NBA Week 3 Recap

Week 3 of the NBA season was packed full. Packed full of good games, packed full of injuries, packed full of highlights, and surprisingly packed full of drama. After three weeks, we have two teams who are still perfect, and we'll start with one of them.

Philadelphia 76ers

Yup the 76ers are still perfect, perfect losers. They are currently the only winless team in the NBA this season with a 0-11 record. They are currently 6 straight loses away from matching their start from last season, and if they are trying to enter the record books, 8 straight losses from having the worst start in NBA History. The 76ers are awful, Gawd awful. If we are to go back to last season, they are actually on a 21 game losing streak, their last win came on March 25th. With all this losing, they do have one thing to be happy about, one bright spot about this season.

Jahlil Okafor

Okafor is having an excellent rookie season. He is currently averaging 19.2 Points per game, which is first among rookies. Honestly, that's really not a surprise. Everyone knew he could score, but it's his defensive that's been surprising. He's currently averaging 1.8 blocks per game, second among rookies. This week was an excellent week for Okafor too. He started the week by going off on the Raptors, dropping 26. His next game vs OKC was probably the worst of his young career, he finished with only 6 points and 6 rebounds, but he came back nicely. The next two games he had 2 big double doubles of 21 and 12 and 19 and 11 to end his week pretty good. Well at least so far in this terrible season, the 76ers found their big man of the future.

Now for the truly perfect team in the NBA...

Golden State Warriors

I feel like I talk about them too much every week, but honestly they deserve it. The Warriors are a perfect 12-0. I'll say this, this was definitely the hardest week of the season for them . It started in Memphis. Y'all remember Memphis though right? The team they embarrassed by 50 two weeks ago? Let's just say it didn't get much better for them this game, especially when Stephen Curry had the ball. Curry actually struggled this game, going 9/ 21, yet he still finished with 28. And he did this to end the 3rd quarter. 

Then as if he was just playing with them, he threw this up.

The torture of Memphis continues. But hey, at least they ain't lose by 50. Well you've heard the saying "another week, another Steph 40 Piece"? Well, it's true. He burned the Timberwolves for 46. Curry's 3rd 40 point game of the season. Then things got interesting for the Warriors. Their next game was vs the Nets, one of the THE worst teams in the league. They entered the game with a 97% chance of winning. Well Brooklyn took it to them, HARD. The Warriors were down as much as 17. Come 4th quarter time, the Nets looked like they were gonna end the Warriors streak... then this happened

Game goes to OT. I knew it was over, that was Brooklyn's worst mistake. The Warriors score the first 10 points of the extra period and pull away. Improving to 11-0. Steph finished with 34, and Draymond added a triple double of 16 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds. One of the best games of the whole week was last night, the Warriors faced the Raptors. Competitive game, looked like the Raps would end the streak. Toronto had the game in their hands, down 1 with 24 seconds left and in the bonus. Then Kyle Lowry makes two crucial mistakes on back to back possessions, effectively sealing the game for the Warriors. Steph finishes with 37 and 9 assists, and the streak continues. It's now up to their next opponent, who gave them their toughest game of the year so far.

Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers have been having an up and down season so far. They are currently 6-4. It's been hard for them since their best player, Chris Paul has been out most of the season with a strained groin injury. Luckily, their second best player, Blake Griffin, has been a monster. Blake's been averaging 26 and 9 rebounds this season. They started this week on a two game losing streak, but thanks to a herculean effort from Jamal Crawford, they were able to pull out a victory vs the Pistons. Crawford went OFF for 37, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Will they be able to end the Warriors streak tomorrow? 

Let's keep it in California shall we? 

Sacramento Kings

Before this week, the Kings were having a terrible season. They had lost 6 straight games leading to a player's only meeting and a very angry Demarcus Cousins. Cousins early in the week blew up on his head coach George Karl, cursing him out in front of the whole team. Well that must've done the trick because after that the Kings took off! They've won three straight since the incident, mainly on the backs of two players, you can probably guess one of them.

DeMarcus Cousins

He has been outstanding this week. Starting the week off he went for 33 and 9 vs the Pistons. Then he absolutely demolished the Nets to the tune of 40 points and 13 rebounds. They had no answer for him in the paint, doing anything he wanted in there. He then followed up that performance in a win vs the Raptors, he gave them 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Excellent week, good enough to earn him Western Conference player of the week honors.  Behind most good big men, is a good point guard, and the King's PG finally re-emerged.

