Who owns the longest win streak in the NBA? For the entirety of this season the answer to this question was, obviously, the Golden State Warriors. Then the Milwaukee Bucks happened. Now that those giants have finally fallen, the Oklahoma City Thunder, winners of their last five, have the hottest streak going.
OK, so five wins uninterrupted seems a little dull compared to winning 24 out of 24. But let’s not allow the transcendence of the Warriors’ current season to blind us to the brilliance of what Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook can do when they’re in sync.
Even when the Thunder are struggling, as they did Sunday night against the Utah Jazz, they can find a way to pull off a win. Despite being down 13 points at the half, and only being that close thanks to a ridiculous half-time buzzer-beater courtesy of Westbrook, they pushed through and eventually snagged a hard-fought 104-98 overtime victory.
In the game, Durant survived one of the worst offensive halves of his professional career, scoring just two points on two shots. It didn’t matter, he responded by collecting 29 the rest of the way, which was about on par with what he has been doing on a nightly basis. Durant has been averaging 27.5 points per game, the third best clip in the league, and shooting 53.1% from the field, the best rate among the current top 30 scorers.
Meanwhile, Westbrook, despite his reputation as an effectively reckless iconoclast, has become the team’s anchor. He’s started all 24 games, acted as a leader when Durant was out with a hamstring injury and has become one of the game’s most underrated facilitators. Despite the fact that he’s been labeled as something other than a “true” point guard, Westbrook is second in the league with assists per game at 9.6. During a blowout victory over the Memphis Grizzlies last Wednesday, he rattled off 16 points in just 25 minutes, prompting head coach Billy Donovan to note, “In my opinion, he’s one of the rare guys in the league that can dominate a game without scoring.”
To focus just on Durant and Westbrook might be doing a disservice to the rest to the other players, whether it be Dion Waiters actually playing acceptable basketball or Steven Adams and his vaguely hypnotic mustache, but they’re the core of this Thunder team. Plus, and prepare to be reminded of this many times throughout the season, there’s the chance we won’t see the likes of them again.
Durant’s contract expires at the end of this year and there’s already been talk that he might head elsewhere in free agency, possibly back to his hometown of Washington. Even if Durant does re-sign with the Thunder, Westbrook’s current contract ends at the end of the 2016-17 season. The most likeliest scenario is that the Thunder will not be able to afford to keep the duo together much longer. We need to appreciate the Durant and Westbrook combo while we still can.
Vine of the week
JJ Redick enjoys riding Andre Drummond like a PONY https://t.co/rhgY8PrVup https://t.co/JyPDAZhidr
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) December 15, 2015
On Monday night, the Los Angeles Clippers’ JJ Redick intentionally fouled the Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond in an absurdly dramatic manner, literally leaping on his back. As silly as it looked, the jump ended up being a decent strategic move as Drummond missed one out of two free throws. The resulting point difference ended up being crucial as Redick was able to tie the game with a three-pointer allowing the Clippers to eventually win in overtime. Redick’s annoyingly Clipperian antics helped win the game, not that he could be bothered to stick around for the triumphant post-game interview.
JJ Redick did it for the Vine https://t.co/uxrGCwUFlP
— Michael Katz (@KatzM) December 15, 2015
How did LeBron carry the Cavaliers this week?
After sitting out for last week’s loss to the Miami Heat, LeBron James rejoined the Cavaliers for back-to-back wins over the Portland Trail Blazers and the Orlando Magic. To be fair, he did actually get some help for that second game, as it featured the highly anticipated season debut of Iman Shumpert. Shumpert announced his return, as one does, via dramatic animation:
— Iman Shumpert I (@imanshumpert) December 11, 2015
Quote of the week
“Rajon’s comment was disrespectful and offensive, and we wholeheartedly disapprove of any language that discriminates or disparages others based on sexual orientation or anything else. Rajon has apologized and this is not the sort of behavior we condone nor is it representative of the Sacramento Kings organization.”
- Sacramento Kings Vice President of Basketball Operations Vlade Divac’s official statement about point guard Rajon Rondo’s use of a homophobic slur in a tirade aimed at referee Bill Kennedy.
Kings owner Vivak Ranadive also released a short statement ending with “(Rondo) has apologized, and has been suspended by the NBA. On behalf of the team, I apologize to Bill Kennedy for any harm this may have caused.”
Frankly, these apologies seem insufficient considering what we now know. While the use of this particular slur should not be tolerated in any workplace setting, the fact that Kennedy has publicly come out following the incident raises the very real possibility that Rondo was targeting Kennedy because of his sexual orientation.
The NBA has, rightfully, already suspended Rondo for a game for the slur, a punishment which appears looks laughably light. If the Kings really want to show how unacceptable Rondo’s actions were, they should do so not with carefully worded PR statements but with actions of their own.
