Week 16 Rewind: 10 things to know from the past 7 days in the NBA
Joel Embiid has scored at least 25 points in 20 consecutive games – the longest streak in the NBA this season.
1. All-Star Reserves Announced
The league-leading Suns may have been shut out of the All-Star starters, but they had both Devin Booker and Chris Paul selected as reserves by the league’s coaches this past Thursday as seven players in each conference were added to the All-Star pool ahead of this Thursday’s draft for Team LeBron and Team Durant.
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Utah also got a pair of teammates on the West reserves (Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert), while Draymond Green gives the Warriors a trio after Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins were named starters. While the West delivered two first-time All-Stars in the starting lineup (Wiggins and Ja Morant), the East has two first-time All-Stars among the reserves (Darius Garland and Fred VanVleet).
2. Rising Stars rosters set for new format
After six consecutive years of the USA vs. World format (2015-2020), the 2022 Clorox Rising Stars brings a new mini-tournament format to this year’s showcase of the league’s top rookies and sophomores.
First, here is a breakdown of how the mini-tournament will be played.
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Now, here is a look at the four teams that will compete on Friday, Feb. 18 (9 ET, TNT).
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3. The ending to Thursday’s Lakers/Clippers game
The final 63 seconds of Thursday’s game between the Lakers and Clippers featured six lead changes on six consecutive made field goals as the teams traded clutch basket after clutch basket until Anthony Davis’ potential game-winner at the buzzer rimmed out.
- 1:03: Westbrook pull-up jump shot (Lakers 105, Clippers 104)
- 50.7: Jackson driving reverse layup (Clippers 106, Lakers 105)
- 28.1: Monk 28-foot 3-point shot (Lakers 108, Clippers 106)
- 18.0: Morris Sr. 25-foot 3-point shot (Clippers 109, Lakers 108)
- 12.5: Davis alley-oop dunk (Lakers 110, Clippers 109)
- 4.1: Jackson driving layup (Clippers 111, Lakers 110)
- 0.0: Davis driving floating jump shot (missed)
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The Lakers-Clippers had 5 go-ahead baskets in the final minute of the 4th quarter on Thursday.
They had 6 go-ahead baskets in the final minute of the 4th quarter in their previous 95 meetings. pic.twitter.com/2v39a6M1ly
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 4, 2022
4. Klay vs. the Kings brought flashbacks
Since making his season debut on Jan. 9 against Cleveland – 941 days removed from his last NBA game – Klay Thompson has shown glimpses of being back to 100% Klay that NBA fans know and love.
- The dunk against the Cavs in his season debut
- Beating the halftime buzzer with a corner 3 against the Pistons
- Dropping a behind the back dime to Jonathan Kuminga against the Mavs
- Hitting a dagger three with 12 seconds left against the Nets to seal the Warriors win
But what he did against Sacramento on Thursday night was a vintage Klay Thompson performance – against a team that has seen it before. Thompson hit his first seven shots – including his first six 3-pointers – as he tied his season-high with 23 points in 24 minutes to help the Warriors push their win streak to eight straight.
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In the span of 4:03 of on-court time between the first and second quarters (7:25 to 5:40 in the first, 12:00 to 9:42 in the second), Thompson made all five of his 3-point shots – off some nice passes from Steph Curry by the way. Sacramento is all too familiar with Klay catching fire – the Kings were the victim of his 37-point quarter back in 2015.
5. Trade season gets underway
With the trade deadline set for Thursday, Feb. 10 at 3 p.m. ET, get ready for a plethora or rumors, fake trades and reports over the next three days. A few teams didn’t wait until the deadline to get in-season player movement underway as Week 16 saw a pair of trades go down.
Blazers-Clippers
The Blazers and Clippers got things moving on Friday, Feb. 4 with a five-player trade that saw Norman Powell and Robert Covington headed to LA for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson and a 2025 second round pick.
The Clippers are hanging around .500 (27-28) and are currently in the West play-in field (No. 8) despite Kawhi Leonard having missed the entire season and Paul George being sidelined since Dec. 22. This trade shows that the Clippers are not conceding due to injuries, but rather bolstering their lineup in hopes that the star duo can return.
Cavaliers-Pacers
The Cavaliers and Pacers completed a trade on Monday that sends Caris LeVert to Cleveland in exchange for Ricky Rubio, who is out for the season due to torn ACL, as well as three future draft picks – 2022 first round (lottery protected), 2022 second around (via Houston) and 2027 second round (via Utah).