Rajon Rondo

Y'all remember a couple years back when there was a debate that Rondo was a top 5 PG in the league? And if he had a jumper, he would be the best by far? Well if he keeps up what he did this week, that conversation might just come back up. Rondo looked like the Rondo of old this week. Rondo had two straight TRIPLE DOUBLES to start this week. First he gave one to the Pistons, tallying 14 points, 15 assists, and 11 rebounds, then he followed that right up by giving an even better one to the Nets, 23 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds. He finished his week with another strong performance of 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 14 assists. Rondo used to be the best passer in the league, and it's starting to look like it again. 

There's another player in the league known for getting Triple doubles too

Russell Westbrook

When Durant is injured, something takes over Westbrook. We saw it all last season, and this week we were graced with it again. Triple Double madness. Durant went out in the first half vs Washington, and you didn't have to tell Westbrook twice. He recorded his first one of the season finishing with 22, 11, and 11. The next game the madness continued, Westbrook tallied another one in a win vs the 76ers, he had 21 points, 17 rebounds, and 11 assists. The rest of the week was good for Westbrook, but not in the win column. OKC ended up losing to the Celtics with Westbrook scoring 27, then Westbrook gave the Memphis Grizzlies 40, yet they still lost. Let's hope OKC can get back to their winning ways.  

Week Three was also the week of returns, a lot of players faced off against their former teams this week. 

LaMarcus Aldridge

He made his return to Portland for the first time since he left them for San Antonio, and he didn't disappoint. Aldridge gave his former team 23 and 6 rebounds, and most importantly came out with the win. He later played Portland again later in the week, but had a pretty bad game, recording only 6 points and 6 rebound, but at least the Spurs pulled out another win.

Nicolas Batum

I'm gonna give it up to Batum, he had a fantastic week, so good he earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors. He had a string of good games, his best which he saved for his old team. He started the week of beating the Knicks and giving them 24 points along with 5 rebounds. Next game, in a loss to Chicago, he dropped 28 and 8 rebounds. He decided to save his best game of the season so far vs Portland. He gave them 33 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds, and took the win. 

Dallas Mavericks 

The team everybody suspected to drop off this season, including myself, has done just the opposite. They look better. The Mavericks are currently 3rd in the Western Conference with a 7-4 record. They are on a 4 game win streak , which includes a win against the Clippers, or more so, DeAndre Jordan. They,specifically Nowitzki, spoiled DJ's pretend homecoming. Dirk dropped 31 and 11 on the Clippers, including 5-6 from 3. The other big name free agent, Wesley Mathews, the one that actually followed through with his deal, gave the Clips 25. Then the icing on the cake, courtesy of the Mavericks twitter account (it's funny if you followed the whole DeAndre saga)

This week had some surprises too

Phoenix Suns

The Suns have been a pretty decent surprise this season. They were expected to be a below average team, one that wouldn't make the playoffs. They just are not good enough to compete in the West. Well on the season the Suns are 6-4, currently on a 3 game win streak, and their two guards are the reason why 

Brandon Knight

Remember when Brandon Knight was the joke of the NBA? 

You know when Kyrie did this

Then DeAndre Jordan did this

Well it looks like those days are over because now a days, Brandon Knight has been putting people on the highlight reel, especially this week. 

Victim Uno- Lakers Rookie PG Huertas

Victim dos- Paul Pierce

Trust me, Brandon Knight has been doing more than just making fools of people this season. He's averaging 20.2 points per game and 5 assists. Aside from giving the truth to The Truth, he dropped 37 on the Clippers heads, then he went to the other side of Los Angeles and gave them a triple double to the tune of 30 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds. Brandon Knight has been snapping this year, but so has his Co-Star.

Eric Bledsoe

Eric Bledsoe busted on the scene last season, and he's been continuing his amazing play this season. On the season, he's averaging 23 a game, almost 6 assists, and 4 rebounds. This week vs the Clippers he almost had his own triple double finishing with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. He gave the Nuggets 30 and 7, and he completed his week vs the Clips with a respectable 21. The Suns have one of the best backcourts in the entire league, and they are showing it. 

