The first week of 2021 in the NBA brought everything. From the confirmation that, despite their brand, many of the teams considered candidates continue to develop their chemistry in search of a definite game identity, to the surprises of certain teams from which little or nothing was expected at this time. competition.
Spectacular performances have also begun to be seen, especially in terms of score, with several figures exceeding the 40-point barrier and even more triple-doubles in other cases.
Unfortunately, injuries were also part of the equation, with Orlando Magic’s Markelle Fultz being the most important of them all.
Then we go into the details of what the week has brought us and what is to come in the immediate future of the NBA.
Awakening of the figures
At the beginning of the season we talked about the outstanding duos in the competition, however, by 2021 we need to focus and highlight the individual performances that took place.
Undoubtedly, the most important was Stephen Curry, who reminded the entire League of the kind of player he has. The 62 points scored in a win over Portland last Sunday are the most played by a Warriors player since Rick Barry scored 64 in 1974.
But not only that: he also became the first to score 30 points in each half of the game since Kobe Bryant did it on December 20, 2005. In addition, he equaled Kobe by reaching that number in 36 minutes. . or less on the ground.
Another member of the club with 60 points was Washington Wizards goalkeeper Bradley Beal, who added that many of those who lost his team to Philadelphia, hitting 7 triples in 10 attempts and tying Gilbert Arenas’ record for most points . in a game in the history of the franchise.
But they weren’t the only ones to stand out: Jason Tatum contributed 40 points to Boston’s victory over Toronto, Gordon Hayward added 44 points and 7 rebounds for Charlotte to beat Atlanta, Giannis Antetokounmpo added 43 and 9 rebounds in victory over Detroit, while Paul George was on the verge of 4 tens when in the victory over Phoenix Suns he added 39 points with a fertility of 70% in triple (7/10) in a personal confrontation against of Devin Booker (Suns) who came to treat him as a smooth player as the meeting progressed.
Finally, we must highlight the double triple made by the Dallas baseman, Luka Doncic (33-16-11) against the Houston Rockets and the one made by Nikola Jokic against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, January 3, when he collected 19 points, 12 rebounds and identical number of passes in 32 minutes of play.
Knicks: from ignored to the surprise of the week
Who would have dared to bet that after the first 8 games of the season the Big Apple team will have a winning record? Few, for sure.
However, the team led by Tom Thibodeau is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, thanks to a score of 5-3 (just like the Milwaukee Bucks) after winning the last three games played.
What this team accomplished in the middle of the rebuilding period becomes more relevant when you see that the victories came against good teams like Milwaukee (which they outscored by 20 points), in Cleveland (+9), in Indiana (+4), Atlanta (+5) and Utah (+12).
Julius Randle became the key piece of the team, averaging 22.1 points, 11.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game and being the leader in these three statistical categories. In 6 games he was the best goal scorer of the Knicks, in 7 his best player and in 5 his best assistant. If we add to this an efficiency of 50.9% in shooting and an amazing 40.7% in triples, we can conclude that the advanced forces add averages as good as any superstar in the NBA.
Austin Rivers is another surprising discovery for the Knicks this season. Although the goalkeeper leaves the bench, his goal is well used by coach Thibodeau at the end of the game. In just 26 minutes on average per game, Rivers has 13.3 points, with an efficiency of 60% when shooting from the field and a ridiculous 55.0% in triples at a rate of 5 attempts in the 4 games that he played them.
Will you be able to maintain this winning step in the coming weeks? It’s the million dollar question. While the next 5 rivals do not have a winning record like these, there are a few matches in which they are clearly not favorites to win like against Denver (3-4) and Brooklyn (4-4). But the story may be different when facing Oklahoma City (3-4), Charlotte (3-5) and Cleveland (4-4). Time will tell.
Fultz, for the season
Only 4 minutes into the game against Cleveland, when Markelle Fultz suffered a broken ACL in her left knee, an injury that will require surgery and a prolonged rehabilitation period that will lead her to miss the rest of the season.
The injury occurred when Fultz recorded the best averages of his career in points with 12.0 and 5.4 assists after 8 games and added 14 3-point scores, which was a personal score. The goalkeeper also recently signed a 3-year contract extension of 50 million, which will keep him in the Orlando team for the foreseeable future.
“It’s a big blow for us,” said teammate Nikola Vucevic. “Unfortunately for (Fultz), this is really sad, because for two years he suffered a shoulder injury, then last year he finally managed to play and this year had to be a great year for him. I was ready and the season started amazing. This sucks for a guy like him who worked hard to get back. It’s hard to see and you feel sorry for him. “
We must remember that Orlando also regretted the absence of another promising young man, such as Jonathan Isaac, who suffered an injury similar to that of Fultz last season and it is excluded for this season the completion of the rehabilitation process.
The weekend program
Between Friday and Sunday you can watch matches that arouse great interest. Here we highlight the most important.
The Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors will play the second game of this miniseries on Friday in Sa Francisco. The first game ended with the Angelino team winning 108-101 with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard as the main protagonists, who combined to add 42 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists, in addition to limiting Stephen Curry to 13 points and slowdown The 3-point effectiveness of the warriors who hit only 26.7% of the 3-point shots.
We have to prepare for Saturday’s duel between Denver and Philadelphia. The Nuggets begin a 3-game mini-tour in 4 nights in the east, while the Sixers will try to stay ahead of the conference. A complete closing is scheduled for Sunday, as Miami and Boston will meet again, after the Celtics won 107-105 the first of their meetings with a superb performance of Jason Tatum with 27 points and Jaylen. Brown who had 21 and 12 rebounds.
The icing on the cake is the game of the current champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, which hosts the Houston Rockets. Anthony Davis leads the defending champions in recovery and steals with 9.0 and 1.6, respectively, while LeBron James is the team’s top scorer (23.9 points) and assists (7.4). Despite his desire to be traded to another team, James Harden leads the Rockets in points (29.4), assists (11.0) and steals (1.2)