Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. Mike Conley Jr is an All-Star. The best player to never make it on an All-Star game has been called up as a replaced for the injured Devin Booker (who was an injury call-up himself). Well deserved for Conley, who has been very important for the Jazz so far this season. Earlier this week, TJ McConnell of the Indiana Pacers had a triple-double against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had 16 points, 13 assists and 10 steals! Not your regular triple-double, it's only the 11th time in the whole history of the NBA that someone does this and TJ is the very first player to do it coming off the bench. Elsewhere, the Rockets were handed their 3rd biggest defeat in the history of the franchise in their 49 point loss against the Grizzlies. And Jordan Poole, after dominating in the G-League bubble, made 26 points for the Warriors coming off the bench in a loss against the Suns. He scored the most points off all players in the game. These were some memorable moments in a short week of basketball. Now it is time for your All-NBA Team of the Week.
PICK #1
IT IS DAME TIME! Our first pick of the week is Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers. He is dominating the league in clutch time, the last five minutes of a five-point game. If you ever need to win a close basketball game, Dame is the man for the job. His true shooting percentage in clutch moments is 83%, it takes into account all the different kinds of shots on the court. That number is ridiculously high because in normal circumstances we consider players shooting over 60% as elite. Not only is his efficiency through the roof, his team is often in close games so he has to perform this little trick over and over again. Only Zach Lavine of the Bulls has scored more points in the clutch than Dame but his true shooting percentage is under 60% meaning he needed more opportunities to make clutch points than Damian Lillard.
Just like last season, Portland is missing some of their best players during the regular season, and last season they almost missed the Play-Offs because of it. This year is different, Portland is winning and it has to thank Dame for that. He is averaging just under 30 points, 8 assists and about 4.5 rebounds per game and has lead the Blazers to the fifth spot in the West, only two games behind the LA teams. Together with Carmelo Anthony, who we have picked for our team this week as well, Dame has lead his team to victories against the Hornets, the Warriors and the Kings. Portland is winning and they are doing it without Nurkic and McCollum, two of their three best players.
Both players should return sometime after the All-Star break and a third injured player, Zach Collins, should be back in time to make the Play-Offs. With their complete roster and an easier run into the Play-Offs than last year, the Blazers will have a very good chance of getting through the first round. As it stands right now, they would be playing the Clippers in the first round, who they set aside in the 2016 Play-Offs. Granted, the Clippers then are nothing alike to the Clippers now and the animosity between Paul George and Damian Lillard will make for a fantastic clash between the two teams. I can't wait to see how the rest of the season for the Blazers unfolds.
Pick #2
Our second pick of the week is Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies. The reigning Rookie of the Year started to find his form in February after a slow start of the year. He wasn't getting many foul calls either, only taking 10 free throws once in 22 games. The last 2 games he played, he received more than 10 free throws in both games. Ja is quick and loves to drive to the ring. If he doesn't get the calls from the refs, his game suffers. Last week he made 35 points in two games, a blow-out against the Wizards and a 1 point loss against the Bucks. He played a major role in the historic win against the Rockets, not really showing up in the stats but his plus/minus in the box score was +30. The 49 point win against the Rockets was the biggest victory in the Grizzlies Franchise history and the third biggest loss for the Rockets in their history.
Just like the Blazers, the Grizzlies have suffered with injuries this season. They're still waiting on Jaren Jackson Jr to return after he tore his meniscus in the Bubble last July. Jaren is one of their best players, and Ja has been trying to carry the team on his own the last seven months. Together these two are almost unstoppable, and a lot of fun to watch. Last year, they only just missed out on the Play-Offs. Right now, the Grizzlies sit in tenth spot in the West, enough to make the Play-in Game. If they can get Jaren back at his best form by then, there is a chance they'll make it to the Play-Offs this year.
But they don't have to. The Grizzlies are a young team and have time to grow into a Play-Off team, without any pressure to perform straight away. They all seem to get along really well and if the front office can keep this team together, they'll have a bright future in Memphis. Ja is their main man, small but feisty, and has an insatiable desire to win. His drive to win pushes his team mates to perform at higher levels, like Dillon Brooks and Kyle Anderson. They have been playing out of their skin. Brooks single-handedly kept the Grizzlies into the game against the Bucks, without him it wouldn't have been such a tight game. If it wasn't for an amazing defensive play of Jrue Holiday, the Grizzlies would have won this game too.
PICK #3
Our third pick of the week is Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics. The Celtics started the season really strong. Jaylen Brown was playing at a level we hadn't seen before and Tatum was continuing his form from the Bubble. Even without Kemba and Gordon Hayward, who moved to Charlotte in the off-season, the Celtics looked strong and a possible contender in the East. Then Covid-19 decided to intervene. Tatum tested positive for the coronavirus in January and missed 5 games because of it. When he returned, he wasn't the same. It took him a long time to recover, mid-February he was still struggling with fatigue because of the illness. The Celtics stopped winning and dropped in the standings.
