Opinions on this 2021-22 NBA season are being firmly formed as we enter February.
Last month saw the All-Star starters announced, while the MVP race hotted up – or cooled down, with several early contenders struggling with form and fitness.
But who really lit up the league in January? And whose bright end to 2021 did not carry over into the new year?
Stats Perform's NBA Heat Check looks at the best and worst performers of the month...
RUNNING HOT...
RJ Barrett
Now in his third year with the New York Knicks, Barrett's has been a season of peaks and troughs. In the month of November, he averaged 12.8 points per game; in January, that mark was a mightily impressive 21.8.
Such inconsistency leaves the guard just below last year's average of 17.6 at 17.3, but he is now a man in form, scoring double-figures in 17 straight games – including all 15 in January.
Barrett's 31 points against the San Antonio Spurs on January 10 were followed by 32 against the Dallas Mavericks on January 12 in consecutive wins, before the Knicks traded for Cam Reddish, his old Duke team-mate, the next day. As stretches go, this was a good one.
Reddish is yet to find his feet in New York but at least finds a familiar face full of confidence in the locker room.
Kyle Kuzma
January finished with the Washington Wizards on a five-game losing streak that was extended to six on Tuesday, but it was a month of progress for Kuzma.
Comparing output for the past month to the rest of the season, Kuzma ranked second in the league for an increase in both scoring (up from 13.4 to 22.5) and rebounding (up from 8.0 to 11.1).
While this form is clearly not doing enough to get the Wizards' year back on track, it is at least providing the Los Angeles Lakers with a reminder of what they gave up in a trade for Russell Westbrook.
Kuzma was one of three players, along with a first-round pick, sent to Washington in exchange for Westbrook, who has again flattered to deceive and appears to be back on the market with the Lakers toiling at 24-27.
Anfernee Simons
One place behind the Lakers in the West, the Portland Trail Blazers are similarly out of sorts, with Damian Lillard falling below his usual standards and the rest of the team struggling to pick up the slack.
The Blazers have still had some breakout stars, however, with Simons the most obvious of those in year four after a dazzling January.
Already averaging double-figures at 11.9 heading into 2022 – something he had failed to do in his previous three campaigns – Simons was the most improved scorer last month, scoring 23.1 points across 15 games. He made 4.5 three-pointers per game over that period, also a league-leading improvement on his prior 2.0.
Third-year forward Nassir Little (13.1 points and 2.1 threes in January) ranked seventh and fifth by those metrics, only to sustain a season-ending labrum tear – a setback that just about summed up Portland's season.
GOING COLD...
Stephen Curry
Curry's 26.0 points per game this year are up on two of his three title-winning campaigns with the Golden State Warriors but significantly down on last year's 32.0 – enough to win the scoring title – and falling rapidly from his early-season standards.
The two-time MVP made a hot start with 28.7 points in October and was still operating at 27.7 come the end of 2021. In January, however, he scored only 22.3 points – the biggest drop in the NBA.
Curry also led an unwanted chart in seeing his 5.4 made threes per game decrease massively to 3.5, a career 42.9 per cent three-point shooter and 47.3 per cent field-goal shooter slumping to 32.9 per cent and 38.5 per cent.
Such is the depth of talent on the Warriors' roster – in Kevon Looney and Jonathan Kuminga, they had two of January's three most-improved rebounders – they have been able to ride out Curry's rough patch. However, Jordan Poole had also been struggling to maintain his high standards (fifth for scoring decrease in January), though a 31-point effort in Tuesday's win over the Spurs hinted at a return to form.
NBA: Nuggets end Timberwolves' perfect postseason with rout, Pacers edge Knicks
Nikola Jokić had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists and Jamal Murray bounced back with 24 points as the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 117-90 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 21 points and Aaron Gordon had 13 for the Nuggets, who cruised to an easy win on the road after dropping the first two games at home.
They are the 30th team in the history of the NBA playoffs to lose the first two games at home in a best-of-seven series. Five of them have rallied to win, most recently the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round in 2021.
Game 4 is Sunday in Minneapolis.
Murray totalled just 25 points on 9-of-32 shooting over the first two games but was 11 of 21 in this one.
Denver shot 14 of 29 from 3-point range with Gordon and Porter combining to hit 7 of 9.
Anthony Edwards was held in check with 19 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 for a Wolves team that suffered its first loss in seven playoff games.
