Unsung Heroes Fortify NBA’s Best Teams

By Mark Barnes
for HOOPSADDICT.com

Published: December 21, 2008

In a recent Cleveland Cavaliers win at Minnesota, combination guard Delonte West jumped between two Timberwolves, poked the ball away, outraced both pursuers and scored on an unseemly lay-up against severe pressure.

West’s amazing play was not a game-winner, but it was part of his season-high 21 point outburst, boosting the Cavaliers to a 21-4 record. More important for Cleveland, this moment exemplified the kind of play that has become routine for West – one of the NBA’s unsung heroes and a key element of Cleveland’s remarkable success. In spite of West’s 12 points, 3 assists and 1.4 steals per night on one of the league’s best teams, his contribution goes largely unnoticed.

In a unique NBA season in which three teams – Cleveland, Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers – clearly outdistance all others, West is one of several players who rarely make ESPN’s top plays but are largely responsible for their teams’ super starts this season.

Boston guard Tony Allen comes off the bench for just 24 minutes per game but has played a major role in the Celtic’s 17-game winning streak and 25-2 start. Allen contributes 8 points, 1.29 steals per game and shoots 47% from the field. Plus, the 6-4 Allen gives Celtics Coach Doc Rivers plenty of defensive flexibility as Allen can guard most perimeter players.

In a recent game against New York, the Lakers were trailing by one with under a minute remaining. Seconds later, Lamar Odom tossed an alley-oop pass to Trevor Ariza that ended in a nifty lay-up, giving Los Angeles the lead in what turned out to be a two-point Lakers win. Ariza scored 13 in the game – three better than his season average.

The fifth-year swing man from UCLA averages 2 steals and 5 rebounds, along with his 10 points in 24 hard-working minutes per night.

Although West starts for Cleveland while Allen and Ariza come off the bench for Boston and Los Angeles, respectively, West and the two reserves are rarely written about or discussed by NBA analysts. In arenas well stocked with stars like LeBron James, Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant, there’s little room in newspapers or on highlight reels for hidden gems like those featured here.

Without these three parts, though, the engines that power Boston, Los Angeles and Cleveland (a combined 68-10 to start the season) would likely not idle so smoothly.

West, Allen and Ariza stand out as unsung NBA heroes, because their teams are off to such astonishing starts. There are other teams, though, with key contributors who are also relative unknowns.

Since coming to Orlando from Golden State, Michael Pietrus is having his best season in six years. The French swingman is averaging nearly 13 points for the Magic, the NBA’s only other 20-win team.

Chauncey Billups has created quite a stir since being traded from Detroit to Denver, but the Nuggets would not be one of the best teams in the Western Conference without the play of reserve forward Linas Kleiza, who averages 9 points and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes per game. Kleiza poured in 25 as Denver cruised past Milwaukee in an early November victory, and the fourth-year forward scored 7 straight second-quarter points in the Nuggets’ one-point win over the Clippers a few weeks ago.

Ariza, Kleiza and Pietrus are definitely not household names. They do help good NBA teams win, even if they live in surprising anonymity.

Scour NBA rosters, and there are plenty of players like these to be found – the NBA’s unsung heroes.

Photo Credit: ICON Sports Media

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Unsung Heroes Fortify NBA’s Best Teams

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