LeBron, Harden named All-NBA
Cleveland’s LeBron James tied an all-time record.
Houston’s James Harden received affirmation.
Indiana’s Paul George and Utah’s Gordon Hayward lost a chance at signing contracts exceeding $200 million this summer.
James and Harden headlined the All-NBA first team announced Thursday. James made the first team for a record-tying 11th time, matching the mark set by Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone. And Harden was the only player to be unanimously selected by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters as a first-teamer, returning to that group for the third time in the past four seasons.
Joining James and Harden on the first team were Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard and New Orleans’ Anthony Davis. Westbrook, Leonard and Davis all are first-teamers for the second time.
Harden was not an AllNBA team pick last season, after averaging 29 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.1 assists, and his inclusion this year prompted Rockets general manager Daryl Morey to tweet this: “Happy @James Harden was able to bounce back from his tough 29/8/6 performance last season to prove again he is one of the 15 best NBA players.”
James and Westbrook were on 99 first-team ballots and one second-team ballot each. Leonard was a first-teamer on 96 ballots, second-teamer on three and third on one.
George and Hayward fell well short of making any of the three All-NBA teams, which means they will not be eligible to get the supermax extensions from Indiana and Utah this summer and will face more questions about their futures in their respective cities. George is under contract to the Pacers for next season, while Hayward is likely to elect to become a free agent.
All three All-NBA teams have two guards, two forwards and one center.
Davis barely held off Utah’s Rudy Gobert for the top center spot, finishing with 343 points to Gobert’s 339.
Other second-team picks along with Gobert were Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Boston’s Isaiah Thomas at guard, and Golden State’s Kevin Durant and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo at forward.
Third-team selections were Washington’s John Wall and Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan at guard, Golden State’s Draymond Green and Chicago’s Jimmy Butler at forward, and DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers at center.
Playoff routs: Dramatic playoff games have been very rare this year. Through 68 games, the average victory margin is 12.9 points. More than half of the 23 games in May have seen one team lead by 25 points or more. A postseason record has been tied with four 4-0 sweeps — all by Golden State and Cleveland, which are a combined 19-0 and en route to what seems like a third consecutive NBA Finals matchup.
Only eight playoff games have been decided by three points or fewer, while 40 have been decided by 10 points or more — a rate significantly higher than the NBA average over the last 30 years.
Still, every ticket for every game has been sold so far; it was the fourth straight year all first-round games were sold out and the third straight year all conference semifinal tickets were purchased. Combined playoff viewership across the league’s TV network partners is up 3 percent over last year’s pace, averaging 3.7 million.