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant has been bad this season... historically bad. Because of the fact it is Kobe Bryant, it's a shame to say this, but Kobe finally had a good game. It took him about 10 games, but Kobe is starting to play well. It started vs the Mavs, Kobe finished with 19, an inefficient 19, but 19 nonetheless. His first really good game came vs the Pistons. He finished with 17 points,8 rebounds, and 9 assists. Even though it was another inefficient game, he contributed in other ways aside from scoring, and what makes it more impressive, it was a win over a quality team. The Kobe of old is gone. You're just not being real with yourself to still think Kobe can come and still average 25 with ease, but I do believe Kobe can average 16 with 6 assists and rebounds. For the hope of Laker nation, let's hope Kobe continues to play this way.

Houston Rockets

The second best team in the NBA last season has went from bad, to good, to really bad this season, They've been battling bouts of inconsistency all season, and this week it was more apparent than ever. They are 4-7 on the season, currently on a 4 game losing streak. James Harden hasn't been himself. He's been super inefficient, even more so than usual, and very turnover prone. In each of the last 4 loses, Harden has had at least 4 turnovers. Then to top it all off, the Rockets just fired their coach, Kevin McHale, and he really didn't deserve it. Houston we have a problem.

And lastly we shall end with my favorite team.

Cleveland Cavaliers 

The Cavs started the week like they had been doing all season. Winning. They played the Knicks again. He's obviously been watching Kyrie because he broke this out

During the 4th quarter, he schooled Porzingus multiple times, and then with the game tied with under a minute left, LeBron hit a jumper right in Melo's face, to put the Cavs up for good. He also locked up Melo all of the second half, limiting him to just one field goal. He finished the game with 31, and the Cavs had won 8 straight... but since then, it's been going downhill. The next game the Cavs played the Bucks, which they lost in double OT. LeBron did what he does, finished the game with 37 and 12. Greg Monroe was huge with 16 points and 17 rebounds, and the game saving offensive rebound. Their next game was vs the Pistons, another closely contested contest which the Cavs couldn't pull out. Andre Drummond had another huge game with 25 and 18 rebounds, plus Reggie Jackson played huge also with 23 and 12 rebounds. LeBron went for 30, his 4th straight 30 point game, and his 5th 30 point game in 6 outings. During the game, he also passed the Logo, Jerry West, on the all- time scoring list, which he is now 19th on. The Cavs are now 8-3, all their losses coming against divisional opponents. The Cavs have some issues to work out; LeBron has been calling his team out lately, saying they're not hungry enough and feel too entitled to have lost in the finals. Let's hope they listen to him or that championship in Cleveland might be a pipe dream. 

Well I hope I have caught you up with all of week three. By now, Y'all know the spot. see you same time next week!

NBA Week 2 Recap

Week 2 has come and gone, but not without a lot of interesting developments. Week two had everything you could want in a good week; a lot of great games, and in those games a lot of spectacular performances. Their were highlight reel dunks from superstars and rookies alike, their were mighty comebacks, and hey even a lit buzzer beater. Some players started coming into their own, other players finally started getting their groove back. The Good teams remained good, and the bad teams... Well you should already know how that goes. But let's get into it!

Who should I start off with? Well it's always good to start with the best.

The Golden State Warriors
The Warriors are off to a sizzling start. They are currently 8-0. The ONLY undefeated team left in the league. They are dominating teams on both sides of the ball, and its starting to become ridiculous. They are beating teams by an average of 17.7 points with their biggest being a 50 point shaming of the Memphis Grizzlies. They did play some exciting games this week though. Their closest game of the season came against their rivals, The Clippers. They won that game by only 4 points. The Clips simply had no answer for Curry when it was crunch time. He finished the game with 31 and the go ahead 3 pointer with under a minute left. The Warriors are dominant, and it is primarily because of one man.

Stephen Curry
Come week 2, Steph didn't slow down one bit. He didn't go off like he did last week in any games, but he still played better than almost everybody else in the league. On the season, Stephen Curry is still averaging just over 32 a game, the league leader. He is seriously looking to repeat as MVP, and he keeps up these Numbers and his team keeps winning at this rate, it's all but his.

The Warriors have been the best team in the league so far, but who has been second best?

