Buckets with Brock: Early-Season Surprises, Giannis’ Monster Week and Buzzer-Beaters Abound

by Michael Brock in Buckets with Brock

Welcome back to Buckets with Brock, ladies and gentleman. In this week’s edition, we’ll look at some early surprises, hand out weekly awards and determine some games to watch in the coming days.

Early-Season Surprises

With a week and a half of the NBA season in the books, each team has played a handful of games. And though many of the initial impressions won’t endure, let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the downright-ugly surprises of the season so far.

The Good

Victor Oladipo

Victor Oladipo was traded to the Indiana Pacers over the summer after a one-season stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He wasn’t dreadful in OKC, but ultimately disappointed as Russell Westbrook’s wingman, putting up 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists on 44.2/36.1/75.3 shooting splits.

To begin 2017-18, however, Oladipo is on an absolute tear. In five games, the former No. 2 overall pick is tallying 26.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists while slashing an incredible 50.0/44.8/88.6.

While his counting stats and shooting should dwindle at least slightly, there’s no denying Oladipo looks like a different player on both sides of the ball. He is averaging 2.2 steals a game, as well as a career-best 9.2 points in the paint.

The fifth-year veteran also evidently worked on his body this summer, looking much leaner and even more explosive:

The Toronto Raptors (Kind of) Abandon Mid-Range

A season after averaging the 12th-most mid-range attempts per game (20.3), the Raptors have decreased that number to 12.0, which ranks 25th. Since it’s rightfully considered the least efficient spot on the floor, eliminating the in-between shot will do wonders for the team’s offensive proficiency.

While DeMar DeRozan is still registering 7.8 attempts per game, it is certainly encouraging that the team is starting to embrace more of an inside-out attack. They are currently taking the third-most threes per game (on a 29.5 percent clip) after trying the 22nd-most in 2016-17.

The Bad

(Playoff) Kyle Lowry

While the Raptors have certainly adopted a more three-point-heavy assault, point guard Kyle Lowry has had his woes. Lest you forgot, Lowry has been the East’s best point guard outside of the Washington Wizards’ John Wall for the past couple seasons. But he doesn’t get quite the ballyhoo he so rightly deserves, thanks to his struggles in the playoffs.

In his last three seasons (all All-Star campaigns), the 6’0″ bulldog has put up 17.4 points, 5.8 assists and 4.4 rebounds on a 46.3 effective field-goal percentage in the playoffs, compared to 20.4 points, 6.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds on 51.8 eFG% in the regular season.

To make matters worse, the Raptors essentially start 0-1 in each series because of his woeful Game 1s. If you take out last year’s first contest against Cleveland (since he had 20 points and 11 assists), Lowry has mustered the following line in five Game 1s over the past three seasons: 7.4 points, 5.6 assists and 4.0 rebounds on 22.9 percent shooting from the field and a 6.5 percent clip from three.

And so far this season, the proverbial “playoff Kyle Lowry” has returned, managing just 12.4 points, 7.6 assists and 5.0 rebounds while slashing 35.5/30.6/87.5. The 12th-year lead guard registered a triple double on Friday, and I have no doubts he will turn it around, yet his putrid performance thus far is something to monitor as the season progresses.

The Ugly

The Phoenix Suns

The Suns being awful is not surprising. Nor is the fact that head coach Earl Watson was fired after just three games. Hell, even point guard Eric Bledsoe chronicling on Twitter his desire to be traded wasn’t that surprising. The Suns shut their point guard down for the final stretch last year to acquire a higher draft pick, and at 27, he just doesn’t fit into their younger core’s timeline.

The surprising part is that this stuff wasn’t taken care of sooner. Watson was not the proper coach for the Suns—he is a decent motivator, but not a big Xs and Os guy or someone who will really develop the team’s young talent. Phoenix had to know this over the summer, as well as realizing Bledsoe wasn’t long for the team.

So why wait until the season starts to throw a monkey wrench in everything? The easy answer: incompetence.

The franchise should’ve gotten rid of Watson and traded Bledsoe over the summer—perhaps on draft night, when more teams are looking to wheel-and-deal. The 27-year-old lead guard can still genuinely help an NBA team, with steady handling and defensive aptitude, and it will be interesting to see where he ends up.

Weekly Awards

Best Finishes

Honorable Mention: Milwaukee Bucks beat Portland Trail Blazers, 113-110 on Saturday, Oct. 21.

