Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers separating from rest of NBA in Power Rankings
By Phil Watson
Last week: Lost at Toronto 101-96, beat Sacramento 97-91, won at New York 101-95, beat Indiana 119-116
This week: Monday vs. Utah, Thursday at Washington, Saturday vs. Cleveland
The Philadelphia 76ers bounced back from a tough loss Monday in Toronto to close the week with three consecutive victories, giving the Sixers seven wins in their last eight games.
This week, Philadelphia hosts Utah before taking on a couple of the NBA’s weaker clubs in the Wizards and Cavaliers.
Kyle O’Quinn remained out for the Sixers Saturday with a calf injury, while Josh Richardson sat out his second straight game due to a hamstring injury.
No Philadelphia player embodied the week quite the way Joel Embiid did. Embiid was dominant in the 76ers’ three wins and was held to zero points on 0-of-13 shooting at Toronto. For the week, he averaged 23.0 points, 14.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 blocks in 33.3 minutes per game, but he shot only 39.1 percent overall and was 2-for-14 from deep.
Last week: Beat Sacramento 103-102, beat Brooklyn 121-110, lost at Brooklyn 112-107
This week: Sunday at New York, Wednesday vs. Miami, Friday vs. Denver
It’s been a bit of a rough patch of late for the Boston Celtics, who pulled off a 2-1 week last week but are just 3-4 since roaring out to a 10-1 start to the season.
The Celtics couldn’t beat the Nets in Brooklyn on Friday after handling them in Boston on Wednesday and just did eke out a win over the Kings to avenge a one-point loss at Sacramento on Nov. 17.
Gordon Hayward is progressing from surgery on his fractured left hand, with the four to six weeks projected as his timetable when he was first injured still on target and two-way big Tacko Fall is sidelined with a bruised right knee.
Jaylen Brown had an up-and-down week for the Celtics, averaging 18.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 33.7 minutes per game last week, while shooting 56.4 percent overall. Brown was only 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) from 3-point range. Brown was held to eight points by the Nets Friday after three straight 20-point games.