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Pre-Season Surprises

Explanation / Overview

After the amazing off season,  comes the PRE-SEASON! Every NBA fan wants to know how all these teams will play with their new assets. The pre-season is “before regular season” where fans can watch their favorite teams play against each other and against international teams such as the Image result for shanghai sharks logoShanghai Sharks and Melbourne UnitedImage result for melbourne united without worrying about affecting their win-loss ratio. Some teams have also been chosen to play in China for a few games such as the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors, both of whom are play-off contenders. 

At the time that I am writing this, there have been 45 pre-season games spanning from September 30th to October 8th and 5 of these games have been against international Image result for Dominateteams whom have been completely dominated. So far, many fans including myself have noticed that many of the All-stars have not been playing minutes which is very normal since the pre-season is a way for teams to showcase young talent and give players playing time who usually would not play. 

Stand-Out Player

The biggest surprise in these last 45 games is the leading scorer for the Lakers so far in the pre-season at 22.3 PPG on 66.7% shooting: Kyle Kuzma, the rookie drafted in the late-first round of the 2017 NBA draft. Many people have regarded Kuzma as the biggest steal of the draft and has outperformed 3-year players such as Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. He has proved himself the moment he was drafted by becoming the Finals MVP of the Summer League and helping win a D-League Championship, along with Lonzo Ball, for the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Image result for kyle kuzma MVP

Two Amazing Performances 

There have been many noteworthy performances by players so far this off-season that had me off my feet. Those two players are Steph Curry in his game against the Timberwolves in China and Anthony Davis against the Bulls. Image result for Steph curry shooting

Steph Curry Stat-Line

Field Goals: 13-20

3-Points FG: 6-9

Steals: 3

Assists: 8

Points: 40

 

 

 

Anthony Davis Stat-LineImage result for anthony davis dunk

Field Goals: 7-19 

3 Points FG: 1-1

Free Throws FG: 22-23

Rebounds: 15

Steals: 3

Points: 37

 

Most information from 
http://www.espn.com/nba/
http://www.nba.com/games/20171009/PHIBOS?left=true#/