really added emphasis on his stat line for the night. If he can increase his rebounding rate, Turner is well on his way to being a complete center at the forefront of the Pacers’ push towards contention.
Jahlil Okafor is still schooling opponents with his post moves, so what’s new? Well, with a new career-high 31 points on Sunday, Okafor took that scoring even further as the rest of the Philadelphia 76ers failed to rise to the occasion in a 129-103 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
On each touch down low, he palms the ball with one of his massive hands, surveys his opponent, and then either blows past or shoots over them with his improving short-range jump shot. He can put the ball on the floor to spin past opponents or he can backdown his defender and finish over them. Now that his range is expanding too, he’s even tougher to handle.
Karl-Anthony Towns is (obviously) deserving of a mention. Another week goes by, and we have another example of why Towns is going to be one of the NBA’s best players for many years to come and why he’s a franchise center in the making. With the perfect mindset and attitude to maximize his talent, he continues to showcase ability at both ends of the floor that’s far beyond his years.
In fact, dating back to his final game before the All-Star break, Towns dropped a career-high 35 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in the Timberwolves’ unexpected 117-112 win against the Toronto Raptors. Since then, he’s added two more impressive performances (albeit with a 4-of-15 shooting night against the Memphis Grizzlies) to average out at 17.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.
For a perfect highlight in his NBA Rookie of the Year campaign video, Towns even got a block on Porzingis last week as the Timberwolves fell to the New York Knicks 105-93. It wasn’t just a high-effort defensive play against his rookie ‘rival’; it was a perfect indication of the confidence he has to contend anyone. Latvian phenom or All-NBA superstar, Towns is going to take on everyone. And he has the ability and athleticism to do so successfully.
Next: Under-the-radar Players to Watch Next Week