J-Speaks: Similarities and Differences Amongst NBA All-Stars

There are a lot of things that LeBron James, DeMarcus Cousins, and Kevin Durant have in common. They have been perennial All-Stars in their careers. They have made huge amounts of money. They are respected amongst their teammates, and peers. Above all, they were high draft selection that have exceeded expectations in terms of their consistent production on the court. The big difference between the three stars is that two have been in the postseason, and even won titles, while one has yet to even participate in the NBA’s second season. On Wednesday night, all three had superstar performances, but each performance brought a different perspective. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers (18-7) 101-95 victory versus the Sacramento Kings (7-17), their 13^th win in a row, tying a franchise record, four-time league MVP LeBron James nearly had his third triple-double of the season with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists, going 12 for 18 from the field, including 5 for 8 from three-point range. 

In their 101-87 victory over the Charlotte Hornets (9-14), the defending champion Golden State Warriors (20-6) were led to their fifth win in a row by 2014 league MVP, and last season’s Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who had his first triple-double of the season, and the ninth of his career with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists on 13 for 28 from the floor, to go along with two blocks. 

Behind the 19^th double-double of 40 points, 22 rebounds, to go along with four block shots by All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, the New Orleans Pelicans (12-12) won versus the up-and-down Denver Nuggets (13-11) 123-114. 

It is no surprise that these three stellar players had out of this world performances, which they have made routine throughout their careers. The difference is how they came about; the meaning behind these performances, and what it meant for their respective teams. 

When James came into the NBA as the No. 1 overall pick in 2003 out of high school, he was a pass first player, more of the mold of Hall of Famer, and five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers back in the 1980s Earvin “Magic” Johnson. While that description has stuck, he has become a fantastic scorer, but he has become a more efficient scorer, specifically his ability to make step back three-pointers. 

This season, James is 8 for 11 on step back triples, and during the Cavs winning streak, he has hit a lot of them, particularly in the fourth quarter to put the opposition away. Just ask the Brooklyn Nets, and the Cavs recent opponent the Kings. 

He drilled a step back trifecta with 15.8 seconds remaining over Kings' forward JaKarr Sampson, to complete the Cavs’ comeback from 14 points down in the third quarter. The Cavs call that play, “Chicago,” which is named after the game-winning shot that the great Michael Jordan hit over former Cavalier Craig Ehlo in Game 5 of the First-Round of the 1989 playoffs to win the series for the Chicago Bulls.

“It felt good,” James said after the game. “I was able to get the laces where I wanted them, and I got enough space, I created space with the step-back away from JaKarr (Sampson), and I was able to let it go. It felt good the whole time.”

To further point out how James has expanded his game in again his 15^th season in the NBA, he is shooting a career-high 43.0 percent from three-point range this season. His previous career-best shooting percentage from long distance was 40.6 percent back in the 2012-13 season when he was with the Miami Heat, when they won the back end of their back-to-back titles. Also, he is a remarkable 14 for 21 shooting step-back jumper overall this season. 

“He’s amazing,” Cavs’ sharp shooting guard Kyle Korver, who had 15 points, including hitting three straight triples, of his four on the night versus the Kings in the fourth said after the game. “He’s just demanding the ball. He’s like, ‘Give me the ball, we’re about to win.’ And, I’ve been around some guys who’ve had amazing years. I’ve been playing with him, and Derrick (Rose) when he was MVP. Allen Iverson when I was younger.” 

Korver also added, “But he’s taken this to a whole new level. It’s amazing to have a better than a front-row seat, because I’m usually on the court next to him somewhere. I’m glad he’s on my team.”

The other thing this performance showed by James was how no matter the opponent, he is always ready to play, and it is because of his heroic effort the Cavs avoided losing to one of the worst teams in the NBA.

"Well obviously we looked a little sluggish, and throughout an 82-game season, there's going to be games like that where your just really sluggish, and you don't know how to get out of it," James said to FOX Sports Ohio's Allie Clifton about the Cavs' performance after the win. 

"We just had to change our body language from the first half to the second half. Started to make shots. Started to get stops, and fourth [Kyle] Korver came in with that huge spark to start the fourth, and I just tried to close it out. 

James has been especially was big in the fourth quarter, which has been a major theme during the Cavs 13 wins in succession, which also includes seven straight home wins at Quicken Loans Arena. 

James has averaged an NBA-best 9.5 points in the final stanza in that span, shooting 55.1 percent from the field, 38.5 from three-point range, and has scored 15 points or more three times. 

