10 Wacky Stats from the First Week of the Season

Matthew Roberson | @mroberson22

The dawn of a new NBA season is enjoyable for a whole bunch of reasons. It’s the first opportunity to see players in new cities wearing new colors with new teammates. We get a chance to make knee-jerk decisions about how certain guys fit in their new environments, and fire off hot takes about who isn’t good anymore. People who were in Anthropology 101 just months ago are now NBA players. Even better, the teeny tiny amount of games and data in the books make for some delicious statistical tidbits that almost definitely mean nothing. Through the first week of the 2017-18 NBA season, these are the tastiest. Before we start, shouts to the Basketball-Reference play index for making this silly exercise possible.

*All stats are through October 24*

Photo courtesy of Matt Prehm/Twitter

Dillon Brooks made history

Just last week I noted that the battle for minutes at the Grizzlies’ shooting guard position was one of the saddest in the league. On opening night against the Pelicans, former Kentucky spy Andrew Harrison got 19 minutes as the starter. He went 1-for-6 from the field and finished with two points. That’s when Dillon Brooks saved the day.

Brooks is a rookie from the University of Oregon who you may remember for one of many things, including his hair, his Player of the Year honors in the Pac-12, leading the Ducks to their first Final Four since 1939, or for his lack of respect for the rules of basketball, which were apparently written by Mike Krzyzewski. If his NBA career goes anything like his debut, Brooks will be remembered for much more than his on-campus heroics.

On October 18 in Memphis, playing in his first ever NBA game, Brooks reminded everyone why he beat out top-ten picks Lonzo Ball and Lauri Markkanen for Pac-12 Player of the Year. He hung 19 points on the Pelicans in 29 minutes of playing time, including eight in the fourth quarter. Brooks also pilfered four steals and grabbed five rebounds. Since steals became an official stat for the 1973-74 season, only two players have come off the bench for 19 points and four steals in their NBA debut. One is Dillon Brooks, the other was Bryant Stith in 1992. I did not know what a Bryant Stith was, and after some quick perusing of his Wikipedia page, I learned that he owns a NASCAR team and was once traded for Darius Miles. So Brooks is in pretty good company.

Obviously, it’s time to start sketching designs for the Dillon Brooks statue in downtown Memphis. The Grizzlies need all the help they can get at the wing positions, especially if Chandler Parsons continues to struggle and the fans continue to despise him. At this rate, Brooks is on pace to becoming the most successful Canadian in Tennessee since Shania Twain. Not bad for the 45^th pick in the draft. I hope Coach K was watching.

Including the playoffs, New Orleans has lost 12 straight to the Warriors, by an average of 11 points

The last time the Pellies knocked off the Warriors was April 7, 2015. This was back when Harrison Barnes and David Lee still played for Golden State, and Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson were still Pelicans. The Warriors had yet to win their first championship. The big news of the day was the Boston marathon bomber delivering his closing arguments in court, and Rand Paul officially entering the presidential race. Just weeks later, the Warriors would sweep New Orleans in the first round and march through the rest of the playoffs.

Since that balmy day in April 2015 (highs of 84 degrees in New Orleans!), the city’s basketball team has played the role of Mufasa to the Warriors’ pack of wildebeest. Four straight losses in the 2015 playoffs compounded by three regular season losses in ‘15-16 and four more in ’16-17 must have gotten the Pelicans fired up for their home opener with the Warriors. New Orleans opened the game on a 21-6 run and led by 13 at the end of one. Then, as they’re wont to do, the Warriors activated gamebreaker mode and outscored the Pelicans 102-81 over the last three quarters. Other than being the latest installment in a dozen straight losses, the game was notable for Draymond and Boogie scaring the children. The most sneaky-hilarious part of it all, though, was David West. Yes, the same David West who is New Orleans’ all-time leader in games played, points, and rebounds. He was the leading scorer among Golden State’s reserves, dropping 11 points while his new crew wrecking-balled his old crew. The Warriors and Pelicans’ next meeting is set for November 25 at Oracle. Mark your calendars.

