Three Stars of the Night: No Average Joes

Wasn’t Monday night awful? No NBA games being played brought back some serious lockout flashbacks, but Tuesday night was just the remedy. Nine games were on the slate to welcome us back from the All-Star break, and there were some impressive performances put up.

Tony Parker rattled off 30 points and 11 assists in a win against the Kings. Goran Dragic showed sharing is caring with 18 assists in Phoenix’s upset in Portland. Al Jefferson pump-faked his way to 24 points in a win over the struggling Warriors, Gerald Henderson had a game of the year (career?) for Charlotte with 24 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Orlando, and DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay each scored 24 points in a win over the Wizards.

Nice as some of those showings were, we’re not interested in nice or average or pretty good. We’re only interested in the stars, and here they are:

Third Star: Joakim Noah – (15 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks)

Joakim Noah for Defensive Player of the Year? You won’t hear many complaints from me. Noah cleaned the glass and altered a ton of shots against New Orleans, and he pretty much showed rookie big man Anthony Davis the blueprint for how to be a mobile defensive monster. Noah flies all over the court and covers a ton of ground, which enables other defenders to stay home and play straight up. Very rarely do the Bulls give up an uncontested look, and a lot of that has to do with Noah patrolling the entire floor. Next time you get the chance, just watch Noah on defense and ignore the ball. It’s incredible to watch.

Second Star: Ty Lawson – (26 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists)

How great has Lawson been lately? In his last 10 games, Lawson is scoring 21.4 points and dropping 8 assists a game while shooting 52 percent from the field. He’s always been great at getting into the paint and scoring, but Lawson’s ability to draw contact and get to the line has been a big part of his recent scoring boon. Lawson went to the line 10 times against Boston, but perhaps more impressively, he had zero turnovers in 37 minutes against one of the best defensive teams in the league. Not bad.

First Star: Joe Johnson – (24 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, game-tying and game-winning buckets)

Watch Joe Johnson move around on the court, and you wouldn’t think he’d be a threat. He’s slow through screens, moving at a snail’s pace away from the ball. Johnson is the rare scorer who almost never gets open — everything he gets, he creates for himself. That’s usually no way to make a living in the NBA, but Johnson’s height, strength, and tight mechanics allow him to create space against almost any defender and rise and fire.

After the Nets felt the burn of a Brandon Jennings‘ hot streak (and a Monta Ellis flop), Johnson was charged with tying the game, down three. Inexplicably, the Bucks didn’t foul Deron Williams when he had his back turned to the rim, and Johnson made them pay with an overtime-forcing 3-pointer. Then in a tie game in overtime, Johnson crossed up one of the better individual defenders in basketball in Luc Richard Mbah a Moute to hit a tough mid-range jumper to win it. Deron Williams may be the “star”, and Brook Lopez is the most productive player, but the Nets might resemble Joe Johnson right now more than anyone else.