welcome to NBA Star Power Index: A weekly gauge of the most talked about players in the league. Inclusion in this list is not necessarily a good thing. NBA world attention. This is also not a ranking. Players listed are in no particular order. This column will appear weekly throughout the regular season.
Davis has been an absolute monster of late for the Lakers, and he Standing the stat line against the Suns On Tuesday, he had 37 points, 21 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 blocks to believe. Since blocks and steals became official stats in 1973, Davis is the only player to have those numbers.
Davis’ shot diet is much more palatable this season. He caught lower and started a move closer to the rim; with one dribble or one hard step, he’s attacking the rim in the paint) and the free-throw line. And I’ve averaged 12 attempts over the last 4 games.
Asserting yourself in the paint and heading to the free-throw line is what sustains this kind of production for Davis without resorting to falling jumpers. After making 18 of his 21 free throws against Detroit last Friday, he made 15 of 16 on Tuesday. It’s no coincidence. He’s not whistling for good luck. He goes into beast mode. You have no choice but to play to his size and strength, leave teams, especially ones that boldly play small, and wrap him up.
The Lakers (5-11) lost to Phoenix, but have won three of their last four games and are hoping to sign LeBron James. back to friday against the Spurs. Davis, the only player in Lakers history to follow Shaquille O’Neal and Elgin Baylor to record four straight 30-15 games, could be a better choice if James returns to the lineup and continues to play like this. The Lakers may be able to piece something real together. .
Shine the beam, baby. The Kings are on his seven-game winning streak, and if Fox continues to play like this, it will be next to impossible to keep him out of his first All-Star game. Fox scored 32 points in Sacramento’s victory over Memphis on Tuesday and 33 points in Sunday’s victory over Detroit. He has also scored his career best from all over the floor. It is registered as the league’s top mark among guards, according to Glass Cleaning.
His shot splits during this streak are great.
Fox is also shooting a career-best 3 to 40.8% (he struck 5 of 8 on Tuesday). Among the top 20 scorers in the league (Fox is his 14th), this is his 4th best clip from The Deep, behind Stephen his Curry, Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese his Maxxie .
The Foxes are still Sacramento’s powerhouse, going on a pick-and-roll heavy diet, but the Kings have more means by which they can initiate half-court action, so they have more variation in touch than in years past. As a high post or dribble handoff activator.
Fox’s midrange jumper drops with an efficient clip, giving him a release valve to head downhill and not force into traffic. According to NBA.com tracking, he’s making three shots per game in the 5-14 foot range, which puts him near the top of the guard and in line with Luka Doncic.
All this is to say Fox is bowling. And Kings is no joke.
Upon returning to Philadelphia, Simmons was met with a semi-hostile crowd challenge (after which he impaled a Philadelphia follower) he said it would be louder) 11 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds. All things considered, I thought Simmons was calm, aggressive, and frankly didn’t give the Philadelphia fans any negative energy to get caught. Even when he did (he only made 3 out of 6), he never stepped out of the spotlight. He stepped up, took a shot, and was fine.
Despite Simmons playing pretty good, the Nets lost the game to a Sixers team without their three best players: Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tyrese Maxie. Simmons at center (hard to play him with Nick Claxton due to spacing issues) was a board issue that Philly killed the Nets, and the Nets defense was generally under Jack Vaughan. Better, but still a problem. Simmons going scoreless in the fourth quarter was a familiar sight for Sixers fans.
That said, Simmons’ overall performance is a good sign of the big picture. This is three very solid games in a row for him. Simmons’ double-double in Philadelphia followed a 15-13-7 against the Blazers and his 22-8-5 line against the Grizzlies, both of which the Nets won.
Simmons is using a different energy at the moment, and by extension, despite the Sixers’ loss, there was a different energy in the Nets these days. Play.
Vaughan said Simmons was playing with “power.” That’s the best way to say it. Simmons is attacking every space in front of him, picking up the pace and finding his three-pointer in transition his shooter or going into the paint himself if no one tries to stop him. Give him a runway and he’ll stream into a post-up or eurostepping to the rim.
On the half court, he makes quick decisions as the DHO’s initiator, drifting into the ball screen and rolling hard, giving the big players the honor of being the scorer. If so, the handler has a clear lane to the rim. If not, Simmons is ready to quit. That’s Simmons’ key. he poses a threat. Once they give you space, eat it and don’t sit still for long. . He keeps his head up for drop-off passes.
This is Simmons the Nets hoped to get one day, and if it continues, they’ll be a better team.
After struggling to find a sea leg all season, Thompson finally broke out with a vintage 41-point performance to lead Golden State to its first road win of the season (1-9) against the Rockets. Thompson stole his 10-of-13 3-pointers and was aggressive from the start (which wasn’t a problem for him).
The performance marked the sixth time Thompson made at least 10 3-pointers in a game and the second-most in NBA history behind Stephen Curry’s staggering 22. , who suffered a crushing loss to New Orleans the following night, will look to keep his hands hot in Wednesday’s home game against the Clippers.
Curry has 101 points in his last three games, highlighted by a 50-piece victory over the Suns last Wednesday. it wasn’t good enough. The Warriors are still losing at Phoenix. But Curry gave us another shot in his long list of viral shots against the Rockets, punctuating Thompson’s aforementioned performance with a “Night Night” Moonball.
Curry continues to play at an insane level night after night. He’s the best player in the league, and if the Warriors can pull together and move up the rankings, he’ll be at the forefront of the race for his MVP for the third time.
Young has yet to find his consistent shooting stroke. Overall he is less than 40% and 3 to 30% less. But he lives in the paint and per game he continues to reach his line with eight or more free throws. For my money, he is the best passer in the world. This pass below wasn’t too difficult for Young’s ability facilitator, but he threw this game-winning alley-oop to AJ Griffin when time expired against the Raptors. What a heads-up decision to find out exactly how much time we had to spend on.
The Hawks don’t do much in the way of their offensive system to create shots for scorers. We create everything from our individual abilities. Only a great player like Young can do that, but I’m still wondering about the viability of such an individually focused half-court scheme in a playoff setting. We saw what Young did by basically taking him out of the equation. At least this year, the Hawks have Murray his second creator. We’ll see if that’s enough, or if it evolves aggressively as the season progresses.
