Week 19 Rewind: 10 things to know from the past 7 days in the NBA

The James Harden/Joel Embiid era of Sixers basketball officially began Friday as Harden made his Philadelphia debut against Minnesota. He finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists in 35 minutes of Philly’s blowout win. Two days later, Harden recorded his first triple-double as a 76er, racking up 29 points, 10 rebounds and 16 assists in a matinee win over the Knicks.

29 points, 10 boards, 16 dimes, 5 steals for @JHarden13.

37 points, 9 boards, 4 blocks for @JoelEmbiid.

in only their 2nd game together 🤯 pic.twitter.com/juOEm61ecy

— NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2022

Harden and Embiid clicked immediately, looking as if they’ve been teammates for months rather than days. So far 11 of Harden’s 28 assists for the Sixers have gone to Embiid, including this one from Sunday.

2. DeRozan stays hot

While his NBA-record eight-game run of scoring at least 35 points on at least 50% shooting came to an end on Saturday, DeMar DeRozan did score 30 points for the 10th straight game, becoming the 10th player since 1983-84 to have a double-digit streak of 30-plus point games.

DeRozan also showed off his clutch game in Chicago’s 112-108 win over Atlanta on Thursday as he knocked down two mid-range jumpers in the final minute to cap off a Bulls rally. DeRozan has now scored 124 clutch points this season — second in the NBA behind Joel Embiid (127) by just three points.

3. Mavs complete improbable comeback vs. Warriors

The Warriors entered the fourth quarter against the Mavericks on Sunday with an 88-74 lead and proceeded to score the first five points to build a 19-point advantage with 9:59 to play in the game.

Now, while we’ve all heard the phrase that in the NBA “every team makes a run,” no one was expecting what happened over the 8:16 of the final period as the Mavericks outscored the Warriors 26-1, turning a 19-point deficit into a six-point lead with 1:43 remaining. The Mavs held on for the 107-101 win.

Luka in his office.

23-1 Dallas run for the lead 🤯

2 minutes left on ESPN pic.twitter.com/dHNRoiE3tr

— NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2022

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, while Luka Doncic finished with 34 points and 11 rebounds. The Dallas star turned the ball over nine times but got the win in his final game as a 22-year-old.

“To jump more” and “to keep winning” 😂 -Luka Doncic shares his 23rd birthday wishes 🥳🎂 after the @dallasmavs pull off a wild comeback road win from down 21 over the Warriors on ESPN! 🏀🔥🍿🍿@EspnNBA pic.twitter.com/uPxtCVTqI5

— Ros Gold-Onwude (@ROSGO21) February 28, 2022

4. Morant scores franchise-record 46 points for Grizzlies

Trivia question: Who held the Memphis Grizzlies’ single-game scoring record before Ja Morant topped it on Saturday with his 46-point performance against Chicago?

The answer: not Pau Gasol, not Zach Randolph, not Rudy Gay, but Mike Miller with a career-best 45 points against Golden State back in 2007.

Morant posted his sixth career 40+ point game (five of which have come this season) with a career-best 46 points to help the Grizzlies open the second stretch run with a win. And, of course, he had to do it Ja Morant style with some jaw-dropping highlights — like this 360-degree layup around DeMar DeRozan or the Chris Paul-inspired fake pass with the left hand.

5. Suns drop consecutive games for only third time this season

We just mentioned Chris Paul, so it must be noted that the Suns have gone 1-2 coming out of the All-Star break with the Point God sidelined for the next 6-8 weeks with a hand injury. The Suns still hold the top record in the NBA at 49-12, but did drop consecutive games for only the third time all season.

Feb. 25 (vs. New Orleans) and Feb. 27 (vs. Utah)
Dec. 25 (vs. Golden State) and Dec. 27 (vs. Memphis)
Oct. 23 (at Portland) and Oct. 27 (vs. Sacramento)

If this pattern holds, the Suns would not drop back-to-back games until late April. But we’ll see if they can bounce back and avoid their first three-game skid since Jan. 2021

6. Kelly Olynyk’s buzzer-beater

The Pistons earned their 15th win of the season and snapped a 15-game losing streak to the Hornets on Sunday, thanks to Kelly Olynyk’s first career game-winning shot.

KELLY OLYNYK CALLS GAME FOR DETROIT!#TissotBuzzerBeater #ThisIsYourTime pic.twitter.com/qk0wyq5T6B

— NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2022

Olynyk made this fadeaway jumper from the baseline as the overtime buzzer sounded to give the Pistons a 127-126 win — Detroit’s first over Charlotte since Oct. 18, 2017.

7. This pass from Nikola Jokic

It’s time to add another one to the Nikola Jokic dime collection. Watch this pass from the reigning Kia MVP from his post-up position, just outside the lane to the opposite corner, with a pair of Blazers late to react.

It’s reminiscent of this cross-court pass from Stephen Curry to Klay Thompson against the Kings that whizzed right past the ear of Damion Jones.

8. This shooting display from Steph Curry

We’ve seen plenty of ridiculous shooting performances from Steph Curry — including his record-breaking 16 3s in the 2022 All-Star Game — but this pregame routine is reason to get to the arena an hour early.

We really don’t know how to even describe this..

.. other than suggesting you watch Steph and the @warriors host Dallas at 7:30pm/et on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/leiDlNtVzR

— NBA (@NBA) February 28, 2022

9. Stats leaders for Week 19

For games played from Feb 21-27, with a minimum of two games played.

Points: Joel Embiid, 35.5 ppg over two games (PHI 2-0). Washington’s Kyle Kuzma and New York’s RJ Barrett finished tied at a close second at 35.0 ppg, but both teams went 0-2 this week.
Rebounds: Steven Adams, 16.5 rpg over two games (MEM 1-1). Utah’s Rudy Gobert (15.5 rpg) and Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis (15.0 rpg) were the only other players to average 15+ boards
Assists: James Harden, 14.0 apg over two games (PHI 2-0)
Steals: Seven players tied for the weekly lead with three steals apiece: Phoenix’s Devin Booker; New Orleans’ Herbert Jones; Houston’s Jae’Sean Tate and Jalen Green; Philadelphia’s Matisse Thybulle and Tyrese Maxey and Oklahoma City’s Tre Mann.
Blocks: Isaiah Jackson, 4.0 bpg over two games (IND 1-1). Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Memphis’ Jaren Jackson tied for second at 3.5 bpg each.
3-Pointers Made: Donovan Mitchell, 6.5 3PM over two games (UTA 2-0). Washington’s Kyle Kuzma was the only other player to average at least five 3s per game this week.

10. Plays of the Week