From the Courts

7 Crazy Stats at the All-Star Break

Jennifer Stewart/USA TODAY Sports

With the All-Star Weekend upon us, it’s a good time to take a little time and review some of the more spectacular games, outstanding performances and ridiculous numbers from the season so far.

These come in no particular order other than the sequence which I came up with them.

The Golden State Warriors: 48-4

It’s hard to compile a list like this and not start with the Warriors’ phenomenal start. The Chicago Bulls’ all-time record of 72 wins in a season, set in 1995-96, is in serious jeopardy. At 48-4, Golden State just needs to go 24-6 to tie the Bulls’ record. That’s half the wins against 1.5 times the losses.

What’s more, the Warriors have had 28 of their games on the road. They’ll come out of the All-Star break with a six-game road trip. After that, they’ll only have seven more road games for the rest of the season compared to 17 at home. And they haven’t lost at Oracle in over a year. That means that even if they drop a home game, they’d only have to go 8-5 on the road for the rest of the season. And they have the second-best road winning percentage in history, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

In fact, the Warriors are even threatening the Bulls’ two-year record set by the Bulls. From 1995-97, Chicago amassed 141 wins. At their 85.8 combined winning percentage over the last year-and-a-half, the Warriors are on pace for 141 victories.

The San Antonio Spurs: 13.26

The San Antonio Spurs are also making a case for the best team in NBA history, boasting a 13.26 average margin of victory. The Warriors are second at 12.50.

The Spurs have been doing a lot of blowing out teams, handing 18 of their 53 opponents 20+ point deficits. That’s the most in history before the All-Star break.

So, while the Warriors might be beating the most teams, the Spurs are destroying the most teams.

Of course, when the two teams met, it was the Warriors who did the destroying. But there are anywhere between three and 10 more times they’ll match up. I’m pulling for 10. What a Western Conference Finals that would be!

Stephen Curry: 1,064

In case you haven’t heard, Stephen Curry does some pretty ridiculous things. But for those who only became aware of him last year, he’s not doing this out of nowhere. His shooting, in particular, was already a “thing” before Steve Kerr was coaching Golden State. There are plenty of preposterous numbers that you can throw out with him, but the four-year stretch of his is beyond surreal.

Since the start of the 2012-13 team, he’s knocked down 1,064 threes. Here are the best four-year stretches in NBA history:

He has 27 percent more than anyone in NBA history that isn’t him, and that lead is growing. In fact, at his present rate, he’d hit 1,214 over the four-year period. Only 50 players (including Curry) in history have matched that in their careers!

LeBron James: 25,000, 6,000, 6,000

LeBron James passed 25,000 points this year, and when he did so, he joined a very exclusive club of players who’ve notched 25,000 points, 6,000 assists and 6,000 rebounds in their careers. The only other three names on that list are Kobe Bryant, John Havlicek and Oscar Robertson. He’s since topped 26,000 points.

The interesting thing about this club is how quickly James joined it. The other three players all were well over 40,000 minutes in their careers; LeBron has just 37,599:

Totals
Rk Player ▴ From To G MP TRB AST PTS
1 Kobe Bryant 1997 2016 1325 48093 6991 6274 33243
2 John Havlicek* 1963 1978 1270 46471 8007 6114 26395
3 LeBron James 2004 2016 962 37599 6866 6634 26188
4 Oscar Robertson* 1961 1974 1040 43886 7804 9887 26710
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/12/2016.

Each of the other three joined the club in the second-to-last season of their career. Say what you want about James, but it’s not looking like he only has one year left in him. Based on his current career pace, he’d join Oscar as the only two players with 25,000, 7,000 and 7,000 early next season. If he plays another three seasons beyond this year, in fact, he could top 35,000, 8,000 and 8,000.

Jimmy Butler: 40

There’s not a whole lot to say about this, but Jimmy Butler’s 40-point half was pretty spectacular, and anytime you break a Michael Jordan club scoring record, you get people’s attention. That he was able to do it after getting stitches is even more impressive.

DeMarcus Cousins: 56

DeMarcus Cousins had 56 points on just 30 shots. He was 21-of-30 from the field for the game with a true shooting percentage of 75.5. He added 12 rebounds and four assists, making him the first player since Kevin McHale in 1985 to post those kind of numbers.

Draymond Green: 10

Coming into the season, the NBA record for triple-doubles by a power forward for a season was six, co-owned by Charles Barkley and Kevin Garnett. Draymond Green is up to 10.

Green’s versatility is insane. In fact, statistically, the most similar season to his might shock you. Look how these two compare per 100 possessions:

Per 100 Possessions Shooting Advanced
Player Season Tm TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS eFG% TS% USG%
Magic Johnson* 1982-83 LAL 10.9 13.2 2.8 0.7 4.8 3.2 21.1 .548 .603 19.0
Draymond Green 2015-16 GSW 13.4 10.2 1.9 1.8 4.1 4.2 20.0 .550 .583 19.0
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/12/2016.

That’s not to say they’re the same type of player. In fact, the exact opposite is true. What’s so shocking is that Green is able to post such similar numbers in a completely different manner. He’s definitely a new kind of power forward. He’s a point-stretch-4.

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