Hoops Habit
Fansided

Milwaukee Bucks remain atop NBA Power Rankings by taking care of business

By Phil Watson

LA Clippers Lou Williams Montrezl Harrell. Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LA Clippers Lou Williams Montrezl Harrell. Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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NBA Utah Jazz Donovan Mitchell
Utah Jazz Donovan Mitchell. Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /

23-12. Previous: . Utah Jazz. 11. team. 118.

Last week: Beat Detroit 104-81, won at Chicago 102-98, won at Orlando 109-96

This week: Monday at New Orleans, Wednesday vs. New York, Friday vs. Charlotte

The Utah Jazz appear to have snapped out of that early December slump … and how. With a 3-0 week last week, the Jazz have won five in a row and 10 of their last 11 games. Their next seven games — including all three this week — are against teams with sub-.500 records, so Utah has a chance to make up some ground on the Western Conference front-runners.

The Jazz had the defense turned up on smokin’ last week, with a 97.5 defensive rating over the three games second in the NBA to the … (squints, checks notes again) … Minnesota Timberwolves. Utah’s plus-15.0 net rating was the NBA’s best last week, while they were 29th in the NBA in pace, averaging just 93.67 possessions per game.

Donovan Mitchell averaged 24.0 points, 5.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 34.9 minutes per game last week as he continues to take on much of the playmaking responsibility with Mike Conley still sidelined. Mitchell shot 54.0 percent overall and was 7-for-16 from 3-point range. He closed the week with a 32-point outing at Orlando, hitting 14-of-21 with six assists.

NBA Denver Nuggets Jamal Murray
Denver Nuggets Jamal Murray. Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Denver Nuggets. 10. team. 73. . 24-11. Previous:

Last week: Beat Sacramento 120-115, lost at Houston 130-104, won at Indiana 124-116, lost at Washington 128-114

This week: Monday at Atlanta, Wednesday at Dallas, Saturday vs. Cleveland

The Denver Nuggets followed a blowout loss at Houston with a terrific win at Indiana … then gave that back with an awful loss at Washington. The Nuggets’ once-vaunted defense showed some cracks last week, surrendering an average of 122.3 points per game with a defensive rating of an unsightly 125.7 points per 100 possessions, which sort of demolishes that 119.1 offensive rating.

How bad has that stretch been defensively? Over the last four games, Denver has fallen from the second-best defensive rating in the NBA (104.0) all the way down to 12th (106.4). That is a massive drop for a single week this far into the season.

Jamal Murray got his offense going in the final two games of the week, including a 39-point outburst at Washington. For the week, he averaged 21.5 points, 6.0 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 33.8 minutes per game, shooting 47.5 percent overall and hitting 41.7 percent on 6.0 3-pointers per game.