Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Zion Williamson continues to impress as he dropped 35 points against the Lakers.
(PHOTO CREDIT: AP.)
Zion Williamson is showing why he was picked #1 by the New Orleans Pelicans. We were afraid for him when his season was derailed by a knee injury but good thing, he came back in January (despite all these fans saying that he should sit out the season). He’s been nothing but excellent since.
Zion has scored 20 points or more in 11 straight games. Against the Lakers on Sunday, he went for a torching 35 points to try to counter that triple-double LeBron James had. The Lakers won but it was quite the effort by Zion.
Williamson is an obvious force inside. Even though he’s 285 pounds, he’s still a baby. He was born when Be With You by Enrique Iglesias was the #1 song in America (July 6, 2000). Once he fills out his body (he’s still growing), he’s going to be even more alarmingly horrifying.
We all know he can move for his size. He gets to the rim seemingly in an effortless manner. He’s bodying up guys like Dwight Howard and punking Kyle Kuzma inside. And the Lakers had no choice but to foul him at times. Despite being a free throw shooter in his 60s, he converted 11 of 13 from the stripe.
The basketball number nerds like to say small sample size but Zion has played 15 games this season. He’s averaging 24.1 points per game, which is the best scoring average for a rookie since David Robinson in 1990 (24.3 PPG). Is this enough to win Rookie of the Year?
Pretend Zion plays the rest of the games. That would put him at 37 games, which would fall short for half of the season. Should he get the award?
I think with Ja Morant having a SPECTACULAR rookie campaign, it’s going to be real tough. If Ja Morant played in another year or basicaly didn’t exist (we want you to exist, Ja; believe us), then there’s a case for Zion. And normally, it’s easy to dismiss this for Zion. How many players won Rookie of the Year when playing half the season?
Nobody. The least games played by a ROY winner was Patrick Ewing in 1985-86 when he played 50 games. But 50 games still seems like a pretty good percentage; it’s certainly more than half. Next least was Brandon Roy at 57 games and he got a near-unanimous vote out of it (the other first-place vote went to the illustrious Andrea Bargnani).
But remember in 2017 when there was also a debate to give the award to someone who didn’t play half the season? Joel Embiid was a force in 31 games, as he averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 boards, and 2.5 blocks. But he ended up finishing third behind winner Malcolm Brogdon and then-teammate Dario Saric.
There’s also debate that if the Pelicans edge the Grizzlies out for the 8th playoff spot, Zion deserves to win. I don’t know about that because this award doesn’t historically reward players who are on good teams.
In 1996-97, the vote was probably closer than it should have been but Allen Iverson defeated Stephon Marbury for the award. But Iverson only got 44 votes compared to Marbury’s 35. And heck, the third place winner Shareef Abdur-Rahim got 25. Marbury was dynamic for sure but in both stats and eye test, it seemed like Iverson was the clear winner to me. But it seemed like Iverson got penalized for being on a 22-win team while Marbury’s team (the Wolves) made the postseason.
This vote wasn’t close but there was thought about Al Horford upending Kevin Durant for the award in 2008. Durant would get 90 votes compared to Horford’s 30 but, again, it was mostly because the Hawks made the playoffs while Durant’s SuperSonics (BRING BACK THE SONICS) were a 20-win team.
I would probably vote for Morant even if Williamson goes the distance the rest of the way. But just the fact that we’re talking about this shows what Williamson can do and might do for the rest of his career. Zion is terrifying. He may not win these subjective awards but he could win a lot more games as soon as he gets polished and his body matures.
Bullet Passes
LeBron got a trip-dub (34-12-13). So did Nikola Jokic (23-18-11). Kristaps Porzingis (yeah, I know) went for 38 points, 14 boards, and 5 blocks. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 41-20-6!
Those are some lines by these stars.
However, let’s give it up for Shake Milton. The Sixers are short of Ben Simmons and Embiid and Shake Milton (a G-League stalwart last year) went for 39 points and 7 threes. He also tied the record for most consecutive three-pointers made with 13, which is also held by Brent Price (yes, Mark Price‘s brother) and Terry Mills (who would THRIVE in today’s league).
More importantly for Philly, they might have finally found another shooter that can complement Simmons and Embiid. They badly miss that long distance bomber on their team. Let’s see if Philly Shakes things up.
I am so clever.
The Wizards won and are now 4 games behind the Nets for the 8th spot (and 4.5 behind Orlando for 7th!). They’re also 22-37. That burns.
And we have this war in the bottom tier of the playoff picture in the West:
Man, oh, man. People usually say that March is the dog days of the NBA but these weeks are going to be so important as we approach the homestretch.
Now that James Harden said that Giannis has no skill, I want to see how Giannis if he DOES have skill. Because if this requires NO skill:
SHEESH GIANNIS. pic.twitter.com/7vyadAHR35
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 1, 2020
Can a guy off the street do that?
The Scoreboard
MIL 93 (52-8) @ CHA 85 (21-39)
DAL 111 (37-24) @ MIN 91 (17-42)
PHI 130 (37-24) @ LAC 136 (41-19)
TOR 118 (42-18) @ DEN 133 (41-19)
DET 100 (20-42) @ SAC 106 (26-34)
LAL 122 (46-13) @ NO 114 (26-34)
WAS 124 (22-37) @ GS 110 (13-48)
Watch This Play
This is just a devastating facial. Jerami Grant does a devastating dunk on Rondae Hollis-Jefferson that would make his dad and uncle blush.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Chaz Clavant.)
He got a technical for taunting. But it’s worth it.
GG.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.
I sign off “GG” which means “good game” but also to honor Gianna “Gigi” Bryant.