One of those 15-plus point fourth quarter performances came versus the Nets (10-14) on Nov. 22, where he scored 23 of his 33 points in the fourth period, where he scored at one time a career-high 18 straight Cavs points in the final frame. 

Earlier in the week, James said that he feels that people who watch him in person, or on television take his greatness for granted. 

To bring this point into context, James, according to the Elias Sports Bureau became just the third player in NBA history to have 700-plus points, 200-plus rebounds, and 200-plus assists in the first 25 games of a season. He joined Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, who accomplished this feet three straight times (1960-61, 1961-62, and 1962-63), and reigning MVP Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder a season ago. 

Senior NBA writer for “Bleacher Report” Howard Beck said on Thursday edition of NBATV’s “10 Before Tip,” with Jared Greenberg agrees, but there have been several circumstances behind that, like the Cavs have not been the dominant team like they have been in the past during the regular season, and the fact that other teams like the Warriors have been the dominant topic of the league the past three seasons. 

“You take LeBron for granted at this point, and I feel we need to keep reminding ourselves, and everyone else that he’s in his 15^th season, and still putting up these insane numbers,” Beck said. 

He also said that James at times has played possum for stretches of the regular season, and that he really shows his greatness in the postseason, like in last season’s Finals where he became the first player to average a triple-double with 33.6 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in the six-game setback to the Warriors. 

James really has nothing left to prove, winning as mentioned earlier four league MVPs; he three championships, earning two Finals MVPs, and has made seven straight trips to The Finals, with a chance to make it eight in a row if the Cavs get there this June.

That opportunity for the Cavs to win their second title in the last four seasons though rest on the Cavs being healthy, and whole. 

James has had to play at this superior high level because the team has been without Rose, and Tristan Thompson for a while because of injury, and they have yet to see All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas, who has been shelved recovering from a hip injury. 

Seeing James play like this now is fun, and exceptional to watch, but even though he has yet to show any slippage in play because in season No. 15, it is unfathomable to expect him to keep this pace up for the rest of the regular season, as well as the postseason playing 37.2 minutes per game, tied for No. 1 with forward Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.   

Durant’s performance was remarkable in the fact that the Warriors were missing their back-to-back MVP in Stephen Curry who was on the shelf because of an ankle injury he sustained in the team’s 125-115 win at the Pelicans on Monday night. The team was also without their best all-around player in All-Star, and last season’s Defensive Player of the Year in Draymond Green because of a sore shoulder. 

"Well coach [Steve Kerr] just called the plays, and I just tried to make the right reads. Whether it was to shot. Whether it was to pass," the 2014 league MVP, and last season's Finals MVP said to ESPN's Doris Burke after the win. 

Also, Durant finished the game on the court, unlike in two of the Warriors last three wins at the Orlando Magic a week ago, and at the Pelicans where he was tossed out of the game late in the fourth quarter. 

Durant set the tone of the Warriors’ tilt at the Hornets with 16 points in the first period on 6 for 9 shooting in aiding his team to build a 26-18 lead. 

“It wasn’t so much a vocal leadership role, but more of an ‘I got this type of thing,’” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “It was the way he carried himself. He was clearly the best player on the floor, and the dominant player on the floor. Without Steph, he almost had a different bounce to his step, like ‘This one is mine, I got it.’” 

Along with his scoring, Durant made plays for his teammates with 10 assists of the Warriors 26 assists on the night.

“It’s fun when you get to create, and just be creative out there, whether it’s passing to JaVale (McGee) for a lob or shooting a pull-up jump shot,” Durant said after the win. “Tonight, it felt like I could go in my bag of tools, my bag of tricks, to pull some stuff out. I don’t expect it to be like that every single game, but tonight I thought it called for it.”

He also led the way at the defensive end with the 11 rebounds, and two of the Warriors 12 block shots.

The game also showed that without two of their core guys, the team can still perform at a high level, and Durant showed that and then some, with help from fellow “Splash Brother” Klay Thompson, with seven of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. 

Wednesday night represented the second time this season that Cousins has had 40-plus points, and 20-plus rebounds in a game. He accomplished that feat in front of a nationally televised audience back on Oct. 26 on TNT when Cousins put up 41 points, 23 rebounds, along with six assists, on 14 for 25 from the field, including 3 for 5 from three-point range, and 10 for 12 from the foul line. 

The last player to go 40/20 in a regulation game over the past 40 seasons was Hall of Fame center, and two-time champion with the Houston Rockets is center Hakeem Olajuwon back in 1989. 

