Last week: Lost at Charlotte 122-120 (OT), beat Washington 121-106, beat Detroit 112-106, won at Orlando 109-102
This week: Tuesday vs. Oklahoma City, Friday at Houston, Saturday vs. Milwaukee
The Indiana Pacers continued to surge last week, going 3-1, and the Pacers have won six of seven after their 0-3 start. Indiana owes a lot of its success to simply valuing the basketball — their 13.3 percent turnover rate is the third-best in the NBA in the early going.
T.J. Warren had a red-hot week, averaging 22.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 35.0 minutes per game shooting 61.5 percent overall and hitting 5-of-10 from 3-point land. Warren knocked down a season-high 33 points in the loss at Charlotte, hitting 15-of-18 overall with four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Indiana has won three straight since getting back Domantas Sabonis, who missed two games with a calf injury and are surviving without Myles Turner, out with a sprained ankle for the last six games.
Last week: Beat Miami 109-89, beat Philadelphia 100-97, won at Minnesota 100-98 (OT)
This week: Tuesday vs. Atlanta, Thursday vs. Brooklyn, Sunday at Memphis
The Denver Nuggets found ways to get it done all week long, blowing out Miami before Nikola Jokic hit back-to-back game-winners to put away the 76ers and Timberwolves.
And the road win at Minnesota should feel like something of a gift after the Nuggets (a) blew a 16-point lead by going scoreless for the final 6:43 of regulation, (b) shot just 38.6 percent for the game and (c) turned the ball over 20 times.
Will Barton returned to the Denver lineup for the Miami game on Tuesday after missing two games with a toe injury and even with a 5-for-16 clunker at Minnesota on Sunday, had a solid week with 16.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals in 35.4 minutes per game while shooting 47.4 percent overall and hitting 7-of-11 from 3-point range.
The Nuggets take a four-game winning streak into home games with the Hawks and Nets before a visit to Memphis, but are just about off-setting some decent defense — Denver’s 48.1 effective field goal percentage allowed is third-best in the NBA — with their own wayward shooting. The Nuggets are 28th in the league with an eFG% of 48.8, per Cleaning the Glass.
Last week: Lost at Atlanta 108-100, beat Oklahoma City 121-112, lost to Boston 135-115
This week: Monday vs. Memphis, Wednesday at Minnesota, Friday at Orlando, Saturday vs. Portland
The San Antonio Spurs struggled last week, losing to the Hawks on the road and taking their worst loss of the season to date on Saturday when they were clubbed by the Celtics at home. The 135 points allowed were the most since Golden State hung 141 on the Spurs last Feb. 6 and just the 10th time San Antonio has surrendered that many points in Gregg Popovich’s coaching tenure.
DeMar DeRozan bounced back from a rough couple of outings the week before to average 20.0 points, 5.7 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 32.6 minutes per game, shooting 52.3 percent overall. He missed his lone 3-pointer as he continues not to look for the shot since leaving Toronto.
LaMarcus Aldridge had a huge night in San Antonio’s lone victory of the week, hanging 39 points on 19-of-23 shooting on the Thunder. He also had six boards, four dimes and two steals.
The Spurs, who have played six of their first nine games at home, will hit the road twice this week before going on a four-game road trip that begins on Nov. 18.