We’ve reached the midway point of the 2014-15 season, and with 41 games in the rear-view mirror, we’re beginning to gain greater context for the statistical trends we’ve observed thus far. Let’s take a look at some of the more interesting ones as of late…

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Offense

• Over Nerlens Noel’s last eight games, he’s averaging 10.0 points per game, up from 7.6 over the first 30 contests of the season. During that stretch, he’s seen his efficiency in the restricted area rise from 52.3% to 66.7%; he’s converted 12 dunks (1.5 per game) during that span compared to 28 in the 30 games prior (0.9 per game). Check out Noel’s shot chart over his last eight (and hover over it to see what it looked like over his first 30):

• Henry Sims has developed into one of the better midrange shooting big men in the NBA, converting on 43.8% of the 3.5 he attempts per game. For comparison, Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka, one of the league’s best midrange shooters at the forward position, is shooting 43.7% on 4.8 attempts per game from that area of the floor this season.

• In two seasons, 72 games, and 1,577 total minutes at Syracuse, rookie Jerami Grant attempted just 20 three-pointers, converting six of them. As a pro, he’s looked to extend his range in order to make himself a more viable option at both forward positions, and it’s showed in recent games. In his last six outings, he’s made nine of the 16 threes he’s attempted, good for a 56.3% conversion rate; he’s 4-for-4 from the corners and 5-of-12 from above the break. In the 20 games prior, he’d converted just four of the 21 threes he’d taken (19.0%).

• Of players who take 5.0 or more threes per game this season, Robert Covington ranks 10th in conversion rate, making 39.2% of his attempts from deep. Among those 10, Covington is fifth in catch-and-shoot three-point percentage, knocking down 42.7% of such attempts. Here’s a look at his shot chart this season (note that his range extends into the text on the far left of the image):

Defense (The Nerlens Noel Edition)

• Nerlens Noel currently ranks 12th in the NBA in blocked shots, at 1.6 per game. Over the past five seasons, only Anthony Davis has ranked higher (11th at 1.8 blocks per game). Over the past 20 games, Noel has averaged 1.9 per game. Brook Lopez is the last rookie to rank in the top 10 in blocks, doing so in 2008-09 with 1.9 per game (eighth).

• Noel is averaging 1.6 steals per game this year and is one of just five players 6'11" or taller in the past 20 years to hit that mark. He’s also one of just eight players in the past 10 years at any height to average at least 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game.

• He ranks sixth in the NBA in rim protection, holding opponents to a 47.5% conversion rate on shots at the basket that he defends.

• Perhaps most impressively, Nerlens Noel ranks fifth in the league in defensive box +/-, a measure of a players' effect upon an opponent’s points per 100 possessions. Noel decreases that number by 3.4 points for every 100 possessions that he’s on the floor. As pointed out in a recent piece by Chris Barker for isportsweb, he’d become the youngest player in NBA history to record a DBPM of 3.0 or greater while playing over 1,000 minutes if that holds. For context, 13 of the 32 players who’ve won the Defensive Player of the Year award have posted a DBPM below 3.4, including Dikembe Mutombo in 2000-01 (2.8).

*All shot charts courtesy of StatMuse.com