Kyrie Irving carried his team’s strong play into the All-Star break and delivered as All-Star MVP.
Note: All records and data are accurate through February 17, 2014.
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| Team | Season Record | Last Week’s Record |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 20-33 | 2-0 |
| Coming into the All-Star break, the NBA didn’t experience much meaningful game action. However, Cleveland took advantage of its two matchups, with one of them being 9th place Detroit, which the Cavs are currently chasing as they both fight for the 8th spot in the East currently held down by the Charlotte Bobcats. Cleveland’s first matchup of the week was at home against the Western Conference’s worst record in the Sacramento Kings. The biggest news of the game was that Anthony Bennett seems to finally be hitting somewhat of a stride after posting career-highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Bennett, who was featured in our Rookie Team of the Week this past week, has been considered by many as one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history after being chosen number one overall and putting up less than subpar numbers over the course of his rookie campaign. However, he and the Cavs handled a struggling Sacramento team that has a great shot at a top 5 pick in this year’s draft.On the next night, the Cavs headed northwest to face the Detroit Pistons, a team they are closing in on for 9th place in the Eastern Conference. Tristan Thompson was relatively quiet until the final quarter, where he scored 14 of his 25 points and the twin towers of Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe had no answer for the big man from Texas. Though undersized (Thompson stands at about 6’9″, 240 lbs compared to 6’11”, 250 lb Monroe and 6’10”, 270 lb Drummond) compared to Detroit’s pair, Thompson had his way offensively in the fourth to help deliver the Cavs their fourth straight win and put them 2.5 games behind Detroit in the standings. The Cavs edged the Pistons by 4 in the game, but a close win against a competitor for the final spot in the East is exactly what they could have hoped for in the final game heading into the break. | ||
| Lottery Spin | ||
| For now, the Cavaliers are still looking at a potential top 10 pick in the draft. However, with a bit of luck and a continued winning streak, the Cavs can absolutely fight their way into the playoff race. For now, 4 teams are vying for the 5-8 seed heavily with Detroit and Cleveland not far behind in 9th and 10th, respectively. This being said, it’s still going to be difficult for the Cavs to keep up this hot streak and finish outside of the Lottery. I expect them to ultimately finish 11th in the East, with Detroit and New York finishing ahead. The good news is that this should qualify them for the 8th pick in the lottery pool and maybe a bit of magic can land them #1 yet again. | ||
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| Team | Season Record | Last Week’s Record |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 18-35 | 0-2 |
| It’s been a rough week, or year rather, for the Lakers fan base. Not only were the Lakers mentioned in our HeatCheck article two weeks ago as the Ice Cold team, but they’ve made it again and are on a 3-game losing streak after two mildly impressive wins on the road in Cleveland and Philadelphia, although both are current Lottery teams. If Kobe does come back for the year, it’ll only be to prepare for next year and infuse a bit of energy into a suffering fan base. The seats are still filled near capacity each night, but the team needs to provide a show to a city that expects so much from them. Let’s take a look at this week’s losses.LA started off by putting up a whopping 79 points in a blowout win for the Jazz in which they scored 96 on the feeble Lakers. The Jazz were coming off of a huge upset over Miami and had no trouble stifling the Lakers offense in a game that didn’t truly get out of hand until late in the 4th quarter. The Lakers started off slow after going down 11-6, but they then responded with 19 unanswered points. The Jazz bridged the gap in the 2nd quarter and held a single digit advantage on and off for most of the game until going up by double-digits in the 4th. At one point early in the final period, the Lakers bridged the gap and made it a 72-69 Jazz advantage, but the Jazz then went on a 24-7 run from that time until 0:53 was left in the game.
After being trounced by the Jazz, who have had just as bad a year, Oklahoma City paid a visit to Staples Center. Los Angeles got off to yet another good start, taking the first points of the game and not surrendering their lead, which grew to as high as 15 late in the 3rd quarter, until a Kevin Durant layup with 6:16 left in the 4th made the score 89-87. Kevin Durant completely took over in the 4th, scoring 19 of the team’s 35 points during the period. The Lakers couldn’t stop the Thunder from having a few streaks in the 4th quarter, a catalyst in this team’s losing streak, and they eventually fell by 4 to the West’s best. Suffice to say that Kobe could have helped them pull off a major upset at home against a titan in the Western Conference. One bright spot in the game was Kendall Marshall’s statline: an egregious 14 points, 17 assists and 7 boards. For a former NBDL star that the Lakers don’t want to commit to, he keeps making it tougher not to consider as the long-term option |
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| Lottery Spin | ||
| Los Angeles is involved in many trade talks, primarily focused on trading away Jordan Hill and Pau Gasol. Regardless of whom they decide to trade or keep, the Lakers are headed for a top 3 selection potentially at this rate. I would presume that they’ll win at a bit higher of a rate than they currently are at some point this year, but the team will most certainly have a good shot at Julius Randle, Jabari Parker, and Dante Exum, if not Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid come June. I expect the Lakers to finish dead last in the Western Conference this season and pick around 4th in the 2014 NBA Draft. | ||
By Jon Elliott
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