A silver lining for every NBA team
Even the Lakers.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Venus and Mars, Sandro Botticelli, 1485
This season has not gone well for every team. In fact, it’s been a downright disaster for a few franchises. But even in nightmares there can be glimpses of glory. So let’s look on the bright side and offer up a silver lining for every NBA team for this regular season, leaving aside what happens in the playoffs (and these last couple of weeks of the regular season).
These first two teams are going to show that this can be easy or hard.
Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum is indeed a Tier 1 NBA Star, Jaylen Brown isn’t far behind, Marcus Smart can be a full-time point guard for a contender, Robert Williams is the real deal, Ime Udoka Knows What He Is Doing, Brad Stevens Knows What He Is Doing. A dream season.
Brooklyn Nets: Kevin Durant is still one of the most dominant players in the NBA despite the injuries. The Nets are really good on the road, which is where they will be for much of the playoffs, if they make it. That’s … all I’ve got.
New York Knicks: R.J. Barrett really turned a corner about midway through this season and looks like a future All-Star. That’s a path forward for this team: build around your star two-way wing.
Philadelphia 76ers: They flipped Ben Simmons for James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey jumped up a level or two. Big achievements even if they fall short in the postseason.
Toronto Raptors: The core idea of this team works, with Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam as the two stars. VanVleet has maintained his excellence in the absence of Kyle Lowry and Siakam has regained his confidence.
Central Division
Chicago Bulls: DeMar DeRozan has lots more to say, and the Lonzo Ball-Alex Caruso-Zach LaVine backcourt rotation was really impressive when healthy.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen are rising stars. Evan Mobley is a Day 1 difference maker. Kevin Love is rejuvenated. J.B. Bickerstaff can coach his tail off. Koby Altman knows what he is doing.
Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey appear to be wonderful building blocks for a young team. The whole roster plays hard and is building an identity.
Indiana Pacers: The team found its presumptive point guard of the future in Tyrese Haliburton and broke up the increasingly frustrating frontcourt duo of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner, allowing the braintrust to assess the roster’s future.
Milwaukee Bucks: The team has been pretty close to untouchable when all three stars are active. Giannis Antetokounmpo remains the best basketball player on the planet.
Southeast Division
Atlanta Hawks: Onyeka Okongwu has had some real glimpses of being an inside force. Trae Young is still improving as his turnover percentage is at a career low while his assist percentage and True Shooting percentage are at career highs.
Charlotte Hornets: Miles Bridges has taken a leap and has impeccable chemistry with LaMelo Ball. The team is better than they were last year. That’s the right direction!
Miami Heat: The Heat are No. 1 in the East with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo missing a ton of games and with Butler shooting well below his standard. Tyler Herro and a bevy of once-fringe players are making real impacts.
Orlando Magic: Franz Wagner has been one of the league’s best-performing rookies. Markelle Fultz returned to the court. Cole Anthony is a legitimate starting NBA point guard.
Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal has not demanded a trade. Kristaps Porzingis looks like a good fit for the team. Kyle Kuzma has had a strong season. Deni Avdija’s defense looks like a real boon for the team going forward. Wes Unseld Jr. can coach.
Northwest Division
Denver Nuggets: Nikola Jokic is one of the five best basketball players in the world and there’s nothing fluky about his performance in recent years. The team has remained successful despite missing Jamal Murray all year and Michael Porter Jr. basically all year. The team plays with a joie de vivre.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Best season in decades for the franchise. The team is intense and fun to watch. Karl-Anthony Towns has made the leap to a Tier 1 Star.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Josh Giddey looks pretty good. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is still on the cusp of greatness. Some of the fairly anonymous rotation players look pretty interesting, especially Tre Mann.
Portland Trail Blazers: The Neil Olshey reign mercifully ended. Damian Lillard has not yet requested a trade. The Blazers have lots of offseason flexibility.
Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell is as good as ever. Rudy Gobert is possibly going to win another Defensive Player of the Year award. The team is in the mix in the West heading into the postseason.
Pacific Division
Golden State Warriors: The Stephen Curry-Draymond Green combination looks as potent as ever, when healthy. Jonathan Kuminga looks like a future star. Andrew Wiggins, before cooling off and to the distress of many, made the All-Star team. The team is on track to have its high-end core fully available for the playoffs. The team has matched up well this season against its top West rival.
