Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. There’s only one week left of the regular season, and the Sacramento Kings have clinched a home court Playoff spot! If you had told me before the start of the season, I’d thought you were absolutely out of your mind. The East is slowly taking shape and I don’t expect any surprises there but the West is wide open! Every day the standings change and teams are in and out of contention for Playoff positions. This week, we take a closer look at 5 possible contenders coming out of the Western Conference, but it has been difficult picking only 5 teams. I left out the Kings, because they have everything to prove in these Playoffs and the Clippers, who are struggling with injuries. But I wouldn’t fall off my chair if either one of these teams end up on top in the West, it’s just that crazy over there! Anyway, let’s get to it. I’m Peter Peake and this is your All-NBA Team of the Week!
PICK #1
Our first pick of the week is Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies. The strength of the Grizzlies lies with the fact that they don’t need their superstar Ja Morant to win games. Time and time again, the Grizzlies have proven that they can win without Ja, and what’s more impressive, they don’t have any issues going back to the way things were when he returns. Everyone knows their role, everyone knows their place and yet, the next man up mentality is through the roof on this team. They are a solid group of guys, apparently all friends off the court too, and they stick by each other through anything. And it hasn’t just been Ja who has missed time, both Jaren Jackson Jr and Desmond Bane, the other 2 star players next to Ja, have missed plenty of time this season.
But in the end, pretty much every team in the West has gone through their own struggles. The whole Ja-saga had the entire world talking but that seems to be all forgiven and forgotten now. The biggest issues in Memphis right now are the injuries of Brandon Clarke, who will miss the rest of the season, and big man Steven Adams, who can hopefully return just in time for the Playoffs. Especially playing without Adams has proven to be a challenge for the Grizz, losing 7 out of their 10 first games without him on the court. But they worked that problem out too and with 14 wins out of their last 20 games, they are on the heels of the Denver Nuggets, chasing the number 1 spot on the ladder.
Frustratingly for Grizzlies fans, at this point it seems like it doesn’t matter what seed they finish in, the first round will be brutal. We could be looking at a Memphis - Warriors match-up, or the Lakers, or the Timberwolves again, or the Pelicans, or even the Clippers could still fall down the standings. Memphis doesn’t necessarily need to fear anyone but because the West is so strong in the middle, every round in the Western Conference will be a battle. I can’t see the Grizzlies beat any of the teams I mentioned in a sweep. But this is the year for the Grizzlies to strike, especially because things are so unpredictable. They have a golden opportunity where a young star can surprise anyone and take out the title, a bit like a young Tim Duncan on the Spurs in 1999. And guess who else was on that team? Jaren Jackson Sr!
PICK #2
Our second pick of the week is Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. Look, I don’t believe that the Warriors are competitive enough to take out the Western Conference. Their road record is atrocious and without Andrew Wiggins they are simply not the same team as last year. But I can’t bet against Stephen Curry, the guy is a machine and is amazing enough to carry this team most of the way. If Klay can stand up, supported by Draymond and Jordan Poole, this team might still surprise us in the postseason. You can count on Curry to win at least 2 or 3 games per series and if anyone of those others can add a fourth game, well, you do the math!
But we’re heading into wishful thinking territory. At the end of the day, the Warriors are barely a +500 team, with the third worst road record in the Western Conference, 4th worst in the entire league! Considering they won’t have home court advantage in any of the series, that’s an immediate out in round 1. Yes, they have been playing better recently and they won their last 2 away games, against the dumpster fire called Dallas and against Houston, a team that has given up before they even get on the court. But including those 2 wins, they have won 5 out of their last 6 games and you can only play the teams in front of you.
With games this week against Denver, OKC and the Kings, the Warriors have an opportunity to show everyone that they are to be taken seriously in the Western Conference and then they have an easy game against Portland to finish off the regular season. Once we’re through those, we should know what to expect. Four wins will keep them in certain Playoff spots, a loss or two means Play In games and then I think their season is over. There are other teams in those games that have much more momentum than a losing Warriors team. I sincerely hope we get to see Curry in the Playoffs again this season and that they can do the impossible and repeat their stunt from last year!
