NBA Star Power Index: LeBron James makes old-man history; Stephen Curry rounding back into form
Welcome back to NBA Star Power Index: A weekly gauge of the players getting the most buzz around the league. Inclusion on this list isn't necessarily a good thing -- it simply means you're capturing the NBA world's attention. This is also not a ranking. The players listed are in no particular order. This column will run every week throughout the regular season.
Do you want a crazy stat? The Lakers scored 113 points with LeBron on the floor in their win over the Rockets on Monday, and during that time they didn't commit a single turnover. That was 36 minutes of game action. Per OptaSTATS, that's the first time in 20 years that a team has gone without a single turnover while scoring over 100 points with a particular player on the court.
Personally, James put 48 points, nine assists and eight rebounds on the ledger. That's just the 35th time in history that a player has scored at least 48 points without recording a turnover, per StatHead, and the first time a certified old-timer has done so.
LeBron James last night:
— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) January 17, 2023
✅ 48 PTS
✅ 8 REB
✅ 9 AST
✅ 0 TOV
✅ 16-26 FG
✅ 11-12 FT
Since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78, he's the only player age 35 years or older to record a 45-point Game without committing a turnover.
More: https://t.co/xXGCjeHfo1
- READ: NBA Midseason Grades
Heading into Wednesday's tilt with Minnesota, when he put up a ho-hum 31 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, Jokic hadn't missed a shot inside the 3-point arc over his two full previous games: 19-for-19.
On Tuesday, Jokic put up 36-12-10 on 13-of-14 shooting, his lone miss a 3. That marks the third time in history that a player has recorded a triple-double on at least a 95 percent true-shooting clip and 10 field-goal attempts. The other two times? Jokic in October of 2018, and Jokic in March of 2018.
Jokic is literally on pace to have the most efficient scoring season in league history. Among all players who've ever attempted at least 15 shots per game, his .698 true-shooting percentage ranks No. 1. Better than Curry's .675 in 2018 and .669 in his unanimous-MVP season. Better than Kevin Durant's .673 this season. Better than everyone. Ever. Denver is No. 1 in the West. Just give the man his third straight MVP already.
- READ: NBA Midseason Awards
Curry started rounding back into form with 16 fourth-quarter points in his return last Tuesday after missing 11 games. Now he's fully back after scoring 41 points in a win over the Wizards on Monday. It required 28 shots, but if there's one thing in the NBA we never need to worry about, it is Curry's efficiency.
Curry has now tied Kobe Bryant for the second-most 40-point games by a player 30 years or older, and Michael Jordan's record is very likely to eventually fall to Curry. It could very well happen by the end of next season.
Most 40-Point Games by a Player after turning 30 Years old:
— NBA Muse (@NBAMuse24) January 17, 2023
44 — Michael Jordan
30 — Stephen Curry
30 — Kobe Bryant pic.twitter.com/PSVkTvEDB2
I'm not sure anyone makes a 40-point game look more casual than Embiid. He does so much damage at the free-throw line you lose track of the fact that he hasn't scored under 30 this month. He went for 42 to start January against New Orleans, and 41 -- on 15-of-18 from the charity stripe -- in a Sixers win over the Clippers on Wednesday.
Embiid and Jokic have long been the cream of the crop when it comes to centers. For a while, most people, myself included, gave a slight edge to Embiid as the better player. That sentiment has probably completely flipped, at least outside Philadelphia. Even the great Hakeem Olajuwon resides within the Jokic-is-better camp.
"He's the one," Olajuwon recently said of Jokic in a terrific story written by Sports Illustrated's Chris Ballard, which details the death, or, perhaps better put, the evolution of the traditional, mismatch-killing, post-up center, a position that once ruled the NBA earth. Big guys want to be Kevin Durant now, Ballard writes, but Olajuwon sees in Jokic the torchbearer for a post-up era gone by.
From Ballard:
"He doesn't look strong, but I see he gets such deep post position," Olajuwon said of Jokic. "I think maybe it's the mismatch, but then he does the same thing against bigger guys. His shot, his fakes, they are very difficult to time. You don't know when he's faking and when it's real. He has tricks!"
Olajuwon nods. "He's the one."
Now, what did Olajuwon have to say about Embiid?
Olajuwon likes [Embiid] and has given him advice, but he has questions. "He's got all the moves, but leveraging the moves is different. Why would he be shooting threes?" Olajuwon asks. "He has the advantage every night, and if I have the advantage, I'm going to wear you out."
But threes? "That's settling! When I'm tired, I settle. You don't settle when you're trying to win. You don't start the Game settling!"
So here's where we have to bring the Dream back to reality. For starters. Embiid isn't some bricklayer who has no business behind the arc; since the start of December, he's made 43 percent of his 3s. Furthermore, he took fewer 3s last season than Jokic, both in total and on a per-game basis, yet made them at a four-percent higher clip.
2021-22 SEASON | 3PA | 3P% |
Nikola Jokic | 288 | 33.7 |
Joel Embiid | 251 | 37.1 |
Embiid also shot 37 percent from deep in 2010-20. He can shoot. Better than Jokic, as you can see, and at a lower volume.
Now, Jokic does lead the league in post-ups per game (9.4 to Embiid's 6.2, although not all of Jokic's posts are low). Also, there is more of a "settling" feel to Embiid shooting 3s than there is Jokic simply because Jokic murders you as a passer from the top, so when he shoots those 3s and brings defenders out, it plays into his playmaking hands, whereas defenses will let Embiid stand out there and bomb away all night. If you're doing what the defense wants you to do, then you're probably bailing them out. That's what Olajuwon is getting at.
But still, a guy who is making 42 percent of his 3s over a seven-week span, who has shot 37 percent the previous two seasons, isn't somebody who shouldn't be shooting. Go talk to Giannis, who is taking three 3s a game at a 24-percent clip, if you want to spread this message.
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Morant is one of the best in-game dunkers ever. I can say that even having not seen any live NBA basketball before the mid-eighties. There are some things you just know. What Morant pulls off as a dunker in traffic can only be matched by a handful of people to ever walk the earth. He did it again on Saturday when he detonated this slam on Jalen Smith.
EVERY ANGLE OF JA MORANT'S UNBELIEVABLE DUNK OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE 😱📽️ pic.twitter.com/8u1j6ZNH3F
— NBA (@NBA) January 15, 2023
As Kevin Harlan would say, that is a man with no regard for human life. As league buzz goes, this is the kind of play that gets people in the seats, and then promptly lifts them out, too. Oh, by the way, the Grizzlies have won 11 straight.
Lillard is on a heater. He's averaging 39 points over his last six Games, which include a 50-spot vs. Cleveland last Thursday and two straight 40 spots (40 against Dallas, 44 against Denver) this week. Nobody has scored more than Lillard's 299 points in January, but the Blazers are still below .500 and below the play-in/lottery line.
44 points and 8 dimes for @Dame_Lillard tonight.
— NBA (@NBA) January 18, 2023
He's got 40+ in 3 of his last 4 games. pic.twitter.com/3cvJnEUC2B
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