Los Angeles Clippers: The team fights harder than it has any business fighting. Ty Lue is a legitimate contender for Coach of the Year despite the team’s middling record. Reggie Jackson is doing very well without the stars around. The franchise looks poised to compete for titles once Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are healthy.
Los Angeles Lakers: There is now clarity on the quality of this version of the team. LeBron James is a basketball genius and might win the scoring title.
Phoenix Suns: Dream season part 2. Monty Williams will win Coach of the Year. Both guards will be on All-NBA. Title favorites. Mikal Bridges continues to rise. Deandre Ayton continues to rise. Cam Johnson is rising. So many wins.
Sacramento Kings: The Kings now have a young All-Star. De’Aaron Fox and Davion Mitchell can be fun to watch. The team broke its Luke Walton addiction.
Southwest Division
Dallas Mavericks: The defense has excelled under Jason Kidd. The team culture seems to have improved substantially. Spencer Dinwiddie looks like a much better fit than Kristaps Porzingis did. Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Brunson seem like perfect fits with Luka Doncic, who remains a Tier 1 Star.
Houston Rockets: Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun look pretty good. Rockets fans will not have to watch James Harden smile through a Brooklyn Nets championship parade. Another high draft pick is coming.
Memphis Grizzlies: Dream season. Ja Morant has elevated to Tier 1 Star status. Desmond Bane looks like a future All-Star. Jaren Jackson Jr. looks like a future All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year candidate. The best vibes in the league, the coolest player in at least two decades, remarkable depth, a roster full of players worth rooting for.
New Orleans Pelicans: Herb Jones is a legitimate NBA starter and All-Defense contender right now. This team is average at worst with C.J. McCollum, Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas, and maybe a bit better than average. That’s not including Zion Williamson. Zion’s signature sneaker line looks pretty good.
San Antonio Spurs: Dejounte Murray was a deserving All-Star and is clearly the centerpiece of this franchise’s future. Gregg Popovich is the winningest coach of all-time.
Scores
Hawks 101, Pistons 122 — Cade Cunningham finished with 17-6-8 (plus five turnovers), but more impressively: the Pistons were +43 in Cunningham’s 35 minutes and -22 in the 13 minutes he spent on the bench. And it wasn’t about garbage time.
Kings 110, Pacers 109 — Damian Jones, game-winning tip.
Tyrese Haliburton only shot 4/14 in his revenge game, but had 15 assists with zero turnovers. Davion Mitchell went for 25 and 7 on 10/15 shooting.
Jazz 97, Celtics 125 — Pure domination from Boston. This is getting scary.
Warriors 118, Heat 104 — Uhh, Heat Culture?
The other angle as this started to blow up, you can catch an aggravated Erik Spoelstra asking Jimmy Butler, “What, you want me to f—king fight you?” and Udonis Haslem then threatening to “beat [Butler’s] ass.”
Erik Spoelstra, a pro, puts it in context afterward.
Final clip on this: P.J. Tucker starting with the “Something happened?!” and finishing with a “Blah blah blah.” Championship mentality.
Great win for Golden State, by the way. It feels like they were on the verge of having a sideline moment coming into this game.
Nets 120, Grizzlies 132 — Big scoring performance from Kyrie Irving (43) and Kevin Durant (35) and no Ja Morant. But the Grizz bench mobbed the Nets. Just mobbed them. The vibes on this team are incredible. Not sure the last time I’ve seen an NBA team so happy in the regular season.
De’Anthony Melton on the break. Love a late switch to an off-hand.
Suns 125, Timberwolves 116 — Phoenix keeps rolling. Deandre Ayton destroyed Karl-Anthony Towns. He celebrated a dunk and got brutally memed afterward.
Devin Booker lit up the Wolves backcourt. He dunked this so hard on D’Angelo Russell they called a mercy tech on him. It capped a 14-3 run in the fourth to take control.
Sixers 126, Lakers 121 — LeBron sat, Joel Embiid scored 30 exactly so King James still has an edge in the scoring title chase. Barely.
Spurs 133, Blazers 96 — San Antonio is 1.5 games out of the play-in. Portland has eight 30-point losses in its last 13 games. This is an illegal level of tanking.
Schedule
No NBA on TNT action due to the Men’s NCAA Tournament. All times Eastern.
Cavaliers at Raptors, 7:30**
Pacers at Grizzlies, 8
Wizards at Bucks, 8
Bulls at Pelicans, 8
Suns at Nuggets, 9, NBA TV*
Alright, be excellent to each other.