Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. Last week we lifted the veil on five teams chasing the bottom of the standings and the number 1 lottery pick. This week we focus on five teams in contention for the Play-In games but before we start, I’d like to address the teams that float around in nomansland. Teams like Washington, Cleveland, Toronto and Sacramento. These teams win too much to be on the bottom of the league but not enough to make it to the tenth spot in their conference. Technically, I should include OKC with these teams as well but they are clearly tanking which is why I included them last week. The funny thing is that because of the lottery rules, these teams have almost as much chance of securing a high lottery pick as the five teams we discussed last week. This week we have picked 5 teams in the Eastern Conference currently fighting for the 6th spot and avoid the play-in game. We have not included Chicago because they are almost definitely securing 10th spot but are not in contention right now to move up in the standings. The same with Atlanta, of all the teams currently fighting for a spot in the Eastern Conference Play-Offs, I have the most confidence that they will make it. Next week, we’ll pick 5 teams out of the Western Conference. Get ready for our All-NBA Team of the Week.
PICK #1
Our first pick of the week are the Charlotte Hornets. Currently sitting in fourth spot in the East, they are the highest ranked team we have included in this week’s picks. The fourth spot would give them home court advantage in the Play-Offs and is very important to be able to avoid the stronger teams in the first round. Charlotte played exceptionally well for the most part of the season but have been hit with injuries lately. Rookie of the Year contender LaMelo Ball is likely out for the rest of the season with a fractured wrist. They lost their main man Gordon Hayward with a foot injury that will keep him sidelined at least until the Play-Offs start. And lastly, their sixth man Malik Monk has been out for almost 2 weeks now with an ankle injury. They still managed to win more games than expected but it is expected that they will drop in the standings. The Boston Celtics, who sit in 7th, are only 1 game behind the Hornets so they could drop quite quickly.
Getting to the Play-Offs is a big deal for the Hornets. The last time they made it was in 2016, when they lost in 7 games against the Miami Heat. But overall, in the last 20 years, they only made it to the Play-Offs 5 times, 3 of those under the ownership of Michael Jordan. The all-time great has not been able to improve the record of the Hornets in the last 10 years. The Hornets usually fall outside the top-8 but because of his desire to win, they never tank and have been stuck in nomansland for a decade. This season things are different. They ended up with the 3rd pick in the draft, it has been since 1992 that they could draft within the top four, and selected LaMelo. Ball has been fantastic, dominating on the court and has proved the whole NBA that their doubts about him were unfounded. The Hornets also managed to secure Gordon Hayward at the beginning of the season, who was looking for a fresh start after a difficult and injury-riddled period in Boston.
Not only the new guys are performing well, the rookies they drafted in previous years, Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington, are showing signs of massive improvement. The team is led by guard Terry Rozier, Scary Terry, who is having an amazing season himself. The Hornets are a fun team to watch, definitely a League Pass favourite for many, and it would be great to see them again in the Play-Offs. If they can’t hold on to their current spot, hopefully they will get their best players back for the Play-In games so they can compete with their best team. They deserve to make it to the Play-Offs this year, the first time in five years.
PICK #2
Our second pick of the week are the New York Knicks. Fans are in the street, cheering and celebrating. If you don’t follow basketball, you would think the Knicks have just won the NBA. But they’re not even the best team in their own city, right now. The neighbours from Brooklyn are leading the Eastern Conference at the moment and have the most exciting team in the league. But Knicks fans don’t care, their team is finally relevant and playing for a Play-Off spot. Coach Tom Thibodeau expressed before the trade deadline that this roster should be able to play a role of importance in the Play-Offs and the front office kept their best players together so the team has a fighting chance. The Knicks sit in eight spot, only 2 games behind the Hawks and Hornets, who sit in fifth and fourth spot.
The Knicks haven’t played any kind of role in almost a decade. The last time they made it to the Play-Offs was in 2013, when they beat the Celtics in the first round but lost against the Pacers in the second round. Star players on those teams were Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudamire for the Knicks, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett for the Celtics and a young Paul George for Indiana. That should give you an idea how long ago that was! Fans in New York have been pining for a turnaround and then, in 2019, they ended up with the 3rd draft pick. They selected RJ Barrett, one of three super talents in that years’ draft class next to Zion Williamson and Ja Morant.
All of sudden, the fan base was hopeful. Management changed and at the end of last year’s season they picked a new coach, Tom Thibodeau. Thibs is known for strong defensive teams and has turned his roster into a defensive juggernaut. The Knicks allow the least amount of points of any team in the league. They can stop almost any team, and they nearly stopped the Nets earlier this week, losing by only 2 points against an unstoppable Kyrie. The Knicks will make it into the Play-In game at the very least, and, I think, there is nobody who would put money against the Knicks right now in a single game elimination. And who wouldn’t want to see a Knicks-Nets Play-Off series in the first round.
