1
|
Cavaliers
|
You never want to look too far ahead, but the Cavs could easily be 15-0 by the time they square off with the Celtics in an NBA Cup matchup next Tuesday. Please give this to us, basketball gods. Cleveland’s offense has sputtered of late (relatively), but they’ve locked down when necessary to pull out some close wins. Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell have been lights out in crunch time, and the Cavs have a preposterous plus-71 net rating in six clutch games.
|
—
|
13-0
|
2
|
Warriors
|
Getting manhandled by the Cavs aside, the Warriors are playing a brilliant brand of basketball on both sides of the floor. Steph Curry stole the show on Klay Thompson’s return to the Bay, and he loved every second of it. The deep rotation is working for now, and don’t overlook the Defensive Player of the Year-level performance Draymond Green has put up so far this season.
|
—
|
9-2
|
3
|
Thunder
|
Ugh. With the start OKC is off to, the last thing you want to see is a major injury. Chet Holmgren landed hard on his hip against the Warriors and is now out at least two months, most likely more. That hasn’t stopped the Thunder, who are 2-0 without him despite not playing anything that resembles a traditional big man (Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams are also both out with injuries). Jalen Williams has been outstanding, but you wonder if their utterly dominant defense will fare without their 7-foot-1 rim protector in the middle.
|
—
|
10-2
|
4
|
Celtics
|
Other than a rough home loss to the Trae Young-less Hawks in their NBA Cup opener, the Celtics keep rolling through a regular season that seems like a formality most nights. No. 1 in offense, No. 8 in defense — all is well in Boston.
|
—
|
10-3
|
5
|
Suns
|
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but members of the Suns’ Big Three are dropping like flies, first with Kevin Durant going down for a couple weeks and then with Bradley Beal missing Wednesday’s loss to the Kings. Devin Booker did his best without them, but this team is designed to fit around three stars, and, as we’ve seen, they’re pretty damn good when everyone’s healthy.
|
—
|
9-3
|
6
|
Rockets
|
As long as the injury isn’t serious, it can be a lot of fun when one of the Rockets regulars misses a game. That means we get to see a bigger chunk of minutes from one of the young bench players. This week Tari Eason took advantage of some extra PT, putting up 14.5 points, eight rebounds and two steals per game on 53% shooting. Houston is 8-4 and there’s nothing obviously flukey about it.
|
—
|
8-4
|
7
|
Nuggets
|
I’m sorry, was someone worried about the Nuggets? They’ve won five in a row despite being without Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray for portions of the run. What Nikola Jokic is doing will be studied by basketballogists for centuries to come. His numbers over the winning streak: 29 points, 16 rebounds and 13 assists per game. He does not belong to this world.
|
—
|
7-3
|
8
|
Lakers
|
After a rough road trip, the Lakers have enjoyed the friendly confines of Crypto.com Arena, beating up on three injury-plagued squads to put together a nice little winning streak. In those games, LeBron James broke his own record for the oldest player to put up three straight triple-doubles, averaging 25 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds on 56/43/81 shooting splits. Say it with me: THE MAN TURNS 40 YEARS OLD IN SIX WEEKS.
|
7
|
7-4
|
9
|
Grizzlies
|
Ja Morant is out, which is a bummer, but that means we get to see the continued emergence of Scotty Pippen Jr., who’s averaged 14 points, six rebounds and five assists over the Grizzlies’ last three games on 53/43/80 shooting splits. Jaren Jackson Jr. has picked up the brunt of the offense, putting up 29 points per game over the same stretch without Morant.
|
2
|
7-5
|
10
|
Magic
|
Paolo who? We kid, but the Magic have played an inspired brand of basketball, rattling off four straight wins without their fearless leader. Franz Wagner basically said, “don’t worry guys, I got this,” readily taking on the alpha role with averages of 28 points, six assists and five rebounds during the winning streak.
|
9
|
7-6
|
11
|
Kings
|
This team has to drive Mike Brown’s blood pressure through the roof. This week they beat the Suns twice, but also lost to the Clippers and Spurs. They could easily be 10-2 if they flipped three winnable games in their favor, but that’s the NBA — you’ve got to bring it every night. Malik Monk’s hamstring injury further weakens a bench that’s 26th in the league in scoring.
|
1
|
7-5
|
12
|
Mavericks
|
The Mavs have run into a tough stretch of competition here, losing to three of the league’s best teams by a combined six points. Luka and Kyrie are doing their thing, and it looks like a fire was lit under Klay Thompson in his return to Golden State, where he scored 22 points on 6-for-12 3-point shooting. Jason Kidd doesn’t seem too concerned, but the record is what it is.
|
4
|
5-6
|
13
|
Knicks
|
The Knicks couldn’t finish the job after an incredible comeback on Wednesday against the Bulls, and before the season it would have been hard to imagine this team below .500 11 games in. The defense has been the culprit, and as great as Karl-Anthony Towns has been offensively, opponents are shooting 71% against him at the rim this season. Not exactly the type of rim protection that leads to winning basketball.
|
4
|
5-6
|
14
|
Timberwolves
|
Something about the gloomy northwest skies put a hex on the Wolves, who dropped back-to-back games in Portland against an injury-riddled Blazers squad. Anthony Edwards hasn’t gotten much help of late, as the Wolves have averaged just 100 points during their three-game losing streak.
