NBA Talking Points

The superstars are shining in the NBA right now. There has been a lot of discussion about who the MVP will be. There is still no consensus on that topic yet, nor is there any clear favourite in the Rookie of the Year stakes, though many will be looking at Evan Mobley. With the individual awards races shaping up to an epic finish, the battle for playoff places is centre stage. The East is a real bun fight with very little to differentiate between the leaders and the   

Fifth seed and everything can change. The West looks likely to go to the Phoenix Suns to end the regular season, below them it is another dogfight with the Grizzlies and Warriors doing battle for the second seed, then there is a tussle between the Jazz, Mavericks and Nuggets for the other direct playoff places.

Big Scoring Weeks

Kyrie Irving and Karl-Anthony Towns were the latest big scorers in the NBA with the superstars really putting their hands up to be noticed as the season end draws nearer. Kyrie Irving dropped an astounding career-high 60 points against the Orlando Magic. The day before that Towns achieved the same feat, a career-high and a franchise-record as he scored 60 points with 17 rebounds in a 149-139 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. We’ve had Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Irving himself all having scored 50 points or more in the last week. There were also a large number of players that racked up 40+ points in games in the same period. The scorers are scoring! However, these big numbers haven’t always translated to victories and that is the other talking point. Form is shifting like sand under some team’s efforts.

Form Is Up And Down Across The League

No team is currently on more than a four-game winning streak. That means that the big scoring performances that we are witnessing aren’t always leading to wins for their teams. However, this is also why we love the NBA. There are no real outright favourites to win it all right now. The East is particularly devilish when you try and make any predictions. The Nets are red-hot but are stuck in the eighth spot in the play-in places. The Warriors are up and down with a 5-5 record in their last ten games and they are third in the West. It could make for messy and thrilling playoffs for all involved. At this stage of the season good or bad form is the difference between a good, fair or bad season. The playoffs look large and teams like the Lakers and Nets will hope their form improves and stays good.

By The Numbers, Popovich Is Simply The Best

When the Spurs beat the Utah Jazz 104-102 it marked a significant milestone in the league as long-serving Spurs coach Gregg Popovich racked up his 1336^th victory as a head coach to put him atop the list of the coaches with the most career wins. He passed Don Nelson as the ‘winningest’ coach. It is a heck of an achievement as Popovich stands alone amongst the greatest to have ever coached at the NBA level. Nelson never won an NBA championship as a coach, having won five as a player, Coach Pop has five titles and an Olympic gold medal to his name.