Rookie Rankings Jabari Parker Bojan Bogdanovic both play well in showdown

Did you watch the Bucks-Nets game on Wednesday night?

If you didn’t, you missed a good one. Unlike most NBA regular season games, it had a terrific storyline, with ~~power-hungry~~
~~backstabber~~ upwardly mobile coach Jason Kidd returning to Brooklyn for the first time since his ~~failed takeover~~ move to Milwaukee.

And the game was perhaps the best of the young season. Before a somewhat energized crowd, the Bucks and Nets battled into triple overtime. Brooklyn was on a four-game skid and desperately needed a win. Milwaukee’s Brandon Knight had a chance to be the hero, but missed a breakaway layup at the first overtime buzzer. Knight redeemed himself with a tying 3-pointer at the end of the second overtime and the clinching free throws in triple OT.

All this, plus Zaza Pachulia’s head.

But what went somewhat unnoticed was that it also was a matchup of the league’s two best scoring rookies thus far – Jabari Parker of the Bucks and Bojan Bogdanovic of the Nets.

Parker, the second overall pick in the draft, scored a season-high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, adding seven rebounds and two steals. Bogdanovic, a 2011 second-round pick of Miami, scored 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting – including 4-of-11 from deep – and also had seven rebounds. Most important, both players were trusted by their coaches to be on the floor throughout the overtimes.

Until Parker’s performance Wednesday, Bogdanovic had the two highest-scoring games by a rookie this season: He had 22 in both a win over Orlando on Nov. 9 and a loss to Miami on Monday. But Parker has been a bit more consistent. He has eight games where he has scored in double figures while Bogdanovic has just five.

Nevertheless, both are entrenched as starters for their teams and at or near the top of every statistical category among rookies.

The Bucks and Nets play three more times this season – on Feb. 9 and April 12 in Milwaukee and on March 20 in Brooklyn. Hopefully, viewers will be able to ignore Kidd’s oversized ego and Pachulia’s overisized head and take notice of Parker and Bogdanovic, who already are jockeying for Rookie of the Year.

On to the rankings.

1. JABARI PARKER, F, MILWAUKEE: In addition to leading all rookies in scoring (11.8 ppg), he also is second in rebounds (6.1), fifth in shooting (.462), third in steals (1.17), second in free throws (29) and second in minutes (29.8). He is the only rookie with multiple double-doubles thus far and also is doing his thing for a winning team; at 7-5, the Bucks are one of the biggest surprises of the league. That has to count for something. LAST WEEK: 1

2. BOJAN BOGDANOVIC, F, BROOKLYN: We mentioned his inconsistency above, and he did have a 28-minute donut at Portland over the weekend. But he bounced back with 22 and 19 in consecutive games and leads rookies in minutes (31.9), is second in scoring (11.3) and shooting (.470), first in 3-pointers (19) and fifth in 3-point shooting (.373). The Nets have problems right now, but BoBo isn’t among them. LAST WEEK: 4

3. ANDREW WIGGINS, F, MINNESOTA: The only other rookie scoring in double digits at 10.7 points and went for a season-high 20 in last week’s mess at New Orleans. He also had a helpful dozen in Wednesday’s win over New York as Minnesota was missing starters Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic and Thaddeus Young. You know he will be better with established scorers alongside him and an excellent playmaker setting him up. LAST WEEK: 3

4. K.J. MCDANIELS, F, PHILADELPHIA: When a team is tanking as obviously as the 76ers are, you scrutinize every decision they make, such as the one to bring McDaniels off the bench while starting Hollis Thompson. McDaniels is more athletic and a better scorer and defender. Maybe it’s because McDaniels has a potentially lucrative rookie contract, and GM Sam Hinkie is managing his finances through playing time. LAST WEEK: 5

5. NERLENS NOEL, F-C, PHILADELPHIA: He is so long and athletic that he can get 10 and 8 almost by accident, as he did in Wednesday’s loss to Boston. But if you watch him for just one game you realize how far away he is from simply being a reliable offensive option, let alone a star. You also have to wonder why the Sixers insist on giving him catches at the elbow or putting him in pick-and-rolls at the top of the circle, where any smart defender merely backs off. LAST WEEK: 2

6. KOSTAS PAPANIKOLAOU, F, HOUSTON: His shot entirely disappeared with an 0-of-10 over two games, which ironically were both wins. Then his offense returned with eight points and five assists at Memphis and 19 points with six rebounds vs. the LA Lakers, which ironically were both losses. Among first-year players, only Orlando point guard Elfrid Payton is averaging more assists than Papanikolaou (2.9). LAST WEEK: 6

7. SHABAZZ NAPIER, G, MIAMI: He keeps getting minutes, and that’s not going to change with Dwyane Wade on an unannounced “maintenance program.” Napier has scored in double figures in three straight games – only Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers could say that over the same stretch – averaging 12.7 points on 13-of-22 shooting (6-of-14 from deep) with 4.3 rebounds. He also had 11 turnovers in that span. Oops. LAST WEEK: 9

8. JOE HARRIS, G, CLEVELAND: It’s really hard to believe that this guy is the answer to fill out the lineup in crunch time alongside LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and a big man. All he really does is stretch the floor, stand in the corner and shoot threes, which he does pretty well (8-of-20, 40 percent). But right now, he is getting the key minutes over Mike Miller, James Jones and even Shawn Marion. LAST WEEK: NR

9. NIKOLA MIROTIC, F, CHICAGO: The M&M Boys swap in and out of the table, with Mirotic replacing ineffective rookie teammate Doug McDermott. Mirotic didn’t look like much of a candidate, either, amassing three points and three rebounds in 27 minutes over five games. But he had his best game of the season with 12 points, seven boards and two assists in the road win over the Clippers. LAST WEEK: NR

10. DANTE EXUM, G, UTAH: The numbers aren’t great, but the Australian teenager is getting better. Exum had his best game of the season in Wednesday’s win over Oklahoma City, knocking down three 3-pointers and handing out five assists without a turnover. He has precocious playmaking skills (2.7 apg) and is shooting 35 percent from the arc, which is why he averages nearly 19 minutes per game. LAST WEEK: NR