Sprung: All-Breakout Team led by L.Stephenson, A.Afflalo, I.Thomas

Second Team

Jordan Crawford, PG, Boston

We’ll throw him a mulligan for his 0-for-8 hiccup Friday night against the Knicks. Everybody has one of those every now and then (with the exception of Iman Shumpert of the Knicks, who has one per week).

Brad Stevens has shown confidence in the ex-Wizard and has been rewarded with by far the best season of Crawford’s career.

You would have laughed at me a year ago if I had told you that Crawford’s PER would be 19.6 at any point in his career. But here we are, and Stevens is building a strong team and bringing the most out of his players like Crawford.

Reggie Jackson, PG, Oklahoma City

Many, including some Sheridan Hoops writers, believed the Thunder would regress because of its lack of guard depth.

James Harden is long gone at this point and OKC seemingly did nothing to replace the production of Kevin Martin, who departed for Minnesota in the offseason.

Enter Jackson.

Jackson began the season as the starting point guard until Russell Westbrook returned and then quickly, and seamlessly, slid into the old Martin role by playing 25 minutes per game. It’s remarkable how well Jackson is shooting for a guard. Jackson is taking 9.7 shots per game, more than twice as many attempts per game from last season, and is hitting 49 percent of them. His PER is up, his defense is steady and the Thunder keep winning.

Right now, he is No. 1 in our Sixth Man rankings.

Jared Sullinger, SF, Boston

Another player thriving under Stevens, Sullinger is healthy after his back surgery and is validating Boston general manager Danny Ainge’s risk on him in the 2012 draft. His scoring average has more than doubled and he’s continued to hone his 3-point game that would cause him to be an enormous matchup problem in the future.

And the best part about Sullinger? He’s still just 21 years old.

John Henson, PF, Milwaukee

With Larry Sanders out a month due to his nightclub fight antics, Henson’s minutes doubled from last season and the second-year player has been a bright spot for the NBA’s worst team.

Henson is averaging 11.5 points and 7.4 rebounds on an impressive 52.4 percent shooting from the field while his PER is now above 20. He’s tripled, tripled, his blocks per game from last season. He’s up to 2.1 swats per contest and is currently third in the league in block percentage behind Anthony Davis and Roy Hibbert, and ahead of Serge Ibaka. While his offensive efficiency and his free throw shooting need work, it appears the Bucks have found themselves a legit frontline player to pair with Sanders. Hopefully they’ll be able to coexist upon Sanders’ return.

Amir Johnson, F, Toronto

In his fifth season with the Raptors and his ninth in the league, the 26-year-old Johnson is still steadily improving and could jump even higher as a starter with Gay now in Sacramento. He’s shooting better than 60 percent from the field this season with a career high 11.4 scoring average and a 120.1 offensive rating that ranks 11th in the NBA.

With Gay’s 18.6 shots per game ready to be divvied up, Johnson could get some of those and continue his ascent.

Shlomo Sprung is a national columnist for Sheridan Hoops who loves advanced statistics and the way they explain what happens on the court. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. His website is SprungOnSports.com. You should follow him on Twitter.