The 7 Best NBA Performances From Last Week: Otto Porter Was Automatic
With a new NBA season comes a new season full of awesome performances on a nightly basis. We've had quite a few notable individual performances already, but as the season grows older, expect more and more.
This week alone there were several. Which stand out among the best of the best?
In case you're not aware, numberFire Live is our very own platform that tracks each NBA game, its win probability, and player performances -- among many other features. Here, we focus on the player performances in order to find the best ones of the week.
Each player performance is rated on a scale of 1 to 100, according to production and efficiency. We are concerned only with 100 scores here. The seven perfect games are listed in order of their nERD (a measure of a player's total contribution, based on efficiency) for the given games, from least to greatest.
7. Blake Griffin vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Blake Griffin was part of a night full of big-time performances on Wednesday. In the Los Angeles Clippers' home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the star forward went off for 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists. On the defensive end, he even added 2 steals and a block -- and he did all of this in only 26 minutes.
How did Griffin get it done in such little time in the blowout victory? He got the ball a lot and was very efficient with it. He posted a usage of 30.9% to go with a true shooting percentage of 59.8%. Griffin continued his hot start to the 2016-17 campaign with a game-high nERD of 52.45.
6. Zach LaVine vs. Orlando Magic
This year is a year of promise and improvement for the Minnesota Timberwolves. One of the many young players looking to take that next step is shooting guard Zach LaVine. So far this season, he's doing exactly that. The best evidence of that is his recent game against the Orlando Magic -- a game in which the third-year player racked up 37 points on 14 of 22 shooting.
On a usage of 29.4%, LaVine earned an offensive rating of 159.1 on a true shooting of 79.3%. With such high volume, LaVine was super effective, with a 52.71 nERD score. This dunk is what you would call a high-efficiency field goal attempt.
5. Jimmy Butler vs. Washington Wizards
In a 106-95 win over the Washington Wizards, Jimmy Butler was on fire. He showed that he definitely is the alpha of the Chicago Bulls, despite Dwyane Wade's presence. Jimmy Buckets threw in 37 points on a true shooting percentage of 63.4% on 23 shots while dishing out 9 assists as well.
In his 38 minutes, Butler used nearly a third of his team's possessions while on the floor and hustled his way to 8 rebounds and 3 steals. He was everywhere and anywhere and led his team with a nERD of 54.62.
4. Harrison Barnes vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Overall, this game was ugly. The only good thing to come out of it was a great performance from Harrison Barnes, who contributed, with a usage of 30.4%, 34 points on 13 of 26 from the field and 2 of 5 from beyond the arc.
In addition to an offensive rating of 121.2, Harry B grabbed 8 rebounds in 48 minutes. His nERD of 56.81 was the most in the game, by far. Barnes is the new man in Dallas, and it's nice to see him play as such. If only he could get a little help from an injury-plagued Mavericks squad.
3. Kemba Walker vs. Toronto Raptors
With Kemba Walker, we hit the next level of elite performances. Walker's game nERD of 65.63 is nearly 10 points better than Barnes', and it's understandable why. He posted an offensive rating of 172.1 points per 100 possessions with a ridiculous true shooting percentage of 83.9%.
Walker is the only player on the list not to win in his big game. But, don't let that fool you. The Hornets' point guard went for 40 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists in 34 minutes of action. He dominated the Toronto Raptors, but he and his team came out on the losing end of a tight game.
2. Chris Paul vs. Detroit Pistons
Like his teammate Blake Griffin, Chris Paul's performance was part of another Clippers blowout. Earlier in the week, Paul scored 24 points on 8 of 10 shooting -- 5 of 5 from deep -- in exactly two quarters (24 minutes) of play. In addition, he added eight assists with zero turnovers.
That's only a piece of Paul's monster efficiency. He also shot 102% in terms of true shooting on his way to an offensive rating of 201.5. That, in addition to a defensive rating of 80.8, makes for a nERD of 73.38. That trails only one.
1. Otto Porter vs. Boston Celtics
The only player to one-up Paul is, of course, Otto Porter. Yeah, I'm not sure anyone would've seen this one coming, but if you watched his game against the Boston Celtics, you'd know that Porter showed out for his Wizards.
On the offensive end, Porter hit 14 of 19 shots for 34 points -- a true shooting percentage of 83.7%. But, Porter did everything in the Wizards' big win Wednesday night.
That was just one of Porter's three blocks. He didn't stop there either. He ripped down 14 boards and added 3 steals in earning a nERD of 84.91. That's the definition of an outstanding performance.
