The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting their engine revving, the power in the Atlantic division has officially shifted and the New York Knicks aren’t happy about it. Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki hit some middling milestones.
Let’s take a look back at what was Week 3 in the NBA.
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Starting the season off with a single win in their first four games made Cavs fans nervous.
How could a team that is expected to play well into May struggle so mightily early on? How could this collection of stars not gel immediately? Should they trade Kyrie Irving? Will Kevin Love opt out?
LeBron James and company busted out on Monday against the New Orleans Pelicans, finally playing the type of game everyone thought they would be playing at the start of the season.
LeBron dropped 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists before a stat correction revoked one of his assists to deprive James of his first triple-double since returning to Cleveland. Love and Irving also awoke from their early season slumber. Love contributed with 22 points and five rebounds while Kyrie added 32 points, nine assists and five rebounds.
Early season struggles tend to happen when a team is wholly redesigned in an offseason, and if the recent play of the Cavs is any indication, Cleveland fans can start to relax a little. Since starting 1-3, the Cavs have won 4 in a row.
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The Toronto Raptors have emerged as the team to beat in the Atlantic division.
Though they lost to the Chicago Bulls at home on Thursday, the Raptors have had an improbably hot start to the season. Four of their eight wins have come against playoff teams from a year ago. Kyle Lowry is also showing why he should be considered a top point guard in the conference, averaging 18.5 points, 5.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt the Raptors' claim to the Atlantic crown that the Knicks are atrocious thus far. New York was 2-0 to start the season before losing seven games in a row. They finally notched one in the win column with a Sunday win against the struggling Denver Nuggets.
Part of the Knicks' early season struggles can be attributed to their lack of a tested point guard. Pablo Prigioni and Jose Calderon have missed significant time due to injury, so the Knickerbockers have been forced to start young Shane Larkin at point.
With a little good health the Knicks may be able to right the ship, but until then they will remain among the worst in the conference.
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This week, Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant both reached shooting milestones.
Dirk became the highest scoring international player of all time on Tuesday, passing Hakeem Olajuwon for that designation.
Given Dirk’s consistent scoring and ability to stay healthy, The Dream’s scoring record was certain to fall to Nowitzki sooner or later. Nowitzki now sits ninth on the all-time scoring list,
Before anointing Dirk as the greatest international player of all time, Dirk is tied with Olajuwon for All-Star appearances, All-NBA teams and MVP awards but trails the Dream by more than 2,700 career blocks and 4,100 rebounds.
Kobe had the rather inglorious distinction of becoming the NBA’s all time leader in missed shots on Tuesday, passing John Havlicek for that title.
Kobe is fourth on the all time NBA scoring list, so it is not fully unexpected that he has also missed a load of shots; after all, Havlicek is 13th on the all time scoring list. Bryant boasts a .453 career shooting percentage, far below Jordan’s .497, Karl Malone’s .516 and Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s .559.
Judging by the talent displayed by the Lakers so far this year, Kobe will have ample opportunity to keep shooting and extend his missed shots record.