The Lakers scored 130 points with a field goal percentage of 50% or better for the first time since 2010

I like to think that every time the Lakers and Suns play, they get together before the game and are like, “So no defense tonight, right? Cool? Cool.” On October 20 at the fabled Talking Stick Resort Arena, the Lakers earned the first win of the Lonzo Ball era. They accomplished this by pouring in 132 points and going 48-for-94 (51.1 percent) on field goals. Both teams had 70 points by halftime. Excluding overtime games, this was the first time the Lakers topped 130 and made half of their field goals since 2010. It might be their best offensive performance of the last five years, which is the amount of time since their last playoff appearance. There is some room for excitement, but it comes with a caveat. The Lakers were playing the Phoenix Suns, who have been in the bottom five of defensive rating for each of the last two seasons and fired their coach before Halloween.

Look at how much space Ball had to shoot on some of his three-point attempts. After being stalked by Patrick Beverley in his first game, Lonzo had to have felt like a kid who just got his driver’s license in the Phoenix game. I can go anywhere? Nobody has to come with me? Look at how much space there is for me to explore! FREEEEEEEDOM!

The result: 29 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Of course, as may be the theme of the Lakers’ season, all good things come with some negatives as well. They still let the Suns get 130 of their own, as Phoenix knocked down 51.1 percent of its field goals. The last time the Suns reached those benchmarks? February 15, 2017, against the very same Lakers. We still get three more Lakers-Suns showdowns this season, which is bad if you want to watch quality teams, but great if you want to experience the NBA version of a Big 12 football game.

Photo courtesy of ABC15 Sports/Twitter 

The Suns had the worst point differential through three games of any team in NBA history

Speaking of the Suns, they’ve set a record for futility. After a 48-point loss at home to Portland on opening night, Phoenix opted for the more traditional two-point loss to the Lakers. Then, playing the second game of a back-to-back, the Suns flamed out. They took a 42-point L to the Clippers and allowed every player on Los Angeles’ active roster to score at least three points.

According to Basketball-Reference – which I trust more than I trust every human being I’ve ever met – that 92-point differential between the Suns and their opponents is the largest in league history through three games. (Hat tip to Kevin Pelton for digging up this gem.) In its first trio of games, Phoenix has been worse than the 1989-90 Charlotte Hornets, and the 2008-09 Clippers. That Hornets squad was playing in the franchise’s second NBA season and would go on to win 19 games. The ’08-09 Clippers’ leader in minutes per game was Al Thornton. We knew the Suns would have nights where they struggle. Such is life for a team of guys young enough to still be in college. Early-season pitfalls were expected, but nobody around the organization could have foreseen this. The Western Conference could be well on its way to blocking out the Suns. And, news flash Eric Bledsoe, none of us want to be here.

Indiana was the fifth team of the three-point era to score 140 points in a season opener

You are forgiven if the Nets-Pacers game on October 18 came and went without receiving any of your attention. A matchup between two teams headed for the lottery with no particularly exciting rookies or must-watch superstars is exactly the kind of game that slips through the opening night cracks. While 98% of the basketball-watching public tuned into other games or did something completely different with their lives, Brooklyn and Indiana lit up the scoreboard.

The game ended with the Pacers on top, 140-131. Since the invention of the three-point line, only five teams have ever tallied 140 points in a non-overtime season opener. Thanks to 21 points from Myles Turner and Darren Collison, 22 from Victor Oladipo in his first game rocking the Pacers’ threads, and 16 apiece for Domantas Sabonis and Lance Stephenson, the Pacers became the first since the Spurs in 1991. Maybe the Nets and Pacers were trying to honor their ABA predecessors and re-create the style of play that ruled the optional defense league of the 1970s. Maybe both teams are emphasizing a faster pace this season. Maybe both teams are just horrendous on defense.

Either way, it’s hard for a 140-131 affair to not be fun, which is saying a lot considering the state of both Indiana and Brooklyn’s rosters. Neither team has a lot going for it, and the Nets took an even greater hit when Jeremy Lin went down in this game. Here’s to a speedy recovery for Lin, and more video-game-style contests between the Nets and the Pacers. Next time, maybe consider busting out the retro unis.

