NBA All-Star 2019 is Year 2 of the league’s new All-Star format, with teams selected by the top vote-getters in each conference. The new format was a success last year in that the 2018 All-Star Game was much more competitive than the 2017 game.
This year, the Draft was made public and included two extra All-Stars — Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade — added by commissioner Adam Silver. All-Star is a celebration of the best players in the game, and Nowitzki and Wade are two of the best we’ve ever seen.
The current generation of All-Stars are putting up some of those most ridiculous numbers we’ve ever seen. James Harden has scored 30 or more points in 31 straight games, Russell Westbrook has recorded 11 straight triple-doubles, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is scoring in the paint like no player since Shaquille O’Neal.
Here are some numbers to know about all 14 members of Team Giannis …
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— Clutch time = Last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime with a score differential of five points or less.
— Effective field goal percentage = (FGM + (0.5 * 3PM)) / FGA
— True shooting percentage = PTS / (2 * (FGM + 0.44 * FTA)))
All stats through Thursday, Feb. 14.
Giannis Antetokounmpo:
- Leads the league with 17.7 points in the paint per game, the highest average for a player since Shaquille O’Neal averaged 19.6 in 2002-03. Has averaged 16.2 points per game in the restricted area, the highest average in 23 years of shot location data. Also leads the league with 206 dunks.
- One of three players — Andre Drummond and Victor Oladipo are the others — that have shot 60 percent or better on at least 25 shots with the score within five points in the last five minutes.
- Leads the league in raw plus-minus, with the Bucks having outscored their opponents by 507 points with him on the floor. The Bucks have allowed 99.5 points per 100 possessions with Antetokounmpo on the floor. That’s the lowest on-court DefRtg mark among 222 players that have averaged at least 20 minutes in 25 games or more. He also leads the league in defensive win shares.
- Has grabbed 27.7 percent of available defensive rebounds while he’s been on the floor, a rate which ranks sixth in the league and is up from 21.8 percent last season.
- Has an effective field goal percentage of 34.1 percent on pull-up jumpers, the second worst mark among 130 players who have attempted at least 100.
Stephen Curry:
- Has shot 43.2 percent on pull-up 3-pointers, the best mark among 42 players that have attempted at least 100. Also leads the league with 143 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. Is one of five players that have shot 50 percent or better (he’s 44-for-88) on at least 50 corner 3-point attempts.
- Ranks second in the league in free throw percentage at 92.2 percent. Has free throw rate (FTA/FGA) of 0.241, down from 0.350. That’s the fourth biggest drop among 197 players with at least 250 field goal attempts in each of the last two seasons.
- This is the fourth straight season that he has had the highest on-court OffRtg among players who have averaged at least 15 minutes per game, with the Warriors having scored 120.1 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.
- Ranks second with five fast break points per game. The 17 fast break points he scored vs. Washington on Oct. 24 are tied (with 17 from Klay Thompson on Feb. 6) for the most in a game this season.
- Became the fourth player in NBA history with at least 10 3-pointers and 10 made free throws in a game when he had 11 and 10 against Washington on Oct. 24.
Joel Embiid:
- Ranks in the top 10 in scoring (27.3 points per game – sixth), rebounding (13.5 per game – second) and blocks (1.9 per game – eighth).
- Leads the league with 48 double-doubles.
- Ranks second in usage rate, having used 32.1 percent of the Sixers’ possessions while he’s been on the floor.
- Has attempted 54 free throws for every 100 shots from the field, the third highest rate among 209 players (and the highest among All-Stars) with at least 300 field goal attempts. Has drawn a foul 14.4 percent of the time on post-ups, the highest rate among players who have averaged at least three post-ups per game. The 18 fouls he draw vs. Charlotte on Nov. 9 were three more than any other player has drawn in a game this season.
- Has an effective field goal percentage of 33.0 percent on pull-up jumpers, the worst mark among 130 players who have attempted at least 100.
Paul George:
- Has shot 41 percent on pull-up 3-pointers, the second-best mark among 42 players that have attempted at least 100.
