NBA All-Star 2021 Numbers to Know: Team Durant

The fourth NBA All-Star Draft was held on Thursday night with LeBron James being a team captain with the No. 1 overall pick — courtesy of being the league’s top overall vote-getter — selecting first.

After squaring off with Team Curry in 2018 and Team Giannis in 2019 and 2020, now Team LeBron will take on Team Durant as Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant finished with the most votes in the Eastern Conference. He will miss the game due to injury, selecting a squad that he will not be able to play with.

With the draft in the books and the teams set for Sunday’s All-Star Game, we’ll take a closer look at each team with a deep dive into the numbers. We began with Team LeBron and now we finish our look at the All-Star with Team Durant.

Note: All stats are through games played on March 4; all players are presented in alphabetical order, separated only into starters and reserves.

STARTERS

Bradley Beal | G | Washington Wizards

• The NBA’s leading scorer at 32.9 points per game; only 11 players in NBA history have ever averaged at least 32.9 ppg over a full season. James Harden (last two seasons) is the only active player on that list.

• That list of 32.9 points per game scorers gets even smaller when you add the 5.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists that Beal is averaging this season. Only four players have ever posted 32.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 4.7 apg over a full season: James Harden, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor.

• Leads the NBA with 22 30-point games this season, including six in a row from Jan. 6-27, 2021, which is the longest streak of any player this season.

• Leads the NBA in both second- (8.1) and third- (10.3) quarter scoring. His third-quarter scoring got a boost from a 25-point outburst against Philadelphia on January 6. The 25 points is tied for the most in any quarter of a game this season (Joel Embiid, February 4 vs. Portland, second quarter)

• Has made a league-high 96 mid-range shots this season; Beal is shooting 48.2% on mid-range jumpers as 18.8% of his points come in the mid-range.

Zion Williamson | F | New Orleans Pelicans

(Editor’s note: Zion Williamson was named a starter in place of Joel Embiid, who will not play in the All-Star Game after he was in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.)

• Ranks fifth in the NBA in field goal percentage (61.4%). Williamson has attempted only 23 shots outside the paint this season.

• Averages a league-best 8.7 field goals made and 13.4 field goals attempted (three more than any other player) inside the restricted area.

• Has had 72 of his shots blocked this season — the highest mark in the NBA by a 22-shot margin; Andre Drummond and Malcolm Brogdon rank second with 50 shots blocked.

• Averages 11.2 drives per game, leading to 8.2 points per game on 56.0% shooting from the field and 2.8 free throw attempts per game. Zion is fouled on 12.1% of his drives.

• Ranks sixth in free throws attempted (8.2 per game) and 11th in free throws made (5.7 per game). Free throws account for 22.3% of his points, with 75.6% coming on 2-point shots and only 2.1% coming on 3-point shots.

Kyrie Irving | G | Brooklyn Nets

• Holds the top offensive efficiency rating of any player that ranks in the top 300 minutes played. The Nets have scored 122.0 points per 100 possessions with Irving on the court this season.

• Ranks fifth in the league in isolation scoring (4.7 ppg) and 16th in scoring (8.0 ppg) as the ball handler in pick-and-roll plays.

• Ranks fourth in scoring on pull-up shots at 10.2 points per game. Irving’s 47.9% shooting on pull-ups ranks third among the 75 players that average at least four pull-up shots per game.

• Averages 11.5 drives per game (36th in NBA), scoring 9.3 points per game on those drives (13th in NBA) as Irving scores on 81% of his drives.

• Is one of four players within two free throw percentage points of shooting 50-40-90 for the season. Irving’s 51.0 FG% is a career high, while his 41.1 3-point percentage is the second-best of his career; his 88.7% showing at the free-throw line is the fourth-best of his career.

Kawhi Leonard | F | LA Clippers

• Ranks ninth in the NBA in steals (1.5 per game) and fourth in points off turnovers (4.3 per game).

• Averages 8.7 points per game off drives (17th in NBA) on an average of 12.9 drives per game (25th). His 56.6% shooting off drives ranks fourth among the 34 players that average at least five shots per game off drives.

