Celtics or the field: Who is more likely to win a championship this season?
No team has dominated the NBA more than this year's Boston Celtics squad as they come off their eighth straight win after defeating the New York Knicks on Saturday. Not only are the Celtics the #1 seed in the East and basically have been all season long but have also managed to separate themselves from the rest of the conference. The Celtics are currently 7.5 games ahead of the 2nd seeded Cleveland Cavaliers with a 45-12 record. For context, the Celtics have more separation between the Cavaliers than the first place Timberwolves have against the eighth seed Mavericks in the West. With the Celtics clear separation over the East and the rest of the NBA as a whole the question remains are the Celtics more likely to win a championship over the rest of the contenders combined.
The Celtics are the obvious favorite in the East if not the entire league due to having the best starting five in the NBA along with top five rankings in both offense and defense. In the East, it is hard to pick a team that has a realistic chance to beat them especially considering the injury of contenders like the Knicks and Sixers. However, there are a couple teams in the West I feel that could challenge them for a title if they matchup in the Finals. Those two teams are the Timberwolves and the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Both of these teams matchup very well due to very distinct reasons as the Timberwolves are the defense in the NBA. As for the Nuggets, they not only have the best player in the NBA in Nikola Jokic but also the championship experience and poise needed to take on a team of the Celtics caliber.
Bigger statement win: Thunder over Clippers or Bucks over Timberwolves
This week brought us several high profile matchups that take on even greater meaning as we move closer to the playoffs. Two games in particular were not only great matchups between playoff contenders but also had two statements win take place. The Thunder came away with an impressive blowout win over the Clippers while the Bucks came away with a huge road win against the Timberwolves. Both wins were monumental for both teams but which team had the bigger statement win?
As impressive as the Thunder's win over the Clippers was there is arguably no team that needed a statement win more than the Bucks. When considering how the Bucks entered the All-Star break coming off a loss against the injury riddled Grizzles their response against the Timberwolves is even more meaningful. The Bucks had arguably their most important win on the season as defeating a team of Minnesota's caliber especially on the road is the kind of win that can propel a team with championship aspirations. To do so Giannis will of course have to lead the way and he did so against the Timberwolves with a 33 point 13 rebound performance as he continues yet another dominant season.
Jordan Poole benched: Where do the Wizards go from here?
The situation appears to have gone from bad to worse in the nation's capital as the Wizards are currently on a 11 game win streak and have just 9 wins on the season. Even worse, their big offseason acquisition in Jordan Poole is not having the season him or the Wizards anticipated. Normally, averaging 16.1 points per game wouldn't necessarily be a major disappointment except for when you have a 128 million dollar contract over 4 years and the high expectations that come with it as Poole does. Poole has also been a low efficiency player this season as he currently has just the 144th best field goal percentage in the league at 39.9%. Due to his poor play the Wizards made the decision to bring him off the bench this week after previously starting every game before All-Star break.
Though Poole's benching may seem like a punishment for his play this season this may be a blessing in disguise for him in the long run. Going back to his contract, the Wizards will have a extremely hard time finding a trade suitor with his expensive contract. In Poole's case this may be to his benefit as he played great basketball at times for the Warriors when coming off the bench especially in the 2022 playoffs. This move may pay off for the Wizards as despite losing to the Cavaliers on Sunday Jordan Poole had his best performance of the season against one of the best teams in the league. Poole came off the bench and dropped a game high 31 points which was his best scoring performance of the season while also getting 5 assists and 5 rebounds in 38 minutes. If Poole is able to play more quality basketball in his new role it may benefit him and the Wizards in the long run as they try to get through this rebuild process.
Game of the week- Giannis leads the Bucks into Minnesota and drops a game high 33 points and grabs 13 rebounds to earn a huge statement win on the road. Bucks defeat the Timberwolves 112-107.
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