- The only player in the league that has averaged at least six points per game on drives (6.4) and six points per game on catch-and-shoot jumpers (7.4).
- The only player in the league that has scored at least 0.5 points per touch (minimum 1,000 touches).
- The Thunder have been 21.6 points per 100 possessions better with George on the floor (outscoring their opponents by 10.4 per 100) than they’ve been with him off the floor (getting outscored by 11.2). That is, by a wide margin, the biggest on-off NetRtg differential among 261 players who have played at least 750 minutes for a single team this season.
- Has shot a perfect 14-for-14 in the last minute of the fourth quarter or overtime with the score within three points. No other player has been perfect on more than eight attempts in that situation.
- Leads the league with 2.3 steals per game and 2.2 loose balls recovered per game.
Kemba Walker:
- Usage rate of 30.2 percent is a career-high mark and ranks seventh in the league.
- Ranks third in the league in clutch usage rate, having used 41.3 percent of the Hornets’ possessions with the score within five points in the last five minutes. Leads the league in clutch field goal attempts (87) and ranks second inclutch 3-point attempts (46).
- Ranks second (behind James Harden) in pull-up 3-pointers, both made and attempted.
- One of seven players who have shot better than 50 percent on at least 100 mid-range shots.
- Has had his shot blocked 90 times, most in the league.
Blake Griffin:
- Leads the leads the league with 94.5 touches per game, according to Second Spectrum tracking.
- Has registered a career-high true shooting percentage of 59.6 percent along with a career-high usage rate of 29.8 percent.
- Has drawn 8.2 fouls per game, most in the league. Has drawn a foul 15.6 percent of the time on drives, the highest rate among 111 players who have averaged at least five drives per game. Ranks second with 0.46 charges drawn per game.
- Took just 2 percent of his shots from 3-point range in his first six seasons in the league. That rose to 11.6 percent in ’16-17 and to 34 percent over the last two seasons.
- Has shot 12-for-25 (48 percent) on clutch 3-pointers, the second best mark among players who have attempted at least 20.
Nikola Jokic:
- Ranks second with 94.2 touches per game, according to Second Spectrum tracking.
- Ranks second with 12 triple-doubles.
- Leads all centers in assist ratio, having recorded assists on 27.5 percent of his possessions.
- One of four players with 10 or more field goal attempts in a game without a miss this season, having shot 11-for-11 against Phoenix (while also recording a triple-double) on Dec. 20.
- Has an effective field goal percentage of 46.3 percent on catch-and-shoot jumpers, the worst mark among 59 players who have attempted at least 200.
Kyle Lowry:
- Ranks second in the league with a career-high 9.2 assists per game. His assist ratio (he has recorded assists on 37.3 percent of his possessions) and assist-turnover ratio (3.32) are also career highs.
- Has passed 59.5 of the time on drives, the third-highest rate among 111 players who have average at least five drives per game.
- The Raptors have assisted on 62.7 percent of their field goals with Lowry on the floor and on just 52.3 percent of their field goals with him off the floor. That’s the second biggest on-off differential among 261 players who have played at least 750 minutes for a single team.
- Has taken just 26 percent of his shots from the paint. That is the lowest rate of his career. But he has shot a career-best 64 percent in the restricted area.
- Has shot 29.5 percent on pull-up 3-pointers, the fourth-worst mark among 42 players among who have attempted at least 100 and down from 40 percent (the league’s sixth best mark) last season.
Khris Middleton:
- Has shot 40.7 percent on pull-up 3-pointers, the third-best mark among 42 players that have attempted at least 100.
- Has shot 54.4 percent on post-ups, the fourth-best mark among players with at least 50 post-up field goal attempts.
- Registering career highs in assist ratio (19.5 per 100 possessions used) and rebounding percentage.
- Has been assisted on less than half of his field goals for the first time in his career.
- The Bucks have outscored their opponents by 23.5 points per 100 possessions with Middleton on the floor in the fourth quarter. That’s the highest on-court NetRtg for any player that has averaged at least five minutes in any quarter.
