In this edition of Top-10 Stats of the Week, Chicago Bulls swingman DeMar DeRozan shows why he's a superstar, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid makes the case for league MVP, and new coaching hires across the NFL are generating a lot of buzz (for reasons both good and bad).
40 – Chicago Bulls swingman DeMar DeRozan has had multiple 40-point games in the last two weeks. Prior to this season, his most recent 40-point game came nearly four years ago, back on Mar. 7, 2018.
Second – On Friday, Denver Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic recorded his second 25-point triple-double on 80-percent shooting. The only other player who's accomplished this feat in league history is legend Wilt Chamberlain.
6-15 – The Brooklyn Nets started the 2021-22 regular season with a solid 23-9 record. They're a measly 6-15 in their last 21 games.
3 – The New Orleans Pelicans won just one of their first 13 regular season games. So far this February, they've won three games. Brooklyn has managed to win only three games since early January.
7th – Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid recorded his seventh 40-point, double-digit rebound game of the season in Sunday's win over the Bulls. That's already the most 40-point, 10-rebound games of his career in a single season. We're barely past the halfway mark.
45th – Dallas Mavericks star guard Luka Doncic recorded his 45th triple-double over the weekend. Only nine players in the history of the NBA have more. Doncic is just 22 years old.
24, 70% – Milwaukee Bucks center Bobby Portis has been amazing for the defending champions of late. In the month of February, he's averaging 24 points on over 70-percent shooting. In the 2021 NBA Finals, he averaged just eight points on 42-percent shooting.
27.5% – Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook is shooting a measly 27.5-percent from the field in the month of February. He's making over $44 million this season.
Zero – San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel is set to become the Miami Dolphins' new head coach. He's spent zero days as a football head coach at any level. It's tough to digest this new hire, when the Dolphins fired Brian Flores for finishing back-to-back seasons with a winning record.
16 – The Jacksonville Jaguars have their new head coach in Doug Pederson. He won a total of 16 games in 2017 (including playoffs) with the Philadelphia Eagles. That's more games than the Jags have won in the past four seasons combined.
