What Happened To All Those Absurd NBA Stat Lines? FiveThirtyEight’s NBA podcast discusses why there have been fewer breakout games this season, as well as Isaiah Thomas’s return and Andre Drummond’s surprising assist numbers.

Welcome to The Lab, FiveThirtyEight’s basketball podcast. On this week’s show (Jan. 4, 2018), Neil, Chris and Kyle discuss Isaiah Thomas’s debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers after recovering from a hip injury he sustained last season. Next, DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors is putting up ridiculous numbers this season — but he’s one of the only ones. After a 2016-17 season that saw blowout wins and notable individual performances, this season is off to a much less explosive start. What happened to those absurd stat lines? We investigate. Plus, a small-sample-size segment on Andre Drummond.

Here are links to what was discussed this week: