Fun Facts & Red Flags - February 14th
Happy Valentine’s Day (& all-star break) weekend to you all!!
Atlanta Hawks
26-29 record (8th in the East)
23rd in offence (110.9), 13th in defence (113.2), 21st in net rating (-2.4), 20th in eFG% (53.3)
Last few: L at NYK
Atlanta’s 3-game win streak ended with an overtime loss to the Knicks on Wednesday. Hawks have played the Knicks FOUR times this season & still have another game left against them (an NBA-Cup twist) but it’s okay because every Hawks/Knicks matchup is must-watch TV.
Fun Fact ✨:if the Hawks made all their free throws in overtime, it would have been the fifth time that they’ve comeback from down 15.
Hawks have come back from down 15 four times this season, tied for 2nd most in the NBA.
Boston Celtics
39-16 record (2nd in the East)
4th in offence (118.8), 5th in defence (109.7), 3rd in net rating (9.1), 7th in eFG% (55.8), won 3 straight
Last few: W vs. SAS
Before this week, Celtics had lost 7 of the previous 8 times that they shot below 33.0% from three. They were 2-0 in those games this week.
Fun Fact ✨:In the 8 games they shot below 33.0% from three, the Celtics’ defence had fallen off a cliff. They allowed their opponents to score 116.5 points & shoot 46.7% from the field.
They held the Heat & the Spurs to 94.0 points on 38.8% shooting this week.
Brooklyn Nets
20-34 record (12th in the East)
27th in offence (108.7), 22nd in defence (114.9), 27th in net rating (-6.2), 25th in eFG% (51.9), won 3 straight
Last few: W vs. PHI
Don’t look now Nets fans, your Brooklyn Nets are 6-1 in the last 7 games, tied for 2nd in the NBA.
Fun Fact ✨:Nets have a 103.4 defensive rating over the last 7 games, best in the NBA. They’ve held their opponents to under 100 points in 6 of 7 games, something they only did 4 times before this stretch.
Disclaimer: Nets have played the Hornets twice (tanking), Rockets twice (can’t shoot), Heat (don’t like the 4th), Sixers (embarrassing) & the Wizards(no comment) in this stretch.
Nets are 30th in pace over the last 7 games (& on the season) which means their 102.0 points per game translates to an 109.1 offensive rating.
Charlotte Hornets
13-39 record (14th in the East)
28th in offence (108.2), 14th in defence (113.4), 24th in net rating (-5.3), 29th in eFG% (50.7), lost 3 straight
Last few: L at ORL
Hornets have lost 9 of 10 games. Only 2 players have played in all 10 of those games – DaQuan Jeffiers & Miles Bridges.
Red Flag 🚩: Only 4 teams have been held to under 90 points in back-to-back games this season – the Hornets, Heat, Sixers & the Magic (x2).
Chicago Bulls
22-33 record (10th in the East)
18th in offence (112.2), 27th in defence (116.0), 23rd in net rating (-3.9), 10th in eFG% (55.5), lost 4 straight
Last few: L vs. DET, L vs. DET
It took many tries for the NBA to finally name Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis to the Rising Stars roster. Better late than never I guess.
Red Flag 🚩: Coby White scored 20+ points in 5 straight before the Bulls’ 2-game set against the Pistons. He’s scored 12 points combined in 2 games since. White shot a team-worst 14.8% from the field, including 2-for-17 from three, in the last 2 games.
Cleveland Cavaliers
44-10 record (1st in the East)
1st in offence (121.8), 8th in defence (111.6), 2nd in net rating (10.2), 1st in eFG% (58.8), won 4 straight
Last few: W at TOR
Heads up, I’m from Toronto & grew up a Raptors fan. I cover the Raptors full-time now. I’ve watched almost every Raptors game since the 2013-14 season & I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Canadian get booed of the court like Tristan Thompson was on Wednesday.
Anyways.
Fun Fact ✨:Cavs have won 4 straight. A Cavs player has only played over 35 minutes in a game once over this stretch. Cavs are tied for the best record in the NBA & their starters are averaging under 29.0 minutes per game. They rank 28th in the NBA in starter minutes this season.
