Milwaukee Bucks remain atop NBA Power Rankings by taking care of business
By Phil Watson
Detroit Pistons. 19. team. 64. . 13-23. Previous:
Last week: Lost at Utah 104-81, lost at Clippers 126-112, won at Golden State 111-104
This week: Sunday at Lakers, Tuesday at Cleveland, Thursday vs. Cleveland, Saturday vs. Chicago
The Detroit Pistons got a much needed victory Saturday night in San Francisco, beating the Warriors for just their second win in their last 10 games. It also snapped a string of three consecutive losses by at least 14 points for Detroit, which had not started a six-game road trip well at all with those blowout defeats.
They will have to wrap up the Western part of the trip on a SEGABABA back in Los Angeles, this time against the Lakers, on Sunday before a home-and-home with Cleveland on Tuesday and Thursday.
Derrick Rose continues to defy expectations (and Father Time, given his extensive injury history), averaging 18.7 points and 4.0 assists in 27.2 minutes per game last week, shooting 47.9 percent overall while making 2-of-8 from deep. Working off the bench in all three games, Rose had 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting in the win at Golden State on Saturday.
Minnesota Timberwolves. 18. team. 86. . 13-21. Previous:
Last week: Beat Brooklyn 122-115 (OT), lost at Milwaukee 106-104, beat Golden State 99-84
Next week: Sunday at Cleveland, Tuesday at Memphis, Thursday vs. Portland, Saturday at Houston
The Minnesota Timberwolves were extremely short-handed last week, without both of their leading scorers in Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, and needed someone … anyone … to step up. It turns out having a guy who once carried his team through an NCAA championship run can be pretty handy when everything else falls apart.
The Timberwolves won two of three last week, with the one loss a narrow setback at Milwaukee, thanks in large part to the efforts of assistant to the backup point guard Shabazz Napier. The 28-year-old is in his sixth season for his fifth different team, but he carried the load for Minnesota, averaging 22.0 points, 6.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 32.8 minutes per game.
He shot 55.0 percent overall, knocked down 9-of-17 from 3-point range and had three consecutive games scoring at least 20 points for just the second time in his career, the last coming Dec. 23-30, 2017, when he was with Portland filling in for an injured Damian Lillard.