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QUICK HITS

• Joel Embiid feels like he may be approaching his final form. Last year’s MVP is playing absolutely dominant basketball, averaging 34.2 points, 11.7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.9 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game for good measure. Embiid is making quite the pitch for a back-to-back most valuable player award, leading the surprisingly sanguine Sixers to a 17-7 record. The problem for Embiid is that regular season success no longer plays a role in his career’s meta-narrative. We know he’s dominant during the 82-game stretch. Embiid’s 27.6 points per game during the regular season ranks him third all-time, trailing only Michael Jordan (30.1) and Wilt Chamberlain (30). But the Sixers center has to translate this level of play into what has thus far been a severely underwhelming series of postseason defeats. Until that happens, he can’t quite join the echelon of players that his regular season dominance should accord him.

• The fact that the Brooklyn Nets (13-12) have played as well as they have this season isn’t necessarily a surprise. The team projected to have a deep roster of long athletic players. The type of group, led by Mikal Bridges, that should be a switchable defensive nightmare. Oddly enough though, it’s been Brooklyn’s offense that has shined, with the perimeter shooting in particular being the driving force of the Nets success. As a team, Brooklyn is third in the league in three-point percentage (38.6%), while an impressive seven Nets are averaging two or more made three-point field goals per game: Lonnie Walker IV (2.6), Cameron Johnson (2.4), Dorian Finney-Smith (2.4), Cam Thomas (2.3),  Royce O’Neal (2.3), Mikal Bridges (2.2), and Spencer Dinwiddie (2.2). No other team in the league has more than four players averaging that many makes per game.

• The very moment the Memphis Grizzlies announced that they had no intention of retaining their polarizing perimeter presence, Dillon Brooks, began the arguments about what his value could be to another team. The question at hand was what such a supposedly divisive player could bring to another environment? The answer has been clear: toughness, grit, setting a tone—both defensively and energetically—and apparently semi-efficient scoring. Following a Friday night win in Memphis—a rare road victory for the Rockets who are now just 2-8 when away from home—in which Brooks hit a late dagger three to seal the victory against his former team, Houston has improved to a surprising 13-9 overall record on the season. While the defensive presence of Brooks should surprise no one, it’s the offensive efficiency that has been both shocking and impressive. Brooks is averaging a respectable 13.8 points, but he is doing so on career-highs of 46.6% from the field, 38.8% from the three, and a 55% effective field goal percentage. All of this on the least amount of shot attempts (10.8) since his rookie year (9.4 in ’18). Brooks has clearly found a home in Houston and is thriving. Of course, the continued growth of the Turkish whirling dervish (if it’s not in use, it should be), Alperen Șegün, and the additions of coach Ime Udoka and Fred VanVleet have been just as instrumental, but there is no denying Brooks’ influence on this young Rockets group.  

• Since we’re talking about Rockets…It’s a rare feat for a second-year player to actually decrease his scoring average from last season and still be a markedly better version of himself. Yet here Jabari Smith Jr. stands. After a somewhat underwhelming rookie year that saw him average 12.8 points on 40.8% from the field and 30.7% from behind the arc, the Rockets forward has taken a big jump, in what may look like small increments, averaging 12.5 points, 47.7%, and 36.5% from the three so far this season. The 47.7% from the floor is an impressive fourth among all starting sophomore players that have played in more than 15 games, trailing only Mark Williams (64.9%), Walker Kessler (56.6%), and Jalen Williams (50%). Obviously, Smith Jr.’s improvement from long-range is a big part of the significant jump in his overall shooting numbers, as he’s increased his catch and shoot percentage from the three-point line from 29.4% to 39.2%, but more important has been his willingness to get into the paint and finish; a major concern coming out of college for the former Auburn Tiger. Smith Jr. has increased his percentage of points in the paint from 35.8% to 42.2%, and just looks more comfortable attacking the rim instead of settling for pull-ups (his percentage of points from the mid-range has decreased from 12.5% to 9.5%). His field goal percentage from 3-10 feet has also jumped from 39% to 51.9%. Smith Jr. has already proven himself a rangy and very switchable defender, so if the offensive improvement holds or continues, and I think it will, the 3^rd pick from last year’s draft just may bump the sophomore slump.

• I’m not totally sure what to make of Scottie Barnes’ success this season. The Toronto Raptors third-year forward is in the midst of his best year so far, averaging: 20.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks, on 48.7% from the field and 38.6% from the three—all career highs. But the 10-15 Raptors are off to their worst start through 25 games since going 6-19 to start the 2012-13 season. Obviously, that is not purely, or even mostly, Barnes’ fault. The departures of Fred VanVleet and Nick Nurse both play a large role. But the Raptors feel like a team with no clear identity, and I’m not sure that beyond competitiveness, Barnes’ Swiss army knife style of play helps with that at all. In reality, this is a group of complementary players, who somehow don’t compliment each other. There is no true number one on this unit, Barnes included, despite how well he’s played this season. I think he’s best as a very high-level number two, especially because his need to either dribble into actions, or slow play to direct offense, often mires the team down in the halfcourt when he’s the primary option. Toronto has plenty of trade chips to play though, so it’ll be interesting to see how they design a team around Barnes through the trade market.

• Maybe Keegan Murray started to hear the trade rumors himself. Following a slow start, in which the Kings second-year forward averaged 12.9 points, on 38.5% from the field and 29.3% from behind the line, Murray has taken off over his last six games, putting up 21.7 points, on 56.1% from the field, and 51.2% from behind the arc. This hot stretch was punctuated by a 47-point outburst last night against the Jazz. A performance in which Murray became only the seventh player in league history to make 12 or more three’s, while his 11 three’s made in a row set a new NBA record.

• I will freely admit that I was among the dubious voices chiming in when the Clippers traded for James Harden. And after losing their first six games in a row following the deal, I think the entire doubter’s chorus was ready to sing the song of righteous indignation. But apparently, Harden had a different idea, shutting us all up, as the scorching Clippers have won 12 of their last 15 games. The offense still feels a bit “your turn, my turn,” but Harden has clearly given focus to their half-court sets, particularly when utilizing old faithful—the pick-and-roll—with Ivica Zubac.