THIRD DOWN AND GOLDEN
Andrew Wiggins and the T-Wolves are looking good for first playoff berth since 2004 with a third of the season in the books
The NBA has passed the one-third mark of the regular season, about the time when things start to legitimately shake out throughout the league. The usual suspects still dominate the top of each conference — Boston, Toronto and Cleveland in the East; Golden State, Houston and San Antonio in the West — and there’s no reason to think that will change in the final two-thirds of the schedule. But there have been some surprises and it will be interesting to see if some teams can stay in that category. And there have been some disappointments that have ruined the season for others. Here’s a look:
SURPRISES MINNESOTA
The young Timberwolves were in dire need of some leadership from within the roster and some veteran stability. They got that and more from Jimmy Butler — who’d be in the most valuable player conversation with LeBron James, James Harden and Kevin Durant today — and Minnesota seems poised to make its first playoff appearance since 2004. They’ll have to deal with Jeff Teague’s knee injury, suffered on Wednesday night, but Butler and Taj Gibson have been all they were supposed to be.
CHICAGO
The season could have gone entirely sideways before it even began when Bobby Portis slugged teammate Niko Mirotic in practice, and the Bulls were one of the worst teams in the league through 20 games. A 10-game winning streak righted the ship a bit and Chicago’s still on the outside of the playoffs looking in, but the play of Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn holds some promise for the future. There’s likely to be a trade before the Feb. 8 deadline, but the Bulls aren’t nearly as bad as some expected.
BROOKLYN
The Nets at 12-22 (13th among 15 Eastern Conference teams as play began Thursday night) is nothing to crow about. But considering where Brooklyn was and the rebuilding task faced by general manager Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson, being on pace to win 26 or 27 games represents a giant leap forward. It will also diminish the value of their 2018 first-round draft pick, so coveted by Cleveland in the Kyrie Irving trade with Boston.
DISAPPOINTMENTS
MILWAUKEE The Bucks were the flavour of the month when the season began, the Eastern Conference team that was supposed to take large strides behind the uniquely talented Giannis Antetokounmpo. But even the addition of Eric Bledsoe in an early-season trade with the Suns hasn’t helped an awful lot. The Bucks began play Thursday stumbling along in seventh place in the East, two games over .500 and closer to 10th than home-court playoff position.
MEMPHIS
It wasn’t going to be a great year for the perennially playoff-bound Grizzlies after they let veterans Tony Allen, Zach Randolph and Vince Carter walk away in the summer, changing the veteran dynamic of the team greatly. But point guard Mike Conley got hurt, coach David Fizdale was fired, Marc Gasol has taken a step back, and the Grizzlies are fighting Dallas and the Lakers for the worst record in the Western Conference. The playoffs seem an impossibility, and the trade talk around Gasol will increase in the next month.
CHARLOTTE
The Hornets seem much less than the sum of their parts, 10 games below .500 and unable to find any sustained success. A team with point guard Kemba Walker, wings such as Nik Batum and centre Dwight Howard might not be a legitimate topfour contender, but it should be better than 12-22 and facing near-impossible odds to even sneak in the post-season. Could coach Steve Clifford be the next one on the firing line?