Could the Nuggets be a sleeper NBA championship contender?
SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports’ Jeff Zillgitt breaks down why the Nuggets could be a potential darkhorse contender in the NBA playoffs.
USA TODAY
James Harden and Joel Embiid looked like the best of friends during and after Friday’s win at Minnesota.
Both should be blissful right now.
Embiid has a motivated and happy Harden, who went for 27 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds in his Philadelphia debut.
Harden is now playing with the leading MVP candidate who is healthy and looking like the best player on the planet.
It’s just one game, but Philadelphia sent a message it will have a say in who comes out of the East. As good as they looked, did the 76ers make their way into top five of The Republic’s NBA Power Rankings through Saturday’s action coming out of the All-Star break?
1. Phoenix Suns (49-11, Last week, 1st)
Life without Chris Paul started with a 20-point win at Oklahoma City, but continued with a 15-point home loss to New Orleans.
Paul will likely miss the rest of the regular season with a fractured right shooting thumb.
Devin Booker has been running the point. The three-time All-Star admittedly didn’t handle that duty well in Friday’s loss, but the return of Cameron Payne as early as this week should put Booker back in more of scorer mode than playmaker.
2. Golden State Warriors (43-17, Last week 2nd)
Now that’s how a championship contender is supposed to look against a team’s that under mass construction without their best player.
Golden State obliterated Portland by 37 as Damian Lillard remains out after having abdominal surgery last month. Eight Warriors scored in double figures and no one played more than 27 minutes.
They play Dallas twice in their next four games and start a four-game road trip Tuesday at Minnesota. Got matchups against the Lakers and Nuggets, who just beat them by one out of the break, in there.
3. Memphis Grizzlies (42-20, Last week 3rd)
Memphis stumbled out of the break with losses to the Blazers and Timberwolves, but it looked the part in Saturday’s 116-110 win at Chicago.
Ja Morant scored a career-high 46 points in sensational fashion. The All-Star guard just keeps climbing that MVP ladder, but he has a team around him — and Dillon Brooks (ankle) isn’t even back yet.
Desmond Bane only scored 12, but he hit the biggest shot of a night with 3 to give the Grizzlies a four-point lead with 1:21 left in the fourth.
4. Miami Heat (40-21, Last week 4th)
As expected, Miami topped the Knicks and Spurs coming out of the break.
Now check out their next four games:
- Monday vs Chicago.
- Wednesday at Milwaukee.
- Thursday at Brooklyn.
- Saturday vs. Philadelphia.
Wow.
If Kevin Durant (knee) is back by then, that’ll make this stretch even more challenging for the Heat.
5. Chicago Bulls (39-22, Last week 5th)
Can’t drop them out of the top five after a loss to Memphis.
The Bulls nearly came back from a 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit as they pulled within one before Bane’s dagger 3.
Huge matchup at Miami next. The Bulls are 0-2 versus the Heat.
Another loss Monday and Miami will own the head-to-head tiebreaker. That could be major come playoff time.
Next 5
Philadelphia 76ers (36-22) — Again, it’s just one game, but the Embiid-Harden tandem looked pretty darn good at Minnesota. How the rest of the 76ers play around them may ultimately decide this team’s fate.
Utah Jazz (37-22) — The Jazz’s starting lineup is fully intact. Time to see if they can make a push in the West beginning Sunday at Phoenix to start a five-game road trip that ends in Dallas.
Cleveland Cavaliers (36-24) — Maybe a little All-Star hangover in losing at Detroit, which has NBA’s second-worst record, but the Cavs got defensive in holding Washington to 86 points in a six-point win.
Milwaukee Bucks (36-25) — Milwaukee continues to lack the defensive commitment that made it truly special last season. The Bucks gave up 126 points to the Nets after yielding 123 to Philadelphia.
Denver Nuggets (35-25) — With the NBA’s longest active winning streak at five in a row, Denver is rolling as reigning MVP Nikola Jokic is averaging 26.4 points, 13.8 boards and 8.6 assists during in this run.
One last thing
Until Durant is back and Ben Simmons makes his Brooklyn debut, the Nets (32-29) are still TBD even if they beat the Bucks without those two.
Kyrie Irving continues to amaze as he can drop a season-high 38 in 39 minutes after not playing for two weeks.
Irving still can’t play at home in New York due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate there.
Last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced he plans to end the mandate for indoor facilities and that the changes could be made in a few weeks.
If that’s lifted before the playoffs, the Nets, if they can stay healthy, will have their full complement of players for when the games really matter, but can they really pull it together enough to come out of the brutal East?
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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