Fun Facts & Red Flags - March 14
Standings watch season is here!
The two through five (& seven!) seeds in the West are about to be the most entertaining standings watch of the season.
Just 1 win separates the five-seed Rockets & the two-seed Grizzlies. The Warriors & Wolves are the hottest teams in the West & they’re just 3 & 3.5 games back of the Rockets for fifth.
Atlanta Hawks
32-34 record (7th in the East)
18th in offence (112.3), 17th in defence (114.3), 19th in net rating (-2.0), 18th in eFG% (53.8), won 4 straight
Last few: W vs. IND, W vs. PHI, W vs. CHA
After losing 15 of their previous 21 games, Hawks have won 4 straight. Granted, the streak came against the Haliburton-less Pacers, the tanking Sixers & the Charlotte Hornets. These are the games they need to win though; Hawks have the fourth easiest remaining schedule in the league.
As of Friday afternoon, Hawks are 4.5 games back of Pistons for 6th in the East AND they don’t own the tiebreaker. Detroit (more below) has the third HARDEST schedule in the league – if there was any time for the Hawks to make a move, it’s over this next 5-game stretch.
Fun fact: Hawks have scored 120+ points in 6 straight, tied for the longest streak in franchise history. Atlanta is 20-10 when they score 120+ points this season.
Boston Celtics
47-19 record (2nd in the East)
3rd in offence (119.1), 5th in defence (110.3), 3rd in net rating (8.7), 6th in eFG% (56.0)
Last few: W vs. LAL, W vs. UTA, L vs. OKC
Celtics put up a franchise-record *63* threes on Wednesday night in a potential Finals matchup against the Thunder. SIXTY-THREE. That’s tied for the most a team has put up in a regulation game in NBA history.
They shot 81.8% in the paint on Wednesday night, scoring 36 paint points. They got whatever they wanted in the paint when they decided to score in the paint, which is exactly what the Thunder wanted.
Red flag: Celtics shot 5-for-27 from three in the second half on Wednesday night, an ongoing trend since the All-Star break.
Since the break, Boston is shooting 43.9% from three in first halves & 31.4% from three in the second half of games.
Brooklyn Nets
22-44 record (13th in the East)
27th in offence (108.8), 23rd in defence (115.3), 26th in net rating (-6.5), 26th in eFG% (51.6), lost 2 straight
Last few: L at CHA, W vs. LAL, L at CLE, L at CHI
Nets have lost 9 of 10 games & have lost all 6 games with Cam Thomas since he returned to the lineup on February 28th. They haven’t won a game with him in the lineup since January 2nd!!
Nets only have a 1 game lead over the Raptors for the 5th best odds in the draft & they’re doing everything they can to maintain that lead.
Fun fact: Nets have a 116.8 offensive rating in the first halves over their last 10 games. They have a 104.0 offensive rating in the second half.
This is a fun fact because Nets are tanking games incredibly well & doing it ethically. Brooklyn hasn’t picked in the lottery (top-14) since they took Derrick Favors third overall in 2010, 15 years ago.
Charlotte Hornets
16-49 record (14th in the East)
29th in offence (106.7), 15th in defence (114.2), 28th in net rating (-7.4), 30th in eFG% (49.9)
Last few: L vs. CLE, W vs. BKN, W at MIA, L at ATL
Charlotte followed up three close games (where they looked like a competitive basketball team) with a 13-point loss to the Hawks on Wednesday night.
They have a 1-game lead over the Pelicans for the 3rd best odds in the draft but they haven’t been “tanking” games. They’re just the worst shooting team in the NBA. Yes, even worse than the Magic.
Red flag: LaMelo Ball hasn’t shot 50.0% or better from the field since January 15th. In fact, he’s only shot above 45.0% from the field in 9 of his 42 games this season.
Ball is taking a league-most 21.8 shots per game this season. He’s shooting 34.8% on 17.6 field goal attempts since mid-January, the worst of any player with at least 200 FGA in that span.
35% shooting on 18 shots a game is nasty business.
Chicago Bulls
28-38 record (10th in the East)
20th in offence (112.1), 24th in defence (115.7), 22nd in net rating (-3.5), 13th in eFG% (54.8), won 4 straight
Last few: W at MIA, W vs. IND, W vs. BKN
The Bulls are 6-5 since the All-Star break, which is somehow tied for the the 5th best record in the East. They have a very respectable 2.6 net rating since the break & a lot of that has to do with their new lead duo – Josh Giddey & Coby White.
