Welcome back to our NBA Star Power Index -- a weekly gauge of the players who are most controlling the buzz around the league. Reminder: Inclusion on this list isn't necessarily a good thing. It simply means that you're capturing the NBA world's attention. Also, this is not a ranking. The players listed are in no particular order as it pertains to the buzz they're generating. This column will run every week for the rest of the season.
When Boogie Cousins went down for the year, everyone thought the Pelicans' playoff hopes went with him. Anthony Davis has other ideas. This dude is going full alien over this New Orleans win streak, which extended to nine games on Tuesday when the Pels held off the Clippers thanks to six straight clutch points from Davis down the stretch. All told, Davis went for 41 on the Clips. With the game tied at 113 with less than 40 seconds to play and the shot clock winding down, Davis brewed up this piece of silk:
Anthony Davis. Nails. 😳 pic.twitter.com/4kOanM5CLz
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 7, 2018
New Orleans is up to the No. 4 seed, and while Davis is still a long shot to win MVP, James Harden is far from the lock he's felt like for much of the year. It is impossible to deny what Davis is doing with this Pelicans team. Over this stretch he's been the best player in the league, hands down.
On Monday night, Damian Lillard went for 39 points on the Lakers, including 19 in the fourth quarter when he hit four threes on fourth consecutive possessions. Less than 24 hours later, he was at it again, this time hanging eight threes (on just 11 attempts) on the Knicks back in Portland.
I don't know what else to say about this guy that I didn't already say in this love-letter I penned to him on Tuesday. I guess I'll just say thanks to my man, Dame, for continuing to make me look smart, and to all of you out there who still refuse to put this guy in the elite point guard conversation, screw your head on straight one time. Dude should be smack dab in the middle of MVP talks -- trailing Harden and right behind Davis -- with what he's doing for the Blazers, who've quietly won eight straight and are up to the No. 3 seed in the West.
The deepest of @Dame_Lillard's eight (!!!) three-pointers tonight, which is one short of the franchise record for three-pointers in a game. pic.twitter.com/s5apmWZqS2
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) March 7, 2018
This Rookie of the Year race between Simmons and Donovan Mitchell is one of the really cool stories coming down the stretch of the season. Simmons' stats are just so ridiculous. Please look at this:
Ben Simmons has 1,024 PTS, 475 REB & 471 AST through his 1st 62 games.
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) March 7, 2018
That's more PTS than Curry, Russ & Wade scored in their 1st 62 games.
That's more REB than Bogut & Drummond grabbed in their 1st 62 games.
That's more AST than Kidd & Penny dished in their 1st 62 games.
The scope of that production is baffling. Through four games in the month of March, Simmons is shooting 66 percent from the field (29 for 42). On Tuesday in Charlotte, he posted 16 points, 13 assists and 8 boards on 8 of 9 shooting. Now, I know almost all these shots are coming from inside the paint, but the defense knows that, too, and few teams have figured out how to stop the guy. He's too powerful, too skilled, and too determined to get to the rim.
Ben Simmons on the move. #NBARookspic.twitter.com/jvyeBIWpnB
— NBA Draft (@NBADraft) March 3, 2018
Philly is building its roster so smartly around Simmons and Embiid, adding shooting whenever and however it can to give Simmons the floor space he cannot yet create, and may not ever be able to create, for himself because of his lacking jumper. The Sixers signed JJ Redick last summer. They gave Robert Covington a four-year deal. Recently they've added Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova. These moves are not accidents. These guys are all shooters. The Process is not over. It's one thing to land the stars, but you still have to build around them wisely according to their skill sets.
"With guys like Marco, JJ and Rob (Covington) spreading the floor for me, it gives me a lot of driving lanes and a lot of options to create," Simmons told CBS Sports last week in Miami. "The way I play, I'm a pass-first guy, but obviously I push the ball as fast as I can and try to get to the rim. With shooters around, defenses have to choose who to stop."
If Simmons is the ROY favorite, then Embiid can't be too far behind in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. We know what he does on the offensive end, and its not like his defense is a secret. But you tend to think of guys his size been strictly rim protectors, but check out the ground he covers on this possession:
Wanna see why Embiid is the front runner for DPOY? pic.twitter.com/8vq7FTwJcr
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) March 2, 2018
For starters, that a seven-footer would be athletic enough to even guard Jordan Clarkson that far out on the perimeter is amazing in itself. But to then recover from basically halfcourt all the way back to the rim to then thwart Clarkson's lob pass? That's silly. The effort. The instincts. The sheer athleticism. The Sixers are a top-five defensive team and have two guys who can single-handedly win a game, if not a series. Nobody wants to see them in the first round.
The thing that people failed to mention when they were dragging Lonzo Ball through the mud to start the season was that he was doing everything well except for shooting. We know about his passing. He's been a terrific rebounder and a far better defender than probably most people realize. It was just the shooting -- and don't look now, but that doesn't seem to be a problem anymore.
Lonzo is well over 40 percent from 3-point land over his last 15 games. In four games since returning from his knee injury, he's 14 for 23 from deep. In the Lakers' comeback win over the Spurs, Ball was 6 of 10 from downtown. What I liked most was that he hit two go-ahead triples in the final minute, so he's doing it when it counts, and he hit them under duress, which was a big question about him coming into the league: Could he shoot under tight defensive pressure with that funky release? Here's your answer:
Lonzo Ball took over against the Spurs😤🅱️🅱️🅱️ #BigBallerpic.twitter.com/dX1FnDhFho
— NBA Inside Stuff (@NBAInside_Stuff) March 4, 2018
The Rockets dusted OKC on Tuesday and have now won 16 straight. This is their second win streak this year of at least 14 games. Only five other teams in NBA history have had two win streaks of that many games in the same season. You ready for a crazy stat? James Harden, all by himself, is averaging more points per game in isolation that every team in the league other than his own.
Yes, you heard that right.
Entering Tuesday, Harden was averaging 12.1 points per game in isolation, while the Thunder, who average the second-most iso points in the league behind Houston, were averaging 10.7 as an entire team. That is nuts. It's really not even close. The Rockets keep things so simple, and it's brilliant. Give the ball to the best creator in the league right now, and let him do his thing.
Isolation often becomes the default set for a lot of teams as the game winds down into the closing, clutch minutes, and that's when the Rockets just get wonderfully simplistic and stupid good. Exhibit A:
With Chris Paul and James Harden on the floor in the clutch, the Rockets have an offensive efficiency of 161.7 with those two scoring or assisting on 28 of the team's 32 made FG.
— Micah Adams (@MicahAdams13) March 5, 2018
Of their combined 20 makes, 16 have been unassisted... with the other 4 assisted by each other.
Yes, the Rockets are a threat to the Warriors.
They're not better than the Warriors.
But they're a threat. Absolutely.