The 2016-17 NBA season has gotten off to a great start with several superstars on pace for career years.
The season is shaping up to be a dream for the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers defending their championship, Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors teaming up to be the alpha dogs of the association, and Russell Westbrook on a one-man mission to prove everyone wrong in OKC. And that’s only beginning to scratch the surface of the awesomeness that has been on display in the NBA. The basketball has been entertaining to watch with scoring continuing to rise and superstars putting up some truly epic performances.
Here are the most eye-popping statlines from the NBA season a quarter of the way through the campaign.
Russell Westbrook
Very early into the season, we were on alert for Russell Westbrook’s chase to match Oscar Robertson and average a triple-double over the course of an entire 82 games. Back then, it was good for debate fodder, but seemed unlikely. Even now, it might seem unlikely that Westbrook can keep it up until April. Stop and pause for a second, though. The fact that Westbrook is averaging 31/11/11 through 24 games is truly a remarkable accomplishment.
We’re witnessing something in Westbrook’s play that many of us have literally never seen before because we weren’t alive to see the Big O in his prime. Watching Westbrook chase Robertson is like seeing someone go after the .400 mark in baseball. If he is still on track in March and April, it should be the biggest story in sports.
Westbrook’s accomplishments so far this season include the first 50-point triple-double since 1975 and a streak of seven straight triple-doubles that was the most since Michael Jordan in 1989.
Klay Thompson
Sixty points in 29 minutes. 60 points in 29 minutes!!! It’s something that doesn’t even seem like it should be physically possible, yet that’s what Klay Thompson did on Dec. 6 against the Pacers. It was the first time that an NBA player had scored 60 in less than 30 minutes in the shot clock era.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAey5ltuQuI
Maybe even more spellbinding? Thompson’s 6o points came on just 46 touches of the basketball. I’m not an advanced metrics expert by any means, but if you can get more points than touches, I’m guessing that results in a fairly high efficiency rating.
Anthony Davis
It’s one of the great crimes in sports that the Pelicans are wasting Anthony Davis’ talents in his prime right now. There was no greater example of his unique exploits than the season opener, in which Davis put up a statline of 50/15/5/5/4 statline in the season opener against the Nuggets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQa2CKDtzzc
In case you are wondering, nobody has ever put up 50/15/5/5 in a game since steals became a statistic in the 1983-84 season. Oh, and one more thing — the Pelicans lost that game against the Nuggets. The Pelicans are just 5-9 when Davis scores 30 points or more. No wonder fans are going on hunger strikes or something like that.
Chris Paul
The NBA’s third-leading assist man achieved the 52nd 20-point, 20-assist game since 1983 on Dec. 11 against the Pelicans. That by itself might not be so special. However, none of those players also achieved what Paul did in his 20-20 effort: do so with zero turnovers.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
If there’s someone who has made the leap from “really good player” to “bonafide superstar” it’s the Greek Freak, who next to LeBron James and Westbrook, might be the best do-it-all player in the NBA. Antetokounmpo has seen every single statistical category increase this season except for his 3-point shooting. Just take a look at the career progression and the numbers he’s putting up so far in 2016-17:
Since 2000, the only forwards to put up that statline (22-8.5-5.5) are Antetokounmpo (on pace this season), LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, and Tracy McGrady.
Making the Greek Freak’s 2016-2017 season even more impressive — he ranks 10th thus far in PER (Player Efficiency Rating), right between two guys named James and Curry.
Kevin Love… and LeBron James… and Kyrie Irving
When it comes to superstar play, one of the under-the-radar storylines has been the blossoming of Kevin Love in Cleveland, as he steps up in his role as a member of the Cavs’ Big 3. It seems like ages ago that there were rumors and skepticism about K-Love “fitting in” or “fitting out,” and whether or not he would really be a long-term fit in Cleveland.
A championship can change a lot of things, though, and Love has been playing with much more freedom so far this season alongside James and Kyrie Irving. That was never more clear than on Nov. 23 against the Blazers when James secured a triple-double and Love scored 34 points in the first quarter, an NBA record.
Before that Blazers breakout, Love had scored 34 points just once in an entire game in a Cavs uniform.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmTCbjwP5LQ
Love’s points-per-game average has jumped up from 16.0 PPG last year to 21.7 PPG this year, his highest since moving to Cleveland. His 3PT and FG percentages are at their best since 2011. This is the Big 3 we all hoped we would see when James, Love, and Irving united in Cleveland with all of them averaging over 20+ PPG this season.
Kevin Durant… Steph Curry… and Klay Thompson
Speaking of teams with three or more superstars reaching maximum capacity for success and striking fear into the hearts of mortal NBA franchises…
The Warriors beat the Lakers 149-106 on Nov. 24, setting a franchise record in points and assists. It was the realization of what’s possible, thanks to one of the NBA’s top three players deciding to join forces through free agency with another one of the NBA’s top three players. It was a beautiful thing to watch and the first time a team had registered that many assists in a game since the Phoenix Suns in 1991.
If these performances are any indication, the rest of the 2016-17 NBA schedule should provide a really fun four months before we get to the NBA Playoffs.
