Best of the NBA: December 19th-25th
It was another busy week in the world's biggest basketball league, and here are the best moments, summaries of the best games and the best performances of the last seven days in the NBA.
On December 19th, two of the league’s top players - LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo - faced off as the Cavaliers took on the Bucks in Milwaukee. The Bucks had a big lead after a huge second quarter, in this game in which Antetokounmpo had 27 points along with 26 from Eric Bledsoe, but Cleveland cut down Milwaukee's lead in the final quarter. James had a three-pointer to make it a two-point game with seconds left, but Khris Middleton would be the one to put this game away, drawing the foul with no time left for the Cavs to retaliate. The Bucks won this titanic clash 119-116, but are still finding that success is not coming easy for them.
Later in the week, the Boston Celtics welcomed back Kelly Olynyk to TD Garden, only this time as an opponent. Playing for the Heat, Olynyk did not disappoint in attempting to burn his old team, notching up a career-best 32 points. The game itself went back and forth, and as it wound down Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown were doing it all between them to put Boston on top. A dunk from Olynyk with one minute left put Miami up by three, to which Irving responded with a layup in traffic to make it a one-point game. He couldn't capitalise on the final possession, however, and the Heat celebrated a huge win against the eastern conference's best - and by the smallest of margins. Irving, meanwhile, continues to prove his worth for the Celtics, averaging 27.5 points per game this week.
While they might not boast the biggest names or most exciting play, the Sacramento Kings are slowly building some momentum in the west, creeping up the conference standings and beginning to look a more competitive team. The addition of veterans Zach Randolph and George Hill, and with the continued development of Willie Cauley-Stein, the Kings have put on some great performances of late. Losing only once this week to the San Antonio Spurs, they have nether the less worked hard on their game and it has resulted in them picking up some big wins of late. They were at their best this week against the Brooklyn Nets, check out highlights of the game in this video:
This week saw plenty of great individual performances, especially from established talent including LeBron James (average of 31 points per game this week), Kevin Durant (33 points against the Lakers), Bradley Beal (26 points vs the Pelicans), DeMar DeRozan recording a career best 45 points in Philadelphia, and, of course, Russell Westbrook, whose scored two thirty-plus point games this week and recorded his 90th career triple-double:
Arguably the biggest performer of the week though would be Kyle Kuzma. The Lakers rookie was completely on fire this week, leading his team in scoring at each outing and setting a career benchmark with 38 points against the Rockets. Spectators at Thursday’s Lakers-Rockets game would not be disappointed, as in addition to Kuzma’s 38, James Harden put up 51 points in his team’s loss - what would be the first of two 51-point games for Harden this week.
Another unsung hero this week is Austin Rivers of the Clippers. This week saw him set a new career best at 36 points, only for him to better that the very next day when he put up 38 points in Memphis. The Clippers were under pressure from the Grizzlies on Saturday, but despite that Rivers was still able to out-perform everyone else on the floor to mark an exceptional week for himself.
Something that also should not go unmentioned was a stellar run from Victor Oladipo, who had back-to-back 38 point games against the Celtics and Nets. Oladipo is largely responsible for the form and re-shaping of the Pacers this season, and is a key reason why the team have become a big threat in the eastern conference.
The week ended with the annual round of Christmas Day games. While these can't really escape the feeling of being exhibitions rather than serious affairs, they nonetheless this year saw some big performances from the NBA's biggest stars, as well as a few surprises. Here is the best of them:
