March Madness in the NBA?
In one of the more momentum-altering weekends in recent memory, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame a gauntlet of home and road opponents during this lengthened week, as the King (and presumptuous leader in the MVP race right now) turned back the clock to generate two of the most memorable offensive performances this season.
Dropping 37 on their two defensive superiors in league-best Milwaukee and 28 on their stacked roommates in the Clippers is no easy feat for any 35 year old, and he looked like a freight train going right at Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard in back-to-back games, but it’s looking more and more like these Lakers are the real deal in their second-half dismantling of both teams in the same week. The Clippers lost their first game against the Lakers this year, but are still in relatively good shape to keep their second seed in the West.
The rest of the powers in the league, perhaps, cannot say the same thing, and here’s why: Houston’s small-ball experiment is experiencing a rough patch during their four-game losing streak. Milwaukee has lost three of their last four and may replicate even more misfortune with Giannis being out for a week due to him spraining his knee in the loss to the Lakers. Denver has uncharacteristically dropped three of five. Philly, without Embiid or Simmons, has lost five of their last eight.
And there’s only a full month left. Wild.
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1. Milwaukee Bucks (53-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)
So Milwaukee is human, after all. The best team in the league, and the team that’s clutched that moniker for the whole year, is going through their first skid of the season. Two tough road losses against tough playoff-caliber teams in the Lakers and Heat were out of the blue enough in regards to the dominant mantra stated this year by the Bucks, but a loss to the Phoenix Suns whilst giving up 140 points just isn’t acceptable. Health and preservation of Mike Budenholzer’s stars is the most important thing heading into the second week of March, especially for their MVP that’s scheduled to miss time after spraining his knee in their loss to the Lakers Friday night.
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2. Los Angeles Lakers (49-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)
Beating the Bucks and Clippers in the span of three days should be commendable at least, as Anthony Davis and LeBron James put two shares of the team on their backs to win both games against two franchises that could very well be playing in June. Some history about the Lakers winning five of their last six during this stretch in March: Back in the February of 2009, when the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers beat both best teams in the league that time, the LeBron-led Cavaliers and Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce/Rajon Rondo-led Celtics in back-to-back games, the Lakers won the title. Could lightning strike twice?
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3. Toronto Raptors (45-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)
Toronto finally found a way to end their three-game losing skid with some wins over Phoenix and Golden State just when things were starting to look as if Nick Nurse’s Raps were figured out and set to lose their 2nd spot in the East to the slipping Boston Celtics. Despite all of the injuries sustained to core pieces like Marc Gasol and Fred VanVleet, the team is confiding their offense to run through Norman Powell (who dropped a skillful career-high 37 against Golden State on Thursday), Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry during this recent winning surge.
They maintain a 2.5-game lead over Boston and have clinched a playoff berth for the sixth year in a row with a month left in the regular season.
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4. Los Angeles Clippers (43-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)
It’s no secret that Sunday’s contest with the Lakers wasn’t just another game. Going into Sunday’s contest — the third of four games against the Lakers this season — these Clips, who were 10-0 with all of Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Lou Williams all active and in the rotation on any given night. A rare inconsistent shooting night from Williams, Paul George failing to have anything really drawn up for him in the fourth quarter, and Kawhi Leonard not coming up in the clutch late down the stretch should be something worth overanalyzing, but it’s not the end of the world. The Clippers’ main struggles have been with chemistry and health this season, and as Paul George scored a team-high 31 points, the Clips are definitely accomplishing that goal.
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5. Utah Jazz (41-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)
This is a spot you couldn’t predict the “defensively struggling” Jazz heading into the 21st week of NBA action. Utah has won five straight and looks as dominant as any team in the West right now. They’ve finally found out how to etch Mike Conley Jr. into their rotation, and he has perfectly complimented Donovan Mitchell with his averaged 17 points in the last five games. They needed a soft stretch of five games (with one exception being the Boston Celtics) and Joe Ingles has done well in his role as a sixth man.
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6. Boston Celtics (42-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)
Chalk it up to injuries, but the green hasn’t run that deep for the Celtics, who haven’t started out St. Paddy’s month on the best note. That’s four of Boston’s last five they’ve dropped, all at home, with the lone win this week coming by way of a road win over Cleveland. They started their week by blowing a 17-point to the Brooklyn Nets inside the TD Garden, as Caris LeVert dropped 26 points on them in the fourth quarter against them to force OT. Then, they let him explode in the period of extra hoops for 51 points on the night, while they rolled out a starting five of Carsen Edwards, Grant Williams, Javonte Green, Semi Ojeleye, Brad Wanamaker, and Romeo Langford.
