Winners
Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs
No week has been a tough week for these two powerhouses, both of whom came into the week having already clinched a playoff berth. Now, riding a four-game and a three-game win streak, the Warriors and Spurs have clinched their respective divisions. Both remain undefeated at home, but the Spurs will host the Warriors twice at the AT&T Center before the end of the regular season. These two teams were expected to be the ones every other team in the league would be chasing, but we didn't know both would be THIS good.
Charlotte Hornets
Winners of seven consecutive games, the Hornets are in the middle of an extremely tight race in the Eastern Conference. They are the current fifth seed, just one-and-a-half games back from the three seed and a half game back of home court advantage in the playoffs. In their four games last week, the Hornets averaged 118.3 points-per-game, led by 27.8 from Kemba Walker, who was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Marvin Williams surpassed the 20-point mark in back-to-back games for the first time this season and now leads the team in rebounding.
Nicolas Batum continues to be a strong fantasy asset, while Al Jefferson notched his first double-double since late November on Saturday. The Hornets are 10-2 since trading for Courtney Lee at the deadline and are looking increasingly more like a threat in the East.
Portland Trail Blazers
Reigning Coach of the Month Terry Stotts led his group to another successful week, as the Blazers put two out of three games in the win column. They have benefited from a collapse of the Dallas Mavericks and now have sole possession of sixth place in the Western Conference. If the playoffs started today, the Blazers would be aligned for a matchup with the struggling Oklahoma City Thunder, whom they play Monday night.
They have split the season series thus far, with two games remaining. 35-32 overall, the Rip City Kids have a tough four-game road trip ahead of them, which ends with a home-and-home with the Mavs. From there on out, their schedule is not overly difficult and the Blazers will plot their course for the injury-riddled Memphis Grizzlies, who could very likely slip from the fifth seed in coming weeks. They currently hold a four-and-a-half game advantage over the Blazers.
Atlanta Hawks
Winners of five of their last six, the Hawks remain in a tight race in the East. They are currently in sixth place, but only a game-and-a-half separates them from the third-seeded Boston Celtics. They are coming off an emphatic 29-point victory against the Indiana Pacers, who now trail them by two-and-a-half games in the standings. Paul Millsap continues to lead the team in scoring and rebounding and also leads the team in steals after averaging 2.3 per-game last week. Al Horford and Jeff Teague remain to be solid compliments, while Kyle Korver resurrected his three-point shooting.
The 13th-year winger made 10 of his 21 shots from long distance last week, equating to the near-50 percent mark he almost reached a season ago. Don't look now, but the Hawks could be preying on the three seed in the East in several weeks.
Denver Nuggets
Winners in the short term, the Nuggets have rode a four-game winning streak to the tenth spot in the West. With 16 games remaining in the regular season, they are three games behind the Utah Jazz and five games behind the Mavericks, who currently hold the eight seed. The Nuggets will need to get close to .500 overall if they hope to make a run for the postseason. Nine of their next eleven games are on the road, where they are 12-19 on the season. Confidence has been rebuilt in Denver after a successful week and the Nuggets have surpassed the Sacramento Kings in the playoff race.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Barely old enough to drink a beer, The Greek Freak notched his fourth triple-double of the season on Sunday, scoring 28 points to compliment 11 rebounds and 14 assists. The 6'11" small forward is incredibly versatile and has even played the point for Jason Kidd's Milwaukee Bucks over the past couple weeks. His dunking ability is scary and Antetokounmpo's 7'3" wingspan makes his slams look effortless. Not only is the third-year man among greats like LeBron James and Magic Johnson to get four or more triple-doubles before the age of 22, Antetokounmpo has accomplished the feat in a span of just under three weeks. The Bucks have won three straight and, although they may not make the postseason, they have The Greek Freak, who very well may be the best player from the 2013 NBA Draft.
Losers
Dallas Mavericks
Loser of five straight games, the Mavericks have slipped to .500 and are now in eighth place in the Western Conference. They lead the Jazz by a slim two-game margin and are in dire need of a win. The Mavs have not beaten a team with a winning record since defeating the Grizzlies on February 6. Before that, you have to go back to a January 18 victory against the Boston Celtics, when the Mavericks were 24-19. They are now 33-33 and, since the start of 2016, Rick Charlisle has guided his team to a record of 14-20. While the 37 year-old Dirk Nowitzki continues to lead the team in scoring, he has not received much help from his teammates.
David Lee was a good acquisition and is averaging 10.6 points-per-game off the bench since being claimed by Mark Cuban off waivers. But he, along with Deron Williams, Chandler Parsons, and Wesley Matthews have been merely mediocre. Williams barely averaged 10 points-per-game in three games last week, joining only Nowitzki and Parson as the only Mavericks to average double figures last week. Charlisle's defense has failed him, as the Mavs have surrendered over 100 points to opponents in each of their five contests during this current streak.
Washington Wizards
The Wizards lost Bradley Beal to another injury last week in the midst of their current five-game losing streak. Beal has missed each of the Wizards' last three games and has put the team's season in jeopardy. Such an integral part of Randy Wittman's offense, Beal was the key to the team's postseason hopes. Although the team is hopeful to have their young guard back Monday night, the Wizards remain three-and-a-half games back from a playoff spot. They have been one of the worst defensive teams in the Eastern Conference all season and allowed more than 100 points to the Jazz, Nuggets, and Blazers in each of their three losses last week.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls have, again, slipped out of the top eight in the East. Having lost their last two games, they currently sit at 32-32, one game behind the Detroit Pistons in the standings. The biggest blow to their week, however, was a setback suffered by Jimmy Butler, which caused him to miss all three of the team's games last week. While the team's leading scorer is set to return Monday night, Pau Gasol and Derrick Rose appeared on the team's injury report last weekend. Both are listed as "day-to-day," with Gasol having discovered swelling in his right knee and Rose dealing with a groin injury.
Although neither is expected to miss an extended period of time, it is certainly cause for concern for a Bulls team that has been hampered by injuries over the past several months. It will be an uphill battle for them to climb back into playoff position, all while avoiding a meeting with the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round.
Health
A number of key players were lost for an extended period of time last week due to injury. Aside from the aforementioned Gasol, Butler, and Rose, Gordon Hayward was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and is listed as day-to-day. The Celtics lost their defensive wizard, Jae Crowder, for several weeks to a high ankle sprain. Philadelphia 76ers rookie Jahlil Okafor will miss the rest of the season due to knee surgery, while teammate, Robert Covington left a game on a stretcher and was diagnosed with a concussion. It is also expected that reigning NBA Finals MVP, Andre Iguodala will miss several weeks with an ankle injury.
As teams ramp up their efforts to make the postseason in the closing months of the season, players go down in reciprocal fashion. The true test of team's depth and willpower will be determined in the final month of the season. All contenders can hope is that their rosters stay as healthy as possible until the playoffs.