Week 24 recap and Roze's 5 Things

Standings 

Eastern Conference

1. Cleveland Cavaliers 62-15
2. Boston Celtics 57-20
3. New York Knicks 49-28
4. Indiana Pacers 46-31
5. Milwaukee Bucks 43-34
6. Detroit Pistons 43-35
7. Orlando Magic 38-40
8. Atlanta Hawks 36-41
9. Chicago Bulls 36-42
10. Miami Heat 35-43
11. Toronto Raptors 28-50
12. Brooklyn Nets 25-52
13. Philadelphia 76ers 23-55
14. Charlotte Hornets 19-59
15. Washington Wizards 17-60

Western Conference

1. Oklahoma City Thunder 64-13
2. Houston Rockets 51-27
3. Los Angeles Lakers 47-30
4. Denver Nuggets 47-31
5. Golden State Warriors 46-31
6. Minnesota Timberwolves 46-32
7. LA Clippers 46-32
8. Memphis Grizzlies 46-32
9. Dallas Mavericks 38-41
10. Sacramento Kings 37-40
11. Phoenix Suns 35-42
12. Portland Trail Blazers 34-44
13. San Antonio Spurs 32-45
14. New Orleans Pelicans 21-56
15. Utah Jazz 16-62

Reaction 

In the Eastern Conference the Cavaliers stay in front of the Celtics with them and Knicks holding in their 2nd and 3rd seeds just like they have for a majority of the season. The Bucks, Pacers, and Pistons have some shake up in the order for 4, 5, and 6 in the East with the Pacers earning home-court against the Bucks for now and the Pistons visiting the Knicks in the first round. The play-in in the Eastern Conference has been clinched as the Magic, Hawks, Bulls, and Heat will play against each other a day after the season ends. The Raptors, Nets, 76ers, Hornets, and Wizards will all end up in the lottery. 

In the Western Conference the Thunder has clinched the top spot in the West while the Rockets have separated themselves as the 2nd seed. The Lakers jump into the 3rd seed with an impressive win against the Thunder on Sunday. The Rockets have also clinched themselves a play-off spot as they will avoid the play-in.  The Nuggets stay in the 4th seed while the Warriors have moved into the 5th spot. The Timberwolves get themselves out of the play-in and have the easiest remaining schedule for the season. It'll be a good chance for Minnesota to get out of the play-in. The Clippers and Grizzlies stay in the play-in for now. Memphis has been 2-8 in their last 10 games and have won one game since their coaching change. The Mavericks and Kings will both likely be in the 9th and 10th spots in the West. The Suns, Blazers, and Spurs all still have a chance to make the play-in, but it's likely neither of those teams will make it. The Pelicans and Jazz will end up in the lottery. 

News Recap 

Monday, March 31st

Kevin Durant will miss at least another week with a left ankle sprain. 

P.J. Tucker has signed a two-year deal with the New York Knicks. 

Wednesday, April 2nd 

Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lorie, and Glen Taylor have agreed in principle to complete the sale of the Timberwolves for 1.5 billion dollars. 

Carmelo Anthony will be inducted into the 2025 Hall of Fame class. 

Joel Embiid underwent surgery on his left knee. 

Thursday, April 3rd

Tyrese Maxey will miss the rest of the season with a finger injury. 

Roze’s 5 Things

• Zaccharie Risacher the ROTY?

Risacher had a rough start the season, but towards the end of his rookie campaign, he’s shown flashes of being a very good NBA player and solidifying the reason why he was the number 1 overall pick. He’s all but booked his post on the first-team all-rookie, but he’s also making a charge for the ROTY of the race. His last 10 games have seen him average 16 points per game, 2nd amongst rookies in that stretch, and shoot 48.5% from 3. The underrated part of Risacher’s game is the off-ball movement. He’s a willing and high-IQ cutter, along with being able to read how defenses are playing him. He’s been able to adjust to being overplayed when he’s hit a couple of shots, and he’s been cutting right when Young makes his drives as well. Make no mistake, Stephon Castle is the leader in the clubhouse right now for Rookie of the Year, but Risacher is pushing him until the very end.

2. What did we just witness for Jokic?

I don’t like to put individual performances on here, but when someone has a 60-point triple-double, it earns some love. Jokic’s ability to consistently make the right play might be the valuable trait in the entire NBA at this point. He’s never rushed and always seems to have a plan for how defenses will play him. He doesn’t force shots, but at the same time, if Jokic feels like he needs to score, he does. It’s impossible to cover 1-on-1 with his size at the rim. He’s a +40% three-point shooter on top of shooting +60% from inside 14ft. The MVP race this year is impossible to go wrong with, and it seemed like this was Jokic’s final statement. 

3. Hello, Deni Avdija

A lot of talk on the timeline this week has revolved around who won the Blazers-Wizards trade from last off-season that involved Deni Avdija and now selected Bub Carrington. Let’s, in part, because both are playing well, with Carrington showing flashes, but Avdija has been an animal over the last month. In March, Avdija has averaged 24.7 points on 51.8% shooting and 46% from 3 on 7 attempts a game. He’s become incredibly challenging to guard and stay in front of on his drives. And shooting has come along over the last half of this season for him. He’s becoming more confident shooting pull-up; he’s taking  2.3 per game and shooting 43.5% on him. He’s a match-up nightmare in transition with his physicality and his change of speed, using the deceleration move when he goes into his shot. It’s given Blazers fans a lot of hope, and they should as next year should be exciting for the franchise in Portland. 

4. Will OG Anunoby miss?

Jalen Brunson has missed a lot of time recently for the Knicks, and it’s allowed Thibs to discover the player Anunoby is. His shooting has taken off in his last 10 games. He’s scoring 26.3 points per game and shooting 53.2% from the field and 40.8% from 3. He’s been hyper-efficient as he’s playing more on the ball in the half-court and has been tasked with initiating the offense at times. Overall, I think it’s an important part for the Knicks, given they’ve leaned on Brunson and Towns for the majority of the season. Having Anunoby play at this level and also including Mikal Bridges could be the difference between a first-round exit and a conference finals run. 

5. Do the Knicks have a depth problem?

The refusal of Thibs to use the bench is something that has plagued him his entire coaching career. Mikal Bridges came to Thibs recently asking if he could play the bench more and back off on the minutes for the starters. A very interesting request, given Bridges seemingly plays every single game possible. It's worth looking into because the point of the Knicks roster was to play the bench, and they average the fewest bench minutes and points of any team so far this season. Leading into the playoffs could cause an issue, given the injuries they had last year, and they seemingly ran out of gas against the Pacers in the conference semi-finals. It’s interesting looking at it as if the Knicks don’t get to the 2nd round of the playoffs, Thibs could be out the door.