|
5
|
6-6
|
15
|
Clippers
|
Without Kawhi Leonard and with James Harden shooting 36% from the field, .500 is probably a win for the Clippers at this point in the season. They’ve made up for their offensive shortcomings by being a top-10 defense.
|
2
|
6-6
|
16
|
Spurs
|
Victor Wembanyama’s “sophomore slump” lasted all of about two weeks, and the alien is back up to his old tricks. He became the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to score 50 points in a game (against the Wizards, but still counts!), and over his last four games he’s averaged 30 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks on 54/51/75 splits. Most importantly, the Spurs are 3-1 over that stretch.
|
5
|
6-6
|
17
|
Pacers
|
We’re probably not there yet, but soon we may need to have a discussion about Tyrese Haliburton, who’s shooting 39% from the field this season and 27% (eek) from 3-point range. With how bad their defense is, Indiana basically needs to be a top-five offense to have a chance, and they’re nowhere near that because of how poorly Haliburton has played thus far.
|
5
|
5-6
|
18
|
Pistons
|
Cade Cunningham’s game-winning lefty runner followed by a game-saving block against the Hawks epitomizes the Pistons’ season so far. They’re no longer going to be a doormat, and adding veteran talent like Tobias Harris and Malik Beasley is looking like a positive development. More good news: Ausar Thompson has been cleared to return to the court after dealing with a scary blood clot issue.
|
5
|
5-8
|
19
|
Heat
|
It’s not every day you see a coaching blunder by Erik Spoelstra, and his Chris Webber moment tells you what kind of season it’s been so far for Miami. Tyler Herro has gone bonkers with Jimmy Butler out, averaging 30 points on 52/51/86 splits over the past three games.
|
1
|
4-6
|
20
|
Nets
|
This team plays HARD. Their physical defense gave the Celtics and Cavs fits this week, though Brooklyn was unable to come away with a win against either. Cam Thomas keeps proving his legitimacy as a scorer, averaging 22 points on 47/50/86 splits against top-notch defenses this week.
|
6
|
5-7
|
21
|
Bucks
|
Just when things could seemingly get no worse for the Bucks, Damian Lillard enters the concussion protocol and misses two games. Thank goodness Milwaukee has a superhero named Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led his team to wins in both games and dropped an NBA season-high 59 points in Wednesday’s OT win over the Pistons. Things still aren’t great in Milwaukee, but at least they came up with wins against two teams they absolutely had to beat.
|
5
|
4-8
|
22
|
Bulls
|
It’s weird. The Bulls have a lot of good players who are performing well this season, but the sum of the parts is just … bleh. They have the ability to beat any team on any night, like their win in New York on Wednesday, but the opposite is also true. Strange case, for sure.
|
3
|
5-7
|
23
|
Hawks
|
Atlanta just needed the motivation of the NBA Cup to get its juices flowing, beating the Celtics on their obnoxiously green home floor for the first major upset of the in-season tournament. And they did it without Trae Young, which will undoubtedly resurface the hot takes about whether he’s a winning player. Dyson Daniels, who came over from New Orleans in the Dejounte Murray trade, had 28 points, seven assists and six steals in the win, and is looking like a real jewel for the Hawks’ rebuild.
|
7
|
5-7
|
24
|
Trail Blazers
|
Just when you think the Blazers are destined for the bottom of the standings, they rattle off back-to-back wins over the Timberwolves. To be 5-8 with the league’s second-worst offense can either be smoke-and-mirrors, or a testament to their ability to get timely stops and buckets (third in the league in clutch net rating so far). We’ll see which one it is as the season plays out.
|
4
|
5-8
|
25
|
Hornets
|
LaMelo Ball is averaging almost 30 points, but he’s also taking over 23 shots per game. Is that IDEAL for your point guard? Maybe not, but honestly who cares. This guy is one of the most entertaining players in the league and you’re missing out if you’re not tuning in.
|
3
|
4-7
|
26
|
76ers
|
Forget the record. The big fella is back, at last. Joel Embiid’s return will certainly catapult Philly’s 28th-ranked offense back into relevance, and it will allow Paul George to get back to his more aptly suited second-fiddle role. In the meantime, the 76ers may have found a legit asset in first-round draft pick Jared McCain, who has been a revelation while averaging 28 points and five assists on 48/42/100 splits over his last three games.
|
3
|
2-9
|
27
|
Pelicans
|
The MASH unit carried on with three more losses this week, bringing the overall skid to six. They got Trey Murphy III back (good!), but lost Zion Williamson and Jose Alvarado (bad!) to injuries. Sigh. This isn’t the most recognizable roster at the moment — no offense to Trey Jemison III and Antonio Reeves.
|
3
|
3-9
|
28
|
Raptors
|
It’s bad. Toronto scored fewer than 102 points per 100 possessions over the three losses this week, and Immanuel Quickley made his triumphant return only to suffer a partially torn UCL in his left elbow. Gradey Dick continues to be one of the lone Raptors success stories this season.
|
1
|
2-10
|
29
|
Wizards
|
After scoring 104 points or fewer in each of their previous three games, the Wizards exploded for 130 points against San Antonio on Wednesday. Unfortunately they gave up 139, including 50 to Victor Wembanyama alone. Baby steps, Wizards fans. Baby steps.
|
1
|
2-8
|
30
|
Jazz
|
Any week with a win is a good week for the Jazz, and Lauri Markkanen is back in the lineup. He averaged 15 points, five rebounds and four assists on 39% 3-point shooting in his first three games since the end of October.
|
—
|
2-8
|