The last player to have multiple 40-plus point, 20-plus rebound performances in a season was Hall of Famer, and current head coach of Georgetown University Patrick Ewing. 

What is also ironic about the two times Cousins put up 40/20 is they occurred without fellow All-Star forward/center Anthony Davis, who out of action for a third straight game on Wednesday night because of a strained left adductor. 

“Just trying to make a play, doing whatever it takes to help the team win a game. Tonight was my night,” Cousins said after the game. “You kind of get locked in, and you know when you’re rolling, of course, but it’s still all about making the right play because eventually they adjust.”

In an interview with NBATV's Jared Greenberg, and Steve Smith, Cousins was not overjoyed by his performance, saying, "I really don't get caught up into the analytics. I just like to play ball. I do what it takes to win a game. Shout out to Pat Ewing though." 

Besides the numbers that he has been putting up, Cousins has showed in this game, and a lot of something that many would have considered laughable in his 6 ½ seasons with the Sacramento Kings, leadership. 

For a great deal of his career, Cousins has been more known for his antics, and temper tantrums on the court, that have earned him, including this season 115 technical fouls, and 13 ejections in his career, than his skills at being able to dominate at the offensive end. 

He earned just his second technical foul of the season when he showed his displeasure at the officials when they were reviewing a play where Mason Plumlee crashed into the hardwood after Cousins’ elbow came near the Nugget center’s face as Cousins secured a rebound.

Cousins said of that incident, and how he feels he is being defended by the opposition with NBATV's Jared Greenberg, and Steve Smith after the game was, "It's not about guarding me anymore. It's just finding a way to get me ejected."

While he was not ejected in Wednesday night’s contest, he was sent to the showers for a similar play in the Pelicans 114-107 win versus the Oklahoma City Thunder (11-13) against last season’s league MVP Russell Westbrook. 

“Just the antics. It’s silly man, like, just let me live,” Cousins said of the play between him, and Plumlee. “Just trying to villainize me, and the way that it’s going, I hate it. Just let me be a basketball player. That’s all I’m asking.”  

It didn't help that in those six seasons in capital of California, Cousins was marred by a dysfunctional front office, and instability of the sidelines where the team seemed to change head coaches the way one changes socks every day. 

Since being traded to the “Big Easy” at the All-Star break last season, Cousins, and Davis have put up solid numbers in their year plus together, but the team has yet to make the postseason together. Cousins has yet to play a postseason game in his six prior seasons in the league.

If there is one thing that Cousins feels the Pelicans need to improve on to make it to the postseason this spring, it to have better starts in the second half of games. 

"We always struggling in the beginning of the third for some reason, and that's kind of been our Achilles tendon this season," Cousins said to Greenberg, and Smith. "With that being said, we got to come out with stronger starts to the second half."

Another motivating factor for Cousins’ play, and improved focus, taking away a couple of fall back moments is the fact that he will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.  

For these three superstars, there performances on Wednesday night was not a surprise because of how talented they are. What it reminded us is what they are capable of; the focus that they bring to the game, depending on the situation. For LeBron James, his level of play lately was about getting the Cavs out of their 5-7 hole they got themselves in, and has resulted in them winning 13 games in a row, and looking like the defending back-to-back-to-back champions they have been the past three seasons. For the defending champion Warriors, the performance by Durant showed that they can keep their train moving, even without All-Stars Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green. For DeMarcus Cousins, his level is of evolving maturity, and a hunger of finally being in the playoffs. 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 11/22/17 2 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Kristen Ledlow, Dennis Scott, and Sam Mitchell; 12/7/17 72 a.m. edition of NBATV's "Gametime" with Casey Stern, Dennis Scott, and Shaquille O'Neal; 12/7/17 6:30 p.m. edition of NBATV’s “10 Before Tip,” with Jared Greenberg; 12/7/17 7 p.m. edition of NBATV’s “The Starters,” with Tas Melas, J.E. Skeets, Leigh Ellis, and Trey Kerby; www.nba.com/games/20171206/GSWCHA#/recap/matchup/boxscore; www.nba.com/games/20171206/SACCLE#/recap/matchup/boxscore; www.nba.com/games/20171206/DENNOP#/recap/matchup/boxscore; www.espn.com/nba/standings; www.espn.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/minutes; www.espn.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/double-doubles; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/splits/_/id/1966/lebron-james; www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/splits/_/id/3202/kevin-durant; and www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/splits/_/id/4258/demarcus-cousins.