Fun fact: White is averaging 31.3 points, 5.5 rebounds & shooting 76.9% at the rim over the Bulls’ 4-game win streak. Josh Giddey only played in 3 of their last 4 games but he’s putting up 23.1 points, 10.9 rebounds & 8.4 assists since the break.
Giddey’s put up ten 20-point double-doubles this season, the most by a Bulls guard since Derrick Rose did it 17 times in 2010-11.
Cleveland Cavaliers
55-10 record (1st in the East)
1st in offence (121.8), 7th in defence (110.9), 2nd in net rating (10.9), 1st in eFG% (58.3), won 15 straight
Last few: W at CHA, W at MIL, W vs. BKN
So, the Cavs started the season on a 15-game win streak, then went on a 12-game win streak & now they’re on a 15-game win streak. There’s been a few close calls to get them to 15 this time. They’ve gone down by 15 or more points in 4 of their last 7 games, including going down by 18 against the Nets on Tuesday night. Plus, 6 of their last 9 games have been decided by single-digits!
Fun fact: for all the talk of the Warriors & their record with Jimmy Butler, the Cavs have not lost since they traded for De’Andre Hunter. They’re 12-0 with him in the lineup & Hunter is shooting 50.0% from three on 4.7 attempts with Cleveland.
Cavs are outscoring teams by 18.1 points 100 possessions since he made his debut on February 10th, which is only the 5th highest net rating on the team in that span.
Cleveland is trying to win a franchise-record 16th consecutive game when they play the Grizzlies on Friday night & hope to become the first team since the 2022-23 Bucks to win 16 in a row.
Dallas Mavericks
33-34 record (10th in the West)
11th in offence (114.4), 18th in defence (114.4), 16th in net rating (0.0), 12th in eFG% (54.9)
Last few: L vs. MEM, L vs. PHX, W at SAS, L at SAS
Dallas is back to under .500 & they have a 2.5 game cushion over the Suns for the final play-in spot in the West.
Only 6 guys have played in every game for the since Irving got hurt – Dwight Powell, Kessler Edwards, Klay Thompson, Max Christie, Naji Marshall & Spencer Dinwiddie. Dwight Powell is the only player taller than 6-10 of the bunch.
Fun fact: Klay Thompson is averaging 21.4 points on 38.8% from three in his last 5 games, the most he’s averaged in any 5-game span for the Mavs.
Denver Nuggets
42-24 record (3rd in the West)
2nd in offence (119.2), 21st in defence (114.7), 5th in net rating (4.5), 2nd in eFG% (57.4)
Last few: W vs. PHX, L at OKC, W at OKC, L vs. MIN
The Nuggets have lost their last 5 games against the Timberwolves, going back to the playoffs last year. They’re 0-3 against them this season with a meeting left on April 1st.
I had to check this a couple of times. Nuggets haven’t taken a lead against the Wolves since they were up 116-115 with 39 seconds left in their first meeting of the season. In fact, they’ve trailed against the Wolves in 125 minutes & 6 seconds across their three matchups this season.
Red flag: Denver owns the best offence in the NBA but they’re 9-13 against the 10 best defences in the NBA. Nuggets are averaging 124.6 points against the bottom 20 defensive teams but just 115.0 points against the elites.
Detroit Pistons
37-30 record (6th in the East)
15th in offence (113.8), 10th in defence (111.9), 12th in net rating (1.9), 14th in eFG% (54.6)
Last few: L at GSW, W at POR, W vs. WAS, L vs. WAS
Detroit’s lost 3 of their last 5 games & are about to take on the Thunder on Saturday night. They’re 1 game back of the Bucks for 4th in the East but only have a 4.5 game lead over the Hawks, who are in 7th. If they take their feet off the wheel like they did against the Wizards, the play-in tournament could be closer than they think.
Fun fact: Pistons have 9 games left against teams over .500, including playing the Thunder twice, Bucks twice & the Cavs once.
They have the hardest remaining strength of schedule of any East team by opponent record but they still have 4 games against the bottom-10 teams in the league.
Golden State Warriors
38-28 record (6th in the West)
13th in offence (114.0), 8th in defence (111.4), 9th in net rating (2.6), 21st in eFG% (53.5), won 6 straight
Last few: W vs. DET, W vs. POR, W vs. SAC
Golden State is 13-1 with Jimmy Butler in the lineup & they’ve won their last 11 games with him in the lineup.
