MVP watch

Fresh Prince

Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder 28.4ppg, 8.2rpg, 4.9apg)

Paul George (Indiana Pacers, 24.7ppg, 5.7rpg)

LeBron James (Miami Heat, 25.0ppg, 6.5rpg, 6.3apg)

Chris Paul (LA Clippers, 18.9ppg, 11.9apg)

Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves, 23.9ppg, 13.8rpg, 4.2apg)

Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs 17.6ppg, 6.1apg)

Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors, 24.1ppg, 9.0apg, 4.3rpg)

The Nighthawk

Kevin Durant (OKC)

Paul George (Indiana)

Lebron James (Miami)

Chris Paul (LA Clippers)

Standouts

FP - Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder have gone 9-1 over their last 10 games including a convincing win over the Indiana Pacers. Led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook the Thunder are a title contending team and are hitting midseason form early in the year.

Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns are so far, 12-9 on the season and are currently in the eight position in the Western Conference. They’ve gone 7-3 in the last 10 games including wins over the Portland Trailblazers and the Houston Rockets. Standout guard Eric Bledsoe is back for Phoenix now and the Suns are a team on the rise.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t been what I expected at this stage of the season however they have shown some positive signs through their last five games. Coming off a poor start and a losing streak spanning five games the Kyrie Irving led Cavaliers have beaten the Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and the New York Knicks. All of these wins came at home with their only loss coming on the road against the Atlanta Hawks. Kyrie Irving has had a bumpy start with some outstanding performances like his 37-point outing against the Knicks but equally has had several unimpressive performances. The Cavaliers are full of players ready to break out and I expect them to challenge for a playoff spot if they can resolve their locker room issues and offensive struggles. Tristan Thompson, Andrew Bynum, Dion Waiters and Jarrett Jack are all players capable of stepping up for the Cavs and if Kyrie can lead they way this team is more than capable of making the playoffs.

Teams on the rise

FP - Oklahoma City Thunder

Cleveland Cavaliers

Phoenix Suns

Denver Nuggets

NH - The Portland Trail Blazers are a team to look out for as they are leading arguably the hardest conference in the NBA. They aren’t getting the publicity of the Heat and Pacers and are going about their business quietly with Lamarcus Aldridge and Damien Lillard leading the way. Ignore them at your peril.

The Sacramento Kings got blown out today, but have been a team on the improve. Demarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas have been leading the Kings and with the arrival of Rudy Gay, they could continue their ascent. Gay may be a risky acquisition, hurting them in the long run but he adds valuable scoring ability as well as giving the Kings the option to go small with him at the 4 position, relying heavily on their guards.

My top five at the moment is

Portland

OKC

Indiana

Miami

San Antonio

Teams on the slide

FP - Chicago Bulls

Philadelphia 76ers

New York Knicks

Milwaukee Bucks

NH – Bottom five

Bucks

Utah Jazz

Orlando Magic

Brooklyn Nets

Charlotte Bobcats

Performance of the week

FP - Kevin Durant vs Indiana Pacers (36 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 14/23 FG)

Once again KD earns the performance of the week for his game against the Indiana Pacers. Matching up against Paul George and the league leading Indiana Pacers, Durant was outstanding leading the Thunder to a 24-point win 118-94. What’s equally impressive with this performance was how efficient Durant was shooting a ridiculous 14/23 and hitting 2 of his 3 attempts from behind the three-point line.

Notable performances

Kyrie Irving vs Knicks (37 points, 11 assists, 4/7 3pt)

Stephen Curry vs Bobcats (43 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds)

Russell Westbrook vs Pacers (26 points, 13 assists, 7 rebounds)

NH - Demarcus Cousins vs Dallas (32 points, 19 rebounds, 3 assists)

Play of the week

Play of the week this week is an all around team performance by the Golden State Warriors. Some great work protecting the rim by Australian Andrew Bogut leading to a good fast break opportunity, a nice dish from Stephen Curry to Harrison Barnes for an effortless reverse jam!

Notables

Uncle Drew’s (Kyrie Irving) killer crossover, spinning Pablo Prigioni around and nailing a three pointer.

And Iman Shumpert’s emphatic throw down

Undercover Brother

FP - The undercover brother this week is the Chicago Bull’s swingman Luol Deng. The Bulls are struggling big time after losing Derrick Rose but Deng has stepped up and played well for Chicago. His last six scoring totals read 20, 37, 27, 27, 24 and 22 and currently averaging 19.4 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game and is doing a great job for a Bulls squad that is battling without Rose and Jimmy Butler.

Storyline Watch/Random thoughts

FP - Kobe’s return is currently all the talk in the NBA and I suspect the entire basketball world is keeping a close eye on number 24 and the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe is looking great for a guy who’s stepped in with a small amount of basketball in the last eight months. Kobe isn’t match conditioned and expect him to be inconsistent for the next little while but we all know how Kobe is out to prove all the doubters wrong so don’t be surprised if we see the Black Mamba hitting some form sooner rather than later.

NH – Kobe Bryant’s return was a slow one, but a good blowout to get rid of the cobwebs. He played better in his second outing shooting 6-11 (8-8 at the line) on his way to 20 points in the Lakers loss to the Pheonix Suns. Even though they lost, the Lakers and their fans will feel good about Bryant’s return as the signs of a return to his best look promising.

What to watch for (all NZT)

FP - Rockets @ Blazers on Friday

Dwight Howard and James Harden take on the team currently ruling the Western Conference in the Portland Trailblazers. I’m looking forward to the battle of the paint in this one between LaMarcus Aldridge and Dwight Howard. Will be interesting too see how they match up and whether we will see Howard on Aldridge on the defensive end as the Blazers big man has been in some fine form.

Lakers @ Thunder on Saturday

Fortunately for us this one’s on ESPN so tune in on Saturday to see Kobe Bryant’s Lakers take on Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, our own Steven Adams and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers are battling at the moment and I expect this one too be a high scoring affair.

Spurs @ Clippers on Tuesday

The San Antonio Spurs travel to LA to take on Chris Paul and the Clippers. This should be a quality game of basketball as the Spurs are very good on the road and the Clippers are a great team at home. This Western Conference battle should be a good one!

Pacers @ Heat on Thursday

The Heat-Pacers game last week lived up to the hype and I expect this game to be just as intense. The Heat will not want to drop another game to the Pacers while Indiana will be looking to make a statement early in the season, which will hopefully end up in a good battle between two of the top teams in the NBA.