• Shooting 51.1% from the field, his highest field-goal percentage since shooting 52.2% on 9.8 shots per game in 2013-14 — his third season with the Spurs.

• Ranks third with 2.7 field goals made per game in the paint, but outside the restricted area. He is shooting 68.6% on shots inside of 10 feet.

• Ranks third in offensive efficiency rating among the top 300 players in minutes played. The Clippers have scored 120.6 points per 100 possessions with Leonard on the court this season, which is 10.7 points per 100 possessions better than when he’s off the court.

Jayson Tatum | F-G | Boston Celtics

• Tied for eighth in the NBA in clutch scoring (68 points in 76 clutch minutes). Tatum is shooting 48.9% (23-47) from the field, 35.7% (5-14) from three and 89.5% (17-19) from the free-throw line with the game on the line.

• Has made the most field goals in the final 30 seconds of a one-possession game (score within three points). Tatum has 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting (66.7%) in these situations.

• Ranks ninth in scoring on pull-up shots at 9.5 points per game

• Ranks second in field goal attempts (10.3) coming between two and six seconds of touch time, trailing only Washington’s Bradley Beal. Celtics teammate and fellow All-Star Jaylen Brown ranks third at 9.6 attempts per game.

• Ranks eighth in points off turnovers (4.2 per game) and 20th in steals (1.4 per game).

• Of the 154 players that have defended at least 20 isolation possessions, Tatum allows the fifth-lowest points per possession (0.46).

Joel Embiid | C-F | Philadelphia 76ers

(Editor’s note: Joel Embiid will not play in the All-Star Game after he was in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.)

• The NBA’s second-leading scorer at a career-best 30.2 points per game. This marks a 7.2 ppg improvement over last season (23.0 in 2019-20) and a 2.7 ppg improvement from his previous career high (27.5 ppg in 2018-19).

• Shooting career-best numbers across the board: 52.1% from the field, 41.6% from 3 and 85.6% at the free-throw line. He is one of four players posting 52-41-85 shooting splits on at least 10 shots per game this season, joining fellow All-Stars Kevin Durant, Zach LaVine and Nikola Jokic.

• Leads all players in free throws made (9.9 per game) and attempted (11.6); Embiid’s 85.6% shooting at the free-throw line ranks 36th overall and third among centers. Free throws account for 32.9% of Embiid’s points — second only to Jimmy Butler among players in the top 300 in minutes played.

• Leads the NBA in post ups at 13.6 per game and produces 9.0 ppg on 55.4% shooting on those post ups. Embiid draws personal fouls 11% of the time when he posts up.

• Ranks 10th in the NBA in double-doubles with averages of 30.2 points and 11.6 rebounds. If he maintains those averages for the rest of the season, he would be the first to average 30-11 since Karl Malone in 1989-90.

RESERVES

Mike Conley | G | Utah Jazz

• Ranks second in total raw plus/minus as Utah has outscored its opponents by 277 points in Conley’s 853 minutes on the court over 29 games. When using per game rather than totals, Conley leads the league with an average point differential of 9.6 points per game while on court.

• Shooting a career-best 42.2% from 3-point range in his 14th NBA season; he will also participate in the MTN DEW 3-Point Contest on Sunday.

• Ranks fifth in the league in defensive efficiency as the Jazz allow only 101.8 points per 100 possessions while Conley is on the court.

• Of the 323 players that have defended at least 100 shots this season, Conley allows the fourth-lowest field goal percentage at 38.7%, which is 6.1 percentage points lower than his opponents normally shoot.

• Of the 70 players that have defended at least 100 pick-and-roll ball handler plays, Conley allows the fifth-lowest points per possession (0.78), holding opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 39.1% (third-lowest).

James Harden | G | Brooklyn Nets

• Leads the NBA in assists at 11.1 per game; he is also last player to average at least 11 assists per game over a full season when he won his first assist title in 2016-17 (11.2 apg).