Fun fact: the Warriors have played a total of 40 minutes with both Butler & Curry off the floor since the trade – they have a 109.3 offensive rating in those minutes.
They have a 25.6 net rating when Curry is on without Butler & a 17.0 net rating when Butler is on without Curry. Before the trade, Warriors had a 103.2 offensive rating (!!!) with Curry off the court.
Getting a guy like Butler to make sure the Warriors survive the non-Curry minutes might be the best birthday present they could have gotten him.
The 37-year-old is averaging 28.7 points on 68.6 TS% since the trade. His 68.6 TS% is the third highest of any player with at least 125 FGA since the deadline.
Houston Rockets
41-25 record (5th in the West)
16th in offence (113.7), 3rd in defence (109.5), 7th in net rating (4.2), 27th in eFG% (51.5), won 4 straight
Last few: W vs. NOP, W vs. ORL, W vs. PHX
Houston’s up to 41 wins with 16 games left, as many games as they won all last season.
Fun fact: Rockets are 27th in eFG% this season. Of the teams that rank bottom-9, the Rockets are the only team with a winning record.
A team with a sub-52.0 effective field goal percentage hasn’t won 60% of their games since the Celtics in 2017-18. A team with a sub-52.0 eFG% hasn’t made the playoffs since the Pels & Raptors in 2021-22.
Indiana Pacers
36-28 record (5th in the East)
8th in offence (114.9), 16th in defence (114.2), 15th in net rating (0.7), 5th in eFG% (56.2)
Last few: L at ATL, L at CHI, W vs. MIL
Pacers beat the Bucks on an incredible football-inspired play call & an insane shot from Tyrese Haliburton.
Caitlin Cooper of Basketball, She Wrote, opened up her up her piece on how the Pacers generated their looks against the Bucks & it’s a must-read.
Fun fact: NBA tracking data is a little bit suspect but according to the league, the Pacers are shooting 30.5% on wide open threes over their last 4 games – a stretch they’ve gone 1-3 in.
They’ve been wide open 69.5% of their shots, per the tracking data.
L.A. Clippers
36-30 record (8th in the West)
19th in offence (112.2), 4th in defence (109.8), 10th in net rating (2.4), 16th in eFG% (54.4)
Last few: W vs. NYK, W vs. SAC, L at NOP, W at MIA
Clippers are 4-1 in their last 5 games & they got over their road woes with a win in Miami on Wednesday night.
Fun fact: James Harden (35 yrs old) has played 687 minutes since February 1st, 3rd most in the NBA. He’s played 38+ minutes in 4 of the last 5 games & is averaging 39.5 minutes over his last 4 games. Including his 50-point game on March 5th against the Pistons, Harden is averaging 31.0 points, 10.2 assists & is shooting 38.2% from three over his last 5.
L.A. Lakers
40-24 record (4th in the West)
12th in offence (114.2), 13th in defence (112.8), 13th in net rating (1.4), 10th in eFG% (55.3), lost 3 straight
Last few: L at BOS, L at BKN, L at MIL
There’s not enough cushion the West for the Lakers to slide down the standings but they might have a choice. They’ve lost 3 straight & will be without LeBron James for the third consecutive game on Friday night in Denver.
8 of their last 18 games are against the teams their bunched up, the 2-6 seeds in the West.
Fun fact: the Lakers 20-point loss to the Bucks on Thursday night was their largest margin of defeat in the Doncic era.
Memphis Grizzlies
42-24 record (2nd in the West)
6th in offence (117.6), 11th in defence (112.0), 4th in net rating (5.7), 9th in eFG% (55.4), won 4 straight
Last few: W at DAL, W at NOP, W vs. PHX, W vs. UTA
Grizzlies have a strange inability to hold on to leads, a trend that’s developed over their last 14 games. They’ve led by double digits in 9 of their last 14 games but lost 4 of those games. In fact, 6 of those 9 games have been decided by single digits.
Red flag: Grizzlies’ last 4 games have come against the Mavs, Pels, Suns & Jazz. They were within 5 points in the last 5 minutes of all four games.
Miami Heat
29-36 record (9th in the East)
21st in offence (111.5), 12th in defence (112.4), 17th in net rating (-0.9), 19th in eFG% (53.8), lost 5 straight
Last few: L vs. MIN, L vs. CHI, L vs. CHA, L vs. LAC
Miami’s lost 5 straight for the first time this season, they cannot seem win when they have a double-digit lead or when they don’t. They’re 7 games under .500 for the first time since the 2020-21 season & if they want to avoid going 6 games under .500, they must beat the Celtics on Saturday night.
