After a full week in Orlando, a little more if you count the preparation, still no hasty conclusions but all the same some trends that emerge. At the collective level, it gives this, and at the individual level if some have had a hard time, others have assured, confirmed and sometimes astonished. We even made you a starting five, a kind of All-NBA Bubble Team. We are attacking with the West before moving on a little later with the East, we just have to confirm that to us guys because for the moment as far as you are concerned … it’s pretty good.
Warning: subjective selection by trying to stick as much as possible to reality and to the feelings experienced, positions not always respected but we still do as we want.
29 points and 9 assists to catch up with the season after scrimmages spent picking the nose, then 30 points and 16 assists in the painful defeat against Boston before putting on the heat with a 21/9/8 against Houston and especially an incredible masterpiece last night against the Nuggets. If Portland is now more than back in the race for eighth place, it is partly thanks to him (see below), and we know yellow and purple players who have to squeeze their buttocks very hard, hoping not to. cross in playoffs. Sorry guys, Lady put her watch on and it’s on time.
Honorable mentions: Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander et Russell Westbrook. Impossible not to mention the current form of the Thunder and by extension its stamped young / old backcourt. It’s smooth, it’s smart, it’s sexy, needs some air there. As for Russell Westbrook, a few summer minutes were enough for him to confirm that he is much more than a lieutenant to his bearded teammate.
Who else ? So ok, there are these two games a little missed against Milwaukee and Portland (and again, we would like to miss games and finish in 23/7/7 or 24/6/9) but then against the Mavericks and the Lakers , it was the real Ramesse who was out. 49/9/8/3/3 as an aperitif, 39/8/12 as a dessert, and the bearded man who reminds everyone of the kind of jerk he can be. James Harden is like his team, unpredictable and dependent on his skill, but when he puts it in, few teams can hang Houston.
Mention honorable : Gary Trent Jr., the other bae from the Portland Outer Lines, so young and already so cheeky. 22/35 at 3-points in four games, we hope that suits you as proof.
The Suns are the hit of the summer and Devin is the star singer. We saw at the very start of the season that Phoenix was a specialist in a gun start? Their luck ultimately lies in the fact that this summer start is already… very close to the finish and that they may not have time to become null again. Devin in any case taps cardboard on cardboard in a winning team that aims for the… Playoffs, and Paul George and Kawhi Leonard will long remember the punishment inflicted on them a few days ago by the Suns sniper.
Mentions honorables : Kawhi Leonard et la Team Parking Rockets. Kawhi is the kind of guy who runs roughly on 7/29/7 but seems sleepy and disinterested, whereas those gentlemen Covington, House Jr., McLemore or Jeff Green very quickly took the temperature of the bubble by sending about 400 shots per night while hitting a good game. It is mentioned, because when it comes in you can hang on to go and hit them.
So this one is seriously ill. An intervention under acid concerning the COVID and a discreet first match, then behind it is madness madness. 37, 30 then 27 points, an indefensible style from a distance as well as up close so that one would believe to see a successful merger between Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant. Fact: if MPJ had been 100% from the start of the season, Ja Morant would not have imagined for a second going to collect the trophy from ROY. Nikola Jokic has found his assistant, watch your eyes if the two start at the same time.
Mention honorable : Anthony Davis. Two and a half games slammed on the ground because the guy is still not going to tire while the first place of his team is assured, but then when AD wanted to play basketball… Diantre, Rudy Gobert still remembers it.
We could have mentioned Luka Doncic on the Mavs side, but it was the Latvian unicorn that surprised us the most. We tend to forget the skills of the guy as his young friend takes the light, but KP remains one of the best NBA interiors and has proven it on this cover. A small 30/10 average over his four games, Porzi is dangerous from everywhere and the Mavs would be title contenders if their defense didn’t look like Brazil’s against Germany in 2014.
Honorable mentions: Nikola Jokic, Jusuf Nurkic and Rudy Gobert. the Joker remains the best pivot in the world as soon as he releases the handbrake, Jusuf Nurkic has as expected transfigured the game of the Blazers and he even disfigured Bol Bol, while Rudy Gobert could turn 25 points on average if he is swells from time to time, in addition to managing the airspace in defense of course.
So much for this starting five from the West Coast, the players of the week in a way, who will obviously have to move more from August 15. Because on August 15 it’s not just the Saint-Rémy pétanque competition, it’s also the start of the Playoffs. Amen.
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