Welcome to Triple-Double Watch, a weekly check-in on everyone’s favorite arbitrary milestone of round, base-ten numbers.
It was a light week for triple-doubles as February turned to March, with only three in the timeframe but two coming from LeBron James. The King held court and his pair scales the chasm on Triple-Double Mountain as he tries ascending up to the Russell Westbrook summit.
With about a quarter of the season remaining, every game’s significance gets elevated in the heat of the playoff and tanking races. Abutting both races, James led the charge with a 31-12-11 in the win against the Nets. The victory helps Cleveland maintain first-round home court advantage while simultaneously aiding their future prospects since they own Brooklyn’s lottery pick in the upcoming draft. The Cavaliers currently reside in the East’s No. 3 seed, while the Nets are tied for the league’s fourth-worst record.
In back-to-back weeks, Elfrid Payton gains entry to this esteemed space. As I mentioned in the previous post, Payton’s numbers have been sterling since arriving in the desert. Getting jettisoned from the Magic to the Suns has been a huge boon to his game. Over his ten contests in Phoenix, he’s averaging nearly three more field goal attempts and his usage rate climbed by 1.4 percentage points.
Factoring in as the largest benefit for him though is probably the increased pace. Orlando played at a pace of 101.6 with Payton on the floor this season, while Phoenix is whipping at 105.1 – which over the course of the full year, would place them at the top of the league. His 11-point, 10-rebound, 14-assist performance might not be the most impressive triple-double we’ve ever seen, but the fact he attained one (for the second week in a row no less) says it all.
It’s only the fifth time this year this feature doesn’t include patron saint, Russell Westbrook.
Next: Damian Lillard has been playing like an MVP
His numbers are slightly down on the heels of his MVP season where he became the first player to average a triple-double since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62. According to Thunder Digest, Westbrook needs 190 rebounds (11.2 per game) and 157 assists (9.3 per game) to reach that hallowed plateau in consecutive seasons —
a feat never accomplished before.