Dallas Mavericks
30-26 record (8th in the West)
7th in offence (115.4), 15th in defence (113.5), 10th in net rating (1.9), 11th in eFG% (55.3), won 2 straight
Last few: W vs. GSW, W vs. MIA
Anthony Davis is expected to miss multiple weeks with an adductor strain. Dereck Lively is out a few more weeks with that stress fracture in his right ankle. Daniel Gafford is expected to be miss at least 6 weeks with an MCL tear.
Fun Fact ✨:The tallest player in the Mavs’ starting lineup over the last two games are Kessler Edwards & Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Canadian!!), both listed at 6-7 on NBA dot com.
Height doesn’t measure heart obviously because the Mavs won both those games. Despite being outrebounded 92-79, Mavs pulled out two clutch wins & are now 4-3 since trading Luka Doncic.
Denver Nuggets
36-19 record (3rd in the West)
3rd in offence (119.4), 18th in defence (113.7), 6th in net rating (5.7), 2nd in eFG% (57.5), won 8 straight
Last few: W vs. POR
Nuggets won their 8th straight with their win against the Blazers. They’ve won each of their last 6 by double-digits, the longest such streak in franchise history.
Fun Fact ✨:Nuggets were 16-12 after their Christmas Day loss to the Suns. They’re 20-8 since. Nuggets had a very good 115.6 offensive rating through their first 28 games. They have an insane 123.8 offensive rating in 28 games since. Their offence is scoring 8.2 more points per 100 possessions after Christmas.
Jamal Murray up till Christmas: 18.8 PTS on 42.9/34.9/82.6% splits.
Jamal Murray since Christmas: 22.9 PTS on 50.2/39.7/91.9% splits.
Detroit Pistons
29-26 record (6th in the East)
15th in offence (112.6), 12th in defence (113.1), 16th in net rating (-0.4), 16th in eFG% (54.0), won 4 straight
Last few: W at CHI, W at CHI
Pistons, oh have you changed. The glow up is very real with this Pistons team. They’ve already doubled their win total from last season (14) & it’s only the All-Star break. Pistons haven’t had an above .500 record at the break since they were 27-24 in 2008-09.
They went up 101-52 (The Diff: +49) in the 3rd against the Bulls on Tuesday, their largest lead in a game since 2012. This is a Pistons team that went down by 40 in game twice last season.
Fun Fact ✨:Pistons had a 114.0 offensive rating in 20 games after Jaden Ivey went down with a broken fibula. They’re scoring 124.0 points per 100 possessions in 3 games since Dennis Schroder made his Pistons debut.
Yes, they played the Hornets & the Bulls (x2) but Detroit had a 104.1 offensive rating with Cade Cunningham on the bench in that 20-game span. Please excuse my small sample size theatre, but they’re scoring 111.8 points per 100 with him on the bench over the last 3.
Golden State Warriors
28-27 record (10th in the West)
17th in offence (112.3), 10th in defence (112.0), 15th in net rating (0.3), 23rd in eFG% (52.9)
Last few: L at DAL, W at HOU
Warriors are 3-1 in the Jimmy Buttler era (yes, I will update this number every time). Happy Valentine’s Day to a new duo that couldn’t be more different. Opposites attract (or so they say) because Butler brings elements the Warriors have been allergic to all season.
Warriors were 29th in free throw rate & 26th in rim frequency before Jimmy. They’re 2nd & 10th since Butler made his debut on February 8th.
Fun Fact ✨:Warriors were taking 22.0 shots at the rim before Jimmy. They’re taking 28.3 shots at the rim with him.
Houston Rockets
34-21 record (4th in the West)
13th in offence (113.8), 4th in defence (109.3), 7th in net rating (4.5), 27th in eFG% (51.1)
Last few: W vs. PHX, L vs. GSW
Rockets are 2-7 in February & they’ve used 4 different starting lineups in their 9 games this month.
Rockets’ opening night starting lineup of Brooks, Green, Sengun, Smith Jr. & VanVleet started 28 games together. Rockets were 18-10 in those games. They were 9-1 with Amen Thompson in the starting five in Jabari Smith Jr’s spot.
