Opportunity's come knocking for two players in this week's Rookie Rankings. How they respond will determine how high they can climb after the All-Star break.
Minnesota's Kevin Love was already making himself at home in the middle tier before the Timberwolves lost star center Al Jefferson to a torn ACL. If Love can make the most of his increased workload up front, he could crack the top flight as soon as next week.
Philadelphia's Marreese Speights enters the charts at No. 10. Speights, who has topped stat guru John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rankings among rookies throughout the season, can expect plenty more minutes after the Sixers shut down Elton Brand for the season. And if Monday's breakout performance against Phoenix is any indicator -- 24 points (on 11-for-16 shooting) and seven rebounds -- the forward-center from Florida might be here to stay.
(All stats and records are through Monday.)
NBA Rookie Rankings
| 1 |  |
Last Week: 1 |
Rose got the best of Jason Kidd in a head-to-head matchup for the second time this season. The South Side native finished with 22 points, nine assists and four rebounds compared to five points, 10 assists and five rebounds for Kidd on Saturday in Dallas. The Mavs escaped with a 115-114 victory in overtime -- thanks to a superhuman effort from Dirk Nowitzki -- but a questionable no-call on Rose's potential game-winning layup at the end of regulation left the Bulls feeling jobbed. Rose averaged 18.3 points, 7.3 assists and 5.0 rebounds in three games last week.
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| 2 |  |
Last Week: 2 |
With his team-high 22 points, career-high 16 rebounds and five assists in an 85-80 victory over the Hornets on Monday, Mayo joined LeBron James and Al Horford as the only rookies to post 20-15-5 games since the start of the 2000-01 season. The do-everything effort capped a prolific week for the guard, who also scored 32 points in a win against Houston, his sixth 30-point performance of the season. He's averaging a rookie-leading 37.9 minutes, but there will but no rest for the weary: Mayo is pulling double duty over All-Star weekend, participating in Friday's Rookie Challenge (alongside teammate Marc Gasol) and Saturday's H-O-R-S-E competition with Kevin Durant and Joe Johnson.
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| 3 |  |
Last Week: 4 |
Had Lopez grabbed just one more rebound last Saturday against the Nuggets, he would be working on a streak of five double-doubles. What's more impressive is the quality of competition against which he's producing: Lopez posted 15 points and nine rebounds versus Denver's Nene, before scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 boards opposite Orlando's Dwight Howard. Tuesday was to bring a visit from childhood idol Tim Duncan. "They're great players, and Brook's just learning his way," Nets coach Lawrence Frank told the Newark Star-Ledger of Lopez's gauntlet. "There's no substitute for experience. All you want to see is the guy compete as hard as he can. That's all you ask."
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| 4 |  |
Last Week: 3 |
With Rudy Gay a late scratch for this weekend's slam dunk contest because of a hip flexor, here's hoping the NBA does the right thing and inserts the thrill-a-minute Westbrook into the field. Westbrook was beaten out by fellow rookie Rudy Fernandez when the fans voted to select the fourth participant to join Gay, Nate Robinson and defending champion Dwight Howard. The 6-foot-3 guard hinted at his potential repertoire when he lobbied for fan support with this video.
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| 5 |  |
Last Week: 5 |
Since New Year's Day, the power forward is averaging 12.1 points (on 53.3 percent shooting) and 10.2 rebounds in 25.0 minutes. But with Jefferson shelved for the season, there's an opportunity for Love to propel himself into the fringe of the Rookie of the Year discussion. Last week, Love posted his 10th, 11th and 12th double-doubles of the season, against the Pacers (15 points and 11 rebounds), Hawks (16 and 14) and Hornets (12 and 10).
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| 6 |  |
Last Week: 8 |
Chalmers matched a Heat season high with 13 assists and chipped in 16 points in Sunday's victory against Charlotte for the first double-double of his career. The second-round pick from Kansas is approaching another milestone: With seven more three-pointers, Chalmers will break the franchise rookie record of 79 set last season by shooting guard Daequan Cook.
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| 7 |  |
Last Week: 7 |
In his 39 starts, which have followed a 13-game stint on the bench to open the season, Gordon is averaging 17.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting 45 percent from the field and 37 percent from three-point range. His streak of 26 free throws ended in Monday's loss at Charlotte, but he still ranks 20th in the league in free throw percentage (87.0).
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| 8 |  |
Last Week: 6 |
Darko Milicic's return from a hand injury hasn't cost Gasol his starting role, but the Spaniard's minutes have taken a hit as the two have split time up front. Gasol averaged 7.8 points and 7.0 rebounds in 25.5 minutes in four games over the last week. The 7-footer has helped the Grizzlies win four of five following a 12-game losing streak.
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| 9 |  |
Last Week: 10 |
Beasley wants to start, a sentiment the No. 2 pick made clear to Heat reporters. But as Miami makes a surprising challenge for home-court advantage in a first-round playoff series, he's not going to rock the boat. "I'm not going to complain at all about my position,'' Beasley told the Miami Herald. "It's working. And I never try to fix something that's not broken. I would love to start. I think I should. But if me being a spark off the bench is what the team needs, and it's what gets wins, that's what I'll do."
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| 10 |  |
Last Week: NR |
The 6-10, 245-pound big man is a perfect fit for the free-flowing system preferred by the Sixers, thanks to his outstanding mobility and coordination for his size. Before that big game against Phoenix on Monday, Speights had 15 points and six rebounds in a victory against the Heat on Saturday. If Speights can build on those performances, it'll go a long way toward helping Philly's fatalistic supporters forget about the Brand disappointment.
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Honorable Mention Rudy Fernandez, Trail Blazers (7.0 points, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals in three games); Jason Thompson, Kings (10.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg in two games); Greg Oden, Trail Blazers (17 points, 12 rebounds, career-high six blocks against Knicks).
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Dropped Out None. |
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