Noah Graham/Getty Images
20. Miami Heat (19)
Josh Richardson scored a career-high 37 points and led a barrage from long distance against the Warriors on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a 120-118 defeat. With a 2-6 record in its last eight games, Miami is in a virtual tie with the Pistons for the East’s last playoff spot.
The Heat will play 10 of their first 13 games after the break at home. To take advantage, they’ll have to reverse a bizarre season-long trend that has seen them go just 11-16 in Miami this year.
19. Detroit Pistons (23)
The Pistons couldn’t handle the Celtics on Wednesday, but they still head into the break winners in four of their last five.
“This past week, week and a half, I think we played really, really good basketball,” Andre Drummond told reporters after Wednesday’s 118-110 loss. “We set a goal to go 5-2, and we succeeded with that. … Got a week off, take a break, come back and it’s off to the races from there.”
Detroit is just 26-30, but it hasn’t looked this good since it won five straight in late November and early December.
18. Los Angeles Lakers (16)
The Lakers are 3-8 in their last 11 games (and 2-3 in the five contests LeBron James has played since he returned from a groin injury). One win came on a Rajon Rondo buzzer-beater in Boston on Feb. 7, and another was a 123-120 overtime victory against the Clippers on Jan. 31. The only other recent success came against the bedraggled, lottery-bound Suns. That’s as weak as resumes get among playoff hopefuls.
That’s what the Lakers are, by the way: hopefuls. Nothing’s assured in the West, and little of what we’ve seen from Los Angeles, 10th in the conference, inspires confidence. James’ presence means there’s no counting out the Lakers, but that’s about the extent of the positivity we can summon as L.A. heads into the break looking awfully flimsy.
17. Minnesota Timberwolves (17)
With Jeff Teague and Derrick Rose simultaneously available for the first time since Jan. 20, the Wolves downed the Clippers on Monday. A 121-111 win over the Rockets on Wednesday, fueled by Teague’s 27 points and 12 assists, sent Minnesota into the break with a 2-1 record for the week.
In February, the Wolves have the No. 4 offense and 24th-ranked defense. That split can’t stay so extreme if they want to make up the four games that separate them from the eighth spot in the West.
16. Charlotte Hornets (15)
Kemba Walker scored at least 30 points in five of Charlotte’s last six games, but the Hornets only managed a 2-4 record in that stretch.
Thursday’s loss to Orlando snapped a 13-game winning streak against the Magic and dropped the Hornets within a half-game of the lottery. Seven of Charlotte’s next eight games come at home, where it is 19-9 with a plus-5.3 net rating. If things go as expected, the Hornets’ grip on a playoff spot should soon get a little tighter.
from Top Viral News Blog http://bit.ly/2DJwbxy
0 Comments