Week 17-18 recap and Roze's 5 things

Standings

Eastern Conference 

1. Cleveland Cavaliers 46-10
2. Boston Celtics 40-16
3. New York Knicks 37-19
4. Indiana Pacers 31-23
5. Milwaukee Bucks 31-24
6. Detroit Pistons 30-26
7. Orlando Magic 28-30
8. Miami Heat 26-28
9. Atlanta Hawks 26-30
10. Chicago Bulls 22-35
11. Brooklyn Nets 21-35
12. Philadelphia 76ers 20-36
13. Toronto Raptors 17-39
14. Charlotte Hornets 14-41
15. Washington Wizards 9-46

Western Conference 

1. Oklahoma City Thunder 45-10
2. Memphis Grizzlies 37-19
3. Denver Nuggets 37-20
4. Los Angeles Lakers 34-21
5. Houston Rockets 35-22
6. LA Clippers 31-24
7. Minnesota Timberwolves 31-26
8. Dallas Mavericks 31-26
9. Golden State Warriors 29-27
10. Sacramento Kings 28-28
11. Phoenix Suns 27-29
12. San Antonio Spurs 24-30
13. Portland Trail Blazers 24-33
14. Utah Jazz 14-42
15. New Orleans Pelicans 13-43

Reaction 

In the Eastern conference the Cavaliers extend their lead atop after a rout of the Knicks coming out of the break. The Celtic stay in the second spot before Cleveland while the Knicks and Pacers round out the top 4 teams in the conference. The Buck and Pistons stay in the 5th and 6th spots in the conference with the Pistons extended their lead on the play-in teams. The Magic, Heat, Hawks, and Bulls are all under .500 while in the play-in. The 76ers have dropped from 11th to 12th because the Nets have been playing some unbelievable basketball of late. The Raptors, Hornets, and Wizards round out the bottom again. 

In the Western Conference the Thunder control the top spot coming out of the break. They've held it for a majority of the season. The Nuggets and Grizzlies have been battling for the 2nd seed with the Grizzlies holding a 0.5 game advantage on them. The Lake slide into the 4th seed after the recent slip from the Rockets and their impressive 119-97 win last night versus the Nuggets. Luka looks much more comfortable with the Lakers now. The Rockets and Clippers round out the non-play-in teams. Both the Timberwolves and Mavericks have gained ground on the 6th and hold records of 31-26, while the Warriors and Kings hold the 9th and 10th seeds. The Suns and Spurs are the two teams on the outside of the play-in at the moment. The Blazers are just 1.5 games from the Spurs, 13th, while the Jazz and Pelicans hold down the bottom two spots in the conference. 

News Recap

Tuesday, February 11th 

Brandon Ingram signs a 3-year $120 million extension with the Raptors. 

The Los Angeles Lakers waived Christian Woods. 

Daniel Gafford will miss at least 6 weeks with a grade right knee sprain. 

Wednesday, February 12th 

Herb Jones will be out with a torn rotator cuff for the rest of the season. 

De’Andre Ayton will miss at least a month with a left calf strain. 

Thursday, February 13th 

Markelle Fultz signs with the Kings for the rest of the season. 

Tuesday, February 18th 

Lonnie Walker returns to the NBA and signs with the 76ers on a 2-year $3.7 million deal. 

Wednesday, February 19th 

Bojan Bogdanovic has a foot injury and will miss the rest of the season. He has not played since last season. 

Javonte Green reached a buyout with the Pelicans and will sign with the Cavaliers on the buyout market. 

Thursday, February, 20th 

Bobby Portis has been suspended 25 games for taking a banned substance called Toradol. An alleged mix-up in medication with his assistant led to him taking the wrong medication for an anti-inflammatory treatment. 

The Spurs announced that Victor Wembanyama will miss the rest of the season with Deep Vein Thrombosis. He has a blood clot in his shoulder and will need treatment for at least six months. The Spurs are optimistic that he will return by the beginning of next season. 

The Spurs announced that Greg Popovich will not return to coach the team this year and are unsure if he will coach next season either. Popovich suffered a mild stroke early in the season, Mitch Johnson has been the interim head coach since. 

Roze’s 5 Things

• What team has the most to lose in the 2nd half of the season? 

