The football season is finally over and with five weeks before March Madness sets in, NBA is king right now. Outside of Lakerland (the NBA’s equivalent to Jets camp), here are 7 weekly tidbits, starting with the biggest story, the Boston Celtics.
When Rajon Rondo went down the C’s were 20-23, the 8th seed, and desperation was setting in. Since then, the C’s are 6-0. (And actually, on Jan 7 the C’s beat the Knicks at MSG without Rondo too, so that is 7 in a row without Rondo.) It is quite remarkable that Boston continues to win without their best player (as well as backup big man Jared Sullinger). So the big question is, are the Celtics better without Rondo? They lost their last six games that he played and they’ve won their last seven that he hasn’t been active. Short term, in limited doses, the rest of the team can rally around this with a sense of urgency. Role players have a new opportunity to step up and show that they deserve more time. A couple weeks ago the Hawks had lost six in a row, were facing the Nets who had won 7 in a row, and they were missing suspended Josh Smith, one of their best players. They blew out the Nets. But over the long term, Rondo is one of the top point guard generals in the NBA and the Celtics will not be able to maintain this for the next thirty games.
The C’s have been streaky all year. Before this streak they had lost 6 in a row, and before that they won 6 in a row. Prior to that run they lost 8 of 10. The streaks tend to correspond with home/road trips. Coming up, the Celtics have a run playing 9 out of 11 games on the road. My prediction: on March 11 the Boston Celtics will be 30-32 and back in the 8th seed.
1. Warriors. It was a rough couple days for the Golden State Warriors, especially on defense. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Warriors played in Houston and Oklahoma City, gave up 259 points, allowed over 50% shooting both games, and got outscored by 52 points.
2. Grizzlies. Last week Memphis was 29-15, the 4th seed, and had one of the best balanced teams in the NBA. Then they traded Rudy Gay, have gone 1-3, and if they lose tonight to the Warriors they will be sitting in the #6 spot.
3. Nuggets. Has anyone had as impressive a season as Denver? By the New Year the Nuggets had played 22 of 32 games on the road and still managed to survive above .500, including wins at Golden State, Memphis and Indiana. The 2013 Nuggets have had nearly all their games in Denver but have still had a tough schedule with ten games against currently playoff-seeded teams. They’ve won nine of those, including six among their current eight game winning streak. Can you even name Denver’s best player?
4. Nets. With 2:33 left in the game, Nets had an 83-82 lead over the Lakers on Tuesday night in Brooklyn. Even without Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, and Metta World Peace the Lakers scored the next and last 10 points. And Kobe did this. Deron Williams and Joe Johnson disappeared, and had Gerald Wallace also disappeared Brooklyn would have been better off. It was the Nets worst loss of the season.
5. Clippers. On January 20, the Clippers had the NBA’s best record at 32-9. Starting in the next game, when Chris Paul reaggravated his bad knee and was obviously compromised (1-7, only 4 points, hasn’t played since) the “other team in L.A.” lost 7 of 9 games, including games to the Wizards, Raptors, and Suns. It makes it hard to disagree that Chris Paul is one of the most valuable players in the NBA.
6. Wizards. Speaking of them, is any team more unpredictable and inconsistent than the one on D.C.? The Wizards started 0-12 and are now 0-6 this season against the Bobcats, Cavaliers and Kings, yet they have wins over the Clippers, Knicks, Bulls, Nuggets, Thunder, Hawks, and Heat. Including the 25-24 Blazers, nine of Washington’s thirteen wins are against teams over .500. Look out Brooklyn.
7. Heat. Well, this is actually a LeBron James note. In a stretch of three games from the 4th quarter in Toronto, against the Bobcats, and the 1st quarter against the Rockets, James took 21 shots and made 20 of them. And replays show on the one he missed Bismack Biyombo clearly fouled him three times.
Last season LeBron had the highest Player Efficiency Rating (PER) in NBA history; this year he could be even better. After last year’s career best in field goal and three-point percentage, he’s now shooting even 25 points higher inside the arc and 46 points higher beyond. He’s also on pace for career-bests in rebounds and fewest turnovers. He’s a shoe-in for his fifth MVP in six seasons. However, his free throw shooting is his lowest in six years. At least we know he’s still mortal.
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