We are less than a month away NBA trades, so it’s especially interesting to see which teams are thriving and which are down on Stock Watch this week.
Increase: The Lakers
The most surprising recent winning streak went to the Lakers, who had a five-game winning streak without Anthony Davis before falling Denver on Monday in a game without LeBron James and AD.
When Davis suffered a strain injury to his right foot in mid-December, it seemed certain that the Lakers would tumble down the ladder. Davis is playing MVP-sized basketball and without him, how could James, 38, carry the burdens of both superstars?
The joke is on us.
James has scored at least 30 points in 10 of his last 13 games, including two over 40-point performances. In his last 15 games, James has averaged 32.3 points on 55.6% shots, 7.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists. James was named Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday, the first time he’s won the weekly award since December 2021.
James has been a force. Thomas Bryant was excellent as a starter. And in the Lakers’ winning streak, the team sped up its pace to make up for the shortfall in size and try to recover.
It is a winning formula for a team that will have a tough road ahead, with injury news to be announced on Friday that players play a key role. Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker IV Expect to miss the next week or two. But the Lakers also received some very promising news: This week, Davis will begin the accelerated process to return to the ring, as ESPN first reported.
The Lakers have withstood Davis’s absence so far. Now the question is, when Davis returns, with James playing so well, can the Lakers get out of 12th at the Western Conference and enter the playoffs? Currently, they are only one game short Portland for last place and only three games behind Sacramento for fifth place.
fall: brooklyn network
Why is the Nets in this category, you might ask. They have won 14 of their last 15 games, rising to second in the Eastern Conference with a 27-13 record.
Yes, this is an expected fall.
The Nets took a pretty big hit on Monday when the superstar Kevin Durant was diagnosed as a solitary MCL sprain in the right knee. He is expected to be sidelined for about a month, according to ESPN.
Durant has been a phenomenon this season, averaging 29.7 points on 55.9% shots, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He’s been the Nets’ glue over the past few seasons, consistently playing great basketball amid the team’s frequent troubles.
Now, it will be Kyrie IrvingIt’s time to catch slacks.
When Durant picked up an MCL injury to his left knee in January 2022, the Nets were leading 5-17 after more than 1.5 months of his absence. During that time, however, Irving did not join the team in home games because of New York City’s vaccination duty.
Irving will be on hand to make sure a similar slide doesn’t happen again.
Rise: Memphis
The Grizzlies are the hottest team in the league right now, having won their last seven games. They achieved the second-best 40-game start in franchise history with a 27-13 scoreline, just behind their 29-11 record in 2014-15.
They are hungry. They are very deep. And superstar Ja Morant is on a mission to prove that his team is the real team and will compete in the summer.
The Grizzlies have the best defensive rating in the league (109) and have the 11th best offensive rating (113.9).
Even with Morant sidelined for the last two games, the Grizzlies haven’t missed a beat with their split wins. Wyoming and San Antonio. Against Spurs on Monday, all five starting players scored double the number.
fall: trimmer
Clippers lost 6 games in a row for the first time Kawhi Leonard–Paul George era.
Most recently, they have dropped Atlanta on Sunday, even though they had an 11-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.
It’s disappointing for a Clippers team going into this season with championship expectations. Leonard missed the entire season last season with an ACL injury and Paul George played just 31 games. With the return of both, the Clippers are expected to make a real splash in the league.
But it’s clear that the Clippers have started to go overboard, highlighted by a 33-point loss to Denver last week.
“This is where we see if you really like the game and if we’re a team, to see if we can dig this hole,” Leonard told reporters today. Sunday. “It was fun. It was a good challenge for us.”
George missed the team’s last two games because of a right hamstring injury. But Leonard played his highest 38 minutes of the season on Monday, finishing with 29 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists – but that still wasn’t enough.
The Clippers have shown a marked lack of focus and urgency lately and things aren’t going to get any easier for them any time soon. This week they play Denver on Tuesdays and dalas on Friday, the teams finished first and fourth in the Western Conference, respectively.
The Clippers need to figure out how to turn things around soon before another season that begins with lofty expectations ends in disappointment.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She has previously covered the tournament for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
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