Record-Breaking Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Book-Smart Harrison Barnes, and More NBA Trends
A veteran will not be missed. A team has to fail for basketball to become fair again. And a steamroller attacks defenders who forget the reconnaissance report.
Let’s open the notebook to review three NBA trends that caught my attention over the past week:
Harrison Barnes’ green light
Harrison Barnes arrived in San Antonio last season on a mission. He and the future of his new franchise had a shared passion, and Barnes was about to lean into it.
Victor Wembanyama loved reading, especially science fiction. Barnes preferred other genres, but also thought he could make an exception for the newcomer he was supposed to help mentor. So Barnes started a book club, which a few players joined at first, only for the literary attrition of the NBA season to reduce the group to two: Barnes and Wembanyama.
The first book Barnes chose, not coincidentally, was by Wembanyama’s favorite writer, Brandon Sanderson. The science fiction novels continued.
Barnes’ presence off the field was supposed to be his greatest value after he was acquired by San Antonio in the summer of 2024. He had been the star prospect, the college standout, the lottery pick, the role player, the starter on a championship team, the scorer on a bad team and more. He was a respected teammate at all his stops. The goal would be to show Wembanyama how to become a professional. Barnes was supposed to be the 21-year veteran star.
However, the talk of Barnes’ leadership abilities, as if his best days are behind him, has overshadowed what has now become a theme of the Spurs’ season: When he’s not turning the pages of a novel, this guy can still play.
The Spurs (17-7) arrived, even with Wembanyama injured. And Barnes’ long-range blitz is a big reason why.
He’s making more 3s than ever and is making 43 percent of them, matching his career high, which he set last season. A higher ratio of his deep balls are heavily contested than in any other year of his 14-year career — and he’s made 40 percent of those looks, according to Second Spectrum.
Barnes is a better shooter than ever, whether it’s accurate shots, which is his norm, or trying the left-to-right shuffle that has freed him up for 3s every now and then this season. When games get close, San Antonio finds him in the corners. He usually doesn’t let his team down. Barnes shoots 45 percent from deep when the scoring margin is less than five points.
Spurs game analyst Sean Elliott began calling him “Mr. 100”, inspired by his shooting percentage and not his age.
Leave it to those with NBA brains to suggest that a 33-year-old is ready to be sent home. Instead, he is at the center of a vital storyline.
This season was supposed to be too early for the Spurs. Their talent was too young, still a few years away. The injuries are numerous. All-Star point guard De’Aaron Fox missed the start of the season. Wembanyama hasn’t played in almost a month.
Still, San Antonio is in the top five in the Western Conference. It’s been 9-3 since Wembanyama was injured. The Spurs are sixth in points per possession during this 12-game stretch.
Yes, some young people have accelerated their timetable. Stephon Castle, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, took a leap forward in year two, thanks in part to his patience as a passer. Freshman guard Dylan Harper not only has a bright future; his gift shines too. Harper is in constant attack mode. Fifty-nine percent of his shots came at the rim, the highest ratio of any ball guard in the league, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Prime age contributors perform well in all areas. Fox has been masterful since returning from injury. Luke Kornet is a wall at the rim. Keldon Johnson is shooting 59 percent from mid-range. Julian Champagnie and Devin Vassell are dangerous in depth. Fox and Wembanyama have only played four games together all season. Once San Antonio has both, perhaps it can integrate the early-season defense, which was formed around Wembanyama’s paint protection, with its high-voltage offense of late.
But even then, a single guy won’t fit into any of these young or mature categories. And now he has to read more science fiction than he ever thought possible.
Josh Hart’s time out
One type of timeout has dominated New York Knicks games for nearly three years. And it’s never the Knicks who call him.
The preamble is easy to spot. Josh Hart takes the field with a fast break. Inevitably, he rushes to the basket, dribbling with his left hand, then passes through the defender in front of him to launch a layup to the right. This decision is in Hart’s DNA. Prepared defenders anticipate it, even if it is not always enough. Those who bite are helpless.
Hart’s passing is listed on any Knicks opponent’s scouting report, which is why the second time it happens on a given night, a timeout is guaranteed.
The Toronto Raptors found out on Tuesday.
In the first quarter of the Knicks’ NBA Cup quarterfinal victory, Hart slid around Ja’Kobe Walter for a layup. Early in the second, Scottie Barnes tried to take the lead and realized too late that Hart was slipping. Barnes jumped to contest the shot but couldn’t change it. A timeout from head coach Darko Rajaković came in a split second.
This is Hart’s signature: not only the step to take, but also the frustration it inspires. And lately, blood vessels have burst.
Hart returned to the Knicks’ starting lineup, where he resided all of last season, in late November. And he plays like he never wants to leave it. He makes 3s, runs the offense when necessary, protects physically and, perhaps most importantly, adds pace to an offense that head coach Mike Brown wants to slide.
The Knicks don’t always move at the speed Brown prefers. They average one shade per six seconds to go on early possession plays, which ranks them 17th in the NBA, according to Second Spectrum.
But want to rev up the machine? Let Hart be Hart.
New York’s offense doesn’t look any healthier than when Hart is grabbing rebounds and flying the other way.
The Knicks score a dominating average of 127.2 points per 100 possessions when Hart brings the ball back after putting together a defensive board, according to Second Spectrum. And it’s not like these pieces are rare. Hart is a free ball enthusiast, one of the most relentless rebounders in the league.
Forty-seven percent of those possessions end in transition. Compare that with the league average transition rate of 14 percent, sprinkle in a few fast breaks where he doesn’t make his patented layup and instead creates a 3 or finds a cutter on his way to the basket, and you have Hart’s value.
Nearly half the time he gets a board and bolt, he’s generating the most efficient shot in basketball: a transition look. And that’s why, by the second time he fools a defense with that deep pass, any coach has seen enough.
Add all 3 to the list
A 49-point loss has never been so honorable.
The Phoenix Suns had no chance against the Oklahoma City Thunder when the two met in the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday. However, again, the rest of the league isn’t faring much better – and it would probably look as capable as the Suns if they had to face such soft shooting.
Oklahoma City made 22 of 40 3-pointers against Phoenix. If the Thunder hits their long-range shots, it’s good night for everyone facing them. This group is too stifling defensively and too consistent with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way for anyone to bother him when it’s hot from deep.
The problem for the rest of the league is that lately, that’s what the Thunder has been doing.
This team is in disarray. It’s 24-1, heading into the NBA Cup semifinal against the Spurs. His only loss was by two points, on the road, in the second half of a back-to-back, in a game where he once led by 20.
During its current 16-game winning streak, OKC is outscoring its opponents by 20.3 points per 100 possessions. During the season, he strives to shatter the net scoring record.
Right now, the Thunder can’t do anything wrong, including from 3-point land, where they started the season cold. Their mission to perfect the game of basketball is going wonderfully.
Oklahoma City has shot 43.7 percent from beyond the arc over its last 12 games. Last Friday’s notebook focused on Gilgeous-Alexander’s jerky stepback, but that’s not the only type of jump shot that wipes out the competition. Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting 52 percent on jump shots overall, first among 140 players who have made at least 100 this season.
The single-season record (minimum 350 jumpers) belongs to Kevin Durant, who shot 49.9 percent on them in 2022-23.
So, in addition to fielding a defense known for breaking records, the Thunder, or at least Gilgeous-Alexander, could also be on track to break offensive records. What just happened to the Suns could happen to anyone else.
