Week 22 recap and Roze's 5 Things

Standings

Eastern Conference 

1. Cleveland Cavaliers - 57-14
2. Boston Celtics 51-19
3. New York Knicks 44-26
4. Indiana Pacers 41-29
5. Milwaukee Bucks 40-30
6. Detroit Pistons 40-32
7. Atlanta Hawks 34-36
8. Orlando Magic 33-38
9. Chicago Bulls 31-40
10. Miami Heat 29-41
11. Toronto Raptors 24-46
12. Philadelphia 76ers 23-47
13. Brooklyn Nets 23-48
14. Charlotte Hornets 18-52
15. Washington Wizards 15-55

Western Conference 

1. Oklahoma City Thunder 58-12
2. Houston Rockets 46-25
3. Denver Nuggets 44-27
4. Los Angeles Lakers 43-27
5. Memphis Grizzlies 43-28
6. Golden State Warriors 41-30
7. LA Clippers 40-30
8. Minnesota Timberwolves 41-31
9. Sacramento Kings 35-35
10. Phoenix Suns 34-37
11. Dallas Mavericks 34-37
12. Portland Trail Blazers 32-39
13. San Antonio Spurs 30-39
14. New Orleans Pelicans 19-53
15. Utah Jazz 16-56

Reaction 

In the Eastern Conference the Cavaliers hold onto the top spot, however they snapped their 4-game losing streak today they drop behind the Thunder for the league's best record. The Celtics and Knicks stay in the 2nd and 3rd seeds, while the Pacers jump the Bucks amidst Milwaukee's recent struggles. The Pistons keep pace staying in the 6th seed. The Hawks and Magic keep pace ahead of the Bulls are the 7th and 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, while the Bulls and Heat drop into the 9th and 10th place spots. The Raptors stay in 11th while the Nets drop below the 76ers for the 12th and 13th spots in the East. the Hornets and Wizards remain in the 14th and 15th place spots. 

In the Western Conference the Thunder overtake the Cavaliers for the league's best record, while the Rockets jump into the 2nd seed with their 9-game winning. The Nuggets and Lakers hold the court home in the first round of the playoffs while the Grizzlies drop back to 5th as they've lost their last 3 games. The Warriors hold onto the 6th seed, while the Clippers jump the Wolves with their 5-game win streak for home court in the play-in. The Wolves sit 8th, while the Kings and Suns round out the play-in. The Mavericks drop below the Suns for the 11th spot while the Blazers keep pace ahead of the Spurs for 12th. The Pelicans and Jazz round out the 14th and 15 spots in the West. 

News Recap 

Monday, March 17th 

Paul George will the rest of the season with adductor and knee injuries. 

Tuesday, March 18th 

Corey Kispert will miss the rest of the season with a thumb injury. 

Domantas Sabonis will miss at least 10 days with an ankle sprain. 

Thursday, March 20th 

Bill Chisholm brought the Celtics for 6.1 billion dollars for a majority stake in the team. 

Saturday, March 22nd

Tre Jones will miss some time with a foot injury. 

The Warriors sign Kevin Knox to a deal for the rest of the season. 

Brandon Clarke will miss the rest of the season with a PCL injury. 

Jalen Brunson will miss at least another week with an ankle injury he is dealing with. 

Roze’s 5 Things 

• The Art of the Tank 

Tanking is always going to happen in the NBA. Teams want to get the best draft pick possible for the future. Having a top 3 pick in the NBA draft could lead to being able to select a generational player to help turn the franchise around. The NBA is littered with amazing prospects that have gone 1 overall in their drafts. So what’s the art of the tank? It is pretty easy, be bad. However, recently the NBA implemented a player playing policy so teams are punished if it becomes clear they are setting their best players with the hopes of losing the game to improve their draft selection. The Utah Jazz were recently fined $100,000 for resting Lauri Markkanen when he was healthy. So it isn’t so much a tank, but rather an ethical tank, a team that plays hard, but just doesn’t have the talent to win some of the games they are playing in. The Wizards come to mind because the roster doesn’t have one guy on it that you would want to build around in all honesty. The same could be said for the Jazz. The Nets are in a precarious position as they desperately need a franchise star, but they’ve been winning too many games more than likely to get a top selection. The flattened lottery odds make it so that having a bottom 4 record gives teams an equal shot at gaining the number 1 overall pick. The tank is something fans can root for or against, but many franchises choose to tank once it’s obvious they won’t be able to make the playoffs or make a deep run in the postseason. 

