James Harden is influencing the competition. See what I did there?
James Harden and Houston hip hop legend DJ Screw have one thing in common: Making sober people feel under the influence.
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1
Jimmy Butler only had one block in the 114-105 win over the Rockets. But what a block.
The block stifled the ability of the Rockets to go ahead and kept the Bulls ahead. Butler had 22 points on 7 for 17 shooting, 2 of 4 from three point line and made 6 of his 7 free throws. He kept Harden to 20 points, on 7 for 22 shooting.
12
The Rox backcourt of Patrick Beverly and James Harden decided to ring in the new year behind the three point arc. Combined the two of them hit 12 three points on 23 attempts. The Rockets ended the night with 17 total threes in the 102-83 drubbing of the Hornets.
Harden shot 12 of 19 from the floor and ended with 36 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block.
The Hornets are still struggling and this time they can’t blame it on Lance Stephenson as he still sits out with a pelvis injury. Al Jefferson is now out at least a month with a groin strain.
Gerald Henderson stepped up to make up some of that production loss and got 16 points. 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Gary Neal came off the bench with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
33
Bradley Beal had the highest scoring game of his season and tied James Harden in the game with 33 points. Beal kept the Wizards in it as their bench was anemic on 5 for 11 shooting from three and 10 for 10 from the free throw line. The Wiz got to the FT line 28 times and knocked down 26 of them.
The game was an intense dive into playoff-esque basketball as the two teams slugged it out over long runs in the 4th quarter. John Wall ended with another double-double on 13 points and 12 assists where he barely started shooting until the 4th quarter. Corey Brewer proved to be a much needed saviour off the bench with 15 points.
44
James Harden shot 14 for 26 for 44 points and added 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals for a 110-95 win over the Blazers. Portland was without LaMarcus Aldridge and Damien Lillard suffered from 6 for 16 shooting. Harden also got to the free throw line 13 times, making 12 of those shots.
Bonus Number
120+
Four teams scored over 120 points last night, two of them in the same game. The Chicago Bulls beat the Toronto Raptors 129-120, with the Bulls shooting 54.1% in the field, 50% from three, and 91.5% from the free throw line.
San Antonio Spurs had a full roster and beat out the Los Angeles Clippers 125-118. The Spurs shot 63.6% from the field AND the free throw line, while their three point shooting went for 56.5%.
The Golden State Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings 128-108 with 25 points from Klay Thompson and 18 from Justin Holiday. Boogie Cousins lead the Kings with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. The Dubs shot 53.8%in the field and went 21 for 24 from the free throw line.
45-13
The combined points and assists of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as the Thunder took advantage of a LeBron-less Cavs in a 103-94 win.
Kyrie Irving collided knees and was out for about a quarter but returned to play the second half and looked fine. James sat with a sore knee. The Cavs 8 game win streak was stopped while the Thunder grabbed their 4th straight win.
Bonus Number
44
Speaking of former first round picks of the Thunder, James Harden scored 44 points in a 113-109 overtime win over the Sacramento Kings. Rudy Gay was limited to only 13 points on 4 for 18 shooting in the field. Ben McLemore had 21, Darren Collison had 24, but the Kings are still hurting without Boogie Cousins.
49.4%
The Warriors shot 49.4% to cruise to a 105-93 win over the Rockets. Despite James Harden putting up 34 points, the Rockets bench only scraped together 5 points and had no answer for the Splash Brothers. Klay Thompson went 8 for 18 for 21 points, Steph Curry went 8 for 15 for 20 points and Harrison Barnes joined in on the fun for 7 for 9 in the field and 3 for 4 beyond the arc for an additional 20 points.
The win now moves the Dubs into first place with a 19-2 record and cruising into Christmas.
Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
One of the bigger deals in this off-season was when the Dallas Mavericks acquired Chandler Parsons. Parsons had a good season with the Rockets, averaging 16.6ppg with 4 assists, but his style did seem to clash with James Harden and Dwight Howard. Seeing the writing on the wall that the two of them were set to be the cornerstones of that franchise, Parsons made a move that seemed to make sense to everyone.