The losses to the Nets and Thunder saw the Celtics fail to protect double-digit leads late in the fourth quarter as Boston blew a 13-point lead to the Thunder just days after their loss to Brooklyn on Sunday. Jayson Tatum only shooting an averaged 40 percent shooting in the month of March (after going ballistic in February with his 49.4 percent shooting) is also hurtful for a Celtics team that suddenly can’t stay healthy.
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7. Denver Nuggets (42-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)
This constant, concurrent theme of the Nuggets suffering from an effort and identity crisis has permeated a majority of the goo that these Nuggets have done all season. They’re just about 1.5 games out of controlling the second seed in the West, but their poor loss to the Cavaliers on Saturday had even Mike Malone question if these Nuggets wanted it bad enough.
“Who are we? And who are we going to be?” Malone said to reporters Saturday. “That’s a decision that we have to really think long and hard about and make that decision because we are not playing as well as we’re capable of, and that’s kind of scary for it to be this time of the season.”
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8. Miami Heat (41-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)
A successful five-game stretch saw the Heat lose only once, as they startled fans and experts alike in their destruction of the Giannis Antetokounmpo-starting Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night in what was one of the best defensive showings of the season. Now at fourth in the East and a full game in the rear of Boston, this team is getting hot at the right time. A nagging toe injury kept Jimmy Butler out of the game against Washington on Sunday, but Miami proved they could get the job done without him as the most unheralded and unpredicted player in the league this season in Duncan Robinson knocked down seven threes in Miami’s 100-89 win.
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9. Oklahoma City Thunder (40-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)
After being shellacked by the double digits in dates with the Bucks and Clippers last week, OKC got back on their high horse with a huge win in Boston in the final 08.5 seconds of the game. Dennis Schroder came up with a huge steal after bringing the help defense on Celtics guard Kemba Walker and sealed the game with a layup after coming away with the takeaway.
And just take a look at the situation at hand: the Oklahoma City Thunder traded Russell Westbrook to the Rockets in a move many speculated as a “tanking” method, and Houston gave them Chris Paul in return. 64 games into the season and the Thunder are now a half-game ahead of the Rockets in the standings at 40-24.
Who knew?
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10. Houston Rockets (39-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)
Speaking of the Houston Rockets…they experienced their worst loss of the season after getting trounced by 20 by the Orlando Magic. And it, literally, was all good just a week ago, as the Rockets have dropped four straight contests that included three-straight losses to sub-.500 teams that have no say in either going deep into the playoffs or making it into the postseason at all. Their abysmal streak of Ls included an embarrasing home outing against the Clippers on Thursday on national television, and now the cracks are starting to show in the Rockets’ small-ball tactic a week after accomplishing a six-game winning stretch.
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11. Dallas Mavericks 39-26, (Last Week’s Ranking: 10)
Disregarding an ugly game for Kristaps Porzingis against the Indiana Pacers in which he only shot 3-of-17 from the field for nine points, the Unicorn finally looked like his old self again this past week in what could be speculated as the best stretch of the Latvian 7-footer’s career that saw him go on a career-best streak of five 20-point, 10-rebound performances. Another signal that Porzingis may be getting even better: in 222 career games before that stretch, Porzingis had a total of eight 25-point double-doubles and only scored 30+ with those double-doubles three times.
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12. Indiana Pacers (38-25, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)
Indiana stays put in this week’s rankings, maintaining a solid spot within the top 15 teams in the league after winning eight of their past 10 games with their only losses to the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in Milwaukee and Toronto. Victor Oladipo is forming back into shape, scoring 14.5 points per game on an averaged 47.6 percent shooting in Indy’s past four games, but he and Malcolm Brogdon are set to miss time due to injuries to their lower extremities.
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13. Philadelphia 76ers (38-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)
At least Philly won their 10th road game of the season, so that’s a positive, right?