The Thunder scored 34 points in a half

Fresh off grinding the Knicks into dust to tip off the season, the Thunder’s players made the mistake of willingly going to Utah. They had to play the Jazz on Saturday night, and when they left the arena, not only had they lost 96-87, they were also entering the cold reality of Salt Lake City night life. I’m guessing because of this, most of the guys just went back to the hotel, where they might have tossed and turned at night thinking about what went wrong in the first half.

Oklahoma City scored all of 34 points in the first two quarters of the game. In that Indiana-Brooklyn game from the previous section, both teams scored more than 34 points in the third quarter alone. This is quite notable considering the Thunder might very well have three Hall of Famers on the team and the Pacers and Nets don’t have a single All-Star.

Box score from the first half of OKC-Utah on Oct. 21

How does a team of pilots crash land like that? By shooting 30.2 percent and draining two three pointers in 15 tries, a.k.a. going full middle school. It could have been worse too, but Andre Roberson decided not to shoot. Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony took turns passing around a blindfold and lugged a collective 10-for-31 shooting line into the halftime locker room. Two quarters later, the Thunder had its first loss of the season and its lowest point total against Utah since a 2014 game in which Westbrook and Kevin Durant played as many minutes as I did. Like any great relationship, the SuperTeam thing takes time and understanding. It’s too bad that in its very next game, OKC had its heart ripped out by Andrew Wiggins, who banked in a buzzer beater and proceeded to dump a shaker of salt into the Thunder’s fresh wound.

The Orlando Magic are 3-1

If you listen to most people, they’ll tell you that the Magic aren’t a good basketball team. But if you listen to math, it’ll tell you that the Magic are on pace to win 61 games, which makes them a great basketball team.

Orlando has been the surprise team of the first week. Nikola Vucevic has been napalming people all over the floor. He’s averaging 23.8 points and 10.3 rebounds with a 59.7 field goal percentage while sporting a league-best +70 in the +/- department. The Saturday night crowd in Cleveland thought they were buying tickets for a basketball game, and ended up at the Vucevic-Augustin show. While the Magic’s longtime center went for 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists, D.J. Augustin dished 10 assists and drilled three long balls to spark the upset over the Cavs.

Vucevic has been the resuscitator for Orlando’s lifeless offense. Last season, the Magic were 29^th out of 30 teams in offensive rating and three-point percentage, and 27^th in points per game. Frank Vogel’s team has played four games of its 2017-18 calendar, and pulled at least 114 points out of its hat each time. Most recently, Orlando overcame a 12-point deficit in the third quarter to snatch a win out of Brooklyn’s net. Aaron Gordon was casting spells all night. He accumulated a career-high 41 points and drilled all five of his triples. Don’t look now, but Gordon has swished six of seven threes thus far, and shows no hesitation when letting it fly in big moments.

Next up for this upstart group of magicians is a possible NBA Finals preview on Friday against the Spurs.

Joe Ingles has played over 100 minutes and taken zero free throws

This is where having a miniscule sample size can be fun. Ingles has started all four of Utah’s games thus far, logging at least 18 minutes in each outing. Yet, the lefty from Australia has not earned a single trip to the line. Granted, the man is a 40 percent career three-point marksman, and he’s cashed in over half of his threes this year. Defenders typically don’t foul three-point shooters, and that’s Ingles’ job every time he suits up.

Photo courtesy of Salt Lake Tribune/Twitter

Of the 31 shots Ingles has lined up this season, 24 have been from distance. Of all the possible player types to go over 100 minutes without drawing contact on a shot, a dude who takes 77 percent of his shots from “Don’t foul him” range is the most likely candidate. Still, it’s pretty amazing to go that long on an NBA court without taking a single free throw. If you’re wondering, the record for most minutes played without a free throw attempt belongs to Mike Miller.

Patrick Patterson has not made a shot yet

Patterson has played in each of the Thunder’s first three games. He’s 0-for-1 on two-pointers and 0-for-5 from deep. He’s played the most minutes of anyone in the league (24:41) who hasn’t made a field goal.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 36.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.3 steals per game

It’s happening. It’s all happening.