The NBA is racing to the All -Star Break as the battle of play -off spots strengthens.
It felt the most rapidly at the western conference. With the Golden State Warriors victory on Wednesday night against Oklahoma City Thunder, only four games separated the 11th seed and the fourth seed. It also means that some teams may be a catalyst in which some teams acquired in transactions can push the team into competition prior to the trade deadline on February 6.
In the east, the top three teams (Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Seltics, New York Nix) seem to be well established at the top.
The winners and losers from the 14th week of the NBA season are as follows.
winner
Phoenix Sands is winning. Some problems continue.
The strength of the schedule during this period was not always impressive, but Phoenix has been better than recently and has won nine out of the past 13 games. Therefore, as the team continues to pursue Jimmy Butlers, Sands (24-22) is ranking.
However, Wednesday’s loss on Minnesotatinar Wolves symbolized Phoenix’s problem. The Kevin Durant and Devin Booker were 61 points for 63.2 % shooting, and Bradley Beal added 17 in 25 minutes from the bench. Other Sands Starter -Royce Onhair, Nick Richards, and Thaus Jones combined 7/22 (31.8 %) from the floor. To put it simply, even if the butler enters the organization, the depth and the bench play will continue to be a problem.
Find a potential steal in Miami Heet Lououkel Elware
As Butler missed his time following his third suspension this month, the heat unlocked the potential destroyer in the lineup. The rookie 7 -foot center Keruelware has starred since it was inserted into the starting lineup due to the permanent movement. The 15th general selection has enhanced Miami’s defenses in Paint, and Bam Adebayo slides into a power forward spot, enhancing defense presence.
Ware also offers a simple LOB target at the time of attack and has a space for the floor. He has an average of 16.3 points per game, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game in the past six times. However, during that period, the heat is only 3-3, and the Cavaliers lose on Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trail Blazers, and Wednesday night.
Amen Thompson supports the launch of Houston Rockets.
Most of his careers have widely thought that Amen Thompson, the fourth overall selection of 2023 NBA draft, is a high -energy high passing defense stopper. Its passion was exhibited in the match on December 29 when the heat guard Tyler Hero was thrown into the court and led to the suspension of two games.
However, since Thompson returned to the floor, he was also a very efficient finisher, shooting 56.7 % of the floor and earned 18.5 points per game. More important to Houston is Rockets, 9-2, 11 games played by Thompson since the suspension.
loser
Atlanta Hawks gets worse news because he has already lost his skid
Atlanta was much more muscular throughout the season, but this latest stretch could derail that season. Hawks lost six consecutive games, including two consecutive victories to Torontorapters, and the attacks are confused. In the past six games, Atlanta (22-25) is one of the two teams with an aggressive evaluation of less than 100, an average of 98.4 points per 100 owners. The wizard is 95.6 last.
Jalen Johnson, an emerging star who has the highest career of the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career in the average career on the average career in the average career in the average career in the block (1.6), block (1.6),, block (1.6), block (1.6), block (1.6), block (1.6), block (1.6). We announced that it was worth considering. When he suffered from his dislocation on January 23, his lips were torn.
Denvernagetz stumbled early on the 5 -game road trip
Denver dropped the first three games of the trip and lost Timber Wolves, Chicago Bulls and Knicks. Defense was a problem. Nuggets gave up 133, 129, and 122 points in their defeat.
Due to each loss, Denver allowed the opponent to shoot at least 50 % from the floor. The defense around is particularly careless. Knicks and Timber Urubs each of the 14 attempts of 14, respectively, but the Bulls discharged 24. Each team shot at least 41.2 % beyond ARC. Also, it was not useful that Denver had average 16.3 rotations on each game during this stretch.
Last season, Washington concluded an ignorant franchise record when he lost his first 16 consecutive games set in the 2009-10 season. When Wizard lost 16 consecutive this season, they became the sixth team in the history of NBA to lose at least 16 games in the continuous season.
They may be the first team with two separate 16 games losing streaks in the same season. Raptors routed Washington on Wednesday night, extending the team’s aggressive losing streak to 15 games. In other words, the team has lost 38 games out of the past 42 games.
The wizards are continuous and faces Los Angeleskers (26-19) on Thursday. If they lose it, they must defeat Timber Wolves on Saturdays to prevent 17 consecutive losses franchise records.