Red Flag 🚩: Rockets are 3-9 when 2 or more of Brooks, Green, Sengun, Smith Jr., VanVleet or Thompson are out.
Indiana Pacers
30-23 record (4th in the East)
10th in offence (114.3), 19th in defence (114.0), 14th in net rating (0.3), 6th in eFG% (56.0)
Last few: L vs. NYK, W at WAS
Pacers tweaked their starting lineup ahead of their loss to the Knicks on Tuesday, moving Benn Mathurin to the bench, in hopes of finding a solution to their slow starts.
Red Flag 🚩: Pacers have gone down by 15 or more points in 6 straight & have trailed after the first quarter in all 6.
L.A. Clippers
31-23 record (6th in the West)
20th in offence (111.4), 2nd in defence (108.3), 9th in net rating (3.0), 14th in eFG% (54.2), won 3 straight
Last few: W vs. MEM, W at UTA
Ben Simmons made his Clippers debut on Thursday & scored 12 points off the bench!! He led the bench in scoring, adding 7 rebounds & 6 assists. His first win as a Clipper came in a 20-point comeback in overtime against the tanking Utah Jazz.
Fun Fact ✨:Clippers have won 3 straight despite trailing by double digits in all 3. They gave up 18 threes through the first three quarters against the Jazz & then held them to 0-for-10 from three in the 4th & OT.
L.A. Lakers
32-20 record (5th in the West)
9th in offence (114.6), 16th in defence (113.6), 13th in net rating (1.0), 9th in eFG% (55.6)
Last few: L at UTA
Lakers had won 12 of 14 games before their loss to the Jazz on Wednesday but still have the best record in the NBA since mid-January.
Red Flag 🚩: Lakers were outscored 20-6 in the paint in the 3rd quarter on Wednesday & lost the 3rd by 10 points. They’ve only won the 3rd quarter five times over this 15-game stretch.
Memphis Grizzlies
36-18 record (2nd in the West)
5th in offence (118.1), 7th in defence (110.8), 4th in net rating (7.3), 5th in eFG% (56.2)
Last few: W at PHX, L at LAC
For me to really believe in the Grizzlies, they need to be better than 13-15 against teams over .500 & better than 6-9 against top-10 defences (currently).
Red Flag 🚩: 6 of the Grizzlies’ 18 losses have come in the state of California. Memphis is 0-6 against the Lakers, Warriors, Clippers & Kings this season & 36-12 against the rest of the NBA.
Miami Heat
25-28 record (9th in the East)
21st in offence (111.2), 9th in defence (111.9), 17th in net rating (-0.7), 19th in eFG% (53.5), lost 4 straight
Last few: L at OKC, L at DAL
Full disclosure, again, I watch every Heat game in full, sometimes twice (feel sorry for me please!!). There are many red flags. Miami’s 2025 first is owed top-14 protected to the Hornets & they received a top-10 protected 2025 first from Golden State in the Butler deal. There is a pathway to the Heat walking away with two top-14 picks in this drafts & they need to be strategic about their last 29 games.
Red Flag 🚩: They did it AGAIN! Miami was outscored 32-8 in the 4th against the Thunder after leading by as much as 21 in the first half. NBA teams have been held to single-digits in the fourth 4 times this season. Heat have three of them.
Everyone watching this game knew exactly what was coming once the Heat started the 2nd half as lackadaisical as possible
Milwaukee Bucks
29-24 record (5th in the East)
12th in offence (113.9), 11th in defence (112.7), 11th in net rating (1.2), 4th in eFG% (56.3)
Last few: W at MIN
Allow me to tell you who started for the Bucks in their game against the Wolves on Wednesday - Andre Jackson Jr., Brook Lopez, Kyle Kuzma, Ryan Rollins & Taurean Prince.
Here’s who the Wolves started: Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, Nickeil Alexander-Walker & Rudy Gobert
Fun Fact ✨:Milwaukee, without Lillard & Antetokounmpo, led by as much as 15 points against the full-strength Wolves team. They won by 2. They held the Wolves to 101 points, tied for the 2nd fewest they’ve allowed in game without Giannis this season.