During any other week, this ending surely finishes top three, but since we had an insane amount of buzzer-beaters, that’s not so this time around. And that pains me, because what Giannis Antetokounmpo did to close it out was utterly amazing:

Not only did he come up with the steal and finish—taking a single dribble from half court, mind you—he also came up with the game-saving block.

On top of that, there was this touching moment in the locker room afterwards:

3. Los Angeles Clippers beat Portland Trail Blazers, 104-103 on Thursday, Oct. 26.

This was not only one of the best finishes of the week, but one of the top overall games of the week, as well. Neither team led by more than five in the fourth quarter, and it ultimately came down to the final possession. After some misdirection and a nearly catastrophic pump fake, Blake Griffin knocked down the game-winning three as the Clippers left Rip City victorious:

2. Houston Rockets beat Philadelphia 76ers, 105-104 on Wednesday, Oct. 25.

The 76ers appeared to have this one in the bag, leading by eight with three minutes to go. But the Rockets ran off the game’s final nine point—including the winning three from Eric Gordon—to stun the young team in the City of Brotherly Love:

1. Minnesota Timberwolves beat Oklahoma City Thunder, 115-113 on Sunday, Oct. 22.

The ending to ‘Wolves-Thunder would have made this list regardless, but it takes home the top spot for the sheer fact that there were two go-ahead shots in the final five seconds. Here’s the final sequence:

Wiggins loses a few style points for banking it in. But as Paul Pierce taught us, it’s all about calling game.

Top Highlights

Honorable mentions

Spoiler: This is not going to be a good play. On Thursday, the Atlanta Hawks and the Chicago Bulls faced off in the tank-off of the year, with the Bulls coming out on top (I guess?), 91-86.

I’ll give you an idea of how porous this one was; the score at halftime was 39-37, and I assure you it doesn’t matter who was ahead. The lousiest sequence of the contest, though, occurred during a 30-second section of the fourth quarter:

Top Three

3. Kemba Walker Crossover And-1

On Friday, Oct. 20, the Charlotte Hornets’ Kemba Walker picked off the Hawks’ Luke Babbitt as he kicked it out to a teammate. Walker then zipped up the court, cruelly hesitated to bring Babbitt back in the play, then ended the forward’s very existence with a patented Cardiac Kemba crossover capped with a layup plus the foul:

2. Blake Griffin Hammers on Rudy Gobert

On Tuesday, Oct. 24, the Clippers’ Patrick Beverley came off a screen and flipped the ball to Blake Griffin, initiating as the Jazz’s Ricky Rubio to pick up the big man. Griffin hesitated, easily maneuvered by the Spanish guard and set his sights on the rim. Rudy Gobert, the last line of defense, tried to retreat, but it was too late as the 6’10” Griffin absolutely yammed over the back of the French big man:

  1. James Johnson Dunk on Oladipo

On Saturday, Oct. 21, the Miami Heat’s James Johnson caught the ball in the left corner, got his man up in the air and drove baseline. Johnson rose up to the 11th floor, dropped the Indiana Pacers’ Victor Oladipo off at the 10th and threw down a monstrous slam that had Oladipo’s unborn grandchildren grimacing in embarrassment:

1 Wacky Stat

Speaking of Johnson: The nine-year vet is putting up quality numbers across the board, notching 13.5 points, 6.3 assists, 6.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.5 blocks. But that’s not the wacky part; his shooting splits are.

In four games, he’s slashing 74.1 percent on two-pointers and 16.7 percent on threes. Yes, you read that right. That’s obviously not sustainable, but I guess it helps to dunk on people.

Top Statlines

Honorable Mention

Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons: 21 points (8-of-11), 12 rebounds, 10 assists against the Detroit Pistons on Mon., Oct. 23:

Top 5

5. Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James: 29 points (12-of-20), 10 rebounds, 13 assists and 4 blocks against the Brooklyn Nets on Wed., Oct. 25:

4. Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook: 28 points (10-of-18), 10 rebounds, 16 assists and 3 steals against the Indiana Pacers on Wed., Oct 25:

3. Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vucevic: 41 points (17-of-22), 12 rebounds and 3 assists against the Brooklyn Nets on Fri., Oct. 20:

2. Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo: 44 points (17-of-23), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sat., Oct. 21:

  1. New Orleans Pelicans’ DeMarcus Cousins: 41 points (14-of-25), 23 rebounds and 6 assists against the Sacramento Kings on Thu., Oct. 26:

Picks Against the Spread

Weekly Results:

Win/Loss for last week: 2-3
Win/Loss for the season: 4-6

Week 3 Games to Watch

Saturday, Oct. 28

Philadelphia 76ers @ Dallas Mavericks, 8:30 p.m. ET

Two of the most exciting rookies, the 76ers’ Ben Simmons and the Mavericks’ Dennis Smith Jr., will face off in this one. So far this season, Smith is averaging 13.5 points, 6.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals in four games. His shooting has been wholly sporadic, with splits of 42.9/25.0/42.1, but even so, he is already a steady point guard and a high-flying talent worthy of watching on a nightly basis:

Simmons, on the other hand, has been out of this world, averaging 16.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.4 steals in five games. Even without a jump shot, the Australian point guard(?) has proved he can more than hold his own in the Association.