For a while it looked like Tatum and his mates weren't going to make it to the Play-Offs at all. The only one playing at a decent level was Brown, who was deservingly selected to the All-Star team as a reserve but the big surprise was Tatum. I didn't have Tatum in my selection at all, let alone that he would be a starter. But since the announcement, he completely turned his game around and pushed himself back to his level from the start of the season. He is playing like a true All-Star starter. Alongside him, Kemba and Brown are playing better as well and the Celtics are back in it.
With close wins this week against the Wizards, the Clippers and the Raptors, the Celtics have now won four games in a row and are back in fourth spot in the East. They have a seven-day road trip ahead of them after the All-Star break but play most of their games after that at home until the end of the season. The Celtics should be able to finish in the top four and secure home court advantage in the Play-Offs, possibly playing Miami or even the Knicks in the first round. If they can recover Marcus Smart by then, keep Kemba healthy and have Tatum and Brown unleashed, they could potentially get to the Eastern Conference Finals.
PICK #4
The fourth pick of the week is Carmelo Anthony of the Portland Trail Blazers. It is the first time on this podcast that we picked 2 players of the same team but Carmelo has had a great week, helping Damian Lillard win a few important games for the Blazers and maintain their position in the West. We have seen the Carmelo we all know in action this week, putting some old-school performances on for the fans. The 36-year old made 29 points against the Hornets, 22 points against the Warriors and 16 points against the Kings, each time coming off the bench.
Melo feels at home in Portland. He is very happy the organisation gave him a chance when nobody else would and is determined to pay them back as much as he can. When he arrived at the Blazers last year, the whole world thought Carmelo would claim his spot and make life hard on Lillard and the other guys. But he kept himself quiet, listened and worked hard on and off the court. Because of injuries, he got to start every game he played for the Blazers last season but he always maintained that if they needed him to come off the bench, he would do so, without complaint. And that is exactly what he is doing today. Melo played 34 games so far, only 3 of those he started.
Melo is a sensational basketball player, coming out of the same draft as LeBron where he was picked third after the King and Darko Milicic. He played seven and a half seasons for Denver until he was traded to the Knicks. In Denver he was the star from day 1, playing alongside Marcus Camby, Chauncey Billups and the great Allen Iverson. When he was traded to Knicks, he was the undisputed star next to Amar'e Stoudamire. The goal was to win a championship but at the end of the day, they didn't really get close. When the Knicks traded him to OKC in 2017, the misery started for Carmelo. He didn't fit in with the team and got a name for being difficult in the locker room. He was traded to the Hawks but never played and ended up in Houston where he only played 10 games until he was waived. Nobody wanted to touch him until the Blazers gave him a chance. And he paid them back in full and them some. Carmelo still has a lot to offer to the league and it is still a pleasure to watch him play.
PICK #5
The fifth pick of the week is Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers. This is the first time on the pod that we have selected a player for the second time. Joel was part of the very first All-NBA team of the week in early January because he was the most dominant player on the most dominant team at the time. Nine episodes later, very little has changed. Philly is still the most dominant team in the East and Joel Embiid is still the most dominant player on their roster. He is on track to steal this season's MVP award away from LeBron and nobody can say it would be undeserved.
On Wednesday the Sixers played the Utah Jazz. The Jazz are currently the best team in the league and have the current Defensive Player of the Year in their line-up, the Frenchman Rudy Gobert. This match-up was the most exciting one of the week: Simmons vs Mitchell, Embiid vs Gobert and East vs West. The Jazz seemed in control the whole game but the Defensive Player of the Year had no story against Joel Embiid. Embiid forced overtime by drilling in a late 3 just before the buzzer and ended the game with 40 points and 19 rebounds. Philly took control of the game in overtime and send the Jazz home with a tough loss.
Philly seems to have things together. Joel is playing great, Ben Simmons seems unleashed and Tobias Harris is finally playing as a max contract guy. Curry and Green are draining their three's and Shake Milton is coming strong off the bench. I don't see a team in the Eastern Conference that could stop Philly, except maybe Brooklyn. But even then, who for the Nets is going to stop Embiid? He is playing so strong, there's no other big man in the league that can stop him at this moment. There's three weeks left until the trade deadline, you can be sure that GM Daryl Morey will make some changes to put Philly in pole-position to win the league. Kyle Lowry from the Raptors has been rumoured to strengthen the team before the Play-Offs. Either way, this is the season for Philly. The West is not as strong as it used to be so they have to try and go all the way.
This is our All-NBA team of the Week. Please share our podcast and give us 5 stars. If you have any questions, you can contact the show on eight2fouroffice@gmail.com. Thank you for listening, ballers out!
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