Kyle Kuzma is averaging 16.3 PTS in 4 games with Milwaukee. He’s averaging 8.5 rebounds, tied for his most in any 4-game span this season.
Minnesota Timberwolves
31-25 record (7th in the West)
14th in offence (113.8), 6th in defence (110.5), 8th in net rating (3.3), 13th in eFG% (55.0)
Last few: L vs. MIL, W vs. OKC
It’s extremely on brand for Minnesota to lose to a Bucks team without Dame or Giannis (see above) & then blow out a full-strength Thunder without Gobert, DiVincenzo, Conley & Randle.
Fun Fact ✨:Thursday’s win was the Wolves 6th wire-to-wire win of the season & their first since January 27th. They had 6 such wins all last season.
New Orleans Pelicans
13-42 record (15th in the West)
26th in offence (109.5), 30th in defence (118.6), 29th in net rating (-9.1), 26th in eFG% (51.5)
Last few: L vs. SAC, W vs. SAC
Pels snapped a 9-game losing streak with their OT win against the Kings on Thursday, determined to avoid the season series sweep by the Kings.
Fun Fact ✨:CJ McCollum only needed 201 games to become the Pels’ all-time leader in made threes. In 7 games since breaking the record, McCollum is averaging 25.7 points on 43.9% from three.
New York Knicks
36-18 record (3rd in the East)
2nd in offence (119.6), 17th in defence (113.7), 5th in net rating (5.9), 3rd in eFG% (56.6), won 2 straight
Last few: W at IND, W vs. ATL
Knicks have been within five points in the last five minutes in 6 of their last 13 games. They’ve won all six!!
Fun Fact ✨:Knicks were 6-7 in clutch games before January 15th & owned the third worst clutch defensive rating in the NBA (123.3). They have a 108.8 defensive rating in the clutch since then, 14th in the NBA.
14th is still pretty mediocre but their 136.9 offensive rating is ranked 3rd in the league. Remember kids, the trick to winning basketball games is to score more points than your opponent.
Oklahoma City Thunder
44-10 record (1st in the West)
6th in offence (117.5), 1st in defence (104.2), 1st in net rating (13.3), 12th in eFG% (55.1)
Last few: W vs. MIA, L at MIN
OKC looked like they used too much energy in their 21-point comeback win against the Heat on Wednesday because they were outscored 37-24 in the first against the Timberwolves on Thursday.
Fun Fact ✨:Thunder went on a 24-0 run to start the fourth quarter against the Heat on Wednesday & came back from a double-digit deficit for the 12th time this season.
OKC is the only team in the NBA with a winning record (12-7) in games they trailed by 10+ points.
Orlando Magic
27-29 record (7th in the East)
29th in offence (107.2), 3rd in defence (109.0), 20th in net rating (-1.8), 30th in eFG% (50.4)
Last few: W vs. CHA
Orlando hasn’t strung back-to-back wins together since December 23rd. That’s almost 2 months ago. They have a 8-17 record since then.
BUT after losing 9 of 10, Magic are playing .500 basketball over their last 6 games.
Fun Fact ✨:Magic held the Hornets to 86 points on Wednesday, the fewest they’ve held a team to they held the Hornets to 84 points in November.
Yes, it’s the Hornets but that’s not what’s fun here. Magic kept their season alive with Banchero & then Wagner out with the power of friendship. Mosley went deep into his rotation, 11 different players averaged 15+ minutes, 8 different guys averaged at least 8 points.
Power of friendship is back! Mosley played a 10-man rotation & got a combined 46 points from the bench, the most they’ve combined for since January 12th.
Philadelphia 76ers
20-34 record (11th in the East)
19th in offence (111.5), 24th in defence (115.4), 22nd in net rating (-3.9), 21st in eFG% (53.2), lost 5 straight
Last few: L vs. TOR, L at BKN
Sixers are embarrassing. Raptors did everything they could to lose on Tuesday. Rajakovic played 4 rookies on court at the same time IN THE FOURTH QUARTER. He played multiple lineups without Quickley & Barnes. Jakob Poeltl & RJ Barrett were out against the Sixers team with all three of Embiid, George & Maxey.
