LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have combined to win half of the league’s past 12 MVP awards.
Get ready for Thursday’s TNT doubleheader with five key stats to know about each matchup.
Lakers (11-4) at Bucks (9-5), 7:30 ET, TNT
• The Bucks enter Thursday’s game with the top-ranked offense in the league, scoring 117.7 points per 100 possessions; while the Lakers have the top-ranked defense, allowing just 104.6 points per 100 possessions.
• The Lakers rank seventh in the league for most field goals made in the restricted area, averaging 18.9 per game. This is largely thanks to Montrezl Harrell who ranks fourth in the league in FG% (63.7%), with over 76% of his field goal attempts occurring within five feet of the basket.
• The Bucks continue to have strong interior defense, holding teams to only 15.9 field goals made per game in the restricted area (sixth lowest in the league) and 58.8% within five feet (eighth lowest in the NBA).
• The Lakers enter Thursday looking to extend their team record for best road start to 8-0. Through their first road seven games of the season, the Lakers have averaged 113.9 points (10th) while allowing a league-low 99.6. The Lakers have outscored their opponents by an average of 14.3 points – nearly double the average point differential of the second-best road team (LA Clippers, plus 7.7).
• Alex Caruso (55.6%) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (53.7%) rank second and third in the league, respectively, in• 3-point shooting so far this season. For Caruso, 23 of his 27 3-point attempts have been wide-open (closest defender at least 6 feet away) and he has shot 60.9% on those attempts. For Caldwell-Pope, he has shot 46.2% on his 26 wide-open 3s and 66.7% (10-15) on open looks (defender within 4-6 feet).
▪️ #2 West vs. #2 East
▪️ #1 Defense vs. #1 Offense
▪️ LEBRON vs. GIANNIS@lakers and @Bucks match up TONIGHT at 7:30 PM ET on TNT! pic.twitter.com/jMeolIEjJy— NBA (@NBA) January 21, 2021
Pelicans (5-8) at Jazz (10-4), 10:00 ET, TNT
• In his past two games, Zion Williamson has scored 31 points on 86.7% shooting (at SAC) and 32 points on 73.7% shooting (at UTA). Since the 1983-84 season, only Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin McHale have posted at least three straight games with 30+ points on 70+ percent shooting.
• Donovan Mitchell scored a team-high 28 points in Utah’s win over New Orleans on Tuesday. Mitchell scored 19 points and shot a perfect 7-7 from the field and 4-4 from 3-point range in the 3:35 of matchup time against Eric Bledsoe. In 3:27 against Lonzo Ball, Mitchell had just 2 points on 0-2 FG, 2-2 FT.
• Zion Williamson ranks first in the league in points in the paint (18.8 per game) and ranks second in second-chance points (4.1 per game). New Orleans ranks third in offensive rebound rate (29.9%) with two players ranked in the top nine in offensive rebounding – Steven Adams (3.8 per game, 5th) and Williamson (3.2 per game, 9th).
• Rudy Gobert will be important in limiting New Orleans’ offensive rebounds and second-chance points as he did in their first meeting on Tuesday. Gobert ranks second in the NBA in defensive rebounds per game (10.1), and collected 12 on Tuesday as the Jazz held the Pelicans to 10 offensive rebounds and 10 second-chance points, just one shy of matching the Pelicans’ season low.
• In Tuesday’s game, Royce O’Neal defended Brandon Ingram for 10:22, which was 80.6% of Ingram’s offensive matchup time. O’Neal held Ingram to 8 points on 4-12 shooting. No player has defended Ingram for longer in a single game than O’Neal so far this season.
▪️ Rematch from Tuesday
▪️ Jazz 6 straight wins
▪️ Zion: 63 PTS last 2 games@PelicansNBA vs. @utahjazz TONIGHT at 10:00 PM ET on TNT! pic.twitter.com/DvTDfPwGB0— NBA (@NBA) January 21, 2021