Instead of going 2-2 on the back end of their Western road trip, Philly was outscored 36-24 by the Golden State Warriors, who in hours prior to Saturday’s game announced that Stephen Curry was a scratch due to him undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness. For a team that’s so hampered with injuries to their two stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons (since there’s no official timetable for a return for the both of them), coaching and rotational questions are starting to arise in a season that’s manifested a bevy of doubt heading into the final month of the season.
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14. Memphis Grizzlies (32-32, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)
It must feel good to have Jonas Valunciunas back in the starting lineup. The 27-year-old Spanish big man has averaged 17.4 points per game and nearly 16 rebounds while shooting over 71 percent to help the Grizzlies get out of their post-All-Star break slump. Memphis has gone 4-1 in their last five games, and don’t look to be stopping any time soon, now with a commanding 4.5-game over the Pelicans for the final playoff spot in the West.
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15. Brooklyn Nets (29-34, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)
Caris LeVert. That’s it. That’s the sentence.
Despite a turbulent week that was the parting of ways between head coach Kenny Atkinson and GM Sean Mark’s Nets, LeVert has been a sight for sore Brooklyn eyes, as the offense from the backcourt attacked in flurries in both contests against Boston and LeVert was the leader of the charge. Nights after dropping 51 on the Celtics’ heads, he messed around and got his first-ever triple-double at home against the Spurs. However, as they still possess the seventh seed in the Eastern rankings, they have a tough road trip ahead as dates with the Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, and Kings are up next on the schedule.
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16. Orlando Magic (29-35, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)
Orlando is another team that stays still in the weekly rankings, and since they’ve lost two of their last four contests after winning three of four the week before, continue to meander the waters of the playoff race. The Achilles heel of this Magi team has been their inability to generate positive results against the above.-500 teams in the league. Well, that changed with their monstrous 20-point win over the Rockets this past weekend. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep up the momentum against sub-.500 teams this week, as they have the Grizzlies, Bulls, and Hornets up next on the schedule.
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17. New Orleans Pelicans (28-36, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)
Aside from Zion Williamson dominating the paint whenever he sees fit, the Pels have gone an average 2-2 this past week with losses coming by way of Dallas and Minnesota. Still, they were able to knock off Miami and the Timberwolves in the third time they played them this season. A reason for their winning streak as they are only four games out of knocking off the Grizzlies for the eighth seed: Lonzo Ball. He’s become quite confident in his stroke, making 21 of 36 attempts from 3-point range the past four games and is up to 38.3% from long range this season. He and Zion’s chemistry will improve as the games go by, but it’s evident that the tandem will be here to stay for a while if what we’re seeing from them now is this effective.
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18. Sacramento Kings (28-36, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)
The Kings are knotted with the Pelicans for the ninth spot in the Western Conference, and just like the Pels, are four games behind the Grizzlies for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. For a key game that could result in potential playoff positioning, the Kings host the Pelicans in a key game on Wednesday.
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19. Portland Trail Blazers (28-37, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)
Though it didn’t mean much to boost the vitriol of his Blazers, Damian Lillard came back this past week as Portland went 1-2 in winnable game against Phoenix and Sacramento. Though it may be too late, Jusuf Nurkic’s return next week will be an emotionally-packed game against Houston, and for a team decimated with so many injuries, his return next week will signify some hope in the future as they’ll be healthy and ready to go next season if they can maintain their core roster pieces in free agency.
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20. San Antonio Spurs (26-36, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)
The streak of playoff visits since ’97 will likely see it’s end as the Spurs are an even 10 games out of .500, and are on track to have their first losing season since that year. In every season that Gregg Popovich has coached, nearly 47 wins or more have been achieved in each season dating back to the lockout before the 1998-99 season.
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21. Phoenix Suns (26-38, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)
So Sunday happened. After Giannis Antetokounmpo was anounced as out for the Bucks’ game versus Phoenix, The Suns, who are more than likely dropping off their playoff hopes into the bucket of reality, experienced a high point in their season with an upset win over the Milwaukee Bucks as Ricky Rubio had what was probably the best game of his time with Phoenix, dropping 25 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists in the victory. But very quietly, Phoenix’s big accomplishment was during these past couple of weeks, splitting their past 10 games.
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22. Washington Wizards (23-40, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)
The talks of the Wizards sneaking into the playoffs aren’t out of the picture just yet, but it’s looking unlikely since they are a whole six games out of even sniffing the eighth seed, with Orlando leading them by that margin. And for the first time in a while, Bradley Beal wasn’t a game’s leafding scorer in their loss to Washington. He only scored 23 points in the loss to Miami, and that didn’t quite help their chances of making it to the April tournament one bit.