They still lost.
Red Flag 🚩: Sixers have played 13 games with all 3 of Embiid, Maxey & George available. They haven’t won with all 3 in the lineup since January 4th.
Phoenix Suns
26-28 record (11th in the West)
11th in offence (114.1), 25th in defence (115.7), 19th in net rating (-1.6), 8th in eFG% (55.6), lost 3 straight
Last few: L vs. MEM, L at HOU
Suns have lost 3 straight & 6 of 7 heading into the break.
Red Flag 🚩: Suns haven’t had both Durant & Booker out in a game this season, but they’ve been without one or the other in 19 of 54 games.
Suns are 3-16 when one of Durant or Booker are out this season.
Portland Trail Blazers
23-32 record (13th in the West)
25th in offence (110.0), 23rd in defence (115.4), 25th in net rating (-5.3), 24th in eFG% (52.0), lost 3 straight
Last few: L at DEN
RIP to their top-3 defence. The tank is back on.
De’Andre Ayton was out with a left calf strain on Wednesday & is set to be re-evaluated in a month.
Red Flag (or Fun Fact): Blazers gave up 139.0 points in their 2-game set against the Nuggets after holding teams to 103.1 points in 12 games prior.
Sacramento Kings
28-27 record (9th in the West)
8th in offence (115.1), 20th in defence (114.0), 12th in net rating (1.0), 15th in eFG% (54.2)
Last few: W at NOP, L at NOP
When I have some time one of these days, I want to investigate how many times a team has won both games of a 2-game set.
Red Flag 🚩: Kings have been within 5 points in the last 5 minutes in 5 straight, including in every game since the deadline.
Here’s who they played in the last 5: at POR, vs NOP, at DAL, vs NOP, vs NOP.
All four of their meetings against the Pels have been clutch games.
San Antonio Spurs
23-29 record (12th in the West)
16th in offence (112.6), 21st in defence (114.1), 18th in net rating (-1.5), 17th in eFG% (53.9)
Last few: L at BOS
Spurs are 2-3 in the De’Aaron Fox era.
Red Flag 🚩: Spurs have a -2.3 net rating with Wembanyama & Fox on court together but they’ve only played 120 minutes.
Fun though, Harrison Barnes & De’Aaron Fox are together again! Spurs have a 7.5 net rating with the 2 on court, 2nd among their 2-man units with 100+ minutes over the last 5.
Toronto Raptors
17-38 record (13th in the East)
24th in offence (110.1), 26th in defence (115.8), 26th in net rating (-5.7), 22nd in eFG% (53.0)
Last few: W at PHI, L vs. CLE
Raptors got RJ Barrett back on Wednesday, after he missed 5 games to concussion protocol.
Red Flag 🚩: It was just the 7th time that the trio of Barnes, Barrett & Quickley played together this season – the Raptors’ are 1-6 in those games.
Raptors have been outscored by 59 points with the three on court together this season.
Utah Jazz
13-41 record (14th in the West)
22nd in offence (111.1), 28th in defence (118.5), 28th in net rating (-7.4), 18th in eFG% (53.6)
Last few: W vs. LAL, L vs. LAC
Jazz have blown 17 double-digit leads this season, the most in the NBA. Elite tanking in my opinion but not sure about how ethical it is.
Red Flag 🚩: Jazz shot 44.8% from three in the first 3 quarters of their last 2 games.
They shot 15.7% in fourth quarters & overtime.
Washington Wizards
9-45 record (15th in the East)
30th in offence (105.4), 29th in defence (118.6), 30th in net rating (-13.2), 28th in eFG% (50.9), lost 4 straight
Last few: L vs. IND
Wizards have given up 131.0 points over their last 4 games but they don’t have the worst defensive rating in the league over this stretch (Bulls) so this is still a win.
Fun Fact ✨:Wizards have a combined 66 lead changes in their last 5 games, which is more than they had in their 16 games prior.