Mateo’s Hoop Diary: NBA Notes through Week Nine

Fortunes can change in the NBA in a matter of weeks. The public and yours truly was almost done burying the Milwaukee Bucks for their poor start, but they’ve since become one of the hottest teams in the league, thanks to beating up on a bunch of bad squads. On top of that, they are the latest Emirates Cup champions, crowned on Tuesday after their victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard is balling so hard this season that he may be the first guy since Darrell Armstrong in 1999 to be the Sixth Man of the Year and claim the Most Improved Player crown.

The Orlando Magic’s defense is the third-rated in the NBA, and they have been without its best players, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner for 23 and three games.

Let’s review some other things of note in the NBA…

Denver Nuggets guard has taken a huge leap

Christian Braun is a better player now than Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ever was with the Denver Nuggets. CB was promoted to the starting unit after KCP’s departure and has emerged as the team’s top two-way player.

Last season, Braun averaged 7.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.4 blocks and 0.7 turnovers. He shot 38.4% from deep on two tries and 49.8% from two-point range, on mostly half-court cuts. He only played 20.2 minutes nightly.

Yet, life comes at you fast in the NBA. Braun has been a top-three Nugget 23 games into 2024-25 after all his work in the lab. In 14.5 extra minutes this season, he is recording 15 points on 56.7% shooting, with 5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.7 blocks and 1.4 turnovers.

Braun’s third-year leap is real and not just numbers from a player logging more minutes. If he were the same guy, his effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage would be the same or lower. He has elevated both of those categories by 9.6% and 10%.

He is excellent at moving without the ball and is more of an open-court threat for quick baskets. His efficiency at the rim is 6.7% higher than the league average, which is where he slightly hovered above last year. Defensively, he stays on the dribble well plus is good at locking and trailing.

The league’s best paint attackers in the half-court

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, De’Aaron Fox, Luka Dončić, Jalen Brunson, LaMelo Ball, and Ja Morant bludgeon the paint in the half-court like no one else. Examine their efficiency below.

SGA, Fox, Brunson, Morant and Ball have explosive first steps. Dončić does not, but his elite handle and strength on the dribble allow him to maneuver anywhere. Each of them are high-powered engines who create many overreactions.

Stand out guys

Tyler Herro and LaMelo Ball are the only NBA players averaging at least 24 points, four assists and four 3-point makes per game this season, per Stathead.

Aside from this year, those numbers have been recorded just 14 times in NBA history by Stephen Curry (8), James Harden (2), Luka Dončić and Damian Lillard (3). Each player was an All-Star that season.

What to think about James Harden passing Ray Allen…

Better late than never, but James Harden passed Ray Allen for second all-time in regular season 3-point makes on Nov. 17 with two treys in eight tries against the Utah Jazz.  He’s not a more lethal shooter than Allen, but the way Harden has done it deserves respect.

For his career, Harden has downed 36.3% of 3-point attempts in the regular season and 34% in the playoffs. Yet, only 40.1% (regular season) and 34.9% (playoffs) of those shots were assisted. An incalculable amount of these baskets came from his step-back move. Also, it’s harder to be a deep threat this way because the defense knows where the rock is coming from. When someone is playing off-ball, they get open more because the defense loses track of seeing them and the ball.

Allen has him beat by 3.7% and 6.1% in career long-range accuracy. But his 3-pointers were assisted 84% (regular season) and 85.2% (playoffs) of the time.

Allen can always brag about his superiority when recalling Game 6 of the 2013 Finals, shattering the hearts of the San Antonio Spurs with a second-chance corner triple to tie.

Nonetheless, Harden’s achievement deserves tons of praise because he was a slasher, above all, with an exceptional ability to mislead the refs and take trips to the line.

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