The All-NBA Bubble Teams
Choosing the ten best players from the NBA’s eight seeding games
The eight game addition to the NBA regular season has come to an end and we have seen some exciting and surprising performances. Since the NBA has announced their NBA Bubble awards, I decided to take it into my own hands to pick the “All-Bubble” teams.
The teams will be formatted with two guards and three forwards each, and will be selected purely based on performance and team record within the NBA Bubble. With all of that aside, let’s get into the picks.
All-Bubble First Team
G: Devin Booker
Stats: 30.5 pts, 6.0 ast, 4.9 trb, 0.5 stl, 0.3 blk, 50.3% FG, 31.3% 3PT
I feel like I’ve been talking a lot about Devin Booker lately. But then again, who hasn’t? What else is there to say at this point? Devin Booker was able to carry this Suns team to an improbable 8–0 record. His contributions were truly incredible and it is sad that this team barely missed out on the playoffs.
G: Damian Lillard
Stats: 37.6 pts, 9.6 ast, 4.3 trb, 1.4 stl, 0.1 blk, 49.7% FG, 43.6% 3PT
Damian Lillard is one of two players that was truly the NBA Bubble MVP (Devin Booker being the other). His insane stretch of games was enough to pull the Trailblazers into the playoff bracket. We haven’t seen consecutive performances like this since the great Wilt Chamberlain. In the final three games, Lillard had a combined 154 points! He was also extremely clutch in several close games, hitting unthinkable shots with the defense all over him. I personally have not seen such a dominant stretch in my lifetime.
F: Luka Dončić
Stats: 30.0 pts, 10.1 trb, 9.7 ast, 0.6 blk, 0.4 stl, 47.9% FG, 30.0% 3PT
In the 7 games that Luka played, he nearly averaged a 30 point triple double. This included a game with 20 rebounds and a different game with 19 assists. He filled up the stat sheet and did everything to show how dominant he really is against the best competition. Even though he played guard for a majority of his minutes, the NBA still considers him a guard/forward in NBA Awards. This is why I am putting him on the First Team, which he completely deserves.
F: TJ Warren
Stats: 31.0 pts, 6.3 trb, 2.0 ast, 1.3 stl, 1.2 blk, 57.8% FG, 52.4% 3PT
Warren decided to sit out the final two games of the regular season, but that does not take away from the shocking performance that he displayed in those first six. That stretch of 30+ point games, including a 53-point career high, is something that I will remember for a long time. The Pacers were 4–0 in games where TJ Warren had over 30 points, which could be a difference maker in the playoffs this year.
C: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Stats: 27.8 pts, 12.8 trb, 4.2 ast, 1.3 blk, 0.3 stl, 62.6% FG, 27.3% 3PT
The stats may not look as incredible as his regular season stats, but there was absolutely no slowing down for Giannis. In fact, these stats are including two games where Giannis played just 10 and 15 minutes. He put up 30+ points in every game that he played normal minutes.
All-Bubble Second Team
G: James Harden
Stats: 34.1 pts, 8.9 ast, 8.3 trb, 2.7 stl, 1.0 blk, 53.9% FG, 37.8% 3PT
In his 7 games of action, Harden looked exactly like he did in the regular season. He is still unstoppable on offense and has a deadly array of scoring moves. One thing that has significantly improved is his efficiency. He is up 9% in field goal percentage while still scoring the same volume of points. This helps free up the isolation heavy offense that Houston plays. Additionally, Harden was looking a bit stronger on defense. He was taking on the other team’s best player and getting crucial stops when it mattered. Seeing Harden play this good is great news for the Rockets heading into the playoffs.
G: Caris LeVert
Stats: 25.0 pts, 6.7 ast, 5.0 trb, 1.5 stl, 0.5 blk, 48.0% FG, 25.8% 3PT
The Nets should be extremely pleased with the performance of their young guard. Coming in with such a weak roster, I thought that the Nets would look incredibly sorry against this level of competition. They managed to pull through a 4–4 record, largely due to Caris LeVert. He scored the ball well and had two monster performances of 34 and 37 points. He was also a big playmaker for this team and ran the offense successfully while missing 8 of the top 10 players on the roster.
F: Michael Porter Jr.
Stats: 22.0 pts, 8.6 trb, 1.6 ast, 1.0 stl, 0.9 blk, 55.1% FG, 41.2% 3PT
Say hello to the next young star to blossom for the Denver Nuggets. After missing his entire first season in the league, there was lots of speculation on how good MPJ will be. He has since silenced the doubters and proven that he belongs on this squad. In the 7 games he played, he was the leading scorer for the Nuggets and showed lots of versatility and upside as a player.
F: Kawhi Leonard
Stats: 28.8 pts, 4.8 trb, 4.3 ast, 1.8 stl, 0.3 blk, 47.9% FG, 48.5% 3PT
Kawhi is still the same Kawhi, and I love it. He played incredible defense and was a knock-down shooter as usual in his six game return. He was also the clear leading scorer for the Clippers and looked like the best player on the court in just about every game he played in. Watch out for this Clippers team.
F: Jusuf Nurkic
Stats: 17.6 pts, 10.3 trb, 4.0 ast, 2.0 blk, 1.4 stl, 49.5% FG, 20.0% 3PT
Another reason the Blazers were so successful was the return of Jusuf Nurkic. His value was truly shown in his return, as the Blazers went from a non-playoff team to one of the better teams in the West. He put up strong number and had a massive impact on defense. There were some other players with more star power, but Nurkic’s team impact was hard to ignore.
