Boston Celtics surge up 2 spots in NBA Power Rankings
By Phil Watson
86. . 11-20. Previous: . Minnesota Timberwolves. 21. team
Last week: Lost at Golden State 113-104, won at Sacramento 105-104 (2OT), lost to Cleveland 94-88
This week: Monday vs. Brooklyn, Wednesday at Milwaukee, Thursday vs. Golden State
Well, on the positive flip for the Minnesota Timberwolves, they broke their 11-game losing streak with a double-overtime win at Sacramento on Thursday. They couldn’t make it back-to-back wins with a horrible performance — albeit without Andrew Wiggins (flu-like symptoms) and Karl-Anthony Towns (sprained left knee) — against the Cavaliers on Saturday night.
Gorgui Dieng has done yeoman’s work filling in for Towns, averaging 12.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 1.0 blocks in 31.2 minutes per game last week, shooting 44.8 percent overall and going 4-for-15 from long range. He had 21 points and 15 rebounds — both season-highs — in the win over the Kings on Thursday.
team. 24. . 13-20. Previous: . Chicago Bulls. 20
Last week: Lost at Orlando 103-95, beat Atlanta 116-81
This week: Monday vs. Milwaukee, Thursday vs. Utah, Saturday vs. Boston
It was a quiet week for the Chicago Bulls, who had four days off between their only two games of the week. The Bulls improved to 3-0 against the hapless Hawks with Saturday’s beatdown and have beaten Atlanta by an average margin of 29.7 points — winning by 20 in Atlanta on Nov. 6, 34 in Chicago on Dec. 11 and 36 on Saturday night.
Tomas Satoransky had a solid short work week for the Bulls, scoring 31 points with 14 rebounds, nine assists and four steals while going 13-for-20 overall and hitting 5-of-7 from 3-point range. In Monday’s loss at Orlando, Satoransky scored 20 points — just his second 20-point game this season — and had six rebounds and three dimes in 33 minutes.