NBA Northwest
Minnesota is coming off of an impressive 115-109 win over Toronto, and owns a three game lead in the Northwest heading into the week. The Wolves have won 6 of their last 8 heading into the midway point of the season, and are holding off a charge from Oklahoma City and Portland both. They have their own big 3 in place now with Jimmy Butler, Karl Anthony Towns, and Andrew Wiggins, and are starting to play like it. Recent rumors had the Wolves engaged in trade talks with the Clippers over Blake Griffin, but that seems to have died as soon as it started. Minnesota owns the three seed, and are tied with the Spurs for that spot. They have a busy week upcoming, with four games on the slate starting tonight against the Clippers on the road. The road trip continues Wednesday in Portland, Thursday at Golden State, and the week closes out Saturday against Brooklyn at home.
Oklahoma City is now on a four game winning streak after beating Cleveland 148-124 on Saturday on the road. This was probably the biggest win of the season for the Thunder, who are currently trending upward. Paul George blasted Cleveland for 36 points in the win. The Thunder comes home to take on Brooklyn tomorrow night, and will continue the home stand against Washington on Thursday, and they wrap the week on the road Saturday in Detroit. Russell Westbrook and George are both averaging over 20 points per game, and the Thunder is holding tightly to the fifth seed in the West, three games back of San Antonio and division leading Minnesota.
Portland is firing the engines at the right time as well, as the Blazers are gripping the 6th seed in the West, just a game back of OKC. The Blazers are holding ont a three game win streak against Dallas, Indiana, and Phoenix. The Blazers are opening the week tonight in Denver, and then come home to face Minnesota in a huge divisional matchup on Wednesday night, and then will go on the road again to take on Dallas on Friday, which closes out the week. Damon Lillard has not scored fewer than 21 points in his last five games, and has scored 31 points twice in that same time period.
Denver enters the week at just 23-23, and sits a half game back of the final playoff spot in the West. Like usual, the Nuggets cannot seem to get it all together at the same time, and are struggling once again for consistency of any kind. They have now lost two straight as we enter the week, and are coming off an inexcusable 108-100 loss to the Suns. There are opportunities this week, with all three scheduled games coming at home against Portland tonight, New York on Thursday, and Dallas on Saturday. The Nuggets should be favored in those final two games.
Utah is just 4-6 in their last ten games, and they sit 4.5 games out of that final playoff spot in the West.Utah did pick up a 125-113 win against the Clippers at home over the weekend, so it's a good spot to build from. The Jazz have had issues building off of singular wins, however, so finding a rhythm is imperative at this point. Ball distribution has been an issue, and the fan base is seemingly giving up on Ricky Rubio, as the Jazz averages just 21 assists per game as a team, and Rubio, who was supposed to be a premier passer, averages just 4.8 per game. The Jazz have not put together a win streak since their last streak ended in early December. They have a three game road run this week in Atlanta, Detroit, and Toronto.
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