5 regular season statistics that should raise more eyebrows

NBA fans this season have been spoilt by the number of storylines going on this season. The Kyrie Irving fit in the Boston Celtics, Lonzo Ball's rookie season, the biggest sell-out tanking season of all time, James Harden's historic season with the Rockets and finally, LeBron James doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants on the basketball court in his 15th season in the league.

These headlines have grabbed more eyeballs than the rest combined, leaving a number of partly-informed onlookers with only a partial picture of what's truly happening in the league.

We attempt to bring you some of the most amazing, eyebrow-raising stats of the season which more people should know about. Here's a countdown of the top 5:

#5 Chris Paul averages more assists per 36 minutes than LeBron James despite playing a reduced role

Houston Rockets v Los Angeles Clippers — Chris Paul has been his usual, Point God self with the Houston Rockets despite a slightly reduced role

One of the reasons why the Houston Rockets are viewed as genuine contenders for the NBA title this season is the fact that they have the ability to field one Hall of Fame point guard at all times. With the acquisition of Chris Paul in one of the blockbuster trades of the offseason, the Rockets made sure that they entered this season with the best backcourt duo in the league and one of the greatest of all time.

It has paid off handsomely as Paul and Harden have fitted in seamlessly with one another. The Rockets have the most efficient offense in the history of the game largely thanks to the playmaking-scoring punch that they possess. Despite playing over 23 minutes together per game, Paul and Harden have combined to average a mind-boggling 16.7 assists this season.

In 31.9 minutes per game, Paul is averaging 8 assists per game all by himself. In fact, Paul's 9 assists per 36 minutes rank second in the league, ahead of Harden and James who occupy the 3rd and 4th places respectively.

#4 Stephen Curry leads the league in offensive rating

Stephen Curry is one of the NBA's finest players

Stephen Curry is one of the most efficient shooters of all time, in addition to being one of the great volume scorers in the game today. Among players who have played over 50 games and are averaging at least 20 minutes per game, Curry leads the league in offensive rating by a fairly wide margin.

His rating stands at an otherworldly 120.4 points per 100 possessions, ahead of fellow point guard Chris Paul by a margin of 3.4 points per 100 possessions. The gap between Curry and Paul is slightly bigger than the gap between Paul and Karl-Anthony Towns, who lands at #8 on this list with a rating of 113.7 points per 100.

The easy explanation for this stat is the amount of gravity that Curry exerts on opponents on a nightly basis. Curry is a perpetually moving spot-up threat who morphs the shape of defenses with his movement. He is also a proactive screener, allowing teammates to get open looks. On the ball, there is no point guard in the league who can match his combination of dribble penetration, pull-up jump-shooting and playmaking.

#3 Donovan Mitchell is averaging 23.1 points per game for the month of March

Utah Jazz v Sacramento Kings — Mitchell in action against the Kings

Mitchell is tearing it up for the Utah Jazz in their concerted push to cement a playoff berth. Not only is he currently one of the most well-rounded scoring threats in the league among all players today, he has been historically great as a rookie.

Mitchell's points per game average for the month of March is better than that of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Allen Iverson. In fact, among rookies since 1995, only Carmelo Anthony and Tim Duncan average more points per game than Mitchell.

Mitchell has been the Jazz's primary scoring threat all season long and has also been consistently effective on both ends of the floor. At this point, Mitchell deserves to be considered the favorite in the Rookie of the Year race.

#2 Karl-Anthony Towns' shooting splits

Minnesota Timberwolves v Golden State Warriors — Towns in action

Towns is playing the best basketball of his life this season. Ever since Jimmy Butler went down with a meniscus injury on 23rd February, the Minnesota Timberwolves have stayed afloat in a playoff berth thanks largely to Towns.

In his last 15 games, the University of Kentucky product is averaging a whopping 25.3 points and 12.5 rebounds per game while making 51% of his 3-pointers!

Towns ranks 14th among all players in field goal percentage for the season, converting 54.5% of his attempts. The truly mind-boggling stat, however, is his 3-point percentage: Towns ranks 6th among all players with a conversion rate of 43.8% from downtown. He is also a really good free throw shooter, ranking 2nd among all centers with a conversion rate of 85.3% from the charity stripe.

Towns is on course to become the first center to average over 40% from 3-point territory. In addition, he is also the only player to post totals of over 100 3-pointers and 1000 rebounds in the regular season in the history of the league.

After a 109-103 win over the Warriors in a crucial game for playoff qualification, Towns was quoted as saying:

The West is a swamp, and only the real alligators are gonna make it out.

Towns has proved on many occasions this season that he is a real alligator.

#1 Ben Simmons has notched 10 triple-doubles this season and could conceivably increase this figure

Milwaukee Bucks v Philadelphia 76ers — Ben Simmons throws down a vicious slam against the Milwaukee Bucks

Ben Simmons is one of the most unique players in the history of basketball. Standing over 6'11", he has a combination of size, strength, ball-handling and playmaking skills that perhaps no player at his height has ever displayed.

For the season, Simmons has in-game splits of 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocks — numbers reminiscent of "Magic" Johnson's rookie season. Simmons also has 10 triple-doubles, which rank as the highest figure by a rookie for an entire season since the introduction of the 3-point line and only second all-time behind Oscar Robertson.

These numbers keep the Australian star in fine company, and given that the Philadelphia 76ers have the easiest remaining schedule, Simmons could rack up at least 2 or 3 more in the games to come.