Dirk Nowitzki:
- All-time ranks: Fourth in games played (1,497), third in minutes played (50,858), seventh in points scored (31,310), 11th in 3-pointers made (1,943), and sixth in free throws made (7,211).
- Has shot 87.9 percent from the free throw line over his career, the fourth best mark among 78 players with at least 5,000 career free throw attempts. No player in NBA history has shot better on more free throw attempts as Nowitzki (8,201).
- Has shot 47.7 percent from mid-range over the last 10 seasons, the second best mark (behind that of Chris Paul – 47.8 percent) among 52 players with at least 2,000 mid-range attempts over that time.
- Has taken 65.3 percent of his shots from 3-point range this season, the highest rate of his career and the highest rate among All-Stars.
- Has averaged 3.56 miles per hour, the slowest rate among players who have played in 25 games or more.
Victor Oladipo:
- Was registering career-high marks in assist ratio (recording assists on 20.3 percent of his possessions) and rebounding percentage (grabbing 8.7 percent of available rebounds while he was on the floor) before suffering a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 23.
- One of four players that have averaged at least 18 points, five rebounds, five assists and 1.5 steals per game.
- Shot 24-for-38 (63 percent) with the score within five points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime. That’s the best mark among 60 players with at least 30 clutch field goal attempts. Is the only player that has shot better than 50 percent on at least 20 clutch 3-point attempts and remains tied for the league lead with four 3-pointers (on just five attempts) to tie or take the lead in the final minute.
- Took just 25 percent of his shots in the restricted area. That was the lowest rate of his career.
- Shot 29.7 percent on pull-up 3-pointers, the second-worst mark among players who have averaged at least three pull-up 3-point attempts per game.
D’Angelo Russell:
- Registering career highs in usage rate (29.7 percent), effective field goal percentage (51.2 percent), true shooting percentage (53.5 percent) and assist ratio (23.4 per 100 possessions used), with a career-low turnover ratio (10.4 per 100 possessions).
- Has averaged 10.8 pick-and-roll ball-handler possessions per game, second most in the league, according to Synergy play-type tracking.
- First-quarter usage rate (31.2 percent) is the third-highest in the league.
- Has attempted just 12.6 free throws per 100 shots from the field, the second-lowest rate (higher than only that of Klay Thompson) among 45 players with at least 750 field goal attempts.
- Leads the league with 38 total points scored in overtime.
Nikola Vucevic:
- Registering career-high marks in usage rate, effective field goal percentage, true shooting percentage, assist-turnover ratio and rebounding percentage.
- Ranks fourth in the league (and first among All-Stars) in defensive rebounding percentage, having grabbed 29.7 percent of available defensive rebounds while he’s been on the floor
- Leads the league with 260 paint points outside the restricted area.
- Has shot 32-for-62 (52 percent) in the last four seconds of the shot clock, the second-best mark among 79 players with at least 50 attempts in the last four seconds.
- Has taken just two (1 percent) of his 171 3-point attempts from the corners. That’s the lowest rate among 214 players with at least 100 3-point attempts.
Russell Westbrook:
- Averaging a triple-double for the third straight season. Leads the league with 24 triple-doubles and has set an NBA record with 11 straight going into the All-Star break.
- The Thunder have an assist-turnover ratio of 1.91 with Westbrook on the floor and just 1.26 with him off the floor. That’s the biggest on-off differential among 261 players who have played at least 750 minutes for a single team.
- Leads the league with 11.2 assists per game. Has 128 assists to Steven Adams, 127 assists to Paul George, and 110 assists to Jerami Grant. No other player has at least 100 assists to more than one teammate.
- Has an effective field goal percentage of 34.2 percent on shots from outside the paint, the second worst mark among 160 players who have attempted at least 200 shots from the outside. Has both the worst mid-range field goal percentage (31.6 percent) among players with at least 150 mid-range attempts and the worst 3-point percentage (24.9 percent) among players with at least 150 3-point attempts.
- Part of the league’s most-used lineup. The Thunder’s starting lineup – Westbrook, Terrance Ferguson, George, Grant and Adams – has played 602 minutes together.
