Assessing The State Of Play As NBA Reaches Crucial Stage

Assessing The State Of Play As NBA Reaches Crucial Stage
15:15, 06 Mar 2017

With the All-Star game and trade deadline both now firmly in the rearview mirror, the NBA regular season is into the final stretch. Whether for draft position in the lottery or home court advantage in the playoffs, teams are jockeying for position and looking for results each and every time they take to the floor.

Lebron James has been his usual dominant self and few would bet against him dragging the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Finals once again, an achievement that would see him emerge from the Eastern Conference for the seventh consecutive year.

However, while the usual suspects have risen to the top of the standings, it has been stories of surprising individual brilliance or cruelly timed injuries that continue to shape the campaign for everyone else.

MVP Candidates Everywhere

Perhaps more than any other year, the sheer volume of players proving to be crucial to their team’s hopes of success is staggering. Isaiah Thomas has been a revelation for Boston, his fourth-quarter heroics lifting the Celtics into contention, while John Wall has not been too far behind with his displays for Washington.

Thanks to those two guards, there is at last a feeling that James and the Cavs could have some real competition, but it is out West where the real action is. Russell Westbrook is averaging a triple-double for the season, something no player has done before or since Oscar Robertson managed the feat way back in 1962. Yet with Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder clinging to the seventh seed, that remarkable accomplishment – a testament to the sheer bloody-mindedness with which the 28-year-old has attacked each and every game – could yet be relegated to a footnote.

One major reason for that has been Mike D’Antoni’s arrival in Houston. The Coach who brought the “Seven Seconds Or Less” Phoenix Suns to the brink of the title has taken his high-octane offensive mindset to the Rockets, shifting James Harden to Point Guard and allowing him the freedom to run riot.

The bearded star has done just that, averaging an eye-popping 28.8 points per game, plus 8 rebounds and just over 11 assists. He has proven to be unstoppable, while the whole team either shoots threes or dunks in a pick-and-roll heavy attack that simply games the maths in their favour by bombing away from deep.

Injuries Taking Their Toll

While that duo battle it out for the right to be named as the league’s best player, other teams have been forced to cope without some important players right as the business end of the season draws near. Cleveland are finding a way to win without Kevin Love, the All Star forward sidelined in mid-February with a knee injury expected to keep him out for at least six weeks, stretching their rotation and throwing their No.1 seed status into doubt.

He is far from the only one however, with the Toronto Raptors’ hopes of catching the Cavs effectively ending when Kyle Lowry needed surgery to remove “loose bodies” from his wrist. That makes him unlikely to return before the playoffs begin, a cruel blow as the franchise made a big push during the trade window to acquire Serge Ibaka in order to propel them into contention.

Philadelphia are more likely to slump yet again after both Ben Simmons – who has yet to play a single minute – and the impressive Joel Embiid were both ruled out for the rest of the season. With the 76ers being nowhere near playoff contention, the summer will likely see them take a number of high draft selections as they own their own pick, the Lakers’ (top-3-protected) pick and the right to swap with the struggling Sacramento Kings.

However the biggest news undoubtedly came last week when Kevin Durant hobbled off the court. The news eventually felt like a reprieve rather than a death sentence after an MRI scan revealed he would miss around a month with a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a tibial bone bruise in his left knee, Golden State initially fearing he had broken a bone in his leg when team-mate Zaza Pachulia accidentally fell on him during a loss to Washington.

Without him the Warriors will revert to relying on Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, not a bad trio to help them through until Durant can return. When he does, the playoff picture could look very different but his team will likely remain one of the favourites to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy.

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