NBA 2022/23 halfway point: New-look Nets, Luka magic and LeBron vs time – the big talking points so far | NBA News

We have reached the halfway stage of the NBA season and have already seen a breathtaking array of talent, controversy, and far more. If the second half of the 2022/23 campaign is anything like the first, then we’d better strap in. Let’s take a look at the big talking points from the action so far.

1) Jacque Vaughn transforming the Nets

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn deserves all the plaudits for resurrecting this team from the depths of controversy and malcontent in the early stages of the season. From the pre-season trade drama surrounding Kevin Durant, the Steve Nash firing, the heat around bringing in a rusty Ben Simmons and the subsequent chaos that ensued with Kyrie Irving, it really did seem like this was a doomed franchise.

Fast-forward to 41 games later and having won 18 of their last 20, the Nets look like genuine contenders and are the number two seed in the Eastern Conference. How the tables turn.

Vaughn has instilled something in this Nets side that they haven’t had in the last 18 months: something to root for. Under Nash, the team was divided, and the lack of confidence and unity seemed palpable. The Nets now look a side not only capable of attaining glory, but also powering themselves there out of sheer will.

His biggest test is yet to come, with the Nets now gathering a head of steam towards their upcoming fixture slate, all without Durant as he recovers from a sprained MCL.

2) No rest for Luka Doncic

It it sometimes difficult to envisage how Luka Doncic can impress even more than he already has – but then he goes and does it, and that been the story of his season.

From joining Wilt Chamberlain in scoring 30 points or more in his first eight games, to racking up several 50 and 60-point triple-double’s over the last few months, it seems insane that a 23-year-old can reach such dizzying heights.

He is averaging 34 points per game, hitting 75% at the rim and 55% from floater range – absurd. With Doncic leading the line, the Mavs are keeping up to speed with league-leading offences, scoring 118.7 points per 100 possessions.

You would think that at some point, this kind of form becomes unsustainable. And perhaps we’ve seen glimpses of his ‘off days’ (see the clash with the Boston Celtics). But for the most part, the Slovenian just keeps on scoring with very little pause, and that is terrifying.

With only Spencer Dinwiddie as a support structure at times, Doncic has more than cemented his position atop our All-Star and MVP predictions.

3) Cavs’ impenetrable defence

Unexpected, right? That Cleveland would be the team leading the best defence, and not, perhaps the Celtics with Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, or even Draymond Green’s contributions for the Golden State Warriors.

But with 6’1” Donovan Mitchell (yes, 70-point-scoring Donovan Mitchell) leading the line, all that and more has seemed possible.

While Mitchell has been blazing it on one side of the court, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen have been snuffing out counter-attacks on the other.

Impressively, Allen has held shooters 8.7% in points scored near the rim, with Mobley hitting that same stat with 6.5%. When the pair combine, it becomes increasingly difficult for players like Doncic to dance and shimmy their way into the paint.

No team has allowed fewer points per 100 possession than the Cavs. Keep this defensive hustle going, and they will be a prime pick in the playoff picture.

4) Jokic for the three-peat?

All season we’ve been saying that there’s no way that Nikola Jokic could snap up a third consecutive MVP title. It just doesn’t happen, it’s a rare stat that only Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Larry Bird have previously achieved. Most likely, voting will favour the likes of Doncic, Jayson Tatum, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, all of whom have been playing their best basketball to date.

Yet, the more games that trickle by, the more uneasy we feel about this prediction. The fact that Jokic is currently logging career-best efficiency from the field, and is on the cusp of averaging a triple-double in each game he plays (he’s had 11 this season already) doesn’t make it any easier.

‘The Joker’ has been quietly doing all of these things while several contenders to his title – Stephen Curry, Durant, Zion Williamson, to name a few – sit injured, watching from the sidelines.

The interesting element to his form this season is that Jokic has actually taken a step back in his intensity and scoring, thanks to the return of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. That he is still pulling numbers like this for the Denver Nuggets definitely puts things into perspective.

5) LeBron James and the tale of time

Let’s face it – this might be the last season in which we see LeBron James at the Los Angeles Lakers. This might be the last season we see LeBron James at all.

Though the Lakers star extended his contract with the franchise, he might be ruing that at this particular moment. James has a goal in mind: to top Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s points record of 38,387. In order to achieve this his team must give him enough time. Whether they’ll even make it to a play-in spot is questionable.

All season James has tried to instil a winning mindset in his team, but in reality, he himself uttered it before the season had even got going: the Lakers are not a team that possess the ability to shoot well, they lack the ability to build around him, and as a result, it has cost them games.

If he really is to get to that points haul – and he is currently 422 behind – then perhaps the option for a trade remains a plausible one. Where would he go? Which team would want to bring him into the fold? Could he stay out the rest of his days with the Lakers and make history, or will there be a cruel twist in fate for LeBron?