Red flag: The Heatles are letting their lack of offence impact their defence & that might be the part that pushes them to 10th in the East.
Miami has a 103.7 defensive rating in the first half over the last 6 games, a number that would lead the NBA if it carried through. They have a 118.2 defensive rating in the second half, a number that would rank 28th in the NBA.
Over the last 6 games, opponents are shooting 28.7% from three in the first half & 37.3% in the second half.
Milwaukee Bucks
37-28 record (4th in the East)
14th in offence (113.9), 9th in defence (111.8), 11th in net rating (2.2), 4th in eFG% (56.3)
Last few: L vs. ORL, L vs. CLE, L at IND, W vs. LAL
Bucks snapped a 3-game losing streak with their win against the shorthanded Lakers on Thursday night. They’ll play the Pacers again on Saturday night & attempt to gain more ground on the 4-seed.
Red flag: Milwaukee is 2-12 against the top-4 teams in each conference this season – their win against the Lakers was just their second win against a top-4 team in the West. They’re 0-9 against the Celtics, Cavs & Knicks so far – with just 1 meeting left against the Knicks.
Minnesota Timberwolves
38-29 record (7th in the West)
10th in offence (114.6), 6th in defence (110.7), 8th in net rating (3.9), 11th in eFG% (54.9), won 6 straight
Last few: W at MIA, W vs. SAS, W at DEN
I’m going to give you the stat. You know the one I’m talking about. The Minnesota Timberwolves have won their last 11 games with Julius Randle in the lineup.
They’ve won 6 straight since he returned to the lineup on March 2nd & are only a half game back of the Warriors for 6th in the West. Minnesota has the second easiest remaining schedule in the NBA & they’re starting a 5-game homestand on Friday night.
Fun fact: Wolves are one of four teams to rank top-10 in offensive & defensive rating this season, joining the likes of the Thunder, Cavs & Celtics. They haven’t finished a season ranked top-10 in offence & defence since 2003-04!
Randle is averaging 18.8 points, 7.5 rebounds & 6.5 assists on a 63.3 TS% over this 6-game win streak.
New Orleans Pelicans
18-49 record (14th in the West)
25th in offence (110.5), 30th in defence (118.6), 29th in net rating (-8.2), 25th in eFG% (51.8)
Last few: L at HOU, L vs. MEM, W vs. LAC, L vs. ORL
The Pelicans have officially been eliminated from playoff contention.
Red flag: They went down by 30 points at half against the Magic on Thursday night, the second time they’ve been down by 30 or more points at half this season.
That’s the most such games in franchise history.
New York Knicks
42-23 record (3rd in the East)
5th in offence (118.0), 14th in defence (113.7), 6th in net rating (4.3), 7th in eFG% (56.0), won 2 straight
Last few: L at LAC, W at SAC, W at POR
Mikal Bridges said he went to Coach Tom Thibodeau & asked him to play the starters less minutes. Bridges played 40 minutes in their Knicks’ OT win over the Blazers on Wednesday, the second fewest minutes he’s played in a overtime game in his Knicks career.
Fun fact: Knicks are 2-1 since Jalen Brunson went out with an ankle injury & they are not drowning offensively! The offence has taken a hit but the Knicks have a 107.3 defensive rating over their last 3 games, which is what’s keeping them afloat.
Oklahoma City Thunder
54-12 record (1st in the West)
4th in offence (118.6), 1st in defence (106.2), 1st in net rating (12.3), 8th in eFG% (55.6)
Last few: W vs. POR, W vs. DEN, L vs. DEN, W at BOS
OKC has reached the part of the season where all the aiming to do is fine tune & experiment ahead of the playoffs. They’ve clinched a playoff spot, they have a 12-game lead over the 2nd best team in the West.
Fun fact: Since the All-Star break, the Thunder have a 120.2 offensive rating with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander off the court, way up from 105.2 with him off the court before the break.
They’re winning the minutes with him off court by 13.5 points per 100 possessions!!
Orlando Magic
31-36 record (8th in the East)
28th in offence (107.8), 2nd in defence (109.3), 18th in net rating (-1.5), 29th in eFG% (50.4)
Last few: W at MIL, L at HOU, W at NOP
Don’t look now, the Orlando Magic are averaging a whole 107.8 points in their last 4 games, up from 102.2 points in their previous 29 games.
