James All-NBA for 11th time
Rockets’ Harden unanimous pick
For Cleveland’s LeBron James, there was history.
For Houston’s James Harden, there was affirmation.
And for Indiana’s Paul George and Utah’s Gordon Hayward, a chance at signing contracts exceeding $200 million this summer is gone.
James and Harden headlined the All-NBA first team that was announced by the league 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 firstteamer this year, 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, which prompted Rockets general manager Daryl Morey to tweet his reaction.
“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,” Morey wrote.
James and Westbrook were on 99 first-team ballots, and second-team on the lone other. Leonard was a first-teamer on 96 ballots, second-team on three and third-team 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 now 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 this summer.
Finalists for other league awards will be announced Friday night.
Elsewhere
Think back to the very first game of this NBA postseason: A one-point nailbiter of a win for Cleveland over Indiana, that outcome not getting decided until the final second.
Hardly any have gone like that since.
Dramatic playoff finishes 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 already been tied with four 4-0 sweeps — all by Golden State and Cleveland, who are a combined 19-0 and en route to what seems like an inevitable third consecutive NBA Finalsmatchup.
If you like blowouts, you lovethese NBA playoffs.
Only eight playoff games this season have been decided by three points or less, while 40 have been decided by 10 points or more — a rate significantly higher than the NBA average over thepast 30 years.
It’s certainly odd. But nobodyis complaining.
Every ticket for every game has been sold so far; it was the fourth year in a row all first-round games were sold out and the third consecutive year where all conference semifinal tickets werepurchased.