• The Wizards rookies are here.

The Wizards are evil, partly because they are playing a ton of rookies and younger players, along with not having a star player worth building around. However, this is nice for Washington because the younger guys gain valuable experience that they can use later in their careers. While it’s not been a good season by any means for Washington (League worst 106.1 offensive rating and -11.6 net rating). However, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, and Kyshawn George have shown some improvement of late. In terms of raw product, Sarr is having the best stretch of his career. He’s averaging 22 points a game in his last 5, highlighted by a 34-point outing against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. He’s connecting on 47.4% of his 3-point shots and has been taking more threes as his season split between 2-point attempts and 3-point attempts is 58/42. Bub Carrington is probably the smoothest of the three players with the ball in his hands. The 19-year-old is one of the youngest NBA players but hasn’t shown his age through his play. The shooting splits aren’t pretty (39.7% from the floor and 33% from 3), but these are typically rookie struggles. The mid-range shots are pretty and his pick-and-roll reads are good as well. He’s got a turnover percentage of 15.7% in pick-and-rolls when he’s the ball-handler. Kyshawn George is another intriguing prospect for the Wizards, similar to Carrington shooting numbers aren’t eye-popping (36.8%, and 30% respectively), however, the defense is solid. He’s a good size for a wing and can guard multiple positions when on the floor. His overall defensive field goal percentage is 42.7% with him giving up just 56.5% from 6 feet or less. The Wizards have a nice core and they’ll look to build off of it in this year’s draft. 

• Clippers are fun

The Clippers have found their stride in the last 2 weeks with them boasting a 128.7 offensive rating while maintaining a 106.2 defensive rating. While the competition hasn’t been great the Clippers are still making quick work of the opponents. Noticeably James Harden and Kawhi Leonard have picked up their level of play. Harden is averaging 26 points a game on 44% from the floor and 40% from 3. Leonard is averaging 26 points per game on 60% shooting from the floor and 58% from 3. Leonard has looked good since returning from the knee injury he dealt with in the offseason. It is very impressive what these two older players have done in their seasons. Leonard in particular is a player that could make a huge difference in the postseason, pair that with Harden’s pace and game manipulation, along with the defense and genius of Ty Lue the Clippers can be dangerous come the postseason. 

• Can the Wolves rely on Randle in the postseason?

Julius Randle has looked really good since returning from injury a couple of weeks ago. He’s averaging 17 points a game on 58% from the field and 43% from 3. He’s also averaging 5 assists a game. However, the main question is can the Wolves rely on him in the postseason? Randle hasn’t exactly shown his playoff prowess throughout his career with subpar outings through a majority of his career, but he also hasn’t played with a player quite like Anthony Edwards. In the non-Edwards minutes this season the Wolves are +92 in 971 minutes, not a terrible number, but it’s clear the second unit goes through lulls with Anthony off the floor. This is where Randle steps in. His playmaking is better than advertised and his ability to cause problems for defenses with his size and shot making. Most teams would focus solely on Edwards, but hopefully, Randle can provide some sort of assistance. The regular has been up and down for the Wolves, but they’ll be hopeful to turn it around for the postseason and return to the Western Conference finals and beyond. 

• Malik Beasley’s insane shooting season

It can’t be stated enough, but Malik Beasley seemingly hasn’t missed the entire season. He’s shooting 42% from 3 on 9.3 attempts in just 27 minutes a game. He is by in large having one of the great all-time shooting seasons in NBA history. The advanced stats back it up as well, he’s shooting 43.7% on 7 catch-and-shoot attempts a game. He’s also shooting 38% on 2.4 pull-up threes a game as well. The movement and ability to raise over guys and hit shots has been sensational this season from Beasley. He’s averaging 4 made threes a game while being top 3 in the NBA in made threes while coming off the bench. It can’t be overstated what Beasley has done and the value he’s given the Pistons so far this season.