NBA: Which players enjoyed the best of the last seven days?
Monday 12 November 2018 16:13, UK
Every Monday, we look back over the last seven days of NBA action and identify the five players who had cause to celebrate.
Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls)
Zach LaVine has a lot on his plate. Operating without Lauri Markkanen - who is out with an elbow injury - and Kris Dunn - who is still a month away from returning from an MCL sprain - LaVine is shouldering some heavy ball-handling and point-scoring responsibility for the Bulls.
And while Chicago (4-9) may be languishing in the swamp of the West, LaVine is holding up his end of the bargain following his four-year $78m deal in the summer.
The 23-year-old is fifth in the league in points-per-game over this young season and second over the last seven days - his 29.0 over three games behind only Kyrie Irving.
Granted, his 41 points on Tuesday was against the dismal Knicks, but given the Bulls are missing two of their top three scorers last year's best three-point guy in Denzel Valentine, he is carrying this team.
Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves)
We must wait to see if Jimmy Butler is a winner out of his trade to Philadelphia. Much now depends on his chemistry with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and how he integrates into a 76ers locker room that has been a tight-knit group focused on 'the process'.
But one player surely set to benefit is Karl-Anthony Towns.
In his second year in the league, Towns was putting up stellar numbers - 25 points and 12 rebounds a game. There was talk of a future MVP.
The following year, with Butler on the team, his numbers were similar, although his point-scoring dropped as Butler's offensive influence ate into his own production.
But in his first nine games alongside Butler this year, he averaged just 15.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per-game - a huge drop-off for a player of Towns' obvious quality.
With Butler now gone and their reportedly fractious relationship no longer a factor, Towns will surely find his space to blossom in Minnesota once again.
Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks)
It's been the expected tough start for the Atlanta Hawks. Sunday's narrow defeat to the LA Lakers was their fourth straight and saw them fall to second bottom in the East with a miserable 3-10 record.
But Trae Young has been a ray of sunshine in Georgia. His team's 0-4 record over the last seven days doesn't suggest him as a natural pick of the week, but the No 5 draft pick is living up to expectations in the big time.
He has 18.4 points and 8.2 assists through his first 13 games, and although he couldn't come up with the game-winner against the Lakers after Tyson Chandler's buzzer-beating block, his 20 points and 12 assists was his fourth double-double in his last six games.
He's sixth in the league for assists over the last seven days and he's also found his range from beyond the arc, going 4-of-8 against the Lakers having landed only 1-of-17 in his previous three games.
And yet, perhaps he just makes the list for the fact that his beloved Audi R8 as filled with popcorn by team-mates this week. He's making his mark already.
LeBron James (La Lakers)
It was always like to take a while, but there are firm signs now that the Lakers-LeBron relationship is starting to blossom.
Three games in the last seven days, three wins and LeBron averages 25 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5 assists per game through that period.
It's been enough to push the Lakers above .500 for the first time this season and promisingly for Los Angeles, there is a consistency there.
His 24 points against Minnesota on Wednesday was followed by 25 against Sacramento on Saturday and then 26 in Sunday's 107-106 nerve-shredder against the Hawks.
It was his bucket which got them over the line against Atlanta - albeit after two missed free throws which prompted him after the game to say "I suck from the free throw line right now. I'll get my rhythm back but I'll thank (Kuzma) for giving me another opportunity."
Away from the free-throw line, LeBron's rhythm looks pretty good.
CJ McCollum (Portland Trail Blazers)
Portland don't need CJ McCollum to put up astronomical numbers to keep winning. The Trail Blazers are 10-3 and going along very nicely thank-you-very-much despite the 27-year-old's slow start to the season.
Heading into last week he was averaging 18.9 points per game, which is fine, but not what we expect of a player who has averaged more than 20 in each of his last four years.
But this is more down to how his team is using him now, with the Blazers - like a lot of teams in the league - leaning on their pass and three-point game. He is no longer pulling the strings.
And so, it was nice to see this week a reminder that he can turn it on when he wants to. Three games, three wins, averaging 25.7 at over .500 - highlighted by a 40-point torching of the Bucks.
Indeed, he was pretty offended that Milwaukee assigned rookie Donte DiVincenzo to defend him on Tuesday night.
"Very disrespectful," he said. "It's very disrespectful. Maybe they didn't have anyone else for the task? They should have put Pat Connaughton in."
Sky Sports is the new home of the NBA in the UK with live coverage throughout the week, including selected live games free to all Sky subscribers via Sky Sports Mix.
And www.skysports.com/nba will be your home for news, reports, video and features throughout the season while you can follow us @SkySportsNBA.
