Five things to watch in the NBA over the weekend
Snellings on why this year’s rookie class has impressed so far. (1:04)
The NBA season is taking shape, with some teams off to hot starts and others dealing with injury issues.
Here are five things to watch over the weekend.
For the last two seasons, Nikola Jokic has been the undisputed king of the NBA regular season. He’s won each of the last two NBA MVPs and has led the fantasy hoops landscape in both points and category leagues. Last season, he averaged a whopping 61.4 fantasy points per game (FP/G), more than five FP/G clear of second place Giannis Antetokounmpo.
But, through the first week of this season, there appear to be two major challenges for the throne. Giannis exploded for 43 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists on Wednesday against the Nets and was leading the NBA with 67.0 FP/G, just ahead of Luka Doncic second in second at 64.7 FP/G entering Thursday. But, Luka upped the ante by dropping a 41-point, 14-assist, 11-rebound triple-double on Thursday night that should vault him into the pole position. Both Giannis and Luka are a full 10 FP/G ahead of Jokic right now.
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This weekend, Giannis leads his undefeated Bucks into a Friday-Saturday back-to-back against the Knicks and the Hawks, who by the way are a combined 6-2, and are allowing their opponents to score 113.5 and 111.0 PPG…a combo that suggests Giannis should have the chance to put some points on the board in offense-heavy matchups. Luka gets a Saturday-Sunday back-to-back against the Thunder and Paolo Banchero’s Magic.
Speaking of Banchero, the number one overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, has anyone else noticed that this rookie class has come in wrecking shop? Banchero seems to hit a milestone every time he plays, starting his career with five straight games of 20 or more points to evoke the names of every elite rookie in NBA history. Just today, I retweeted a note that Banchero is the first player to total 120+ points, 35+ rebounds and 15+assists in their first five NBA games since Dominique Wilkins in 1982-83. Oh, and the last Magic game I watched, Banchero spent significant periods playing full-on point guard, bringing it up and setting the offense with a unit that didn’t include any other non-swingman guards. So, there’s that.
But, this isn’t just the Banchero show. Number three pick Jabari Smith Jr. is averaging 14.2 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 2.6 3PG and 1.4 BPG thus far. Number four pick Keegan Murray scored 20-plus points in every game he played during the Las Vegas Summer League, and has begun his NBA career averaging 17.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 3.3 3PG through three games. Number five pick Jaden Ivey is at 16.0 PPG, 5.5 APG, 4.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG and 1.5 3PG through four, while number six pick Bennedict Mathurin is at 20.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.4 APG and 2.4 3PG through five.
None of the top-six picks in the rookie class have scored in single-digits in any game thus far. Will they keep wielding the collective flame thrower this weekend? Banchero’s Magic face the Hornets on Friday and are in Dallas on Sunday. Smith’s Rockets go into Portland on Friday and Phoenix on Sunday. Murray’s Kings played the Grizzlies tough on Thursday, and only have one weekend game against the Heat on Saturday. Ivey faces two elite backcourts this weekend, first against Trae Young, Dejounte Murray and the Hawks on Friday, then against Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the Warriors on Sunday. And Mathurin’s Pacers are in the Nation’s Capital to face the Wizards on Friday, then in Brooklyn to see the Nets on Saturday. I have my popcorn ready, and will be watching as much of every game as I possibly can. This rookie class is fun!
And, the next rookie up might just be Shaedon Sharpe. Sharpe, the seventh overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, was considered by some to be the most talented player in the class. But, he had the least experience, having reclassified his graduating class so that he could be eligible for the 2022 Draft without having played a year in college or non-NBA pro. Sharpe got injured just minutes into his first game in the Las Vegas Summer League, and thus entered this regular season almost completely raw. He scored 12 points in 16 minutes in his first game, but went scoreless in his second. From there, though, he built back up from 0 points in 12 minutes, to 4 points in 16, to 11 minutes in 16, to finally 15 points and 8 rebounds in 21 minutes in his last outing. In that outing, Trail Blazers superstar Damain Lillard strained his calf and is expected to miss the next week or two.
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The Trail Blazers are, shockingly, atop the Western Conference right now with a 4-1 record. In Lillard’s absence, Anfernee Simons will move into the lead guard and primary slot that Lillard typically occupies. But, who replaces Simons in the off-guard slot? Some believe it might be Sharpe. Whether he starts or not, it would seem he should get extended minutes during this next stretch. What will he do with those minutes, with this opportunity? We’ll start to find out on Friday, when the Trail Blazers play at home against another extremely youthful team, the Houston Rockets.
The Lakers and Clippers, between them, feature six former All NBA players. And, between them, they’ve lost seven straight games. The Lakers have yet to win a game at all, and the public outcry to their state of affairs can be heard from sea to shining sea. What’s the likelihood that either LA team gets in the win column this weekend?
Coming into the season, we all knew the Lakers didn’t have enough long-distance shooting. But, good grief…the carnage of rim damage when they shoot threes has reached historic, epic proportions. And it didn’t all of a sudden get better when Russell Westbrook (hamstring) sat out a game; the Lakers still shot 8-for-30 from downtown (26.7%) against the Nuggets on Wednesday even without the man that has become the poster child for their woes in the lineup.
This weekend, the Lakers play in Minnesota on Friday before getting a rematch with the Nuggets on Sunday. Will Westbrook play? If so, can he improve on his averages of 10.3 PPG and 4.3 APG that would each represent way career lows? More importantly to the Lakers’ (and fantasy basketball managers’) fortunes, will Anthony Davis (back) be able to play? And if so, will he be able to play like himself? Davis was in the midst of an excellent start to the season before the dramatic fall that hurt his back against the Clippers, and watching him try to play at half-speed through the injury has been painful to watch.
The Clippers’ three-game losing streak can be loosely tied to their team health, with Paul George missing one of the games and Kawhi Leonard missing two…and still on his minutes restriction in the one game he did play. Leonard’s status is the most concerning, as he returns from missing last season with a torn ACL. He’s played in only two of the first five games, and only 21 minutes in each of those games. He started experiencing stiffness in his surgically repaired knee after those two games, has sat out the last two and is up in the air as to whether he’ll be able to return on Sunday.
George sat out Tuesday’s game with an illness, and even though he played on Thursday he wasn’t himself, managing only 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field in an eight-point loss to the Thunder. It is expected that he will look more like the PG13 we’ve come to know and love on Sunday, against the Pelicans.
The Pelicans were without Zion Williamson (hip), Brandon Ingram (concussion) and Herbert Jones (knee) on Wednesday night. Ingram is expected to miss the weekend games, but both Zion and Jones are listed as questionable for Friday night. The Pelicans have two big games this weekend, on Friday in Phoenix and against the Clippers on Sunday. All eyes will be watching to see if Zion, in particular, can return and perhaps put up bigger numbers than usual with Ingram sidelined.