No, this isn’t a [Kevin] Love edition that would get the Timberwolves out of the sewer, but in honor of the holiday, I’m going to show some love to all 30 teams. (Considering the fact that in the SAME week, both Cleveland’s and Washington’s losing-streaks were broken, I’d say Cupid’s making it easy on me this year.)
30. Cleveland Cavaliers (Last week’s ranking: 30): For almost 48 hours the Cavs were on a one-game winning streak for the first time since Dec. 20. At 9-45, I am not expecting them to break even with the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers (9-73) for the worst record in NBA history. So hats off to the Cavs for likely staying out of history’s gutter.
29. Sacramento Kings (28): They had a brutal schedule this past week (Utah, Dallas, Oklahoma City and on the road against Phoenix); despite a 1-3 record in those four games, they only lost by a combined seven points this week (or 2.33 PPG). For a schedule that difficult, that’s pretty impressive, especially considering that their lone win of the week came without the services of DeMarcus Cousins.
28. Washington Wizards (29): They’ve only won two out of their last 11 games, but win that ended their 25-game losing streak in contests away from the Verizon Center, is enough to bump John Wall and the Wiz up one place. One bright spot for Washington has been the strong offensive play of guard Nick Young, who is averaging 21.5 PPG this month.
27. Minnesota Timberwolves (27): No, Kevin Love doesn’t have enough “love” in his name to bump the T-Wolves out of the bottom-five, but his string of 40-straight double-doubles is more than impressive. Add that to the fact that Minny picked up two huge road wins over New Orleans and Houston this week, and maybe things aren’t looking so bad in the Twin Cities.
26. New Jersey Nets (25): Yes, the Nets did end their week with a 10-point loss to the Knicks; however, they won more games than they lost this past week (2-1), which is the first time they have done so since they opened this season 2-1.
NEXT: 25-21
