The Association Examination: Week Three

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We just finished up week three of the NBA season and we had it all. Buzzer-beaters, players returning to their old homes, and DeAndre Jordan played his first game in front of Mark Cuban and the pissed off Dallas fans. Let’s get to it.

Players of the week

Nic Batum- Batum was Charlotte’s best off-season pickup. He was named the eastern conference player of the week last week and for good reason. He had 17 points on Tuesday, 24 on Wednesday, 28 on Friday and 33 on Sunday. He’s contributing on both sides of the court and has evolved into a leader for his new Hornets team, leading Charlotte to a 3-1 record this week.

Chris Bosh- Bosh has looked great all year and is very vital to this Miami team. He had 23 points on Sunday, 30 points and 11 rebounds on Tuesday and 25 points on Thursday. He led Miami to a perfect 3-0 this week.

Carmelo Anthony- Anthony is shooting better than he has the first two weeks of the season. He had 24 points on Sunday night, 25 points on Tuesday night, 29 points on Wednesday night, 26 points on Friday night and 29 points and 13 rebounds on Sunday night. The Knicks went 3-2 this week.

Andre Drummond- Calling Drummond a double-double machine is an understatement. He’s had a double-double in every single game this year and it doesn’t look like he’s going to slow down anytime soon. He had 29 points and 27 rebounds on Sunday night, 14 points and 15 rebounds on Monday night, 14 points and 17 rebounds on Wednesday night, 18 points and 19 rebounds on Saturday night and 17 points and 17 rebounds on Sunday night. His team went 1-4 this week, but will he be this year’s MVP?

DeMarcus Cousins- Cousins was the official western conference player of the week last week. He had 21 points and 12 rebounds on Monday, 33 points on Wednesday, 40 points and 13 rebounds on Friday and 36 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday. The Kings went 3-2 this week.

LeBron James- James has been balling as of late. He had 29 points on Sunday, 31 points on Tuesday, another 31 points on Friday and 37 points and 12 rebounds on Saturday. The Cavs went 3-1 this week, the only loss being a double-overtime thriller with the Bucks, but we will get to that game later.

Rajon Rondo- Rondo came out of nowhere to have three triple-doubles this week. He had 14 points, 12 rebounds and 15 assists last Saturday, 14 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists on Wednesday, and 23 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists on Friday. He’s showing NBA fans that his success in Boston years ago wasn’t just a fluke.

Games of the week

Jazz at Cavaliers on Tuesday night- The Cavs were down four points late in the fourth quarter when LeBron James converted on an and-one to spark a 10-0 run. The Cavs rallied past the Jazz, 118-114. James scored 37 and had help from Kevin Love, who had 22 points and Mo Williams, who has been great all year, scored 29. At the time, earlier this week, it was James’ season-high in points and the Cavs were on a seven game winning streak.

Knicks at Hornets on Wednesday night- Cody Zeller missed two late-game free throws but hit a layup with .6 seconds left to give Charlotte the lead and redeem himself. Rookie Kristaps Porzingis fired a three-pointer from a couple of feet back behind the line that went in at the buzzer, but the refs went to look at the replay and the ball was still barely touching Porzingis’ fingertips. The Hornets escaped by literally one-tenth of a second, 95-93.

Lakers at Magic on Wednesday night- Nikola Vucevic hit a buzzer-beater over 7’2″ Roy Hibbert with 1.5 seconds left in the game to give Orlando the 99-101 victory. This was a tough loss for the Lakers, as they fell to 1-8 to start the season.

Clippers at Mavericks on Wednesday night- This was it. DeAndre Jordan’s return to Dallas after going back on his work to Mark Cuban and the Mavs earlier this year. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a short rundown. Jordan agreed to go to the Mavs in the offseason, but the Clippers’ players weren’t going to let him go. They basically kidnapped him and held him hostage in a house, were Jordan succumbed to some kind of weird Stockholm syndrome and decided he was going to stay put in Los Angeles. Cuban, of course, was livid and the whole situation even created this weird emoji war between multiple players, past and present, on twitter. Jordan was booed literally the whole time and the game went right down to the wire. Dirk Nowitzki hit a couple of clutch threes late in the game to seal the revenge game. The Mavs won 118-108 and Nowitzki finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds on 11-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Jordan had nine points and 11 rebounds while Blake Griffin had 21 points and nine rebounds.

Spurs at Trailblazers on Wednesday night- LaMarcus Aldridge returned to Portland for the first time since leaving in free agency this summer. He was met with a mixed reaction, which puzzled me because this guy gave his all for the city of Portland while the team wasn’t going anywhere. I probably would have left too. Anyway, Aldridge said his return definitely weighed on him, but I think it was pretty successful. He scored 23 points and shot more shots than he had been averaging all season. The Spurs had six players in double-figures and pulled out the 113-101 victory.

Cavaliers at Bucks on Saturday night- I understand if no one watched this game. Between all of the college football that went on that night and Ronda Rousey going down, this matchup probably fell through the cracks for most people. But it was a good one, as the Bucks beat the Cavs 108-105 in double overtime. James and Love both had double-doubles, but the Bucks registered a more all-around team effort with seven, count it, seven scorers in double-figures. Jabari Parker finally looks like he’s getting closer to around 100% after tearing his ACL last season, he had 12 points and shot 50 percent from the field.

“The Association Examination” is a weekly sports column written by Tennessee Journalist assistant sports editor Jordan Dajani. The Tennessee Journalist does not necessarily agree with the viewpoints of this column.

Featured image by Thomas Delgado

Edited by Cody McClure