The Cavs have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2021-22 season as they closed Week 16 in fourth place in the East at 33-21 – just one game back from the top of the Eastern Conference. This move shows that the young Cavs are clearly in ‘win-now’ mode.
6. Nets and Warriors on opposite ends of eight-game streaks
The Warriors ended Week 16 with the longest active win streak in the league at eight in a row; it is their longest single-season win streak since Jan. 5-28, 2019 (11 games). Stephen Curry (23.0 ppg), Klay Thompson (18.2 ppg), Jordan Poole (17.8 ppg) and Andrew Wiggins (17.6 ppg) have led a balanced attack from the Warriors during this streak.
In the East, both the Celtics and Raptors have won five consecutive games and find themselves in a virtual tie with the Nets for the Nos. 4-6 spots in the East standings – with all three teams 4.5 games back of first-place Chicago.
- Toronto Raptors: 28-23 (.549)
- Brooklyn Nets: 29-24 (.547)
- Boston Celtics: 30-25 (.545)
The Raptors have the slightest edge in win percentage over the Nets for the No. 6 spot. Brooklyn has lost eightconsecutive games – their longest losing streak since Nov 21-Dec. 5, 2018 – to fall into the East play-in field. They open Week 17 at home against the Timberwolves – a team that has won four in a row.
7. Embiid’s 25-point streak reaches 20
Joel Embiid has now scored at least 25 points in 20 consecutive games. That is not only the longest active streak in the league, but the longest streak of the 2021-22 season, one game ahead of active streaks by both LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Joel Embiid & DeMar DeRozan battled for all 4 quarters as they both dropped 40+ points!@DeMar_DeRozan: 45 PTS, 9 REB, 7 AST@JoelEmbiid: 40 PTS, 10 REB, 2 BLK, W pic.twitter.com/tUf1g0s6JD
— NBA (@NBA) February 7, 2022
Embiid’s 20-game run is the longest streak since Bradley Beal had 21 in a row two seasons ago (Jan. 20 – March 6, 2020), and is tied for the 10th longest streak since the 1983-84 season. Only one Sixer has ever put together a longest streak than Embiid – Allen Iverson with 27 in 2001.
8. Luka already 10th all-time in triple-doubles
Luka Doncic posted two triple-doubles this week, giving him nine for the season and 45 for his career. His first triple-double of the week – 33 points, 15 assists, 13 rebounds vs. Philadelphia on Friday, Feb. 4 – move Doncic into 10th place on the all-time triple-double list. He also joined Oscar Robertson (22) as the only players in NBA history with at least eight games of 30+ points, 10+ rebounds and 15+ assists. Luka is only 22 years old!
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A few other notable triple-doubles from Week 16:
Nikola Jokic increased his league lead in triple-doubles with his 14th of the season – just two shy of the career-high he set last season when he was named league MVP. Jokic is up to 71 career triple-doubles for his career – seventh on the all-time list and eight shy of passing Wilt Chamberlain for the most ever by a center.
After missing five games due to a sore knee, LeBron James returned for the Lakers on Saturday and recorded his fourth triple-double of the season – 29 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists – to lead the Lakers to an overtime win over the Knicks. LeBron is now five triple-doubles away from passing Jason Kidd for fourth place on the all-time list.
9. Stats Leaders for Week 16
For games played from Monday, Jan. 31 to Sunday, Feb. 6, with a minimum of two games played.
- Points: DeMar DeRozan: 33.3 ppg over four games (CHI 2-2); one of six players to average 30+ ppg this week
- Rebounds: Anthony Davis: 16.3 rpg over three games (LAL 2-1); only player over 14 rpg this week
- Assists: Luka Doncic: 12.0 apg over three games (DAL 2-1); Chris Paul and James Harden are the only other players with 11+ apg this week
- Steals: Mike Conley: 3.5 over two games (UTA 2-0); Bam Adebayo and Dejounte Murray are the only other players with 3+ spg this week
- Blocks: Mitchell Robinson: 3.3 bpg over three games (NYK 1-2); Anthony Davis and Robert Williams III only other players with 3+ bpg this week
- 3-pointers made: Stephen Curry: 5.5 3pm over two games (GSW 2-0); Gary Trent Jr, Evan Fournier and Reggie Bullock only other players with 5+ 3pm this week
10. Plays of the Week
Check out the best dunks and last-second finishes from Week 16 of the NBA season.
