Boston Celtics surge up 2 spots in NBA Power Rankings
By Phil Watson
Last week: Lost at Toronto 110-107, beat San Antonio 102-98, won at Golden State 141-121
This week: Sunday at Lakers, Tuesday at Oklahoma City, Thursday vs. Brooklyn, Saturday vs. Charlotte
The good news for the Dallas Mavericks was that Luka Doncic‘s sprained ankle only cost him four games and in just his second game back, Doncic posted a 31-point, 15-assist, 12-rebound triple-double at Golden State … in just 30 minutes of playing time. The Mavericks were 2-2 while Doncic was on the mend.
One of the players who is normally unheralded stepped up in a big way last week. Dwight Powell averaged 12.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 28.3 minutes per game, hitting 60.9 percent of his shots and knocking down 2-of-5 from 3-point range. Powell went for 17 points and nine boards in Sunday’s loss at Toronto.
Last week: Beat Charlotte 119-93, won at Toronto 118-102, beat Cleveland 129-117, lost to Toronto 113-97
This week: Tuesday at Charlotte, Friday vs. Atlanta, Saturday at Chicago
There wasn’t a lot of drama for the Boston Celtics last week, not with four games decided by at least 12 points, but the Cs did extend their winning streak to five games before it was stopped in convincing fashion by the Raptors on Saturday. Boston had won four in a row by double digits before Saturday’s loss at home.
Jaylen Brown continues to prove Danny Ainge correct for the four-year, $115 million rookie-scale extension the Celtics signed Brown to in October, averaging 24.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 33.2 minutes per game last week, shooting 59.3 percent overall and knocking down 52.2 percent on 5.8 deep attempts a night.