The Cleveland Cavaliers

Weird the best two teams so far are the ones who played in the finals last year? Not really. The Cavs are currently on a 7 game win streak, their only loss being the season opener to the Bulls. Since then they have been on a roll, and this week proved no different. They beat the Knicks,76ers, Pacers, and the Jazz this week, and each game was close until one man decided to put his fingerprints all over the games. Can we guess who that man was?

LeBron James

LeBron was sensational this week. Started the week off by outplaying Melo in New York, but after that game the LeBron of old started making appearences. The first half vs the 76ers was a tightly contested game, but LeBron came out after halftime and dropped 18 of his 31 in the 3rd quarter to put it away for good. And oh yeah, He added a season high 13 assist too. The next game vs the Pacers, he was playing against a familiar foe in Paul George. He lost the stat battle to George, but LeBron's 29 was able to get his team that W. His best game of the week came last night vs the Jazz. The game was close all the way through tied at the end of the 3rd quarter. Then LeBron asserted his will. In the 4th quarter LeBron dropped 17 of his 31 points on 6-8 shooting to close it out. Remember I was talking about highlights? well here's the first one.

7'2 Rudy Gobert was shook to even try and go up with LeBron. Ya'll saying he too old though. I'm sleep.

But trust me when I say LeBron was not the only Cavalier doing his thing this week.

Kevin Love 

Kevin Love is back, and I mean it. He's starting to look like his old self again after a disaster of last season. K-Love is averaging 17 and 12 this season including a monster 22 and 19 performance vs the Pacers. LeBron said this season the offense would be based a lot more around Kevin Love and it has shown. 

Since we were already talking about Indiana, lets jump straight into the next topic.

Paul George

I don't know if yall are aware or not, but I'll gladly be the first to tell you, Paul George is BACK. After his gruesome leg injury and missing almost all of last season, Paul George is picking up right where he left off. He's looking like the top 10 player he was again. He is averaging 23.2 points, 5 assists, and 8 rebounds a game. This week with the exception of Orlando, he hit 26 and 7 rebounds every game. He went off for a season high 36 with 12 rebounds vs Miami, and he followed that up with 32, 11 and 6 vs the Cavs. I'm so glad to George back, he's gonna make Indiana very interesting this season.

Keeping it in the East, another team that's been suprisingly good?

 Detroit Pistons

Stan Van Gundy has had a history of turning teams around, and with this year's Piston's team, he's showing it again. The Pistons are at 5-2 and currently 3rd in the Eastern Confernce, no one, I mean no one expected them to look this good to start out, and it's mainly because of their 2 headed beast of Jackson and Drummond. Jackson is averaging 23 and 5 in his first full season as a starter, and that includes a 40 point outburst Vs the Blazers. Andre Drummond has been looking like the second coming off a young Dwight Howard with his crazy 20-20 double doubles. He had 14-15 vs the Warriors and that was his worst game of the season. That says it all right there.

The last headline of the week is someone who shouldn't be. Or at least that's what we thought.

Kristaps Porzingus

He was supposed to be a bust they said. He wasn't suppose to even play this year they said. Well he's playing... a lot, and he's playing well. It could actually be up for debate that he is the Knicks second best player. He's averaging 11 points and 8 rebounds per game and even a block. He is the league leader in putback dunks this season with 7. It might not sound all that impressive, but consider this, There are 6 teams in the league that doesnt even have one putback this season. He's pretty darn good. I'm not saying he's the next Dirk, but I will say one thing. He is a highlight reel. 

Now back to the rest of the Wild Wild West...

James Harden

The man got his groove back. He REALLY got it back. After starting the season horrible and losing their first 3 games, James Harden destroyed the Thunder to the tune of 37 points to end last week. It seems like all that momentum continued into this week because he has been going off. He started this week by dropping 28 on Orlando, then next game all hell broke loose. Harden went for 43 and 13 on the Kings, pretty much defeating them single handedly. The next game he didnt want to stop because he dropped 43 the Clippers. Now his team is on a 4 game winning streak. 

Week 1 Recap

What a time.... To be alive . The first week of the NBA was beautiful, and I mean great. Could we have expected any better ? The superstars came to play . Particular score. Multiple 40 point games in the FIRST week. And it got so crazy, we had two 40+ performances in the same game! But it wasn't all good. There have been a few disappointments from some players and teams already, which is not a good sign, but we'll be getting into all of that.

