Jerami Grant’s Shooting Is Historic And Other Interesting NBA Stats

This is a Western Conference edition to the write up focused on the Eastern Conference yesterday. Feel free to check it out if you haven’t read it yet!

Denver Nuggets

Nikola Jokic is leading the league in passes made with 76 per game.

Not only is Jokic leading the league in passes made this season, but he has led the NBA in the statistic in three of the previous five years. In the two years he wasn’t ranked first? He was second. He is the sun to the Nuggets’ offense and he makes it fun every time you get a chance to watch him play.

Memphis Grizzlies

Ja Morant is on pace to become the 6th guard in NBA history to average 27 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds for a season.

The offensive production has been bonkers this year, but it’s impressive that Morant has already vaulted into the superstar conversation. Memphis will need him to fill the stat sheet if they hope to make a run in the playoffs.

Sacramento Kings

Domantas Sabonis is ranked 3rd in the NBA in win shares.

Pull out your receipts, Kings fans! It’s really easy to look back at the trade the team made last year with the Indiana Pacers and laugh at them for giving up Tyrese Haliburton (who is having a phenomenal season in his own right). Sabonis is showing doubters up by posting the best season of his career while dealing with a broken thumb.

Los Angeles Clippers

Terance Mann is the best pick and roll ball handler in the league.

Observationally this would be a hard case to make, but based on the limited stats he is holding his own! Mann is scoring 1.25 points per possession on the playtype and runs the action more than 10 percent of the time. It’s one of the many reasons the Clippers were reluctant to relinquish him at the trade deadline.

Phoenix Suns

The Suns have the 20th ranked offense in the league, which would be the second time since 2010 that Chris Paul will be on a team ranked below 10th in offense.

The “Point God” has picked it up lately, but his overall numbers aren’t nearly what they’ve been throughout his career. Kevin Durant covers up a lot of mistakes, but it’s improbable he’ll be able to propel the Suns into the coveted top-10 on offense by the end of the season.

Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic is on pace to become the 2nd player in NBA history to average 27 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists for four or more seasons.

The fact that Doncic is on this list and is only in his 5th season is astounding. It won’t be long until his name stands alone.

New Orleans Pelicans

The Pelicans have a +19.5 net rating when Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum are on the floor together.

Unfortunately these guys have only played 355 possessions together — the possibility of what they can do is tantalizing whenever they are able to get back on the court. Let’s hope that happens soon.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Anthony Edwards leads the league in total steals.

This is partially a credit to his ironman status as a player who has started every single game for the team this season. His ability to complement his offense with stingy defense has helped get the Timberwolves back on track after a tough start.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors have the inverse record on the road compared to at home:

Home Record: 22-7

Road Record: 7-22

The Warriors have always been a great team at home, but the struggles on the road have been perplexing. Plenty still have belief that they will make a run in the playoffs — it may be tough to trek all the way to the finals if they’re poised to start off every series on the road, though.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can become the 2nd player in NBA history to hit over 90 percent of his free throws while attempting more than 10 per game.

He has always been able to get to the line and he has always been a good shooter when he gets to the stripe, but he has taken major strides in both areas this season. The Thunder have another full blown superstar and they may be ready to make some noise next season.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz may become the 2nd team in the last 20 years to have a top-five offense in three consecutive seasons, and not make the playoffs in one of those years.

This statistic was interesting because it showed that the Jazz were able to be a top-five offense this season, even though they have close to an entirely new roster! This may not stick after the moves they made at the deadline, although they have been able to tread water this late in the year.

Portland Trail Blazers

Jerami Grant is on pace to become the 4th NBA player ever to hit less than 10 3-pointers in his college career and then post a NBA season in which he hits more than 40 percent from deep (on at least five attempts per game).

Terry Mills, Julius Randle and Karl-Anthony Towns are the other three players that started to blossom into shooters once they reached the NBA. Grant has tirelessly worked on his jump shot and he may be rewarded for his improvement this summer.

Los Angeles Lakers

This is the second season in LeBron’s career in which he is shooting below the league average for his position.

Part of this is skewed because he is considered a “Big” by Cleaning the Glass. Regardless, James is having a wonderful season by nearly every metric. He is just not having a peak season of his caliber at age *checks notes* 38-years-old.

San Antonio Spurs

This is the first full season in Gregg Popovich’s career in which he is coaching the worst defense in the NBA.

Technically when he took over for Bob Hill during the 1996-97 season they were the worst defense in the NBA, but he didn’t coach the team for the first 18 games so we’ll give him a pass. All of San Antonio hopes that the reward of that painful season is felt again with the welcomed sight of the top pick in the draft.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets are ranked 1st in the NBA in offensive rebounding.

They may be dreadful in most meaningful stats, but they are 1st in something notable! Tari Eason and Alperen Sengun have been monsters on the boards, which has allowed the Rockets to corral a strong proportion of their misses.