Horns in the NBA: 2/10 - 2/17

Kevin Durant led LaMarcus Aldridge and the rest of Team LeBron to an All-Star game victory over Team Giannis, taking home the MVP honors in the process.

LaMarcus Aldridge, San Antonio Spurs

• Tue, 2/12 - Road win over the Memphis Grizzlies: 22 points (8-15), 11 rebounds, 2 assists
• (Team LeBron) Sun, 2/12 - Win over Team Giannis: 2 points* (1-2), 4 rebounds, 1 assist

Aldridge isn’t a bright lights kind of All-Star, and I feel like he wasn’t very active in Sunday’s game. Granted, he plays a Spurs style of basketball, he’s not tailored to the long threes, alley-oops, and fast-paced nature of the All-Star game. So, scoring the least amount of points of anyone in the game is really indicative of his play style, not how he fares against the best in the league.

*Least amount of points and tied for least amount of shot attempts.

Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors

• Sun, 2/10 - Home win over the Miami Heat: 39 points (16-24), 6 rebounds, 4 assists
• Tue, 2/12 - Home win over the Utah Jazz: 28 points (11-19), 2 rebounds, 7 assists
• Wed, 2/13 - Road loss to the Portland Trail Blazers: 32 points (12-17), 4 rebounds, 2 assists
• (Team LeBron) Sun, 2/12 - Win over Team Giannis: 31 points (10-15), 7 rebounds, 2 assists

Finally, Durant, came out from his shell with two 30-point games following a couple average weeks scoring the ball. The Warriors did lose a game for the first time since Feb. 3, but Kevin Durant (and Steve Kerr for that matter) exploded in that game as well. The real headline, Durant stole the show in Charlotte, winning All-Star MVP while scoring an efficient 31 points.

Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers

• Mon, 2/11 - Home win over the Charlotte Hornets: 18 points (6-10), 8 rebounds, 1 assist
• Wed, 2/13 - Home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks: 8 points (4-8), 3 rebounds, 1 assist

My only comments here are that I still stand by last week’s criticism regarding consistent rebounding. He has games with eight or nine boards, and some with three or four. Overall, I’d like to see him regularly be above five or six.

Cory Joseph, Indiana Pacers

• Mon, 2/11 - Home win over the Charlotte Hornets: 6 points (3-7), 1 rebound, 2 assists
• Wed, 2/13 - Home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks: 8 points (4-8), 3 rebounds, 1 assist

It was a very pedestrian week for Joseph, as there was nothing flashy about his stat line. But in the past couple weeks, he has really stepped up as a reliable bench presence for Indiana in the absence of star guard, Victor Oladipo.

Avery Bradley, Memphis Grizzlies

• Tue, 2/12 - Home loss to the San Antonio Spurs: 33 points (15-21), 6 rebounds, 6 assists
• Wed, 2/13 - Road loss to the Chicago Bulls: 15 points (7-12), 1 rebound, 5 assists

33 points was an incredible outing for Bradley, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s typical for traded or released players to, shortly after leaving, exploding for 25 or 30 points as some sort of last laugh. This 30-point game is not indicative of more 30-point games, but it was a sweet, “welcome to Memphis” moment.

Tristan Thompson, Cleveland Cavaliers

Thompson has been shooting at Cavs’ practices, but he’s yet to participate in full contact drills. His recovery time isn’t on track with what was initially forecasted.

Jarrett Allen, Brooklyn Nets

• Mon, 2/11 - Road loss to the Toronto Raptors: 15 points (6-10), 3 rebounds, 2 assists
• Wed, 2/13 - Road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers: 10 points (4-11), 12 rebounds 3 assists
• (Team USA) - Win over team World: 2 points (0-2), 5 rebounds, 1 assist

Wednesday’s triple-overtime thriller was a fitting end to a shockingly good first-half of the NBA season for the Nets. Allen’s Rising Stars performance was not as fitting, to say the least. Much like Aldridge, he didn’t really adapt to the fast-paced All-Star type game.

Mohamed Bamba, Orlando Magic

Bamba is out indefinitely, nursing a left leg injury.

DJ Augustin, Orlando Magic

• Sun, 2/10 - Road win over the Atlanta Hawks: 14 points (6-9), 3 rebounds, 10 assists
• Tue, 2/12 - Road win over the New Orleans Pelicans: 2 points (1-3), 5 rebounds, 6 assists
• Thu, 2/14 - Home win over the Charlotte Hornets: 8 points (3-5), 1 rebound, 7 assists

Sunday was more of a typical Augustin-like performance, but he struggled finding shots throughout the rest of the week. He’s been scoring on a very efficient clip this season, though he could afford to be more aggressive offensively.

PJ Tucker, Houston Rockets

• Mon, 2/11 - Home win over the Dallas Mavericks: 3 points (1-4), 7 rebounds, 1 assist
• Wed, 2/13 - Road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves: 8 points (3-7), 8 rebounds, 1 assist

Tucker’s obsessive spending habits with shoes seem to be the big headline, as it was the pregame focus on Wednesday. Tucker admitted to spending $30,000 on a Kevin Durant sneaker set and plenty more on other individual pairs.