What was for most of the season all but an inevitability is now a reality.
Portland Trail Blazers rookie point guard Damian Lillard is the Kia Rookie of the Year.
The Bernucca List – Edition 37
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Following an unannounced week off for the holidays, The Bernucca List is back.
First, let’s tidy up old business. The previous list was “active players who are all-time scoring leaders for a franchise.”
Newcomer Ody P. nailed the right answer less than an hour after publication and now has a win on his ledger. Brian Rivel leads the horde with three correct answers, one more than Brian C.
OK, on to new business and another test of your obscure NBA knowledge with this week’s list, which is after the jump.
News, Notes, and Rumors from around the NBA: April 19, 2012.
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NEWS
If any doubt remained, the Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash established his bona fides as one of the organization’s all-time greats on Feb. 1, when he blew past Kevin Johnson as the franchise’s all-time leader in career assists. (Nash also holds team records for three-pointers made and attempted, as well as three-point and free throw shooting percentages.) Now, he’s on the cusp of passing an NBA icon.
With Phoenix set to host the Los Angeles Clippers tonight on TNT (10:30 p.m. ET) and the Suns only one-half game behind the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, the two-time MVP needs 10 assists to pass Oscar Robertson (9,887) for fifth place on the all-time assist list; assuming it’s accomplished, it will leave Nash behind only all-time leader John Stockton (15,806), active leader Jason Kidd (11,838), Mark Jackson (10,323), and Magic Johnson (10,141).
In his 16th season, the 38-year-old Nash shows no signs of slowing down. Nash is averaging 10.8 assists, trailing only Boston’s Rajon Rondo (11.6 apg), who turned 26 this season. One of the league’s top marksmen, Nash ranks tied for eighth in the NBA in field goal percentage (.534); those ahead of him are all frontcourt players. He also is shooting .402 from three-point range. Hall of Famers Chris Mullin (1996-97) and Stockton (1994-95) are the only players in NBA history to shoot at least 54 percent from the field and 40 percent from three in the same season. One of the all-time great free throw shooters, Nash this season is shooting .894 from the charity stripe. Nash has shot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three, and 90 percent from the line in a season four times. Amazingly, it’s been accomplished only a total of nine times in league annals: Larry Bird did it twice, while Reggie Miller, Dirk Nowitzki, and Mark Price each did it once.
Advanced metrics back up the more traditional stats in confirming Nash’s dominance. According to NBA.com/Stats, Nash’s True Shooting Percentage, which calculates shooting percentage adjusting for the value of free throws and three-point field goals, is .624. That ranks seventh among players who have appeared in at least 50 games. His Player Impact Estimate (PIE), which measures a player’s overall statistical contribution against the total statistics in games he’s played in, is 15.0 percent, which ranks 15th overall. Perhaps most indicative, Nash ranks second to Rondo in AST%, the percentage of field goals a player assisted when he was on the floor. Rondo, 12 years Nash’s junior, is at 49.3 while Nash is at 49.2.
Stats & Stuff:
- Dallas’ Vince Carter needs two three-pointers made to become the 18th player in NBA history with at least 1,500 treys. Carter’s teammates, Jason Kidd (1,870) and Jason Terry (1,783), are among the 17 others who have reached the milestone.
- Since a four-game stretch in mid-March in which they had no more than four thefts, the Indiana Pacers have had at least eight steals in nine of their last 18 games.
- Memphis’ Mike Conley is on pace to set a franchise record for steals per game (career-high 2.25). That mark ranks second in the NBA this season (L.A. Clippers’ Chris Paul, 2.47 spy).
- Utah has played six overtime games this season. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Utah is the third team to complete the “OT cycle” in a season: playing at least one one-, two-, three-, and four- overtime game. The other teams to do this were the 1952-1953 Indianapolis Olympians in their final season (eight total, including five single-OT games), and the 1997-1998 Phoenix Suns (five total including two single-OT games).
Today’s Quote
ERIK SPOELSTRA, on LeBron James’ physical fitness:
“He keeps himself in superior condition and always is spending extra time in the building doing something … Everything to try and maintain his body. It’s a year-round job for him. All the work he does before the season prepares him for a long grind. You also have to be lucky, quite frankly.”
Sun Sentinel April 19, 2012
News, Notes, and Rumors from around the NBA: April 9, 2012.
