Monday, Feb. 29: Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker dunks in the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wis. Parker scored a career-high 36 points as the Bucks beat the Rockets 128-121.
If you haven't been paying attention, Jabari Parker has found his game and emerged as a consistent scoring threat for the Milwaukee Bucks in the second half of the season.
Before the All-Star Game, Parker, who was drafted No. 2 overall in the 2014 NBA Draft but missed most of his rookie season after tearing an ACL, has scored 20 or more points just once -- 22 at Washington on Jan. 13. But Parker came out of the break on fire, with 23 points vs. Charlotte and then 28 at Atlanta. He had a career-high 36 points on Feb. 29 vs. Houston and has topped 20 points 10 times (in 24 games) since the All-Star break entering Friday's contest in Boston.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Parker has the largest scoring increase in Bucks history when comparing averages before and after the All-Star break.
LARGEST PPG INCREASE AFTER ALL-STARK BREAK IN BUCKS HISTORY
| Player | Season | PPG pre-break | PPG post-break | Difference |
| Jabari Parker | 2015-16 | 11.3 | 19.2 | 7.9 |
| Brad Lohaus | 1992-93 | 6.1 | 13.7 | 7.6 |
| Junior Bridgeman | 1978-79 | 12.9 | 20.4 | 7.5 |
| Vin Baker | 1993-94 | 10.6 | 17.5 | 6.9 |
| Gary Brokaw | 1974-75 | 4.5 | 11.1 | 6.6 |
Parker and the Bucks have faced Boston one time since the All-Star break, back on Feb. 22. He had 22 points in that game.
Speaking of playing the Celtics, Milwaukee center Greg Monroe has the best field-goal percentage vs. Boston than any other active player.
CAREER FG% VS. CELTICS, ACTIVE PLAYERS
| Player | FG% |
| Greg Monroe | 58.2 |
| Amar'e Stoudemire | 56.9 |
| Boris Diaw | 55.4 |
| Udonis Haslem | 55.3 |
| Elton Brand | 53.7 |
Thanks to players like Parker and Monroe, the Bucks get a lot of their points from near the basket. In fact, 50.9 percent of Milwaukee's points this season have come inside the paint, which is the fifth-highest percentage in the NBA since the 2000-01 season.
Other notes:
-- The Bucks are shooting 46.6 percent from the field this season which ranks fifth in the NBA.
-- Boston's Amir Johnson has a career 61.3 percent field-goal percentage vs. Milwaukee, which is the second-highest among active players.
-- The Celtics have seven players averaging 9.0 or more points per game, tied for most in the NBA with Memphis. Milwaukee has six such players.
Statistics courtesy STATS Inc.
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