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Tomorrow is a big night for nostalgia in the NBA. In Dallas, Luka Dončić will make his second return to where we all thought he’d spend his entire career. It was a highly emotional reunion last season after the shocking trade. With Nico Harrison gone, I wonder if we’ll still see a massive level of emotion from the crowd. And in Chicago, the Bulls will retire Derrick Rose’s jersey. He wore No. 1 for eight seasons in Chicago. The second-longest to wear that number? Randy Brown and Jamal Crawford, for four seasons each.
Midseason grades
Report cards for the West
We’re halfway through the season, as every team has finally gotten to at least 41 games played. That means it’s time to give out some grades. We’ll do the Western Conference first and the East down below. The West is still the deeper conference and the bigger battlefield to get through. Which teams have gotten better, and which have gotten worse?
We list the teams in order of standings, their grades and something the teacher (me) wants to see improvement on.
Who has turned it around? The Clippers. After starting just 6-21, they’ve won 14 of their last 17 games. No team has ever started that poorly and ended up above .500 for the season. The Clippers can legitimately pull this off.
Who is getting worse? The Warriors. The Jimmy Butler injury sank a team that was starting to win games and figure it out. Jonathan Kuminga hurt his leg last night, and although Golden State doesn’t think the injury is serious, it could prevent the team from trading him before the Feb. 5 deadline. The Warriors can’t even guarantee a win when Steph Curry goes off.
Biggest West storyline: Are the Thunder vulnerable? The first-quarter storyline was all about whether the Thunder would have the best season ever. Then the Spurs brought them back down to earth in December. Now, Oklahoma City looks a lot more human and doesn’t quite put that fear into everybody, despite still being awesome.
Favorite to win the West: The Thunder. Duh. It’s still them. They’re the best team and the defending champs. But they’re not healthy, and we’re not seeing close to their best basketball anymore.
Who’s the dark horse to challenge? The Wolves. I know, it’s hard to believe. But this team is really good on both ends of the floor, is able to play big and small and has been to the conference finals the last two years. We underestimate the Wolves each year, and they shock somebody.
The last 24
✌ Twin thrilling. The Thompson brothers face one another tonight. They were destined to be NBA stars, Marcus Thompson II writes.
😾 KAT questions. Would the Knicks really trade Karl-Anthony Towns? Our Sam Amick tackles that and more in his latest trade intel piece.
📺 Breakdown. Chet Holmgren has had a very good defensive season. He breaks it down with Fred Katz.
⏳ Kai comeback? Kyrie Irving could still return this season. The Mavs’ record won’t influence it at all.
⚖️ Who’s winning? Remember that Kevin Durant trade between Phoenix and Houston? Who has benefited the most?
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass
Midseason grades, Part 2
Now, let’s grade the Eastern Conference.
Who has turned it around? The Bulls and Hornets. The Bulls were 9-13 when we checked in at the first-quarter mark of the season. Their season has been a massive roller coaster, and they’ve dealt with some injuries. Now they look pretty solid. And I want to give the Hornets some credit. They’re still not a good team, but they’ve at least re-established themselves as an offensive unit most nights. They’ve grown into a top-10 offense in the NBA this season.
Who is getting worse? The Bucks. Mostly, it’s the vibes, as Giannis Antetokounmpo has been actively taking fewer shots, and he’s been very critical of his teammates and the style of play lately. The rest of the GMs around the league are hoping his frustrations lead him to a trade request before the deadline.
Biggest East storyline: The Knicks imploding. Aside from beating the Nets by approximately 300 points the other day, New York has been a disaster the last three weeks. The locker room doesn’t sound great, and the play on both ends of the floor is uninspiring to say the least. This was the team that was supposed to control the wide-open East.
Favorite to win the East: The Pistons. Not everybody wants to accept Detroit as the top team yet, but at least for now it is by default. The Pistons have some concerns with creating offense outside of Cade Cunningham, but their defense is spectacular. They’re the best team so far for a reason.
Who’s the dark horse to challenge? The Celtics. Maybe it seems weird to call the No. 2 seed the dark horse, but I’m still not sure how many people take this roster seriously. Jaylen Brown is playing like an MVP, and it really sounds like Jayson Tatum will come back before the season ends
About last night
Sixers survive terrible no-call
76ers 128, Rockets 122 (OT): With the game tied and a couple of seconds left in regulation, Tyrese Maxey attempted a game-winning layup. Kevin Durant swatted it against the backboard, and then there was an inadvertent whistle during a scramble for the loose ball. One problem, though: Durant goaltended the shot, and it should have counted. But since the refs didn’t call the violation, they couldn’t review it. Seems like a dumb rule! Philly won in OT anyway. Maxey finished with 36 points and 10 assists. Joel Embiid had 32 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Bulls 120, Wolves 115: Minnesota used a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to build a six-point lead with five minutes left. Then the Bulls countered with a 16-5 run to close out the game and get the road victory. Coby White had 22 points, and Josh Giddey came off the bench for 21. It was enough to overcome 30 from Julius Randle and 20 off the bench from Naz Reid.
Clippers 112, Lakers 104: The Lakers nearly came back from down 26 in the third quarter by turning it into a one-possession game in the fourth. But 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists from Dončić were not enough. Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 24, and Ivica Zubac had 18 points and 19 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass.
Spurs 126, Jazz 109: Victor Wembanyama had 26 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks to help San Antonio secure this one, but I want to talk about Jusuf Nurkić. The “Bosnian Beast” had one triple-double in the first 623 games of his career. He has two triple-doubles in his last two games. He had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists. He’s the first Jazz player since Pete Maravich to have back-to-back triple-doubles. When you think of Nurkić, you should always think of Pistol Pete.
Mavericks 123, Warriors 115: I have a feeling we need to get used to these types of Warriors games the rest of the season. Curry had 38 points and knocked down eight 3-pointers. And yet, they still lost. Naji Marshall had 30 for Dallas, while Cooper Flagg and Max Christie both had 21 points. This could get pretty ugly.
Hornets 124, Magic 97: This one was over sometime in the second quarter, and Orlando never made a push. Brandon Miller led eight different Hornets in double figures with 20. Yes, the Magic had pretty much everybody available.
Nuggets 107, Wizards 97: Jonas Valanciunas is back, and he had 16 points for Denver. Peyton Watson had another massive game with 35, and the Nuggets were able to stifle the Wizards, who still don’t have Trae Young on the court.
Blazers 127, Heat 110: Bam Adebayo did what he could with 32 points, but the Blazers are on fire. Shaedon Sharpe had 27, Caleb Love had 20 and the Blazers won for the 11th time in the last 14 games. They’re back over .500 for the first time since they were 6-5 this season.