It hasn’t taken long for Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokić to develop an on-court rapport this season.
We’re more than five weeks into the season and a few key combinations have barely been on the floor together.
Others have been healthy and functioning well. Here are the most assists from one player to a single teammate through Wednesday.
Most assists, player to single teammate, 2024-25
| Scorer | Assisted By | AST | MIN | Per 36 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivica Zubac | James Harden | 54 | 520 | 3.7 |
| Jalen Johnson | Trae Young | 53 | 448 | 4.3 |
| Anthony Davis | LeBron James | 52 | 414 | 4.5 |
| Victor Wembanyama | Chris Paul | 43 | 403 | 3.8 |
| Nikola Vučević | Josh Giddey | 43 | 421 | 3.7 |
| Pascal Siakam | Tyrese Haliburton | 42 | 488 | 3.1 |
| Brandon Miller | LaMelo Ball | 39 | 334 | 4.2 |
| Norman Powell | James Harden | 38 | 427 | 3.2 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | Jalen Brunson | 37 | 413 | 3.2 |
| Myles Turner | Tyrese Haliburton | 37 | 480 | 2.8 |
| Derrick Jones Jr. | James Harden | 37 | 506 | 2.6 |
MIN = Minutes on the floor together
Per 36 = Assists per 36 minutes on the floor together
Through Nov. 27, 2024
1. James and Davis: Potent once again
LeBron James‘ 4.5 assists to Anthony Davis per 36 minutes would be their highest rate in the last five seasons, just a tick below their 4.6 per 36 from the Lakers’ championship season in 2019-20.
LeBron James assists to Anthony Davis
| Season | AST | MIN | Per 36 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 184 | 1,455 | 4.55 |
| 2020-21 | 53 | 601 | 3.2 |
| 2021-22 | 31 | 576 | 1.9 |
| 2022-23 | 69 | 887 | 2.8 |
| 2023-24 | 173 | 1,726 | 3.6 |
| 2024-25 | 52 | 414 | 4.52 |
| TOTAL | 562 | 5,659 | 3.6 |
James is one of the best passers this league has ever seen. Davis is the best receiver that James has ever passed to, a vertical threat who doesn’t need to be right at the rim to finish efficiently.
Under new coach JJ Redick, the Lakers have more often been running “Spain” or “Stack” pick-and-roll, where a back-screen is set on the defender guarding the player who sets the original ball screen. This can set up multiple options, with one being a lob to the free-rolling big …
The Lakers have ranked no higher than 11th offensively in James’ six full seasons in L.A. But they’re fourth through Wednesday, one of only eight teams that have scored more points per 100 possessions than they did last season.
They’ll now face the league’s top-ranked defense for the first time, hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN).
2. Lillard and Antetokounmpo: An improved duo
Damian Lillard has 3.7 assists to Giannis Antetokounmpo per 36 minutes on the floor together, up from 2.8 per 36 last season. According to Second Spectrum tracking, they’re running slightly more actions together this season (20.9 ball-screens or handoffs where Lillard is the ball-handler) than they did last season (19.1) — though Brook Lopez remains Lillard’s primary screener.
Of course, a Lillard-Lopez pick-and-roll can still allow the point guard to assist Antetokounmpo. Here, Torrey Craig slides over to help on the ball-screen action, allowing Antetokounmpo to attack the seam in the Bulls’ defense …
Having won five straight games to climb to .500 and into fifth place in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks will host the Washington Wizards (losers of 13 straight) on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass).
3. Westbrook and Jokic: A new combination
Among the 42 combinations where one player has at least 25 assists to the other, the most frequent per 36 minutes on the floor is Russell Westbrook assisting Nikola Jokić (33 times total, 6.0 per 36).
Westbrook has shot poorly inside the arc, with his 40% on 2-point shots being the worst mark among 150 players with at least 75 attempts. But when he bends the defense with his quickness, he’s smart enough to find *the most efficient high-volume scorer in NBA history …
* Jokić’s career true shooting percentage of 63.5% is the highest mark among players who’ve averaged at least 20 points per game.
The Nuggets still need Westbrook and the rest of their bench to be better. They have a tough stretch of games coming up, visiting the LA Clippers on Sunday (10 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass) before facing the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers next week.
4. A few more notes
- James Harden has more than half as many assists to Ivica Zubac as he did all of last season (103, 2.7 per 36 minutes on the floor together).
- Two combinations of players have at least 25 assists to each other: Jokić and Jamal Murray (53 total) and De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis (58 total).
- Trae Young is the only player with at least 25 assists to four different teammates (each of the Hawks’ other four starters).
- Other players with at least 25 assists to three different teammates are Harden, Jokić, Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton.
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John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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