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I got an extended tour of the USC campus.
LOS ANGELES, CA– When you head on the road for a two-and-a-half week trip to Houston and Los Angeles, you’re bound to screw up somewhere along the way.
That screw up happened to me last night: I was supposed to attend an Arizona vs. USC game tonight at the Galen Center in downtown LA, but that game is tomorrow evening.
James Harden? A legend?
Although it may be a tad early for such a debate, the All-Star guard acknowledged his path to becoming an all-time great in his ever-brief twitter chat with rapper Meek Mill on Monday. Based on what Mr. Shaggy has done this season, there are plenty of reasons to feel optimistic about the matter.
From a statistical standpoint, Harden is currently fifth in the NBA in scoring, averaging 26.4 points on just 17.4 shot attempts, thanks to his league-best 9.9 attempts at the free throw line. Among the top 10 scorers, his true shooting percentage of .607 is bested only by LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Simply put, only two players are better and more efficient as a scorer than Harden, who is also averaging 1.9 steals, good for third overall (tied with five other players). It gets even better in February:
The greatest strength LeBron James possesses as a scorer is, without question, the unparalleled power, speed and strength with which he furiously and repeatedly attacks the paint.
As he continues to cement his legacy - whatever the legacy may entail when his career is over - that much will likely be a fact.
His shooting? That is where we are seeing a transformation.
The career triple-double count is now up to 35 (including seven with the Heat). The road record is now 16-11 to get out of the shabby zone. The lead in the Eastern Conference is up to 5 1/2 games. The winning streak is at 10 and counting.
Put it all together, and LeBron James is pulling away in the MVP race for a Miami Heat team that is finally playing with the pedigree, pride and determination befitting the defending NBA champions.
The race behind him?
We’re talking slippage, not grippage.
Sure, LeBron James had a triple-double on one good leg, but the top fantasy basketball story is Chris Sheridan finishing 12th out of 18 in the $22 Challenge. Thinking the Pistons might show up to defend their home court, he used two potential bargains — Jason Maxiell and Viacheslav Kravtsov — who did very little. “PrincessDuckling” won the $180 first prize, “tommyboy42609” earned $112 for second and “mr92,” the only person who doubled his chances of winning by entering two teams, finished third and fourth for a total of $108. My team came seventh and won the $5 bonus for beating the expert.
We have folded the Week 18 Planner into the Spin today, and our Depth Chart has been updated to reflect the less-than-spectacular results of the trade deadline. Five pages of fantasy fun begins with what happened last night and what might happen today.
