Who are the True Contenders? + The Spurs Future
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What are the top NBA stories this week?
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking title odds. Our players of the week and Matthew Tynan joins us to talk about the San Antonio Spurs. But to start off, Al, tell me about the top stories this week.
Andrew, the top story this week was March madness. I'm not talking about college basketball, Andrew. I'm talking about the month every year when the NBA completely loses its marbles. Dude, March is the NBA's version of the purge, where for 31 days, there are no laws. Anything is possible. And teams and players conspire to create the most insane headlines. Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets getting swept by the Washington Wizards? Sure. Those same Nuggets without Jokic and Murray beating the Warriors on the road, the hottest team in the league? As long as it's March, you can do that. Quinton Grimes averaging over 31 points per game in his last six, including a career-high 46 against Houston? Anything is possible.
Like Sandro Mamuchelishvili scoring 34 points in 19 minutes against the Knicks. Even for March, that's a little much. The Chicago Bulls championship banners getting damaged because of pyrotechnics at the Disturbed concert, the band best known for their famous lyric, that doesn't happen in February. Only in March. Suffice to say, it was a strange weekend. The Cleveland Cavaliers' 16-game winning streak not only came to an end at the hands of the Orlando Magic, the Cavs would go on to lose their next two games as well to the Clippers and the Kings, tying their longest losing streak of the season. Those losses opened the door for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who without J-Dub won four in a row, including road wins over Boston, Detroit, and Milwaukee.
Their final win of the week came over the Sixers, who announced this week that Paul George would be out for the rest of the season. But it's not that big of a loss when you consider this stat. Mike O'Connor tweeted out that Quinton Grimes has had three games of 35 plus points for the Sixers this season. That is the same number as Tobias Harris had in his entire run as a Sixer and three more than Paul George has had as a Sixer. Now, it's been a rough season for Paul George, but at least the Sixers now have a legit shot to keep their own pick. Another team that has a shot at keeping their own pick but may not be as excited about it is the Miami Heat. The Heat are currently on a nine game losing streak after Cade Cunningham banked in a game winning three in their most recent game. The losing streak is the longest of Eric Spolstra's coaching career and the longest for the Heat as a franchise since the 07-08 season. The Heat are now the 10th seed in the East, a half game back of Chicago.
Something like, hey, remember when I made my bold prediction that Chicago is going to be the nine seed? Yeah. They're trying. Something I keep bringing up because it always sounds unbelievable when I say it. If the Heat miss the playoffs, it will trigger them sending both an unprotected first to OKC next season and an unprotected first to Charlotte in 2028 as a result of last year's Terry Rozier trade. The good news or bad news, depending on what your goals are for Miami, is that five of their final 13 games are against teams with a bottom five record, so I don't think they're going to lose out. Moving up the standings, the Pacers had a fun week. First, they beat the Timberwolves in Minnesota after Obi Toppin hit a game-winning three-pointer from the corner at the end while falling away. The next game, it was Andrew Nembhard hitting the go-ahead three with 16 seconds left to beat the Mavs. And then on Thursday night, Benedict Matherin was fouled on a three-pointer with 14 seconds left.
In a game against Brooklyn, he makes off three free throws. He ties it up, sends the game to overtime, where the Pacers win once again. Indiana is suddenly only three games back of the Knicks, which is still a lot. But a month ago, they were like six back. And the Knicks dropped shockers this week to the Spurs and Hornets.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What are the top NBA stories this week?
0:11–5:22
2
How are the NBA title odds shaping up?
5:22–13:53
3
What is the future for the San Antonio Spurs?
13:53–18:52
4
Who is Stephon Castle and how is he performing?
18:52–29:12
5
What makes Dyson Daniels' steal stats significant?
29:12–38:16
6
How is Victor Wembanyama developing as a player?
38:16–1:19:18