Minnesota shot 10 of 33 from long range and fell behind by as many as 34 points down the stretch.
Pacers rally to cut deficit to 2-1
Andrew Nembhard drilled a 31-foot, tiebreaking 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and Tyrese Haliburton had 35 points with six 3-pointers as the Indiana Pacers rallied for a 111-106 win over the banged-up New York Knicks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Knicks lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 on Sunday in Indianapolis. New York held a nine-point lead with 9:45 remaining but was unable to hold the lead with star guard Jalen Brunson slowed by a right foot injury.
Nembhard scored all five of his points in the final minute, connecting on a long 3 as the shot clock expired to give the Pacers a 109-106 lead.
Brunson missed a potential tying 3 with 14 seconds left and finished with 26 points on 10-of-26 shooting.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 35 points and was 7 for 11 on 3s, while Alec Burks, who came in having played just 1 minute in the playoffs, scored 14 points in 21 minutes for the Knicks, who played without starting forward OG Anunoby.
It’s unclear whether Anunoby can recover from his injured left hamstring to play Sunday.,
Haliburton triggered Indiana’s comeback in the fourth quarter. He completed a three-point play and then made back-to-back layups to make it 98-96. After Brunson made a free throw, Pascal Siakam tied the score with a three-point play.
The teams traded the lead four more times, with Brunson’s 3 tying it at 106 with 42 seconds remaining.
Budenholzer agrees to five-year contract to coach Suns
The Phoenix Suns are making Mike Budenholzer their next head coach with the sides agreeing to a five-year contract, according to reports.
A formal announcement is expected to come Saturday.
Budenholzer, 54, last coached the Milwaukee Bucks before he was let go after they were upset by the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2022-23 season.
He led the Bucks to the 2020-21 NBA title in his third season with the team and began his coaching career with the Atlanta Hawks in 2013-14, compiling a 213-197 record in five seasons.
Budenholzer is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, winning with Atlanta in 2014-15 and 2018-19 with Milwaukee.
He replaces Frank Vogel, who was fired on Thursday after one season with the Suns. Phoenix went 49-33 in the regular season but was swept in the opening round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Vogel was unable to fulfil lofty expectations after injuries limited the number of games the star trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal could play together. His dismissal came after reports surfaced that Vogel had lost the locker room and Durant was unhappy with his role in the offense.
Budenholzer becomes the third Suns’ coach in three years under new owner Mat Ishbia, who inherited Monty Williams as the team’s leader when he took over the franchise in February 2023.
Doncic battles through 'hardest game' as Mavs level Thunder series
Luka Doncic described Thursday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder as one of the hardest of his career after battling through injury to help the Dallas Mavericks to a 119-110 win.
Doncic had 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as Dallas levelled their Western Conference semifinals series with the top-seeded Thunder at a game apiece.
Doncic – who finished third in 2023-24 NBA MVP voting this week – had been limited to 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting in Game 1, struggling with soreness in his sprained right knee.
However, he was 11 of 21 from the field and 5 for 8 from 3-point range at Paycom Center, handing a huge boost to Dallas' hopes of progression ahead of a two-game homestand.
"It was just my mentality," Doncic said after the win. "I think today was one of the hardest games I had to play. I'm battling out there.
"I try and do my best to help the team win just with my mentality. I had a great start, and then the team's going to follow me."
P.J. Washington also had 29 points with seven 3-pointers and grabbed 11 rebounds and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 17 points off the bench for the Mavs.
Fellow Dallas star Kyrie Irving said Doncic's team-mates always trusted him to get back to his best, claiming he was simply unfortunate in Game 1.
"Some of those shots are a centimetre off or an inch off," Irving said. "We know Luka very well, so we're not worried relatively, but we understand that we have to continue to feed him confidence.
"It starts with him, and he knows that in order for us to be successful, he's going to have to play his role and be a star of the team. When it's our time to star in our role, he gives us that chance."
Thursday's defeat was not only the first loss Oklahoma City had suffered this postseason, but also the first time they had conceded more than 95 points.
Coach Mark Daigneault accepts this series represents a step up from their first-round sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans, saying: "This is just part of the deal.
"It's the playoffs, and we're playing against a really good team. This is deep waters. You're going to throw some punches, you're going to take some punches. We've got to eat one."
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