Teams of the week
Can you hear the Thunder?
Three wins for the Thunder this week shows why they have come fourth in the Eastern division. Russel Westbrook was a key part to why they here so good this week (but he’s going to be my player of the week so will go more in depth on his efforts later). Wins against the Lakers, Pistons and Timberwolves, these teams haven’t made the playoffs showing why the Thunder have done so well and that they may be able to put pressure on some of the favourites.
Blast off
The Rockets have been pretty dominant for most of this season and James Harden has constantly been the reason for it. Like the Thunder they also had three wins this week with Harden leading the scoring in all of them. They had there place in the playoffs wrapped up a while ago but still have carried on good form there after. With how well the Rockets work together and with Hardens consistent scoring record there is no reason why they can’t challenge for the championship this year.
The Golden era is here
This is the first time the Golden State Warriors have made it to my teams of the week since the first blog. 4 games being won this week shows how dominant they have been this week and why they are my favourite to take home the championship this year (providing they don’t throw away 3-1 leads). Easy wins against the Hornets, Nuggets, Lakers and Cavaliers. These are games that they shouldn’t be losing with only the Nuggets managing a playoff place and they haven’t disappointed. Curry, Cousins, Durant and Green are all star players and work extremely well together, providing they all stay fit I believe the championship will be there.
Room for improvement…
Detroit are on the wrong list this week
From some impressive victories last week the Detroit Pistons have had an absolute mare this week. They lost twice to the Pacers and again to the Thunder. It is a shame that they went from such glory last week to just having a horrid time this week. Andre Drummond for me seems Pistons only stand out player and if they are ever going to compete properly then they are going to have to do something to attract a world class variant of players and I personally do not know what that is.
Too hot for the heat
4 losses to for the Heat this week really does just some up there whole season. Two losses in a row to the Celtics and a further two to the Timberwolves and Raptors. These are games that the Miami Heat should be able to at least give a good go at trying to win, but it seems that due to them not getting payoffs they have gave up with the end of there season. Dwayne Wade seems to be the only one that wants to keep trying in his retirement season and its sad to see him go when his team can’t respect him enough to keep trying towards the end of the season. Anyway happy retirement Dwayne Wade.
Would get a bad cut with these Clippers
A win and 2 losses this week has put the Clippers on this list for me. The loss to the non playoff Lakers was enough to put them on the list for me. The Clippers are playoff contenders this year and this week they don’t seem like they are going to be able to compete. There playoff start looks to be against the Golden State Warriors and with them being one of the strongest teams in the NBA it is going to be difficult for the Clippers to overcome and looking at this week they are definitely going to struggle.
Player of the week – IMO
20/20/20 vision. It has go be Russel Westbrook this week. In his game against the Los Angeles Lakers he got 21 points 20 assists and 20 rebounds. He is the second person to achieve this the other being Wilt Chamberlain. This is such as good achievement that I looked no further as you can’t have someone do something in a game that is in the record books and not highlight it. It is actually a fantastic achievement and shows how important Russel Westbrook is for Oklahoma City Thunder and why they will hopefully go far in the playoffs.
References
CBBS Sports. (2019). Happy Thanksgiving Thunder Russell Westbrook is back. [online] Available at: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24846562/happy-thanksgiving-thunder-russell-westbrook-is-back [Accessed 9 Apr. 2019].
ESPN.com. (2019). NBA – National Basketball Association Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings, Rumors – ESPN. [online] Available at: http://www.espn.com/nba/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2019]. – This reference for all statistics
Garcia, B. (2017). James Harden Joins Michael Jordan As Only Players With This Remarkable Stat Line In Last 30 Years. [online] ClutchPoints. Available at: https://clutchpoints.com/rockets-news-james-harden-becomes-first-player-since-michael-jordan-to-record-unique-triple-double/ [Accessed 9 Apr. 2019].
Ryan's Basketball Blog 