What’s more, his statistics so far are historic for his height:

Prediction: This game features two of the worst teams in the league so far, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be exciting. There will be soaring dunks and 7-footers running the break. The Sixers, however, thanks to Simmons, Joel Embiid and Co., will come out on top.

Sunday, Oct. 29

Washington Wizards @ Sacramento Kings, 6:00 p.m. ET

The Kings-Wizards game on Sunday features All-Star John Wall and a rookie who received comparisons to the speedy Kentucky alum prior to the season. De’Aaron Fox, also a former Wildcat, has been on a roll, notching 14.8 points, 5.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds while slashing an otherworldly 50.0/42.9/91.7 despite coming off the bench.

Washington, meanwhile, will likely be without guard Bradley Beal after his encounter with the Warriors’ Draymond Green on Friday evening:

Prediction: Even so, the Wizards possess the punch necessary to take down the new-and-improved, yet still lowly Kings.

Monday, Oct. 30

San Antonio Spurs @ Boston Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBATV

The Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard is still out with tendinitis in his right quadriceps, but no matter. Head coach Gregg Popovich could lead a college team to 40 wins and a playoff berth in the West. With competent NBA players, San Antonio has gotten off to a 4-1 start, especially as LaMarcus Aldridge is playing out of his mind. The Texas product is tallying 25.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists on 51.6 percent shooting.

The Celtics, on the other hand, are 3-2 after dropping their first two games. Yes, they lost Gordon Hayward for the season in game one, but six players are scoring in double-figures, led by point guard Kyrie Irving at 20.8 per game.

Prediction: The C’s veteran combination of Irving and Al Horford, along with youngin’s Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum ,will overmatch Aldridge and Co.

Golden State Warriors @ Los Angeles Clippers, 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV

This matchup features one undefeated team, and another that has been slow out of the gate. The Golden State War… wait what do you mean the Clippers are unbeaten?! Did Chris Paul get traded back or something? Nope. Then they must have switched rosters with the Dubs? Wrong again. The Clippers are unscathed thus far for one major reason.

Blake Griffin.

In addition to the aforementioned game-winner on the Blazers, the eighth-year forward has been all-around unstoppable, with averages of 26.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting 53.6 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from downtown on 5.8 tries (!!) per game. We finally know what a Griffin-led team looks like, and it’s been glorious to see him mix “Point Blake” with “three-point shooting Blake” while remaining efficient as hell.

So that means the Dubs are stuck in the mud thus far? Yes, but only by their standards. The Warriors are 4-2 overall, having won their last three after opening the season 1-2. Head coach Steve Kerr has cited the team’s preseason trek to China as a reason the team’s conditioning and overall play is still not quite there.

Golden State have been sloppy with the ball, averaging the seventh-most turnovers per contest (17.2), but finding ways to win games with its unparalleled talent. The Warriors are tops in the league in field-goal percentage (50.7 percent), assists (30.2) and blocks (8.7).

Prediction: As fun as point Blake has been, there’s only so much a team can do against the champs. Griffin will show out with a monster game, but the Dubs have started to find their stride, and their firepower will prove to be too much.

Tuesday, Oct. 31

Oklahoma City Thunder @ Milwaukee Bucks, 8:00 p.m. ET, NBATV

The Thunder’s Russell Westbrook is the league’s reigning MVP, while the Bucks’ 22-year-old Antetokounmpo looks poised to win his own, earning the best TPA so far and putting up an inconceivable 35.0 points, 10.6 boards, 5.6 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.2 blocks on 62.4 percent shooting.

OKC’s offense has taken some time to jell with the addition of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, yet they are looking more cohesive by the game. Milwaukee is a bit more unpredictable, mostly relying on the Greek Freak to win them ball games (which, admittedly, is not a bad plan).

Prediction: This will be the game of the week. However, the Thunder offense will start firing on all cylinders and take out the Bucks and Antetokounmpo in this one.

Follow Michael on Twitter @mbrock03.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all statistics via NBA Math, Basketball-Reference and NBA.com.