NBA report card: Grading Week 20 performances of Celtics, Jazz and more
Monday 9 March 2020 13:46, UK
Which teams have sparkled and which have flattered to deceive over the last seven days in the NBA? We assess the contrasting Week 20 fortunes of four teams.
Boston Celtics (42-21, Week 20 record 1-3) – Grade C
Boston’s TD Garden is usually a fortress. It has not been of late. The Celtics have lost four successive games on their own floor for the first time since 2015, including Week 20 home defeats to the Brooklyn Nets, Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The 105-104 loss to OKC will linger too, thanks to Dennis Schroder pickpocketing Kemba Walker to score the winning basket with 8.5 seconds left. The Thunder have specialised in comeback wins this season, but rallying from 18 points down on the road without their leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander against a strong Boston squad? The Celtics will feel they gave one away.
Of chief concern to the Celtics is the form of Kemba Walker who, in addition to his crucial lapse against Oklahoma City (and an equally painful late giveaway in the loss to the Nets), is shooting 32.2 per cent from the floor over the last nine games.
Gordon Hayward admitted after the Thunder loss the Celtics have fallen, temporarily, into something of a rut. "That is how the NBA works," he said. "You go through these runs and stretches where you're feeling really good about yourself and then it is like the world is coming to an end, too. This is low for us. We have got to try to build ourselves up, pry ourselves back out of it."
Utah Jazz (41-22, Week 20 record 4-0) – Grade A
The Jazz completed an undefeated four-game road trip on Saturday night with a 111-105 victory over the Detroit Pistons after beating the Boston Celtics the previous evening, extending their winning streak to five games.
While beating up on the Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks in Week 20 were games Utah expected to win, their victory in Boston certainly carries some weight. The team appeared connected on defense, rather than relying on Rudy Gobert to bail them out of trouble.
Most encouraging for the Jazz, veteran guard Mike Conley has found his offensive mojo after a slow start to his Jazz career. Conley is averaging 44.9 per cent shooting from the field in February, buoyed by a stellar 43.8 percentage from three-point range.
Will the Jazz kick on from here? The jury is out for now. Two previous four-game win streaks this season have been followed by respective four- and five-game losing streaks, per StatMuse.
Toronto Raptors (45-18, Week 20 record 3-0) – Grade A-
Three road games out west in Week 20 brought three road wins for the Raptors, clinching their place in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The defending NBA champions dispatched the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings and, as usual, it was a team effort.
Against the Warriors, Norman Powell and Kyle Lowry combined for 63 points. In Phoenix, it was Pascal Siakam and Powell providing 59 points between them.
In their toughest Week 20 match-up in Sacramento, Siakam came through in the clutch scoring 11 points in the final three minutes to lead Toronto to another ‘W’.
A perfect week, even without injury absentees Fred VanVleet and Marc Gasol, once again highlighting the Raptors’ impressive depth.
Sacramento Kings (28-36, Week 20 record 2-2) – Grade B
When thinking about the race for eighth in the West and potential late-season showdowns between Ja Morant’s Memphis Grizzlies and Zion Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans, don’t forget about the Kings.
Sac-Town sit 10th in the West, level with the Pelicans and four games back from the eighth-seeded Grizzlies who are currently weakened by injuries to Jaren Jackson Jr and Brandon Clarke.
The Kings have won seven of their last 10 games, despite going 2-2 in Week 20. That rich vein of form has coincided with the insertion of Bogdan Bogdanovic into the Kings' starting line-up at the expense of Buddy Hield. The Serb shooting guard has averaged 17.0 points per game on 52.6 per shooting over his last five games.
The Kings have also been boosted by the return of center Richaun Holmes, back in action after missing the previous two months through injury. Currently on a minutes restriction, Holmes will bring energy to the Kings' potential playoff push once he is back playing at full tilt.
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