Drama in Chicago
During the past offseason, it was heavily rumored that the Chicago Bulls’ front office was shopping around their main players, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and even Patrick Williams. Due to their slow start and an alleged bad relationship between head coach Billy Donovan and LaVine, those rumors have sparked back up again.
The Athletic has reported that both sides have been working on finding a trade package towards one of LaVine’s preferred destinations, which include the Los Angeles Lakers, the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers. LaVine’s discontent with the organization was evident as the former All-Star left the court instantly after the team’s comeback against the Heat this past weekend, which didn’t leave the greatest impression on a lot of members of the Bulls’ staff.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Bulls PR person tried to get Zach LaVine to stay on the court for the Post Game interview & Zach ignored her & pushes her away <a href=”https://t.co/qSBFJbqgro”>pic.twitter.com/qSBFJbqgro</a></p>— Gustavo (@iamvega1982) <a href=”https://twitter.com/iamvega1982/status/1726080564447334420?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
It was clear coming into this season that the Bulls’ “Big 3” of LaVine, DeRozan and Vučević had a big chip on their shoulder, after a semi-promising year in their first season together, just barely making the playoffs as the eighth seed and getting eliminated in the first round, to being eliminated from the Play-In tournament by the finalists, Miami, just last season.
If the iconic franchise decides to part ways with LaVine, the return package could definitely determine what happens to the likes of DeRozan, as a couple of young pieces could mean that the Bulls will head towards a rebuilding stage once again, and veterans may mean that the front office still has hopes for a core led by the six-time All-Star.
Game-winners galore
Every fan loves close games, the ones with lead changes after every possession, keeping fans on the edge of their seats, wondering what the outcome will be. Well, this week had plenty of action like this to offer, starting with the Orlando Magic’s victory over the previously mentioned Bulls. Though the Magic had been leading for almost the entirety of the game, late in the fourth, the Bulls sparked a comeback and with seven seconds left on the clock, two consecutive three pointers from Zach LaVine tied the game. As the fans at the United Center in Chicago were ecstatic about the possibility of not losing the game in regulation time, Paolo Banchero posted up against elite defender Alex Caruso and knocked down a fadeaway jump shot to win the game for the Orlando Magic.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>PAOLO BANCHERO CALLS GAME FOR THE MAGIC😱 <a href=”https://t.co/PSXksz1LjY”>pic.twitter.com/PSXksz1LjY</a></p>— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) <a href=”https://twitter.com/AhnFireDigital/status/1724993446056726685?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
As mentioned in the introduction of this piece, the Clippers managed to get their first win after trading for James Harden, but it didn’t come easily. On Friday, as they faced off against the red-hot Houston Rockets, it wasn’t really looking favorable for the California team, as the Ime Udoka-led squad were doing everything they could to fend off the three-headed monster of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Harden through the first three quarters. However, as the game was tied with 39 seconds left on the clock, the former league MVP pulled off a vintage move from his arsenal and drained a step-back three pointer, while also being fouled in the process, to give the Clippers a four-point lead with six seconds remaining on the clock.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>JAMES HARDEN FOR THE LEAD😱 <a href=”https://t.co/RU5ihvCHR1″>pic.twitter.com/RU5ihvCHR1</a></p>— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) <a href=”https://twitter.com/AhnFireDigital/status/1725757295735275670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 18, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Though there were a couple of other game-winning shots throughout the week, like Karl-Anthony Towns’ winner against the New Orleans Pelicans, or even Sunday’s overtime thriller between the Lakers and the Rockets, the biggest game-winner saga was the one between the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. Coming out of halftime, it seemed like the Warriors were on course to break their streak of bad luck (which we’ll mention later), leading by over ten points. During the fourth quarter, momentum had clearly shifted, as Oklahoma City closed in and the lead kept changing throughout the final twelve minutes of the game. With the game tied during the final moments of regulation, Andrew Wiggins made a crucial three-pointer to give the Dubs the three-point advantage with three seconds to go. However, rookie sensation Chet Holmgren had different ideas, and as he took matters into his own hands, scoring a fantastic heavily-contested three to send the game to overtime right at the buzzer.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>CHET HOLMGREN SENDS THE GAME INTO OVERTIME!!!!!<br><br>WOW!!!! <a href=”https://t.co/mmWFf9rhz1″>pic.twitter.com/mmWFf9rhz1</a></p>— Oh no he didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ohnohedidnt24/status/1726086115902550257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 19, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Holmgren and the Thunder went on to clinch the win in the extra frame. Did someone say “clutch”?
The Warriors are sinking
Speaking of the Warriors, they didn’t have the greatest week, most notably losing Draymond Green to a five-game suspension after putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves early last week, and Stephen Curry missed out on a couple of games due to right knee soreness, only to come back for the thrilling overtime loss against the Thunder.
After a very strong 6-2 start to the season, the Warriors haven’t managed to win a game since, having recorded their sixth consecutive loss against on Saturday. This losing streak came because of a series of factors, like the lack of productivity from the supporting cast, with both Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins struggling to knock down the shots they are paid to make, and not compensating with their trademark defense on the other end.
The Warriors’ upcoming schedule isn’t the easiest, as they’ll face the Rockets, Suns, Spurs, Kings and the Clippers over this next week. It’ll be a great test to see if they’ll finally manage to get a much-needed victory to wipe away the bad streak they’ve been saddled with lately.
Haliburton making history
Though they don’t have the best record in the Eastern Conference, with almost as many losses as they have wins, the Indiana Pacers have been very exciting to watch, as they’ve had the best pace out of every team in the league, and currently boast the second-best offense in the NBA.
The team doesn’t look much different than it did last season, but the sole fact that lead guard Tyrese Haliburton is yet to miss any time due to injury is a big reason as to why they have been producing the second highest points per game in the league. Haliburton is leading the NBA in assists, which isn’t shocking in the slightest considering the spectacular seven days he’s just had. In the two games against the Philadelphia 76ers earlier in the week, Haliburton registered 32 total assists, while also scoring an impressive 58 points.
The most incredible thing is that he had a grand total of zero turnovers through both games against one of the top teams in the NBA, re-affirming the point that he is one of the league’s best playmakers.
It’s still quite early in the season, so we can’t be sure if this amazing form will persist throughout the entirety of the season, but one month in and only two games with less than 10 assists, it’s very clear that Tyrese’s productivity is the biggest impact on the Pacers’ impressive offense so far.
Rolling Thunder
They’ve been mentioned quite a lot in this weekly recap, all for very good reasons, as the Thunder are on a five-game winning streak and are showing no signs of slowing down.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having yet another stellar season, possibly MVP-caliber, if he keeps this amazing form going and leads the team to a very strong position in the Western Conference, currently sitting with the most wins in the conference. The Canadian guard is leading the squad with 29.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists through 13 games, with sophomore Jalen Williams trailing behind him with 17.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
The greatest addition to this team was clearly rookie Chet Holmgren, who missed out on his actual rookie season due to an unfortunate injury during the 2022 offseason, but came into the league proving his worth straight away, averaging 17.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game, while having incredible shooting efficiency splits, belonging in the illustrious 50/40/90 club so far.
It’s unclear to determine a ceiling for this team yet, as it’s still very early in the season to declare them as contenders or pretenders, but as far as this first month of regular season action, Oklahoma City have been one of the best stories in the entire league.