13 Rules Random NBA Thoughts – NBA Week 24

Make sure to listen and add the 13 Rules: NBA Random Thoughts podcast to your list! This week Steve shares his thoughts after NBA Week 24. Deni Avdija is breaking out in Portland. Playoff seedings are rounding out. OG has been great offensively, but is he DPOY worthy? All that and more.

NBA Week 24 – Western Conference

• If the season ended today and I tried to guess the Western Conference seeding before the playoffs I would guess. 1. Oklahoma City Thunder 2. Houston Rockets 3. LA Lakers winning a tiebreaker with 4. Golden State Warriors 5.Minnesota Timberwolves winning a tiebreaker with 6. Denver Nuggets 7. LA Clippers 8 Memphis Grizzlies 9. Dallas Mavericks 10. Sacramento Kings. If this happens we will see two great first round match ups. The Lakers versus Denver and Golden State versus Minnesota. 
• We often talk about LeBron James being amazing at 40 years old. Steph Curry’s not doing to bad either. As Golden State has become a legitimate contender over the last few weeks Curry has had games of 37 and 52 points. He’s shooting 40% from three. Oh by the way, Curry is 37. 
• A player that appears to be breaking out that nobody knows about is Deni Avdija of the Portland  Trailblazers. Over the last ten games he has averaged 26.8 points per game. Avdija is also a good defender. Acquired from Washington prior to the season Avdija was a lottery pick in the 2020 draft. Does his breakout mean the Trailblazers try to deal Jerami Grant in the offseason. 

NBA Week 24 – Eastern Conference

• The New York Knicks have survived Jalen Brunson‘s injury as it looks like he will be back in a day or two. They have gone 8-6 since his injury. Something good may have come from the injury. Other players have stepped up and been able to become viable offensive players in particular OG Anunoby. He has complemented offensive star Karl-Anthony Towns during this stretch. I have said numerous times I believed Anunoby had no offensive game but he is proving me wrong. If Anunoby continues to help out offensively and is more involved in the offense the injury to Brunson may have been a blessing in disguise. 
• Speaking of Anunoby he made the ridiculous claim he should be defensive player of the year. The Knicks are currently 13th in overall defensive rating and not a top tier defensive team. I don’t think he will win but take a look at Lu Dort, he’s the best lock down defender in the league and he brings it every night. 
• When we talk about the Detroit Pistons we usually mention Cade Cunningham probably taking the next step and making All NBA this year. We then mention JB Bickerstaff as a potential Coach of the Year candidate. What we don’t mention is the player that has become the Pistons heart and soul, Malik Beasley. In 27 minutes per game Beasley is averaging 16.3 points per game and shooting 41.9% from three. He takes over nine threes a game. Beasley seems to have found a home as the Piston fans have fallen in love with him because of the energy he brings to their team. 

NBA Week 24 – Random Thoughts

• There have been over six thousand games players have lost due to injury this year. If you do the math it means that on average almost five players are sitting out in each game played.