Only the backcourt from last time NBA Dream Team of the Week retained its spot on the team. Two players returned to the Team of the Week after missing out last week, while one player features for the very first time.
Here is the NBA Dream Team for the Week of 21 March to 27 March:
Center: Andre Drummond
Week averages: 20.5 points, 15.3 rebounds and 60.6% FG%
Detroit Pistons made up huge ground this week in their race to cement a Playoff spot in the East. With the Chicago Bulls slipping this week losing three in a row, the Pistons made full use of the opportunity they were given winning three of their four games this week and five of their last six.
Young center Andre Drummond has been a huge reason for the team’s success. He has been absolutely dominant on the boards and hasn’t recorded less than 14 rebounds this past week. He began the week by helping his team steal a game from the Milwaukee Bucks by tipping in a game-winner off of an offensive rebound.
Everybody knows that Head Coach Stan Van Gundy is trying to build a team around Drummond like he did around Dwight Howard in Orlando during their 2009 NBA Finals trip. Drummond has answered the call and past couple of games has turned into a shot blocker, recording seven in the last three games.
He displaces rookie Karl-Anthony Towns to retake his position in the NBA Dream Team of the Week. Nothing against Towns’ play last week but Drummond just played much better and had a bigger impact on his team’s 3-1 record this past week.
Power Forward: Paul Millsap
Week averages: 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 51% FG%
Since the month of February, the Atlanta Hawks have been flat out balling. The team has consistently been improving on both ends of the floor. Their defence was among the top three in February and their most recent game against the Detroit Pistons, the team displayed its dominance on both ends of the court.
Not only did they held the Pistons to 95 points but committed only four turnovers and assisted on 34 of their 43 made field goals.
A huge reason last year and this year for the Hawks’ good play has been the consistent production of Power Forward Paul Millsap. His size, length and range shooting allows Atlanta to play various line-ups: big with him at the four spot or small with him playing center.
Against Detroit, Millsap filled the stat sheet with his performance registering 23 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 4 blocks. With Pau Gasol playing reduced minutes and Giannis Antetokounmpo failing to maintain his efficient play, Millsap quiet yet important production has fallen under the spotlight and elevated him to the NBA Team of the Week.
Small Forward: LeBron James
Week averages: 29 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 56.4% FG%
This past week, the four-time league MVP had a lot of off-court noise to deal with, most of it as a consequence of his own actions. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop LeBron James from letting his game do the talking. James had a lot to do with the Cavaliers’ 3-1 record for the past week.
After recording just one triple-double in the first 66 games of the season, James has registered two in the past four games. One in a blowout win over the Denver Nuggets: 33 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. The other was in a dominating win over the Knicks at the Garden: 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
In the surprising loss to the Nets in Brooklyn, James had 30 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists on 81.3% shooting. Despite the so-called decline analysts are saying he is on, King James still seems to be among the league’s greatest players when it comes to single-handedly helping his team conquer others.
Kevin Durant, whose Oklahoma City Thunder went 3-0 this week, had to let go of his spot to make space for James. Durant didn’t drop a game in the form of a loss but does share the load when it comes to leading his team with Russell Westbrook while James had a much bigger impact with his performance.
Shooting Guard: Klay Thompson
Week averages: 29.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 67.8% 3P-FG%
For the second week in a row, Houston Rockets superstar James Harden puts up big numbers but fails to make the team of the week. Registering one triple-double in the week, Harden averaged 27.3 points and 13 assists in three games however the problem arises when he also averages 5.7 turnovers a game and the team loses two of those three games.
Therefore for a second week running, Klay Thompson occupies the shooting guard position in the team of the week. Thompson and his Golden State Warriors went 3-0 this past week with the sharpshooter knocking down 21 three’s in that span. Thompson was completely locked in this week from beyond arc.
He was so spot on against the Minnesota Timberwolves last Monday that Thompson did not miss a single shot from deep but missed all of his nine shots inside the three-point line. His high point for the week was dropping 40 points on the Dallas Mavericks at home, after scoring 39 a week back against the same opponent in Dallas.
His offensive explosions in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, when Stephen Curry sits on the bench, have started becoming a consistent part of his game. Remember, the Golden State Warriors won the 2015 NBA Championship with Thompson not playing a very big role in the NBA Finals. Imagine how much stronger Golden State gets if Thompson can continue this form deep into the post-season.
Point Guard: Russell Westbrook
Week averages: 21.7 points, 10.7 assists and 8.3 rebounds
Despite the league behind extremely point guard heavy, Russell Westbrook retained his spot on the Team of the Week from the last time. Stephen Curry had an average week, Chris Paul was disastrous and Kyle Lowry didn’t put big enough numbers to out stage Westbrook from his spot.
The Thunder went 3-0 the past week and have now won seven in a row. As his averages suggest, Westbrook did a lot of the heavy lifting to lead the team to their most recent winning streak. The highlight of the week came early when Westbrook recorded a 21 point, 12 rebounds and 15 assists triple double during the Oklahoma City Thunder's win over the Houston Rockets. The triple-double took his tally to a league-leading number of 15.
Westbrook is still having problems knocking down his shot. In the win against Houston, he shot 7 of 18 from the field and 0 for 7 from three-point range. Anyway even with the rough shooting nights, Westbrook has proved himself to be almost unstoppable against teams still struggling to find out their own identity.
If only he could play at this elite level against teams like the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs in the Playoffs. It’s important to remember that even with all the drawbacks in his game, Westbrook still holds the point guard position for the NBA Dream Team of the Week for a second week in a row.
Guess the Lakers players!