Join an established team in Dallas, take some of the pressure off an aging Dirk Nowitzki, and begin to slide into the superstar role that the team is waiting for. Although some people thought the price was too high at three-years $46 million, the television deal that was looming was making everyone a little extra rich that summer.
Now that the season is under way, Parsons has not showed up to be worth the size of the contract and although the Mavs are playing great ball at 15-5 and a lock to get into the playoffs again. But it’s not because Parsons is pushing them to it.
Taking a look at the Nylon Calculus Player Consistency stats–
With the (simplified) look that High Variance = Low Consistency, it’s easy to see that Parsons has the highest variance on that team. He also has the second most minutes of any player, which is not great if he can’t bring you a steady hand.
Parsons shooting has dropped considerably from 47.2% to 40.9% and he’s averaging 14.9 ppg, a drop from last seasons 16.6. His Three Point % also dropped from 37% to 32.2%, but his assists might be one of the keys to what’s going on with him. Last seasons 4.0 is now a 2.4. Even though there were changes in the Rockets lineup concerning Harden and Howard, the Mavericks know who they are pretty well.
I think it might have to do with the added perimeter presence of the Mavericks over that of the Rockets. Yes, Tyson Chandler is now in the post for the Mavs, but his offensive advantage is not used the way that Howard’s is. Yes there are slashing similarities between Harden and Monta Ellis, so maybe I’m wrong about that.
But here’s Parson’s Heat Map from last season-
Lots and lots of heavy perimeter action including five spots around the key that aren’t red hot, but still obvious places where he liked to spot up.
Now here is this years Heat Map-
The perimeter on the right side of the basket went from lots of green to dried up. Those five spots around the key are gone. The interior is still strong and the three-point shot is getting there, but with known around the key shooter like Nowitzki, the spacing available for Parsons just isn’t there like it was in Houston. If a defense has to hang around the perimeter to guard Dirk, may as well stick close to stick it to Chandler at the same time.
Either a modified shot has to be in the works or another player that can draw defenders away from him, but Chandler is spending another guys money in the wrong way right now.
10
The Grizzlies roll to be the first 10 win team in the NBA with a throttling of the Houston Rockets 119-93. Quincy Pondexter, Beno Udrih and Jon Leuer all came off the bench with 13 points a piece. The Rockets had 21 turnovers while Memphis dominated inside against Dwight Howard with 64 points in the paint. James Harden was held to 6 points.
Drone Metal, the popular yet elusive branch of metal that reaches into the cranium of the most stoned hesher on the block as well as the hipster elite. It’s a slow and mesmerizing turn of traditional metal that begs for your attention all the while keeping you locked in its trance.
Point Guard
Andre Miller
Probably the most astute basketball observation I ever made about Andrew Wiggins was that Andre Miller was his opposite in speed. It looked like someone aged Wiggins and gave him a bunch of lean and left him on the court.
Shooting Guard
James Harden
He is not without a quick step to get past a defender, but the Beard stands so still on defense it brings his speed average down. He also deceptively has a lot of fast break points, but when you’re already heading back towards the offensive end before the play is over, that will happen.
Small Forward
Paul Pierce
The Truth likes his spots and hits them, one of the better shooters to be in the NBA, but Pierce has never been much of a hustler. Even watching him in his twilight years, the speed in which Pierce moves seems to be Youtube clips in Paulstretch.
Power Forward
Zach Randolph
Zbo in the post is enough to put the average NBA fan in a deep K hole. Being a lynchpin in a Grizzlies offense that had the worst Pace in the league last means the ball stops when it comes into his hands. And that ball generally never gets out of his mitts, meaning you get to watch him take 10-20 seconds of the shot clock setting up his post moves and banging his opponent into oblivion.
Center
Roy Hibbert
Georgtown center Pedigree means Hibbert was meant to go slow, bang into people and grab boards.Couple that with a frame over seven-feet tall and 278 pounds, the most athletic I remember seeing Hibbert last year was when he tried to drag Lance Stephenson across the court when Lance started to pout.
Elevator Doors 