Power rankings
1. Golden State Warriors (Last week: 1)
It was tempting to drop the now 24-1 Warriors down to 17 or 18 on this list just as a conceptual gag, but didn’t want to invite the negative comments. Obviously the Warriors remain the best team in the league and would have to lose at least four more games before there’s even an argument to be made.
2. San Antonio Spurs (2)
Why would the Warriors need to lose at least four more games? That’s because the Spurs have the second best record at 21-5. One of the biggest reasons for their success, head coach Gregg Popovich, moved up to 8th on the all-time coaching wins list on Monday, passing Rick Adelman.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder (6)
So, the top two teams in the Western Conference are pretty formidable, which is why the 16-8 Thunder, despite all the nice things said about them at the top of this column, have a long way to go before moving up in the standings.
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (3)
The Cavaliers still have LeBron and, not coincidentally, are still the best team in the East. It’s nice that Iman Shumpert has returned but Cleveland fans must be getting antsy for the continually delayed return of all-star point guard Kyrie “Basketball Godot” Irving.
5. Toronto Raptors (8)
The Raptors are this week’s candidate for second best team in the East. They have won 16 games this season, while Kyle Lowry will almost certainly make the Eastern Conference All-Star team.
6. Chicago Bulls (12)
Other than the Cavaliers, the good teams in the Eastern Conference haven’t done much to distinguish themselves from one another. All of them have scraped together something like 14 wins at this point, while none of them have looked super-impressive outside of a handful of games.
Derrick Rose has taken 286 shots this year. Only 14 have been wide open (5% of his shots). Lowest % of any G in NBA, 3rd lowest all players
— Daren Willman (@darenw) December 15, 2015
7. Los Angeles Clippers (10)
Monday’s wild overtime win showed that the Clippers can sometimes make the chaos work for them, rather than against them. I fully expect them to lose their next game in the weirdest way possible, like Austin Rivers hitting a game-winner but in the wrong team’s net.
8. Miami Heat (4)
Hassan Whiteside is averaging four blocked shots per game. Four. Could the Heat possibly have the Old Alonzo Mourning and the New Alonzo Mourning in the organization?
9. Indiana Pacers (5)
The Toronto Raptors took a 26-5 lead early in Monday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers decided that the best way to counter would be a 32-2 run. That’s a heck of a counter. (The Pacers ended up winning, obviously.)
10. Boston Celtics (14)
The Celtics ultimately lost to the Golden State Warriors in double-overtime on Friday, but they should be granted at least a portion of the Milwaukee Bucks’ subsequent streak-ending victory for their efforts.
11. Dallas Mavericks (7)
After the events of the previous few days, the Mavericks certainly must be thankful to not have to deal with Rajon Rondo anymore. (Note: this is probably always true, regardless of the situation.)
12. Charlotte Hornets (11)
The Hornets held the second best record in the Eastern Conference at one point last week, a fact which will make less and less sense as the season progresses.
13. Memphis Grizzlies (13)
Zach Randolph was benched against the Miami Heat on Sunday, leading alliteration devotees to hope that this doesn’t spell the end to the “grit and grind” Grizzlies.
14. Orlando Magic (16)
Lose big to the Cleveland Cavaliers, win big against the Brooklyn Nets. Sounds about where this franchise is right now.
15. Detroit Pistons (15)
Andre Drummond should be the Pistons’ first all-star since Allen Iverson made the team in 2009. Related note: Allen Iverson made the All-Star Game in 2009? How?
16. Atlanta Hawks (9)
Non-basketball related bit of Hawks news. Tonight is Shamelessly Cash In On The New Star Wars Movie Night!
Star Wars Night is coming. @24Bazemore and @MikeMuscala are excited: https://t.co/dGhEKuTtnM
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 11, 2015
17. Houston Rockets (18)
If they stay hovering around .500 long enough that will mean we can stop watching them, right? Please say yes.
18. Utah Jazz (17)
The Jazz’s current record 10-13, which was briefly “good” enough for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
19. New York Knicks (19)
Kristaps Porzingis could very well start the All-Star Game, thanks to an unlikely alliance between New York and the country of Latvia.
20. Washington Wizards (20)
Tough stretch for the Wizards, who will have to play without Bradley Beal, out with a stress reaction in his right fibula, for at least another another two weeks.
21. Milwaukee Bucks (23)
22. Portland Trail Blazers (22)
23. Phoenix Suns (21)
24. Denver Nuggets (25)
25. Minnesota Timberwolves (24)
26. Sacramento Kings (26)
27. Brooklyn Nets (27)
28. New Orleans Pelicans (28)
29. Los Angeles Lakers (29)
30. Philadelphia 76ers (30)
