Doncic Corleone beat Tank 5-4 without leading until the weekend. Tank led after each of the first four days, 7-2 after Tuesday 20 Oct and still 5-4 after Friday 23 Oct. Doncic Corleone went ahead on Saturday 24 Oct, kept it through Sunday 25 Oct, and the category that settled it was steals, 49 to 47.
Doncic Corleone's comeback was led by Luka Dončić. He averaged 34.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.0 assists over three games and saved his best for Sunday 25 Oct: 52 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists and 8 threes. Keyonte George had his best game the same day, 24 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, and finished at 21.7 points and 8.3 assists a game on 54% shooting. Paolo Banchero played two games and made them count: 49 points on 70% from the field, with 35 points and 10 assists on Wednesday 21 Oct.
The steals came from all over the roster. Michael Porter Jr. had 9 steals in three games, 3.0 a game against a projected 1.0, to go with 21.3 points a game and 28 on Saturday 24 Oct. Ajay Mitchell added 8, and Luka Dončić and VJ Edgecombe chipped in 5 apiece. Tank kept it close: Kawhi Leonard, Jonathan Kuminga and Cason Wallace had 7 steals each.
Doncic Corleone's biggest win was on the glass, 235 rebounds to 173. Derik Queen had 25, VJ Edgecombe 24 and Josh Giddey 19. Giddey's rebounds and his 8.3 assists a game still counted, as Doncic Corleone also took assists 152 to 121, though both were under his projection. His scoring fell furthest: 5.7 points a game on 27% shooting, against a projected 18.5. Across his whole line no player in the league fell further below expectation, which makes him the week's biggest underperformer, on a team that won anyway.
Tank's best player across the week was Ty Jerome. He scored 45 on Wednesday 21 Oct and averaged 34.7 points a game on 56% shooting, against a pre-season projection of 20.5. Measured against what was expected of him, no player in the league had a bigger week. Tyler Herro added 23.7 points a game, including 34 on Friday 23 Oct, and Naz Reid hit 12 threes in three games as Tank won threes 74 to 64.
Tank's shortfalls were mostly up front. Nikola Jokić had only two games and shot 40% against a projected 58%, even with 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists on Saturday 24 Oct, the day Doncic Corleone went ahead. Mitchell Robinson pulled down 7 rebounds in two games against a projection of 11.1 a game, and Nikola Vučević did not score in his two. On the wing, Jalen Williams averaged 13.7 points against a projected 20.6.
Yahoo credits both teams with 39 games, but four of Tank's were starts that came up empty: Kawhi Leonard, Fred VanVleet, Kyrie Irving and Cameron Johnson each sat out a night they were in the lineup. Doncic Corleone lost two starts that way, so on the floor it was 37 games to 35. Doncic Corleone also left 27 points on the bench; Tank left none.