The Boston Celtics won four straight games since the previous leaderboard and are now on pace to surpass the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' 72-10 record. I don't expect the Celtics to win 72 games--or even 70--but the way that this team has jelled so quickly, particularly on defense, is very impressive.
Best Five Records
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1) Boston Celtics, 26-3
2) Detroit Pistons, 24-7
3) San Antonio Spurs, 21-8
4) Phoenix Suns, 22-9
5) Orlando Magic, 22-11
The Detroit Pistons own the longest winning streak in the league (nine games) now that Utah ended Portland's run at 13 games. If the Celtics and Pistons meet in the playoffs we will witness an interesting matchup between Boston's collection of stars who have never won anything and Detroit's group of stars who won one title but act as though it is disrespectful not to consider them the team of the decade. As usual, the Spurs are hiding in the weeds, attracting little attention and biding their time until the playoffs. The Suns have an excellent record but there are signs of discord in the desert. Despite their protestations to the contrary, Phoenix misses Kurt Thomas' low post defense and there seems to be a disconnect within the organization between one camp that believes that the team can win a championship as is and another camp that thinks that changes must be made.
Top Ten Scorers (and a few other notables)
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1) LeBron James, CLE 28.8 ppg
2) Kobe Bryant, LAL 27.1 ppg
3) Allen Iverson, DEN 26.3 ppg
4) Carmelo Anthony, DEN 25.7 ppg
5) Richard Jefferson, NJN 24.8 ppg
6) Dwyane Wade, MIA 24.8 ppg
7) Carlos Boozer, UTA 24.1 ppg
8) Michael Redd, MIL 23.9 ppg
9) Dwight Howard, ORL 22.9 ppg
10) Tracy McGrady, HOU 22.8 ppg
16) Dirk Nowitzki, DAL 21.7 ppg
17) Paul Pierce, BOS 21.6 ppg
20) Yao Ming, HOU 21.3 ppg
26) Kevin Durant, SEA 19.7 ppg
32) Ray Allen, BOS 19.1 ppg
37) Kevin Garnett, BOS 18.8 ppg
LeBron James still leads the pack but his scoring average and field goal percentage dropped dramatically in December (25.8 ppg, .457; he scored 32.1 ppg on .496 shooting in November). Kobe Bryant has yet to put together a string of 40 point games and if he does so then he will take over first place. Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony are the league's most explosive scoring duo but the Nuggets are not winning any more frequently with Iverson than they did before acquiring him. If Tracy McGrady's balky knee sidelines him for an extended period of time then he will fall below the minimum required number of games and thus drop off of the list. Richard Jefferson is the only player in the top 10 who has never made the All-Star team.
Top Ten Rebounders (and a few other notables)
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1) Dwight Howard, ORL 15.5 rpg
2) Marcus Camby, DEN 14.2 rpg
3) Chris Kaman, LAC 14.1 rpg
4) Al Jefferson, MIN 12.1 rpg
5) Tyson Chandler, NOH 11.9 rpg
6) Carlos Boozer, UTA 11.5 rpg
7) Antawn Jamison, WAS 10.8 rpg
8) Emeka Okafor, CHA 10.6 rpg
9) Yao Ming, HOU 10.6 rpg
10) Kevin Garnett, BOS 10.5 rpg
12) Tim Duncan, SAS 10.2 rpg
16) Andrew Bynum, LAL 9.8 rpg
18) Al Horford, ATL 9.5 rpg
24) Dirk Nowitzki, DAL 8.7 rpg
26) Ben Wallace, CHI 8.6 rpg
28) Jason Kidd, NJN 8.6 rpg
36) Shaquille O'Neal, MIA 7.8 rpg
48) Kobe Bryant, LAL 6.2 rpg
This list is largely unchanged, other than the reappearance of Tim Duncan, who has now played enough games to qualify. It seems virtually certain that Kevin Garnett's four year run as the rebounding champion is over; if Dwight Howard maintains his 15.5 rpg average that would be the best rebounding performance in the NBA since Dennis Rodman averaged 16.1 rpg in 1996-97. Rodman averaged at least 15.5 rpg in five different seasons but the last NBA player other than Rodman who averaged at least 15.5 rpg is Kevin Willis (15.5 rpg, 1991-92)--and the last player who accomplished this prior to Willis is Moses Malone (17.6 rpg, 1978-79). Howard is sometimes compared to Shaquille O'Neal; he does not yet possess the dominating offensive game that O'Neal had during his prime but Howard is emerging as one of the greatest rebounders of the past 30 years.
Top Ten Playmakers
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1) Steve Nash, PHX 12.4 apg
2) Jason Kidd, NJN 10.6 apg
3) Chris Paul, NOH 10.2 apg
4) Deron Williams, UTA 8.7 apg
5) Jamaal Tinsley, IND 8.7 apg
6) Jose Calderon, TOR 8.1 apg
7) Baron Davis, GSW 8.1 apg
8) Chauncey Billups, DET 7.7 apg
9) LeBron James, CLE 7.6 apg
10) Allen Iverson, DEN 7.1 apg
The assists leaderboard tends to fluctuate less than the other ones. Mo Williams (7.1 apg) and Dwyane Wade (6.9 apg) are creeping up on the top 10, though, and Tony Parker is averaging a career-high 6.7 apg.
Note: All statistics are from ESPN.com
NBA Leaderboard, Part VIII
