The NBA’s restart began last week and has given us some incredible, close games. The bubble has also been home to some great performances from the likes of TJ Warren, Damian Lillard, Michael Porter Jr. and more. Most people have already seen these performances, so I’ve decided to compile some other things that are worth noting. These aren’t going to be “secret” stats, but rather some things that have been happening in the bubble that I think are worth mentioning.
Raptors
This one may well be known as many saw the dominant performance by the Raptors defense against the Lakers. In that game, the whole unit was firing on all cylinders, with great shots on the offensive end and a great team effort on the defensive side. Currently, the Raptors have the highest defensive rating out of all teams in the bubble at 96.0, with the next closest at 98.5. The team has held its opponents to under 100 points in 3 out of the 4 games. On paper, Kyle Lowry is a plus defender while his counterpart Fred Vanvleet is a hustle defender. They also have super versatile wing defenders in OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam who can guard all 1-5 positions. Finally, they have a very intelligent defender in Marc Gasol, who anchors the paint. When you watch the Raptors, they all operate in sync and play together as an elite unit.
I pump, you jump
In a very important game for the Western conference playoff seeding, the Spurs and Grizzlies are battling down to the wire. The Spurs are up three with around 9 seconds left. DeMar DeRozan drives down the baseline and gets fouled. He needs to make one free throw to make it a four point game and virtually win the game. He misses both. Memphis grabs the rebound and calls timeout. After the timeout, Jaren Jackson Jr. catches the ball and shoots in the span of one second with Rudy Gay all over him. Score! Tie ball game. The Spurs have no timeouts remaining and run up the court for a final shot. The ball is in DeRozan’s hands and he wants to redeem himself and take the last shot. DeRozan is guarded by Dillon Brooks and he crosses left and rises for the shot. Or that is what Brooks thinks. DeRozan ends up pump faking, catching Brooks in the air and drawing a shooting foul. The Grizzlies bench is devastated. DeRozan makes both and the Spurs win. DeMar DeRozan has been a pump fake virtuoso for years and it still proves to be effective. A beautiful yet tragic way to end an intense basketball game.
Derrick White/Gary Trent Jr.
There has been a lot of talk surrounding the scoring onslaught by TJ Warren. However, there are two key players that have been performing at an exceptional level for two teams looking for a playoff berth. Derrick White seems ready to have a breakout season. He possesses great two way potential and it seems like he is turning a corner offensively. He has scored over 20 points in the last three games and seems to have found confidence on the offensive end. He is shooting around 47% from three and averages around 5 assists per game, giving the Spurs a much needed boost following LaMarcus Aldrige’s season ending injury.
This next player leads the bubble in three pointers made. He plays for the Trail Blazers. It’s Gary Trent Jr.! Trent Jr. is shooting an inane 62.9% from three. With the Trail Blazers finally getting Jusuf Nurkic and forward Zach Collins back from injury, many thought only those two would propel the Blazers into the playoffs. But Trent Jr. has something else to say. Towards the end of the regular season, Trent Jr. had slowly started to carve out a role. 4 months later, Trent Jr. is averaging north of 30 minutes a game on a team pushing for the playoffs. Many outside of Portland did not expect Trent Jr. to be a sniper behind the arc, but here he is providing exceptional shooting and defense.