LOS ANGELES — The All-Star break has arrived, and here in a city accustomed to fame, even these guys stand out. (That will happen when you are 6-8 or so.)
But among the stars themselves, some have stood out a lot more than others, especially lately. For some, in fact, the last couple of weeks have been a near disaster.
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With that in mind we set out to look at all 24 players who will be suiting up for the game on Sunday — with apologies to the injured players who won’t participate — and rank them according to how this season has been going and how things are shaping up from here.
1. James Harden, Rockets
Harden heads into the break as the clear favorite for the MVP award after finishing as the runner-up in the last two seasons. He leads the league in scoring at 31.3 points per game and is third with 9.0 assists, making him by far the most important player on a team that has vaulted ahead of Golden State for the top seed in the West.
Harden missed seven games in early January with a hamstring injury, but since he has come back, the Rockets have won 14 of 15, including a 60-point barrage from Harden in a win over the Magic.
2. LeBron James, Cavs
It’s a small sample size, but James looks like a rejuvenated player even before the break gets underway. The Cavs are on a four-game winning streak going back to James’ game-winning performance against the Timberwolves last Wednesday, and during the streak, James has averaged 30.0 points, 13.0 assists and 9.5 rebounds while shooting 55.3 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from the 3-point line.
Of course, in that span, he has played with his pre-deadline teammates, the skeleton crew that was left on the day after the deadline, and two games with the new Cavs. If he continues to play at that level, Cleveland has a chance to move past Boston and/or Toronto in the standings.
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3. Kevin Durant, Warriors
Durant has been scoring with his typical efficiency (26.0 points per game), making 52.3 percent of his shots and 42.1 percent of his 3-pointers. The team has been in a rut — by their standards — going back to a 30-point loss to Utah on Jan. 30, but you can’t blame Durant for that. He is shooting 61.9 percent from the field in that span, and he had 50 points against Portland on Wednesday in a Golden State loss.
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
He is still a 3-point stroke away from being a legitimate MVP candidate, but Antetokounmpo’s rise to NBA elite has continued, though he is just 23 years old. He is up to 27.6 points on 53.7 percent shooting, with 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He, like the rest of the Bucks, seems to be responding well to the firing of Jason Kidd. The team is 9-3 since the move, and Antetokounmpo has been leading the way.
5. Stephen Curry, Warriors
Curry has shot better than 41 percent from the 3-point line in all nine seasons he’s been in the league, including this one. But as the Warriors have slipped to 4-4 in their last eight games since Curry lit up the Celtics with 49 points, his shot has been off — he is scoring only 19.8 points per game in those eight games and making 32.9 percent from the arc.
If he does not turn it around, the unthinkable could happen: Curry could finish the season below 40 percent from the 3-point line.
6. Russell Westbrook, Thunder
He has new star-level teammates, but Westbrook has been his same old self, eighth in the league in scoring (25.4 per game) and first in assists (10.4), while still near a triple-double average (9.4 rebounds).
Oklahoma City has been wildly inconsistent this season, but one thing that’s clear: When Westbrook makes shots at even a decent rate, the Thunder are very good. OKC is 24-12 when Westbrook makes 40 percent of his shots or more, 8-13 when he does not.
7. Anthony Davis, Pelicans
In his sixth season, Davis has shown more polish on his game than ever before, averaging 27.4 points and 10.7 rebounds, but finally extending his game to the 3-point line with some effectiveness (he is making 36.7 percent of his 3s after making 29.0 percent in his first five seasons).
He has had to pick up considerable slack following the injury to DeMarcus Cousins, and in the last seven games, he has done that well, topping 40 points three times and averaging 33.4 points. The Pels are in a tough fight for a West playoff spot, and it will be up to Davis to carry them through.
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8. DeMar DeRozan, Raptors
DeRozan had a hot start, and for a short time, it looked like he’d be an MVP candidate after turning himself into a quality 3-point shooter. Alas, his numbers have dropped since then, but he is still averaging 23.7 points and a career-high 5.7 assists, a product of Toronto’s revamped offensive approach.
His 3-point shooting, even at a mere 33.0 percent, is still the second-best mark of his career. The break is probably well-timed for him, as he has averaged just 15.8 points on 38.1 percent shooting in his last six games.
9. LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs
After a rough summer in which rumors of a trade abounded, Aldridge has had a terrific season, averaging 22.4 points and 8.4 rebounds, leading a Spurs team that is 35-24 even without Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs are a young group trying to piece together a rotation around Aldridge, and he has been the glue holding it all together.
The team has hit a rough patch just ahead of the break, though, losing five out of six, two with Aldridge sitting out for a minor knee problem.
10. Kyrie Irving, Celtics
Irving wanted out of Cleveland last summer in order to get a team that was more his own, and there’s no question the Celtics are Irving’s team. But oddly, his numbers are just about the same as they were in Cleveland — his minutes and shots are down a bit, but his scoring is about the same (24.7 points), and his usage rate has only gone up a tick, from 30.8 last year to 31.2 this year. He is out of LeBron James’ shadow, but his production has been the same.
11. Paul George, Thunder
Despite playing with two high-volume scorers, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, George has managed to keep up his numbers and be effective on the floor. He is averaging 22.5 points, and his 3-point shooting has been excellent, at 43.2 percent this year.
He has also been a force on the defensive end, leading the league in steals with 2.2 per game. He comes into the break on a hot streak, topping 25 points in six straight games (29.8 points per game) and shooting 49.2 percent from the 3-point line in that stretch.
