Every day in the NBA there is a lot to unpack, so every weekday morning throughout the season we will give you the three things you need to know from the last 24 hours in the NBA.
1) Luka Doncic is destroying the NBA, setting records — and he’s still 20. I, for one, welcome our new Luka Doncic overlord.
LeBron James is right, Doncic is a “bad m***** f*****.” Doncic is destroying the Association and he’s not yet old enough to legally buy a drink. Monday night against the Spurs he had arguably his best game yet: a career-high 42-points, plus 11 rebounds and 12 assists.
It’s hard to get a grasp on just how historic a start to the season Doncic is having, but to help here’s the full list of players who have had 40+ point triple-doubles at or before age 20:
LeBron James
Luka Doncic
That’s it. Expand that to age 21 and you can add Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, and Isiah Thomas. That’s some Hall of Fame company Doncic is running with at a young age.
Doncic has six triple-doubles this season, which leads the league. On the season he is averaging 29.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game, all with a ridiculously efficient 61.2 percent true shooting. Those rebounds are the real difference maker, by the way.
No player 20 or younger has averaged more points than Luka Doncic.
— Micah Adams (@MAdamsStatGuy) November 19, 2019
No player 20 or younger has averaged more assists than Luka Doncic.
The only 3 players 20 or younger to average more rebounds than Luka Doncic are Shaquille O’Neal, Andre Drummond and Dwight Howard.
It’s far too early to have a serious MVP conversation, but if you do, Doncic has to be a part of it. He’s been that good this season.
Did I mention he’s only 20?
2) Also making history: James Harden. The Beard put up 36 points in 33:06 minutes on the court against Portland, which is actually slightly below his per game average (39.2) but is still its own bit of history.
The @HoustonRockets James Harden has more points scored than minutes played in each of his last nine games, the longest such streak since the ABA-NBA merger.
— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) November 19, 2019
Russell Westbrook is right about how we view Harden sometimes, via Tim MacMahon of ESPN:
“I think that a lot of people like to normalize greatness when you see it over and over again, but it’s not normal because there’s nobody else that can do it. If it was normal, everybody would do it.”
Westbrook, by the way, had his own big night with a triple-double of 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists.
The Rockets have won eight in a row and are one of the NBA’s hottest teams right now.
3) Paul George sticks a dagger in his former team, Clippers beat Thunder. It looked like the night former Clippers would get revenge on their team: First Danilo Gallinari hit a three to tie the game at 86-86, then Chris Paul made two free throws for an 88-86 Thunder lead.
Then Paul George happened.
.@Yg_Trece with the 𝐝𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫!
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 19, 2019
📺 @FoxSportsWest pic.twitter.com/lzliZjf9jK
Gallinari had a shot at a three to win but it missed, George hit a free throw after being fouled, and the Clippers get out 90-88 with a win. The real Los Angeles star for the night was Montrezl Harrell, who had 28 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.
George saw his minutes jump to 29 in just his third game back from shoulder surgeries (plural, as in both of them) but did not score north of 30 like his first two games as the Thunder defense had more of a focus on him.
Kawhi Leonard missed his third straight game with a bruised knee suffered against the Rockets.