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Seventh-year swingman Arron Afflalo has scored with volume and efficiency throughout the Orlando Magic's 2013/14 season, averaging 21.9 points on 60.9 percent True Shooting, but in his last five games, he's brought that lethal combination to new heights. In that span, the UCLA product has averaged 23.8 points per game on 72.7 percent True Shooting.
And as the Magic's media-only Twitter account pointed out Monday, Afflalo has scored 20-plus points in each of those games while shooting better than 50 percent from both the field and three-point range. That showing puts him in rare company: according to basketball-reference.com's Play Index, Larry Bird (1986) and Detlef Schrempf (1995) are the only players to string more such consecutive games together since the 1985/86 season, with each player reaching the six-game mark with those numbers.
"The key word for me is just 'efficiency,'" Afflalo said following Sunday's win against the Atlanta Hawks, a game in which he needed just 10 shot attempts to score 21 points. "It's not just about having the ball and getting a lot of shots; it's about taking and making the right shots [and] making the right plays. That's why I've been given that responsibility."
Afflalo can join Bird and Schrempf with another strong performance Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors, but it'll be a challenge: according to NBA.com/stats, the Warriors rank fourth in defensive efficiency, allowing just 98.5 points per 100 possessions.