12. Joel Embiid, Sixers
Embiid has missed 11 games, and the Sixers are 3-8 without him, which gives you an idea of his value to this young group. He’s averaging 23.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists, and he was the East’s Player of the Month for January. Before playing just 23 minutes against the Knicks last week, he had recorded eight straight double-doubles.
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13. Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves
Towns has had his offense scaled back a bit this year, dropping from 18.0 shots per game to 13.7, and seeing his scoring go from 25.1 points to 20.4. But he is shooting 55.0 percent from the floor, and his 3-point shooting has spiked, making 42.5 percent on 3.6 attempts per game.
There’s still a sense that Towns has a lot more to give, on both ends of the floor, but no one can complain about a 7-foot 22-year-old who is averaging 20 and 12.
14. Jimmy Butler, Timberwolves
Butler has delivered what the Timberwolves needed, not only providing a veteran leader and defensive stalwart on the perimeter, but giving Minnesota an able scorer (22.4 points per game) from all parts of the floor. Butler is a good midrange shooter, but he has developed the consistency from the 3-point line that was missing early in his career, shooting 37.2 percent from deep.
Butler leads the league in minutes played, which is of some concern because he has battled a bad knee this year.
15. Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers
Lillard has had reason to gripe about not making the All-Star team in the last two years, but with the talent-stocked West, it’s never easy. But he has been relatively efficient this year, shooting a career-best 44.7 percent from the field for his 26.1 points per game. And he enters the weekend especially hot: In his last three games, he has scored 50, 39 and 44 points, shooting 55.3 percent in that run.
16. Victor Oladipo, Pacers
No All-Star made quite as big a leap this year as Oladipo, who has not only become a bona fide No. 1 scoring option with an expanded shooting range, but has shown he can put a team with limited talent on his back and put it in position to earn a decent playoff spot.
He has established career-highs in scoring (24.4 points per game), rebounds (5.3), assists (4.1), shooting (48.4 percent) and 3-point shooting (38.1 percent). He has scored 30-plus points 17 times in his career, including 10 times this year, and three in his last five games.
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17. Bradley Beal, Wizards
The Wizards are 7-2 since John Wall went down with a knee injury at the end of January, and Beal has gotten a blitz of defensive attention in that span. His scoring (21.8 points) and shooting (45.5 percent from the field) have dipped without Wall, but he is averaging 6.4 assists and has done a nice job covering for the lack of a true playmaker.
Washington misses Wall, of course, but Beal has softened the blow and kept the team in position for one of the top seeds in the East.
18. Andre Drummond, Pistons
Drummond has fixed the glaring holes in his game, working on his ability to pass out of the post and racking up 3.6 assists per game, which is up considerably from his 0.7 career average before this year.
But the biggest change has been the foul shooting, which is up to 62.5 percent for the year after he made only 38.6 percent last year. That’s allowed the Pistons to leave him on the floor in late-game situations. He’s scoring 15.1 points per game and leading the league with 15.7 rebounds.
19. Klay Thompson, Warriors
Thompson’s scoring (20.0 points per game) is down from the last three seasons, but he is leading the league in 3-point shooting at 45.5 percent, and his 49.4 percent overall shooting is a career-high. Thompson still does not have big numbers outside of his shooting (3.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists), but he is a top-flight perimeter defender in addition to his marksmanship.
20. Kyle Lowry, Raptors
Lowry’s numbers aren’t as impressive as they’ve been in the past, scoring 16.6 points per game with 6.5 assists and 5.7 rebounds. But Lowry has sacrificed for the benefit of the Raptors offense, and the team goes into the break with the best record in the East.
Lowry is still capable of putting up big scoring numbers — he had 40 against Minnesota last month — but he’s comfortable with giving up the ball more now.
21. Draymond Green, Warriors
Green is the most important defensive player in the league, a key to the way the Warriors are able to switch, disrupt the passing lanes and cover the entire floor without a space-eating big man down low. He has been terrible as a shooter, making only 29.9 percent from the 3-point line, and that number has been shrinking — he knocked down 27.8 percent in January and is only at 18.8 percent in this month.
Still, his defense and other numbers (8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists) got him the spot on this team.
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22. Al Horford, Celtics
Like Draymond Green, Horford’s value extends well beyond his scoring, which is modest (13.3 points per game). Horford has averaged 5.1 assists and has been a knockdown 3-point shooter at 43.6 percent. But he has also been the glue that has held together Boston’s tough defense, which ranks as the best in the league.
Horford has a cumulative plus/minus of plus-4.4, second on the Celtics only to Jaylen Brown. Boston ranks seventh defensively during its last 15 games — the Celtics lost nine of those — and that struggle pushes Horford down on this list.
23. Goran Dragic, Heat
The Heat were a hot team when Dragic was picked to replace Kevin Love in the All-Star Game two weeks ago, so there was some justification for his selection despite so-so production (17.4 points, 4.7 assists per game). But the Heat have dropped seven of their last eight, and Dragic’s spot now seems a little out of place.
24. Kemba Walker, Hornets
Walker is averaging 22.9 points and 5.8 assists per game while shooting just 42.3 percent from the field. But the Hornets are nine games under .500, rendering his stats a bit meaningless. But the East field was wracked by injuries, so someone had to fill the spots. Probably should have been Ben Simmons, but it’s Walker instead.
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