Things are getting very interesting atop the NBA‘s Eastern Conference. The Boston Celtics, who were looking like the team to beat for this year’s title, have come crashing back down to earth and are in the midst of a concerning slump.
Meanwhile, a trio of contenders in the Cavs, Nets, and 76ers have gone on long winning streaks and are gaining on the Celtics as the top of the East standings gets quite crowded.
And over in the West, the defending champion Golden State Warriors continue to miss Stephen Curry as they stumbled to another heavy defeat without their superstar.
Read on below as SBOTOP lists down three key takeaways from the latest round of NBA games.
Celtics keep crashing as other contenders climb
The Boston Celtics’ run of poor NBA 2022 results continues. After back-to-back losses to the Magic, they went down by as many as 30 points in the first half to the Pacers as they succumbed to a 117-112 defeat. The Celtics have now lost five of their last six games, including the first three games of their seven-game home stand, with their only win coming against their rival Los Angeles Lakers.
The Celtics’ big slip in defence this season is becoming more of a concern amid their current skid, and the return of centre Robert Williams III has yet to solve those issues. This is the first true test for rookie head coach Joe Mazzulla, and it will be interesting to see how he handles it.
Boston better be careful because they are in danger of falling lower in the East standings with a trio of teams – the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers – all closing in as they’ve gone on long winning streaks.
The Cavs extended their current run to five games with a big 114-106 win over the East-leading Milwaukee Bucks and are now just a half-game behind Boston. The Nets are now 1.5 games back of the Cavs after blowing out the Stephen Curry-less Warriors by 30 points for their seventh straight win. And the Sixers have won six straight following their 20-point blowout of the East-worst Pistons.
All three teams are finally healthy after some early-season injuries and absences and have the potential to push both the Bucks and Celtics for those top two seeds in the East.
Warriors still sorely missing Stephen Curry
The Golden State Warriors’ NBA 2022 odds of repeating are not looking too good at the moment. The defending champions are coming off back-to-back blowout defeats in New York, losing 132-94 to the Knicks and 143-113 to the Nets.
This latest losing streak sees the Warriors drop to 15-18 as they are 1.5 games back of 10th place, the last play-in tournament spot.
Steve Kerr’s team has now lost three of their last four games since losing superstar Stephen Curry to a shoulder injury, and it has been as bad as many people expected it to be considering their immense reliance on him this season.
While Jordan Poole has started to put up big scoring games – he had 43 points in a win over the Raptors – the Warriors simply have no one to run their offence with Curry out. The incredible amount of attention Curry gets from opposing defences is also gone, which makes it that much tougher for other Warriors to be as efficient on offence.
With Curry possibly sidelined until after New Year’s, the Warriors face an uphill struggle to keep their title defence hopes alive.
Siakam might be a sought-after star if made available
The Toronto Raptors are having an underwhelming season. Despite their 113-106 win over the Knicks – which snapped New York’s eight-game win streak as well as Toronto’s six-game skid – the Raptors are just 14-18 on the year, four games back of the six seed and an automatic playoff berth.
This has led to some speculation about the future of Pascal Siakam, who has been the subject of trade rumours. And if the Raptors are indeed seriously considering parting ways with Siakam, teams in need of a star better be ready to make an offer.
Siakam scored a career-high 52 points with 9 rebounds and 7 assists in the win over the Knicks as his terrific season continues. He is averaging 25 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 6.8 assists, all career highs.
At 28 years of age, Siakam simply continues to get better. While he is still not a strong shooter, he has once again taken his playmaking to another level this year.
Not many consider Siakam to be a true superstar who can be a No 1 option on a top team, but he is an All-NBA-calibre player who can significantly improve any team, especially one that has another top player he can play with.
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