PICK #3
Our third pick of the week is LeBron James of the LA Lakers. If there’s one thing we’ve learned in the last 20 years of NBA basketball it’s this: when LeBron is healthy, his team is a title contender. Regardless of who else is on that team. I mean, the man has made it to the NBA Finals ten times in 20 years, and this season has yet to play out, he could be over 50% for his career, that’s incredible. And of those ten times, he’s won 4. Considering he played most of those Finals against some of the best NBA Dynasties ever, like the Spurs and the Warriors, makes it all the more special. I mean, going back to Cleveland and winning a championship, that’s just a perfect Disney movie.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, the Lakers still have a long way to go. They currently sit in 7th place, and are facing a do or die game against the Pelicans. If they lose that one, they face an elimination game against the Timberwolves or OKC. Now, all these teams are still juggling for position and they are likely to change before the end of next week, but all I’m saying is that I’m not there yet when it comes to trusting the Lakers to get it done in a single game elimination. It’s different if they can start a best of 7 series. LeBron can definitely win you 4 games in a series, especially if AD keeps playing the way he has been lately.
And that is the key for the Lakers, AD and the role players. This is a completely different team since the trade deadline, and they seem to be working well together. AD has stepped up to the challenge and carried this team while LeBron was out and now it is crucial for this team to fit him back in and to keep winning. With games against the Rockets and 2 against the Jazz, the Lakers have a good chance of sneaking into the 6th spot before the end of the season and a test against KD and the Suns will show us if we can take this LeBron team as a serious contender. I think we can, I have always said that if the Lakers make it to the Playoffs, they are dangerous. Getting through the regular season was the hard part for them.
PICK #4
Our fourth pick of the week is Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns. A max of 10 games, that is what Kevin Durant is looking at playing for his new team before they start the Playoffs. If there’s one player in the league that could do it, fitting in that quickly without disrupting the flow of the team, it will be Kevin Durant. Just this last game, against Denver, we can see how valuable he is. He finished with 30 points on some incredibly efficient shooting. You don’t need to adjust your play for Durant, he will find his own shots and finish with 25-30 points every night. It’s just incredible!
There’s one thing the Suns will need to do before the Playoffs start. They need to find a way to unlock Deandre Ayton. The big man at the moment is barely part of the offensive structure of the team. He just stands there, and really only proves his value defensively. If they can get him more involved and threaten their opponents with an easy 20 points by Ayton every night, they will create more space for their superstars Devin Booker and Durant. We all know the history between Ayton and the Suns, but considering there is no way for him to play anywhere else at this point in the season and they have a chance of winning a championship, wouldn’t you put your own feelings aside and do what you need to do to win one? I would!
The Suns sit comfortably in 4th and are closely watching what is happening below them. I think the Warriors are the most likely candidate to meet them in that 4-5 match-up. Wouldn’t that be exciting, for KD to battle with his old team mates from Golden State. It could be the official demise of the Splash Brothers, by the hand of KD who helped them win 2 chips. There’s no shortage of storylines in that series, with Curry and Chris Paul going at it not that long ago. The Suns definitely have the possibility to take out the Western Conference, just based on the pure starpower in their ranks. But can they put it together on the court as well?
PICK #5
Our fifth pick of the week is Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. I have given up on the MVP race, I don’t know anymore. Embiid had clearly taken the lead from Jokic after the Nuggets started to drop some games. But then the Nuggets started winning again and Embiid got scared of testing himself with the big man in a one on one battle for the MVP. Not that that game would have decided the race but it could have influenced it. Nothing has fazed Jokic this season, he is still playing at an incredible level and is agonisingly close to finishing the season averaging a triple double.
It’s far from certain that the Nuggets will finish this season top of the West. They have a 2 game lead on the Grizzlies with 5 games left to go. And with games left to go against the Warriors, Phoenix and the Kings, a lot can happen still for Denver. And that top seed could prove to be crucial for the Nuggets in this Playoff run, because at this point it seems the only easy match-up in round 1 with a potential series against the Pelicans without Zion, the Timberwolves or OKC. The number 2 seed could meet with either one of the LA teams or the Warriors, pretty sure Denver doesn’t want to see either one of those until at least the second round or later.
Not sure if Denver is really struggling with injuries, they haven’t for the majority of the season, but with Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr and KCP missing the game against Phoenix just gone, you would hope that they’re just playing games instead of actually being worried about any of these guys being injured. It would be the first Playoff run Denver can play with a fully healthy roster after an impressive regular season. They need to get a chance to prove if they are the real deal or if they will be that fantastic regular season team that fizzles out in the Playoffs. At this point I expect them to be the first but I’m concerned they could be the second.
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!