Pelicans take the top spot in the NBA, Brooklyn 3-0 during the week, Joel Embiid drops 53 points, Phoenix struggles against tough opponents.
Winners : New Orleans Pelicans
Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans went 3-0 during week eight of the NBA season, defeating the Detroit Pistons and the Phoenix Suns twice. Zion Williamson in the Western Conference First Round rematch from last season helped to defeat the Suns in back-to-back games dropping 35 in both wins.
In the first rematch between the Suns and the Pelicans this week, at the end of the game a scuffle broke out after Zion Williamson threw down a 360 windmill slam which the Suns were not too happy about, starting an scuffle between Jose Alvarado and Chris Paul.
The Pelicans are on a seven game win streak and improve to the top record in the conference at 18-8. The Pelicans will face off against the Utah Jazz twice and the Phoenix Suns once again during week nine.
Winners : Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics remain at the top spot of the Eastern Conference going 2-1 during week eight defeating the Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns and losing to the Golden State Warriors in an NBA Finals rematch. Although they most likely would have wanted to walk away with the win against the Warriors, they absolutely dominated the Suns on the road in a matchup between at the time, the two best teams in both conferences and the Celtics played an outstanding game winning by almost 30 points
Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown continue to play outstanding basketball with Tatum averaging 30 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4 assists while Brown is averaging 26.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists leading the Celtics to one of the best offenses in NBA history.
Jayson struggled however in the loss to the Warriors and the Celtics defense as we've seen so far this season hasn't reached the heights it did last season and that was on display as the Warriors scored 134 points with Curry and Thompson scoring over 30.
Winners : Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn has now won eight of their last ten games and went 3-0 this week winning against the Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, and Indiana Pacers. Brooklyn sits at fourth in the east with a 16-12 record so far this year and with most of their players playing solid basketball over all and having everyone on the court together it gives the team the time it needs to gel so they are prepared come playoff time.
Kevin Durant is averaging 30 points right now and is still a top player in the NBA even in his 16th season leading this team on the floor. With Kyrie Irving back and averaging 25.3 points this season its helped Durant lead this team to multiple wins during this ten game stretch
Ben Simmons has been solid for the team still obviously finding his footing but playing better than he did to start the season. With Joe Harris and Seth Curry back in the lineup this team is just finally together and can make a run at the top of the conference and achieve the potential we thought they had since Kevin and Kyrie joined the Nets in 2019.
Winners : Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies continue to roll, winning seven of their last eight games, defeating the Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Detroit Pistons. The Grizzlies have risen to the second seed in the Western Conference at 17-9. Ja Morant leads this team at 27.7 points per game adding on almost 7 rebounds and 8 assists.
Tyus Jones in their first game of the week, without Ja Morant had a career high 28 points at home and led the team to a win over the Miami Heat. It's the bench that keeps this team in contention for the top spot in the west and aiming to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Winner : Joel Embiid
Joel Embiid gave us a 53 point performance this Sunday in the last game of the week against the Charlotte Hornets going 20-32 from the field and added 12 rebounds and a block
This is Joel's second 50 point performance this season the other coming from a game earlier in the season against the Utah Jazz where he dropped a league high point total this season with 59
Joel Embiid currently leads the NBA in scoring with 33.4 points per game and has the sixers sitting at the fifth seed in the east at 14-12
Losers : Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta has won 3 of their last 9 games and lost 3 games this week, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks, and Brooklyn Nets.
Atlanta has fallen to 14-13 and now sits at the sixth seed in the east. Atlanta has been struggling on offense having a bottom seven offense in the league this season.
Trae Young and Dejounte Murray are inconsistent when they have good nights and the rest of the team substantially falls behind in keeping up with them on offense.
Losers : Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns lost all four games this week falling to the Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans twice and Boston Celtics. Phoenix fell from the top spot in the west and now has a record of 16-11
These are tough opponents that the Suns had to face and they are dealing with injuries getting Chris Paul back during the week but losing Devin Booker late in the first games against New Orleans.
Phoenix if they want to compete in the west are first going to have to get healthy, Booker was on an MVP track before the injury and now sees himself falling in that discussion. Booker is still listed as out with injury as of Monday, December 11th.
Phoenix is going to have to win these games against super star talent and playoff caliber teams to be considered as a threat to win the NBA finals especially after their collapse last season and most people their window was closed with an aging Chris Paul and a frustrated DeAndre Ayton coming into this season.