Fun fact: Paolo Banchero is averaging 30.4 PTS, 7.0 REB, 4.3 AST & shooting 55.3% from the field in his last 7 games.
That’s 28% of the Magic’s total points in the last 7, not including points he created via assists. The rest of the team is shooting a combined 43.8% from the field in their last 7.
Philadelphia 76ers
22-43 record (12th in the East)
22nd in offence (111.2), 26th in defence (116.3), 25th in net rating (-5.1), 22nd in eFG% (52.7), lost 2 straight
Last few: W vs. UTA, L at ATL, L at TOR
Fun fact: Sixers have used 41 different starting lineups this season, by far the most in the NBA.
Phoenix Suns
30-36 record (11th in the West)
9th in offence (114.7), 27th in defence (116.8), 20th in net rating (-2.1), 3rd in eFG% (56.3), lost 2 straight
Last few: L at DEN, W at DAL, L at MEM, L at HOU
Suns are 2.5 games back of the Mavs for the final play-in spot in the West, something that it is within reach.
Red flag: unfortunately for Phoenix, they have the hardest remaining schedule of any team in the NBA. Suns are just 10-23 against teams with a winning record this season.
Portland Trail Blazers
28-39 record (13th in the West)
24th in offence (110.9), 20th in defence (114.6), 23rd in net rating (-3.7), 24th in eFG% (52.3), lost 5 straight
Last few: L at OKC, L vs. DET, L at GSW, L vs. NYK
Blazers aren’t going to make the play-in & they’ve lost 5 straight.
Fun fact: there were 41 lead changes in their loss to the Knicks on Tuesday night, the second most in a game since play-by-play tracking began in 1996-97
Sacramento Kings
33-32 record (9th in the West)
7th in offence (115.6), 19th in defence (114.4), 14th in net rating (1.2), 15th in eFG% (54.6), lost 3 straight
Last few: W vs. SAS, L at LAC, L vs. NYK, L at GSW
Kings have lost 3 straight & lost their last 2 games by a combined 55 points.
Red flag: Their -55 differential over the last 2 games is their largest in any 2-game span since January 2022.
San Antonio Spurs
27-37 record (12th in the West)
17th in offence (113.3), 25th in defence (115.7), 21st in net rating (-2.4), 17th in eFG% (54.2)
Last few: L at SAC, L at MIN, L vs. DAL, W vs. DAL
Fun fact: 5 of the Spurs’ last 6 games have been decided by double digits.
2 double-digit wins, 3 double-digit losses.
Toronto Raptors
23-43 record (11th in the East)
26th in offence (110.1), 22nd in defence (114.8), 24th in net rating (-4.7), 23rd in eFG% (52.5), won 2 straight
Last few: W vs. UTA, L vs. WAS, W vs. WAS, W vs. PHI
The Raptors are pushing all the buttons they can think of to lose games, but it’s simply not working. They played 8 guys on Wednesday night against the Sixers, 6 of which were undrafted. They still won.
Fun fact: Toronto owns the third best defensive rating in the NBA since mid-January. They’ve been much better defensively compared to the first part of the season but the defensive numbers also look great because they’ve played the Magic (twice), Wizards (twice), Sixers & Jazz.
Utah Jazz
15-51 record (15th in the West)
23rd in offence (111.1), 29th in defence (118.3), 27th in net rating (-7.2), 20th in eFG% (53.7), lost 7 straight
Last few: L at TOR, L at PHI, L at BOS, L at MEM
Lauri Markkanen returned to the lineup on Wednesday night, immediately after the league fined the Jazz for failing to make him available (aka tanking).
They’ve already been eliminated from the playoffs & they have a 52.1% chance at a top-4 pick, so I’m not sure why they’re tanking this hard.
Fun fact: Utah is 0-7 in March, the only team without a win this month.
Washington Wizards
14-51 record (15th in the East)
30th in offence (106.0), 28th in defence (117.6), 30th in net rating (-11.7), 28th in eFG% (51.1)
Last few: W at TOR, L at TOR, L at DET, W at DET
I’ve watched a few Wizards game in the last few & I’m not sad about it. They’re not tanking anymore, they just are not good enough to win many games. However, they’re 5-4 in their last 9 games & 5-4 when Khris Middleton plays.
Fun fact: Since the All-Star break, the Wizards are being outscored by 12.0 points per 100 possessions with Khris Middleton off the floor. They’re winning his minutes by 4.2 points per 100.
Wizards are 8-10 since February 1st, tied for 17th in the NBA. They only had 6 wins through their first 47 games.