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Welcome to the new NBA Star Index – a weekly gauge of the players who control the most buzz in the league. Reminder: registration on this list is not necessarily a good thing. It just means that you capture the attention of the NBA world. Moreover, it is not a ranking. The players listed are in no particular order when it comes to the buzz they generate. This column will be broadcast weekly until the end of the regular season.
The Nets failed to foul Sexton as they were three ahead with five seconds left in overtime. Kyrie Irving, who was making his first appearance since James Harden joined the Nets, was draped over him and had every chance to get in touch with Sexton before launching into his shooting movement and preventing him from attempting the potential shot. But Irving let him get away with it and Sexton hit him.
From that point on, Sexton torched Kyrie and the Nets with 20 consecutive points in overtime. In total, Sexton finished with a career-high 42 of 16 of 29 field points, including 5 of 11 of 3, to go with five tables, five assists and two steals. Sexton is averaging 27 points per night on 53% shots, including 50% 3s on just under five attempts per game as his breakout season continues.
Embiid is on the shortlist for MVP contenders at the start of the season. In one of the most entertaining games of the season to date, Embiid scored 42 points and 10 rebounds, on 12 of 19 shots, in the 76ers’ 117-109 win over the Celtics on Wednesday.
Embiid does it on both sides, as usual, but the balance he has found in terms of different ways of attacking is really eye-catching. Doc Rivers places it in different places on the ground so that the defenses cannot settle on one approach. He doesn’t just live on the block, but he doesn’t settle for jumpers either. He does a bit of everything: deep posts, casual 3s, midrange jumpers as defenders retreat, and his face-up play is a great weapon with his ability to put the ball on the ground.
One thing that Philly does a lot that I love is something of a reverse post-up, where essentially the passer goes down and delivers what is effectively a post-entry pass to the top where Embiid has a lag after a pick. -and-roll. switch. From there, Embiid places his back on the smaller defender and replay the bully’s ball at the basket from the outside to the inside.
Another great ride we’ve seen from Philly before and will likely continue to see: the weak pick-and-roll with Ben Simmons and Embiid. While most of the pick-and-rolls you see taking place away from the cart, Simmons and Embiid occupy the same areas downstairs and on occasion will pull off this generally spaced action in the phone booth quarters.
It really works because when the pick is placed high, Simmons isn’t a threat to pose as a shooter. But when Embiid puts the pick down, Simmons can easily come off for a short hook and therefore must be honored. This leaves Embiid with an individual seal at close range for a bucket against the one guarding Simmons, who will almost always be someone far too small to handle Embiid so close to the basket.
Irving’s comeback marked the first time we’ve seen the Brooklyn Big Three, and offensively it looked pretty good. Irving was aggressive early and often and his first bucket back was his typical art work.
Irving finished with 37 points on 15 of 28 shots. That’s a lot of shots for a guy who’s been out for a while, but that’s probably how it’s going to be: one of the Brooklyn stars is going to take a backseat most evenings as there are not enough strokes for everyone to have a full plate. On Wednesday it was James Harden, who still finished with 21 points but took just 14 shots and collected 12 assists.
Not a half-bad first week with the Nets for Harden, who became the first player in NBA history to record a 30-point triple-double on his debut with a new team, then followed with a 34 points , 12- helps show in its second game as the Nets knocked out the Bucks in a potential (very early and largely irrelevant) preview of the Eastern Conference Finals.
As mentioned, Harden took the backseat against Cleveland, instead deciding to score a 21-12-10 triple-double. Harden already looks perfectly comfortable navigating his new starry ecosystem, balancing when attacking in isolation and keeping the ball moving or simply deferring and becoming a ground spacer.
When the Nets have to have a bucket, Harden and Durant playing pick-and-roll feels like the go-to option outside of direct isolation, and it’s a pretty untenable option.
Durant’s sensational season continues as he posted – ho-hum – 38 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and four blocks against the Cavs. Honestly, it looked like he had barely sweated. Scoring is as easy for Durant as it always has been. It is simply remarkable to watch.
There has never been such a talented goalscorer in basketball history who could, in a weird way, exist behind the bigger, more brash forwards. He did it for years with Russell Westbrook. He made the most effective basketball music in history, all things considered, with Stephen Curry.
With Durant, you never feel like there is an opportunity cost for his attack. When Harden and / or Kyrie dive into their bag, there is a palpable sensation that their production and use comes at the expense of involving others. Durant sort of hangs around for 40 minutes and you look up and he’s got 40 points. He sets foot when he needs it, but he turns this dynamic of subtle aggression into art.
“It was fair. It was perfect. It felt like we belong together,” Durant said of playing alongside Irving and Harden for the first time in an NBA uniform. “It felt like this trip together was going to be fun.”
Curry has the Warriors to a surprising mark of 8-6 coming into play Thursday. If the playoffs started today, they would be the West’s fifth seed. After starting the season with two humiliating blowouts at the hands of Brooklyn and Milwaukee, Golden State is no doubt thrilled to have won eight of its last 12 games.
Curry is in the MVP hunt despite a slow start to shooting by his standards (45% of court, 37% of three). He’s fifth in the league in points, and he still does so with typical efficiency; his 125.1 points per 100 shot attempts put him in the 97th percentile in the league, according to Cleaning the Glass.
On Monday, the Warriors recovered from a 19-point deficit to stun the Lakers, and Curry returned to his vintage form just in time, scoring eight of his 26 points in the 3:40 finals, including that nasty recoil dagger on Anthony Davis :
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