• Leads the NBA in minutes played at 37.8 per game. After averaging 36.3 minutes in his eight games with Houston, Harden’s minutes have jumped to 38.4 per game in his 23 games with Brooklyn.

• Already ranks second in triple-doubles in Nets franchise history with eight in his first 23 games with the team. He has a long way to go to catch franchise leader Jason Kidd with 61.

• There have been seven games this season in which a player reached at least 30 points and 15 assists, Harden has three of those seven games.

• Averages a league-high 8.9 points per game on isolation plays in his 23 games with Brooklyn. This is 2.7 ppg better than he did in his eight games in Houston (which would still rank second among all players).

Zach LaVine | G-F | Chicago Bulls

• Leads the NBA in clutch scoring with 105 points. The Bulls have played the second-most clutch games in the NBA (22) and are 10-12 in those games.

• Has the highest-scoring fourth quarter in the league this season with 24 points against Orlando on February 5. It is the third-highest scoring quarter of any period this season behind 25 from fellow All-Stars Bradley Beal and Joel Embiid.

• The two-time Slam Dunk champion has only 31 dunks in 34 games so far this season (0.9 per game). Last season, he had 88 dunks in 60 games (1.5 per game).

• Ranks fifth in 3-pointers made (120) and 18th in 3-point percentage (43.5%). LaVine’s 43.5% shooting from beyond the arc is 5.5 percentage points better than he produced last season and 4.6 percentage points better than his previous career-high (38.9% in his second season).

• Owns the longest streak of 20-point games in the NBA this season with 21 consecutive games, which began on Jan. 18 and is still active at the All-Star break.

Donovan Mitchell | G | Utah Jazz

• Ranks 18th in the league in scoring (24.7 ppg), which is a career-best, up 0.7 ppg from last season.

• Averaging career highs in 3-pointers made (3.3 per game, 11th in NBA), 3-pointers attempted (8.7 per game, 6th in NBA) and 3-point percentage (38.2%, 88th in NBA).

• Averaging 15.4 drives per game (14th in NBA), which are producing 8.9 points (15th) and 1.5 assists (22nd) per game

• Tied for sixth in loose balls recovered (43) so far this season.

– Ranks sixth in the league with 97 above the break 3-pointers made. Mitchell is shooting 38.8% from above the break.

Julius Randle | F/C | New York Knicks

• Ranks third in the NBA in minutes played (36.7 per game) and 35th in usage rate (26.9%).

• One of four players averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Randle’s 23.2 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 5.5 apg all represent career highs and team-highs for New York.

• Shooting 40.8% from 3-point range, which ranks 40th overall and fourth among qualified players listed at center. Randle’s 40.8% shooting from long range is the highest of his career by 6.4 percentage points, and a leap of 13.1 percentage points over last season.

• Tied for fourth in the NBA with 24 double-doubles in 37 games (64.9% of games with a double-double); Randle is well on his way to a new career high as his top mark is 34 over 81 games in 2015-16 (42.0% of games).

• Ranks fifth in the league in post up possessions (213) and is tied for 12th in the league in points off post ups (104) and tied for fourth in assists off post ups (27).

Nikola Vucevic | C | Orlando Magic

• Leads the NBA in catch-and-shoot field goals made (4.5 per game) and attempted (10.2 per game), leading to an NBA-best 11.6 ppg on catch-and-shoots.

• Leads the NBA in wide open field goals made (2.6 per game) and attempted (5.9 per game) with an effective field goal percentage of 60.4% on those wide-open looks.

• Tied for fourth in the NBA in double-doubles (24). He is averaging a career-best 24.6 points per game and his 11.6 rebounds per game rank sixth in the league and are the second-best average of his career.

• Ranks second in the NBA in post ups (10.9 per game). His 4.4 points per game off post ups ranks fifth in the league and his 1.2 assists off post ups is tied for first in the league with fellow All-Star (and fellow Nikola) Jokic of Denver.

• Leads the NBA in scoring as the roll man in pick-and-roll plays at 6.5 points per game. Vucevic has a 59.3 effective field goal percentage on roll man plays.