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23. Charlotte Hornets (23-41, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)
If one thing is known to be completely true, it’s that James Borrego is in complete trust of the process and slow grind it will take in order for his Hornets’ chemistry and development of their young pieces. Wins against Houston and two close losses to San Antonio in the game’s waning seconds and Denver signify that the molding of players like DeVonte Graham, P.J. Washington and others into solid player shape is going as scheduled. The duo of Graham and Washington combined for 45 points on an efficient 15-of-23 from the field and 7-of-14 from 3 in their upset win over Western elite Houston.
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24. Chicago Bulls (21-43, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)
While we can assume Jim Boylen’s coaching future with the Bulls is in clear jeopardy, he has done one thing correctly: keep rookie Coby White in his rotation. The North Carolina standout has averaged 25.2 points and 3.7 3-pointers per game since the end of the All-Star break, and looks to be finding his bearings in this league. Prior to the break, he averaged 11.1 points and 1.8 3-pointers in the 55 games he appeared in.
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25. Detroit Pistons (20-45, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)
These down times for Detroit are only opportunities for their young players to experience NBA pace and spacing, so them not winning a game since Feb. 2 is slightly understandable. Christian Wood has been a pleasant surprise so far, averaging 23.3 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game in his last nine games.
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26. Minnesota Timberwolves (19-44, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)
Even without Karl Anthony-Towns, this T’Wolves team resembles some form of entertainment when they take the floor. they were able to go streaking in their two straight wins last week, and haven’t been able to string together wins since Nov. 27. A reason for that abridged entertainment hasn’t just been the play of D’Angelo Russell, but the contributions of Malik Beasley, who has been averaging nearly 22 points and around 5 rebounds in the past 10 games with his new team after being traded from Denver during February’s trade deadline.
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27. New York Knicks (20-44, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)
While RJ Barrett was supposed to be the biggest headline-grabber of the week in the New York press, owner James Dolan had to be the center of attention again during the Spike Lee-Dolan feud that resulted in Lee going on First Take during a weekday, citing mistreatment over a security entrance that the longtime Knicks fan couldn’t enter into.
Other than the soap opera that is the Garden chronicles, new Knicks President of Basketball Operations Leon Rose saw his new job kick off with Barrett going off for 27 points against the Rockets in MSG in one of the biggest upsets of any team this season. The former Duke guard was followed by that Monday night performance with a team second-highest scoring amount of 19 points with 4 rebounds and three assists.
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28. Cleveland Cavaliers (19-45, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)
The rebuilding and re-tooling Cavaliers went 2-2 this week, but picked up a couple of quality wins over Denver and San Antonio as Collin Sexton is starting to show massive improvements to his offensive skillset with his 32 against Utah, 41 against Boston (in losses, nonetheless), and 25 against Denver on Saturday displayed a growing confidence at the NBA level for the former Alabama guard. In their two-point win over Denver, Sexton shot 11-of-19 from the field, dished out five assists and grabbed six rebounds.
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29. Atlanta Hawks (19-46, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)
Atlanta drops six spots when it looked as if they were finally going to make it out of the top 20 for the first time this season. It wouldn’t come to be, as John Collins is now set to miss even more time with a bruised right thigh. Prior to his injury, Collins has put up 13 20-point, 10-rebound games in 39 contests this season, and has done so nine times since Feb. 1.
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30. Golden State Warriors (15-49, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)
Stephen Curry made his much-anticipated return to the hardwood this past Thursday, and while it looked like some rust needed to be shaken off, since ya know, it had been his first NBA burn since October 30 when he broke his left hand. Still, Curry put on a show against the team that knocked off him and his Warriors back in June in the Toronto Raptors, as he was able to score 23 points and go an expected 6/16 from the field (3/12 from three) in the loss to Toronto at home.
Two nights later, the Warriors were able to earn a huge win over the playoff-seeded Philadelphia 76ers 118-114 behind Damion Lee’s 24 points in 23 minutes. The rest of this season will document just how well the rest of the Dubs’ infrastructure meshes with Curry since the final month of the year is more like a tryout to see who will remain on the healthy squad next year that will be compact with Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green leading the troops to battle.