With the first half of the season coming to a close that leaves some teams with some serious questions to be answered in the 2nd half. The one team to me that has the most to lose is simply, the Philadelphia 76ers. This season for the 76ers has been horrible. Both Joel Embiid and Paul George have missed extended periods. Embiid with his knee issues and how fragile his body is has shown the extension he signed this offseason (3-year $192 million), has been one of the worst contracts in the NBA. Paul George overall has not been a good player for the 76ers, let alone they gave him a 4-year $212 million in the offseason. The 76ers overall outside of those two guys have been mediocre at best. Tyrese Maxey after a slow start has been far and away the best player for the 76ers. Guerschon Yabusele has also been a great addition this season for the 76ers, but outside of those two, it’s been pretty poor. Re-signing Kyle Lowry and bringing in Eric Gordon have proven to be missed and the overall state of the roster is limited in shooting the ball. Now, rookie Jared McCain has a great start to his NBA career, leading the rookies in scoring through 25 games, but suffered a season-ending knee injury. Overall, the ability to pivot off of this season is still there for the 76ers, but it feels like they got started given how many injuries they had early on. Overall, the scariest part is the Thunder are owed the 76ers first-round this season if the 76ers do not pick inside the top 6 of the NBA draft. However, at the beginning of the season, I don’t think many people would’ve predicted the 76ers picking in that spot if they were. 

• What team had the most to win in the 2nd half of the season?

Two teams come to mind for this, the Pistons and Rockets, ultimately I think it is the Pistons. The expectations were low and they’ve played far above those that were set for them. Cade Cunningham earned his first career NBA All-Star appearance and has been arguably one of the best point guards in the NBA this season as well. Many people questioned the size of the rookie extension the Pistons gave Cunningham last season, but I didn’t hesitate for a second. He’s the kind of player that shifts an entire franchise. On top of Cunningham’s improvement, the influx of veteran players such as Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Tobias Harris has proven to help the young guys out on both ends of the floor. They’ve bought into the J.B. Bickerstaff concepts on defense and with Cunningham’s offensive leap the Pistons are in the mix for the playoffs after not sniffing them in the prior seasons. The reason why I think they have the most to win is because they didn't make any trades in trying and speed up the timeline of the team. They (the front office) are going to let them play it out this year. Making the playoffs is a bonus and anything after that is the gravy. 

• Edward being a playmaker is going to take time.

It’s no secret Anthony Edwards does not like to be double-team he’s made it known in the post-game media sessions he does not like to be doubled and wants to score and that he is wired to score All these things can be true, but the great players are the ones that develop this skill over time. Edwards demolished the postseason last year and took the league by storm with his explosive play and loud shot-making. However, this season has been different for Edwards. The finishing at the basket is a tick down, and while the 3-point shooting is awesome, it hasn’t translated to him becoming a more complete scorer. The hole in Edwards's game right now is how to handle and punish teams who double-team him. The pocket passes at times are a touch slow. The cross-court passers aren’t as common as they are available. This is going to take time. Edwards is still just 23 years old and it’s something he’ll need to adjust to as teams prepare more comprehensive scouting reports on him. 

• Can the Lakers win it all?

The Lakers are coming off a very impressive win against the Nuggets the other night and it’s clear Luka Doncic is now comfortable with his new team. He scored 16 points in the first quarter, but more noticeably he took 9 shots. Luka’s shots were also very difficult and challenging shots, ones that he takes when he’s feeling good about his game, and it’s a clear sign he’s settled in. His head coach JJ Redick said he was waiting for a game where there’s a blackout Doncic. A sequence he which he gets going to the part after he torches the team he’s playing against he screens in excitement or fear. He had that episode last night in the rout of the Nuggets. The lineups of four wing players that can defend and shoot around Luka are the ones that will give teams the most trouble in the playoffs when Doncic is playing like this. It was very impressive to watch his 32-point, 10-rebound, 7-assist, and 4-steal game against the Nuggets last night. Like I’ve said in the past playing this level of Luka Doncic with the players he has around him is a team no one in the NBA wants to see come April, May, and June. 

5. Chet looks fun next to Hartenstein

The Thunder have not had both big men Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren for almost the entire season, however, at the trade deadline, Holmgren returned from his hip injury making it the first time both bigs had been available at the same time this season. The result is exactly what we believed in the off-season a dynamic and ruthless team on both ends of the ball with size and speed all over the floor. In the 64 minutes that both players have been on the food this season. The Thunder have a defensive rating of 98.5 and an offensive rating of 123.4, marking a net rating of +25 points per 100 possessions with those two on the floor together. It’s like we all believe it to be in the offseason. Holmgren has mostly played on the perimeter, while Hartenstein is in the paint. I think it’ll take a little while for Holmgren to settle in offensively after the long layoff, but he has the next 25 or so games to do that. On the defensive end of the floor. Thunder has used Holmgren as a roamer so far when both are on the floor as well. Hartenstein has often taken the center position on defense and guarded it well, while Holmgren can roam and clean up anything under the basket that Hartenstein can’t get to. The last 25-30 games of the season will be used to experiment for the head coach Mark Daigneault with these two in the lineup together.