PICK #3
Our third pick of the week are the Indiana Pacers. After starting the season really strong, the Pacers have really struggled to win games lately. Both Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon have missed a few games lately and haven’t played at their normal level. New recruit Caris LeVert has only been playing for a month after being ruled out due to cancer surgery on his kidney and is still looking for his spot in the rotation. TJ Warren, who was a monster in the bubble last season, is sitting out the season with a foot injury. The Pacers are doing it tough and it shows in the standings.
The Pacers currently sit in the ninth spot, just behind the Knicks but still have 2 games to catch up. And yet, their story doesn't feel as positive as the Knicks story does. That’s because the Pacers were sitting in the top three for a long time earlier this season. They started really strong, with Brogdon and Sabonis really dominating. Even the loss of Victor Oladipo didn’t seem to trouble them too much. But then in February they started losing games, something they didn’t really recover from. It was so bad Sabonis almost missed out on the All-Star game, only making it as a replacement.
But if the Pacers are one thing, they are resilient. They will work out a way to get through this rut and be competitive again when the time comes. LeVert is feeling more comfortable in the rotation, Sabonis is looking better and Brogdon is back too. If the bench players, like TJ McConnell and Doug McDermott, can keep up their effort, the Pacers will be a threat for that final Play-Off spot because they don’t want to be where they are now. They are too good to be where they are now.
PICK #4
Our fourth pick of the week are the Boston Celtics. The Celtics have been one of the most up and down teams. They started the season really strong, but dropped off mid-January when Jayson Tatum missed some games due to Covid and struggled for a few weeks. Then they had another run towards the All-Star break and they seemed really strong but that didn't last either. That takes us to their last run, winning four out of their five last games. And again they look very strong. Tatum dropped 53 points, a career-high, in the win against the Timberwolves.
If one thing has become clear this season it is that Tatum and Jaylen Brown need help. The roster isn’t strong enough. Kemba Walker is a great point guard but his body is unreliable and he is missing too many games this season. Marcus Smart is a beast on the defensive end but he also wasn’t available enough this season. Obviously, you can’t help injuries and all they need is a good run to find their form from last year to stop the noise around the team. GM Danny Ainge didn’t believe it was necessary to make drastic changes. At the trade deadline, The Celtics were rumoured in trades with all three of the Orlando stars and ended up with Evan Fournier, the worst one of the three, with all due respect. That was the biggest splash they made, but it is questionable if it is big enough for the Celtics to beat last years’ loss in the Eastern Conference Finals against Miami.
The Celtics biggest problem this season is their defense, one of their strong suits normally. If they can get things rolling on the defensive end, they will cause problems for most teams in the Play-Offs. I’m not doubting that they will make it to the Play-Offs, even if they have to get through the Play-In games first. They’re much stronger than the other teams in the Play-In places and should be able to get through quite easily. If they can hold on to the seventh spot they’re currently in, they will only need to win 1 game to get to the Play-Offs. They will be likely to meet one of the three better teams in the East, Philly, Brooklyn or Milwaukee. There are 2 teams in the East, in my opinion, that can beat any team on any day and that’s Boston and Miami. So a slow regular season doesn’t mean they can’t be successful in the Play-Offs.
PICK #5
Our fifth pick of the week are the Miami Heat. The Heat have struggled with injuries all season and have had a hard time getting to a good position on the ladder. They finally made it into the Play-Off positions and it is likely that they will hold on to one of these until the end of the season. Of all teams we have discussed this week, the Heat are the most likely to avoid the Play-In games. I have them included though because it’s been a few times this season that I thought the Heat found their form and they ended up disappointing me. But I feel confident in saying that they are closer to the fourth spot than the seventh.
The Heat rely heavily on their superstar Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Buckets is fantastic for the Heat when he is on the court and has dragged them to some hard-fought victories. But because they rely so heavily on him he’s had to play a lot of games he wasn’t ready to play. Jimmy has been injured for stretches this season, especially early on, but has been forced back a few times to help the team out. Guys like Goran Dragic and Tyler Herro have not been contributing as much as last year and it shows. But, as usual, Pat Riley has made some changes at the trade deadline that have improved the team significantly.
Trevor Ariza and Victor Oladipo were added at the trade deadline and have already shown that they will improve the roster. And, also as usual, Riley had to give up very little. Yes, Kelly Olynyk was very important for the Heat this season, but if all the other role players start pulling their weight, he will be forgotten pretty quickly. That leaves us with their other star Bam Adebayo. Bam has had a very good season, no doubt about it. But it has not been good enough yet. He has not taken a big enough step for Miami to do better than last season. But he still has time, if he can show up in the Play-Off, Miami can be the outsider for the NBA Championship again, like last year.
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!