NBA report card: Grading the recent performances of five standout teams
Monday 25 February 2019 19:43, UK
Every Monday, we look back over the previous week of NBA action and put five teams under the microscope as we grade their recent performances.
With a restricted schedule after the All-Star break, who will be hailed as high achievers and who needs to do better heading into the stretch?
Chicago Bulls (16-44, Week 19 record 2-0) Grade - A
The Bulls are dead and buried this season. They are 13th in the Eastern Conference and 12.5 games behind the eighth seed Charlotte Hornets. But we should recognise a good week when we see one, even if it means nothing this year.
Behind the fine form of Zach LaVine, Chicago, along with seven other teams, won both their games in week 19, but the Bulls beat two teams well above them in the standings.
They returned from the All-Star break on Friday with a 110-109 win over the Orlando Magic, a team that had won its previous five as it scraps for place in the post-season.
That win was sparked by a big night from Lauri Markkanen, but it was LaVine's career night in the 126-116 victory over the Boston Celtics the following evening that really caught the eye.
LaVine scored 42 points on 17-of-29 from the floor, making two free throws with 17.6 seconds left to eclipse his previous best of 41 points, set at the Knicks in November last year.
The offensive improvement in Chicago, who have now won their last three, began towards the end of last month with Markkanen's increased confidence, while the acquisition of Otto Porter Jr has also had an effect, particularly on LaVine.
In the six games since the trade, the 23-year-old averages 26.3 points and is shooting 54.7 per cent from the field.
In the last three games, LaVine (42), Porter (37) and Markkanen (35) have all enjoyed career-high games - all of which feels a long way away from the 56-point defeat to Boston in December.
Next up: the small matter of the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks.
Detroit Pistons (28-30, Week 19 record 2-0) Grade - A
There is an almighty scrap brewing in the East for a post-season spot and Detroit are slap in the middle of it, so to emerge from the All-Star break with back-to-back road wins was very welcome.
If Friday's narrow win over the Hawks was to be expected, the victory over the Heat in Florida was crucial and pushed them two games clear of Miami in the race for the playoffs.
Dwane Casey's team have won seven of their last nine and have vaulted Charlotte into seventh, just 1.5 games behind the Brooklyn Nets and 1.5 clear of the Orlando Magic in ninth. It's tight,
While Reggie Jackson has shown levels that he is returning to the form of three years ago, it was Ish Smith who backstopped the win over Heat, scoring a season-high 22 points and assisting on nine in just 25 minutes on the floor.
"This was a playoff game," said Langston Galloway. "Both teams are fighting for it and we were trying to fight as much as we could and pull away.
"Miami's a good team. We're going to see them down the stretch, so we've got to take it one game at a time."
The Pistons now hold a good lead over Miami for the tiebreaker - their 19-19 record in conference games is far superior to Miami's 14-21, and given the nature of the East, it could well come down to that.
Portland Trail Blazers (36-23, Week 19 record 2-0) Grade - A
Portland emerged from the break a long way from home, taking on Brooklyn and Philadelphia on Thursday and Saturday and collecting two excellent road victories against Eastern playoff teams.
Against the star-studded 76ers, the Trail Blazers demonstrated their own depth, with seven players finishing in double figures, including all five starters.
Safely ensconced in fourth in the West, they now face five more games on the road before they return home.
But while Jusuf Nurkic recorded his 28th double-double of the season against Philly, and much of the talk has been of new backup center Enes Kanter, it is the resurgence of Maurice Harkless that could be just as significant.
Perhaps sparked by the arrival and competition from Rodney Hood - acquired from Cleveland - Harkless looks to be getting over the nagging injuries that have hampered him all season, scoring 13 points in both victories in week 19 and showing enough verve around the basket to suggest he can be a factor down the stretch and into the post-season.
"I've been feeling a lot better out there, feeling a lot more healthy," he said after the win over the 76ers. "It's been a process, it's been a tough year so far, but I think I'm feeling the best I've felt so far this year. Just feel more comfortable doing a lot of things I was able to do last year."
Unlike some other teams, the Trail Blazers are also a team united.
Captain Damian Lillard said: "We're all going to have times when we get criticized, people are going to point out things we didn't do well, we shoulda did this or did that. But we support each other from top to bottom."
Miami Heat (26-32, Week 19 record 0-2) Grade - D
Such is the battle in the East, losing a couple straight can leave a team looking very vulnerable. The Heat are just that.
And while they would not have chosen to play in Philadelphia after the All-Star jamboree, the 119-96 home defeat to Detroit feels particularly damaging.
Granted, they were without Justise Winslow and James Johnson, but while Detroit found trouble getting scoring from their starters, their bench outscored Miami's 66-35. None of Miami's reserves scored more than four points apart from Dwyane Wade.
Against the other four teams battling for the final two post-season spots, Miami are 1-1 against the Nets, 0-2 against the Hornets, 1-2 against the Magic and 1-2 against Detroit.
If the Heat are to avoid missing the playoffs for the third time in five years they will need to find ways to win the games against the teams around them.
The Detroit loss was also Miami's fifth straight at AmericanAirlines Arena, but there is some hope on the horizon; the next visitors to south Florida are the hapless Phoenix Suns, who are on a franchise-worst losing streak of 17 games.
San Antonio Spurs (33-28, Week 19 record 0-2) Grade - E
The Spurs' stumble towards post-season (they hope) continues, but the two defeats since the All-Star break have left them now fighting for their playoff lives.
Losing to the high-flying Raptors is no disgrace, but losing to the Knicks certainly is. Sunday's 130-118 defeat at Madison Square Garden ended New York's 18-game home losing run, and New York even did their best to hand points to their opponents...
Add this humbling effort to defeats to the Bulls, Grizzlies (twice) and the Suns this season and you have a team that could be looking back with some regrets come the spring.
DeMar DeRozan led the way with 32 points against the Knicks, but he's forcing everything, taking it all on himself. As such the Spurs had only six assists in the first half. They look dysfunctional right now. Patty Mills went 2-14 from the field. Jakob Poeltl at least looked the part with 12 points and nine rebounds in 19 minutes, sparking a 16-4 run in the third, suggesting he needs more minutes, but something needs to change if the Spurs are to arrest the slide.
The end of their mammoth rodeo road trip finally comes to an end this week when they visit the Nets on Monday before returning home on Wednesday to face the Pistons.
Live NBA: Golden State @ Miami