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NEWS
With two weeks to go in the regular season, races are tightening up and down the standings in both conferences. There are bubble teams trying to leapfrog lower-seeded clubs for a coveted spot in the postseason; and middle-of-the-playoff-pack clubs vying for the most promising seedings. Perhaps the most intriguing races, however, are atop the respective conferences. San Antonio’s torrid second half has the Spurs (40-14. .741) percentage points ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder (41-15, .732) in the Western Conference, while the Chicago Bulls (43-14, .754) have a tenuous two-game lead over the Miami Heat (40-15, .727) in the Eastern Conference. Click here for the complete playoff picture.
San Antonio has won 11 straight and owns a league-best 16-4 (.800) mark in the second half. The Spurs’ scorched-basketball-court policy — they are, according to NBA.com/Stats, leading the league in scoring (107.5 ppg) and plus-minus score differential (+9.6) post All-Star — has wiped out the Thunder’s three-game lead it enjoyed entering the break. The Thunder, which had a .744 winning percentage (27-7) in the first half, is playing .636 ball (14-8) in the second half. Oklahoma City’s lead has disappeared despite only a negligible fall-off in production. The Thunder is averaging the same amount of points — 102.7 ppg — in the second half as it did in the first, while its +6.0 plus-minus score differential post All-Star is only slightly less than the +6.4 score differential it enjoyed in the first half. The Spurs and Thunder completed their season series, with San Antonio taking two-of-three games, thereby giving it the tiebreaker. The Spurs have 12 games remaining, including seven against teams that are .500 or better. The Spurs are a league-best 22-9 against such teams. The Thunder’s remaining 10 games include six against teams playing at least .500 ball. Oklahoma City is 19-11 against such teams.
Miami entered the break with a one-half-game lead over the Bulls in the East and tied with the Thunder for the league’s best record (27-7, .794). Since then, however, Miami is 13-8 (.619) while Chicago, despite being without reigning MVP Derrick Rose for 12 games due to injury, is a conference-best 16-6 (.727). Rose has missed a total of 22 games this season due to injury, with the Bulls going 15-7 (.682) in his absence; they are 8-4 without Rose in the second half. The Bulls and Heat have split two games so far and face each other twice more: April 12 in Chicago and April 19 in Miami. Five of Chicago’s remaining nine games are against teams playing at least .500 ball. The Bulls are 15-10 against such teams. Miami has 11 games left on its schedule with six against .500-or-better clubs. The Heat is a conference-best 22-11 against such competition. If the teams split their season series and finish with identical records, the next tiebreaker used to determine seeding would th better winning percentage against teams in own conference. Through games played Sunday, the Bulls are 32-8 against the East, while the Heat is 30-8.
James, Dragic earn weekly honors
The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Houston Rockets’ Goran Dragic today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played April 2-8. James led the Heat to a 3-1 week with averages of 30.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.3 steals. Dragic helped the Rockets to a 3-0 week with averages of 20.7 points, 8.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 steals.
Stats & Stuff:
- Denver’s bench is averaging a league-high 41.8 points. The Nuggets’ reserves find themselves at the top of the league when it comes to assists (9.6 apg), rebounds (19.0 rpg). The Nuggets’ bench has posted at least 50 points 10 times this season and outscored opponents 34 times.
- Indiana has guaranteed itself a winning home record for a 23rd consecutive season, the longest active streak in the NBA.
- The Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul is the only player in NBA averaging at least 19.0 points, 9.0 assists and 2.0 steals. Paul ranks first in steals (2.5 spg) third in assists (9.1 apg), and 16th in scoring (19.3 ppg).
- Entering tonight’s game against New Orleans, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (1,721) stands three steals shy of Magic Johnson’s franchise record 1,724 steals. Johnson, who twice led the league, ranks 15th on the NBA’s career steals list.
- According to NBA.com/Stats, Minnesota’s Kevin Love in the second half of the season ranks first in scoring (29.0 ppg) and second in rebounds (12.8 rpg).
- Phoenix’s Steve Nash is 52 assists shy of passing Oscar Robertson for fifth on the NBA’s all-time list. Nash leads the league in assists (11.2 apg) and is on pace to lead the league in assist for the sixth time in his career, something only John Stockton has done in NBA history (nine).
