James Harden stronger than Los Angeles

James Harden King of the East, the flight of Zach LaVine, return to earth for De’Aaron Fox and Khris Middleton the troubled lieutenant of Giannis. We present to you our five major and our five misfortune of the week.

Middle Five: James Harden Shows The Muscles

Back: James Harden (Brooklyn Nets)

James Harden is currently the boss of the Nets and he proved it again this week in the absence of Kevin Durant! A triple-double to warm up against Sacramento, before a 38-point game against Phoenix and two very important wins against the two Los Angeles teams. Good against the Lakers (23 points and 11 assists), James Harden was excellent against the Clippers with 37 points and 11 rebounds and 7 assists. All with percentages above 50%! Elected player of the week in the East, the bearded man is on a mission near Brooklyn and this is confirmed week by week.

NETS ???? CLIPPERS

James Harden: 37 PTS; 11 REB, 7 AST
Kyrie Irving: 28 PTS, 8 AST
PG: 34 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST
Kawhi Leonard: 29 PTS, 13 REB

A thriller punctuated by the victory of #BrooklynTogether 112-108! pic.twitter.com/tlC85MkNzL

— NBA France (@NBAFRANCE) February 22, 2021

Back: Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls)

Chicago has won three of its four games this week and that’s largely thanks to Zach LaVine. Four games with more than 30 points including a point of 38 points against Sacramento (at 75% success!) For the back of the Bulls who is playing at an all-star level at the moment. Currently ninth in the Eastern Conference, the Bulls can seriously consider the playoffs if Zach LaVine continues to chain the boxes!

Zach LaVine tonight:

— 38 PTS
— 15-20 FG
— 3-6 3 PT
— Dagger pic.twitter.com/DvVTAvZ0lm

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 21, 2021

Interior: Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans)

Zion Williamson is turning a corner! He has a series of big performances and New Orleans is approaching tenth place. The number one in the 2019 draft ends the week with 29.5 points average with a success percentage of 66.6%. Against Boston, Zion also showed great mental toughness. With his team trailing 20 points and struggling, Zion Williamson sounded his team’s revolt before scoring a and-one all in power to send his team to overtime. An extension mastered by the Pelicans!

Intérieur: Julius Randle (New York Knicks)

Will the Knicks finally have an all-star player? In any case, Julius Randle has every chance of making the All-Star Game this season. Author of his career record with a 44-point game against Atlanta, he is averaging 31.3 points this week. Especially New York has won two of three games again and the Big Apple franchise is currently seventh in the Eastern Conference. The playoffs are more relevant than ever for the Knicks!

Pivot: Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)

Absent at the start of the week, Joel Embiid then demonstrated that he was one of the favorites for the MVP title. An almost triple-double against Houston (31 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists) before a masterpiece against Chicago. Author of his career record, the Cameroonian pivot destroyed the Bulls’ racket with 50 points and 17 rebounds for the most dominant player in the NBA currently. Against Toronto, he struggled with “only” 25 points, 17 rebounds and one loss. Insufficient to forget his exceptional week (35 points and 15 rebounds on average).

JOEL EMBIID. TAKEOVER
???? 50 points (career high)
???? 17 boards, 2 steals, 4 blocks
???? 17-26 FGM, 15-17 FTM@JoelEmbiid x @sixers pic.twitter.com/692R6rOzEa

– NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2021

Doom Five: Return to Earth for De’Aaron Fox

Back: De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings)

The weeks go by and are not the same for De’Aaron Fox. Excellent at the start of February, the Sacramento point guard struggled this week. 15.75 points / game including a game of barely 11 points against Miami. Obviously, De’Aaron Fox’s downgrade coincides with losses for the Kings. Six consecutive defeats (including four this week) and the hopes of the playoffs are flying away in a very competitive Western conference.

Back: Kemba Walker (Boston Celtics)

Is there a Kemba Walker problem in Boston? Very good in the victory against Atlanta (28 points to 62% shooting), he was average against Denver (17 points) and downright indigent in the loss against the Pelicans. During this match, we (as often) saw the bad face of Kemba Walker. That of a very clumsy leader who forces his shoot too much. He finished this match at 14 points with a horrible 1/12 at 3-pts. Currently sixth in the Eastern Conference, the Kemba Walker problem could become increasingly important on the Boston side.

Interior: John Collins (Atlanta Hawks)

Currently eleventh in the Eastern Conference, Atlanta’s season is turning into a nightmare. The rookies are struggling, Trae Young is on AC and John Collins is not progressing. In four games this week, the Hawks player has not passed the 20 point mark. He even completely missed out against Boston with only 8 points at 3/13 in the shoot. In the last ten games, Atlanta has won only three and John Collins is no stranger to this bad patch.

Interior: Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks)

If the Bucks have chained the defeats in a worrying way, it is in part because of the decline of Khris Middleton. If Giannis Antetokounmpo is always on top, this is not the case with his lieutenant. In the double confrontation against Toronto, he only registered twenty-four points in two games and Milwaukee lost twice… Fortunately, the weekend was better for Khris Middleton with twenty points and the victory against OKC but only 38% success. He finished the week with finally a match worthy of the name against Cleveland: 32 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists! Khris is back?

O Anunoby putting Khris Middleton in a box. ???? pic.twitter.com/SdNRiiKQKn

— Matchup Brasil ???????? (@MatchupBR) February 19, 2021

Pivot: Al Horford (Oklahoma City Thunder)

Does Al Horford have his head elsewhere? After a good start to the season, the OKC hub has missed out this week averaging just 12.5 points and 6 rebounds per game for two losses in three games. Advertised on the Boston side, the transfer rumors seemed to bother Big Al who did not perform as well as usual. The reconstruction is definitely difficult on the side of the Thunder.

cover photo credit: Skysports