So what's probably the biggest headline of week one? Does it even need to be debated? Pretty Easy.

STEPHEN CURRY

This man has been absolutely insane to start the season. Through the first 4 games this season. Stephen Curry is averaging 37 points, 6 assists , and 5 rebounds a game. Oh yeah, nothing to serious, but has a PER ( Player Efficiency Rating) of 50.25. He has had 30 in 3 of the 4 games, including a 53 point outburst. He has had 3 20 point Quarters too. The rest of the NBA has a grand total of one. He has a total of 148 points in 4 games, the most since Michael Jordan. 

Steph Curry is NO Fluke. 

Oh Yeah, the Warriors are no Fluke either. They are currently undefeated, and have won all their games by at least 14, including a 50 point drumming of Memphis. 

Well what's been the second biggest story of this season? His name shouldn't be too surprising either.

RUSSELL WESTBROOK

Westbrook is literally destroying who so ever dares to guard him. Currently averaging almost a Triple Double with 30, 9, and 7. Westbrook has been a nightmare for opposing teams this season. And San Antonio had to learn that the hard way. The very first game of the season, Westbrook torched Tony Parker and San Antonio to the tune of 33 and 10, but wait he wasn't done there. The next night he dropped 48, 11, and 8 on Orlando in a double OT victory, not to mention he pretty much hit a half court Jumper to send it to Overtime. 

So What about Kevin Durant??

If y'all had any doubts about him, he's just fine. He's averaging 29 points per game, including a 41 point effort vs Orlando also. I think that foot is just fine.

Another Interesting storyline of week one is this year's Rookie Class.

This year's class is good... REALLY Good. 

The Number 1 overall pick, 

Karl Anthony Towns is averaging 17, 10 with almost 3 blocks a game. His star performance came against Denver when he erupted for 28 PPG, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocks .

Jahlil Okafor, the 3rd Overall pick, erupted for 26 and 7 his DEBUT game in the NBA. He's currently averaging about 20 and 6.

Remember the bust? Or the supposed bust, Kristaps Porzingus... Well he's pretty good. First NBA game he goes for 15, and his latest game he went for 13 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals. Stop being disrespectful, the boy can play. 

And my pick for ROY, Emmanuel Mudiay? He's holding it down too. Opening game vs the The Rockets he went for 17 and 9. 

Let's get into some of the disappointments before the surprises of this season...

Kobe Bryant 

I won't even lie... He is awful, God awful. He started the season with an alright game with 24 in a loss to the Wolves. But since then he's been shooting his team outta games, air balling wide open shots, and just can't flat out score. Is this officially it for Kobe? 

Anthony Davis

He was suppose to be the MVP this season... He was suppose to make the leap and become the best player in the game this year... Well no. The Pelicans are 0-4 currently and he's partly the reason. Even though he's averaging 20-10, it's not the dominant Type. Davis will need to assert his dominance and be more efficient if he hopes to make the playoffs this season.

The Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets had the worst start through 3 games in... NBA History. They lost their first 3 games by 20 points or more. I don't know what's going on with them... James Harden is played awful too Maybe the Based God's curse is real. They were able to pull out a good win vs OKC. James Harden went off for 37. So maybe things are starting to change, we'll see.

Enough of the disappointments... Now for the surprises.

Andre Drummond

One of the biggest surprises of the first week of the Season has been the play of Andre Drummond. If someone told you they saw this coming, they are lying. Andre Drummond has become Dennis Rodman reincarnated so far. Check these stat-lines.

18 points and 19 rebounds vs Atlanta

18 Points and 10 rebounds vs Utah

20 points and 20 rebounds vs Chicago

25 points and 29 rebounds vs Indiana

What is going on?? He's lead the Pistons to a 3-1 start, and he took home Eastern conference player of the week honors.If he keeps this up, he might just take the title of the best big in basketball.

Giannis Antetokounmpo 

THE GREEK FREAK HAS ARRIVED. He was suspended the first game of the season, but since he came back, he has wreaked havoc . In his 3 games this week, Giannis has had at least 20 points and 8 rebounds. This kind of production wasn't expected for years down the line, he's showing it in year 3.

Week 1 of the new NBA season just showed me how much I missed it, and how glad I am that it's finally back! Can't wait to see how the rest of this season turns out.