NBA Power Rankings: Warriors, Suns running away in Western Conference

Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA through games played on Sunday and ranked each team from worst to first.

With the NBA at the quarter mark of the season, a couple of teams in the Western Conference have started to separate themselves while others are still figuring things out.

The Golden State Warriors own the best record in the league at 18-2 while the Phoenix Suns have won 16 consecutive games to start 17-3. They will conveniently face each other twice this week, two contests that will surely decide who the better team is at this point of the year.

To further make sense of it all, Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA and ranked each team from worst to first. We will come back each week and provide our latest assessment on the best teams and those that are rising.

New trade suggestion has Nets moving Kyrie Irving to Mavericks

Should the Nets consider a Kyrie Irving deal that could land them Kristaps Porzingis and Jalen Brunson?

Nets star Kyrie Irving is creating quite the headache for the Brooklyn Nets. He refuses to take the vaccine in order to be eligible to play for Brooklyn at Barclays Center. The team decided to not have him play at all if he isn’t fully eligible, which means he has not practiced or played all season long. Despite missing one of their superstars, the Nets sit comfortably at the top of the Eastern Conference with a record of 14-5.

As each practice and game goes by, the Nets are gaining more and more chemistry and familiarity with each other. Not only that, but this also makes the idea of trading Irving more and more tempting.

Out of curiosity, a recent trade suggestion that foresees the 29-year-old being moved to the Mavericks for Kristaps Porzingis and Jalen Brunson has come forth.

Via Bleacher Report:

“Brunson (15.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 49.3 percent shooting overall) has enjoyed a breakout season for Dallas and would slide in next to James Harden in Brooklyn’s starting backcourt. This would allow Patty Mills to return to a sixth man role full-time, as expected when he signed with the Nets.

Porzingis isn’t living up to expectations as a No. 2 in Dallas but could thrive as a floor-spacing No. 3 (or No. 4 on some nights) in Brooklyn, giving Kevin Durant and Harden their driving lanes.”

Brunson is having a breakout season, and he’s proving himself to be a solid player. As for Porzingis, who was frustrated with his limited role last season, there’s no telling how frustrated he would be playing in Brooklyn. Nevertheless, he’s averaging 21 PPG on the season, but there’s no guarantee he will show up in the playoffs.

In the postseason last year, Porzingis put up 13 PPG on a dreadful 30% shooting from downtown. As for Brunson, you would not want to bet on him in the playoffs either if you’re the Nets when you already have Irving. He averaged 8 PPG in the playoffs last year even when he put up 13 PPG on a career-high 52% accuracy from the field during the regular season.

This is a trade that might be worth mulling over for Sean Marks, but Irving is one of a kind. He’s a player that elevates his game in the playoffs – should he be available by then.

In regards to chemistry, when you have Irving alongside Durant and Harden, not much chemistry is needed. The team will depend on isolations offensively most of the time and with Harden and Durant orchestrating the offense right now, the chemistry they have with the rest of the team will be enough.

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NBA Power Rankings: Suns continue to stay hot behind Booker, Paul

Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA through games played on Sunday and ranked each team from worst to first.

With another week in the books, the Golden State Warriors continued to flex their muscles after powering through the Brooklyn Nets on a successful East Coast road trip.

While the Warriors hum along, the Phoenix Suns extended their winning streak to 12 games on Sunday with a victory over the Denver Nuggets. With a relatively easy schedule ahead, the group could be riding a 15-game winning streak when they see the Nets in Brooklyn on Saturday.

To further make sense of it all, Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA and ranked each team from worst to first. We will come back each week and provide our latest assessment on the best teams and those that are rising.

NBA Power Rankings: Warriors stay on top behind elite play of Steph Curry

Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA through games played on Sunday and ranked each team from worst to first.

The NBA season continues to produce several highlights as the stars of the league turn in elite performance after elite performance with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant leading the way.

Curry notched the first 50-point game of the season last week in a win over the Atlanta Hawks. He put up 40 points two games later to lead the Warriors to the best record in the league (11-2) after nearly the first four weeks of the season.

Meanwhile, Durant has continued his scoring tear to start the season as he has produced at least 20 points in each of the Brooklyn Nets’ 14 games. He leads the league in 30-point games and is your scoring leader to this point of the year.

To further make sense of it all, Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA and ranked each team from worst to first. We will come back each week and provide our latest assessment on the best teams and those that are rising.

Chicago Bulls player grades from Wednesday night’s win vs. Mavericks

Here are the individual player grades as the Chicago Bulls outlast the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.

The Chicago Bulls followed up their impressive victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday by defeating the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, 117-107.

The Bulls outscored the Mavericks by eight in the third quarter to jumpstart their lead going into the fourth.

Zach LaVine led the way for the Bulls with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor along with 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Lonzo Ball finished with 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists on 7-of-10 shooting from 3-point range.

Check out the individual player grades from Wednesday’s victory below.

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Bulls’ Zach LaVine threw down a 360 degree slam dunk and NBA fans were in awe

Zach LaVine brought showtime to Chicago!

It’s still early in the 2021-22 NBA season, but it’s safe to say Zach LaVine has provided us with the best dunk we’ve seen thus far.

On Wednesday, in the final two minutes of the Chicago Bulls match against the Dallas Mavericks, the home team was looking to close out a win. Alex Caruso started off the play with a steal off a botched pass from the Mavericks. Lonzo Ball then tossed a dart down the court to LaVine with a brilliant throw that’d make any quarterback jealous.

Finally, LaVine took the pass and went a full 360 degrees on the slam dunk for one of the most hype plays we’ve seen in the NBA this season. Just look at how flawless this was!

Pure perfection right there. LaVine was so fired up after the play — in part due to not getting a foul call on the Bulls’ previous offensive possession — that he drew a technical for yelling at the referees afterwards.

As expected, NBA fans went absolutely wild for LaVine’s dunk, which capped off a 117-107 win to put the Bulls at 8-3 on the season.

Bulls vs. Mavs: Lineups, injuries, and broadcast info for Wednesday

Here’s what you need to know as the Chicago Bulls take on the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.

The Chicago Bulls take on the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, and if you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Bulls are coming off an impressive 23-point victory against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.

For the Bulls, they will again be without Coby White.

For the Mavericks, they’ll be missing Maxi Kleber who is out with a back injury.

Here’s when you should tune in to see the game:

  • Date: Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: NBCS Chicago, listen on 670 The Score, TUDN 1200 AM

Probable starting lineups

Chicago Bulls

  • Lonzo Ball
  • Zach LaVine
  • DeMar DeRozan
  • Javonte Green
  • Nikola Vucevic

Dallas Mavericks

  • Luka Doncic
  • Tim Hardaway Jr.
  • Dorian Finney-Smith
  • Dwight Powell
  • Kristaps Porzingis

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NBA Power Rankings: Sixers have gone streaking without Ben Simmons

Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA through games played on Sunday and ranked each team from worst to first.

With nearly three weeks in the books, the stars of the NBA continue to show out on a nightly basis while the incoming rookie class has also had some nice performances.

Teams around the league still look to be adjusting to the new season as some of the heavyweights have yet to fully get into gear. However, other teams have seemingly shot out of the gate running and are beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the field.

To make sense of it all, Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA and ranked each team from worst to first. We will come back each week and provide our latest assessment on the best teams and those that are rising.

Celtics player grades: Boston nearly steals a road win from Dallas after big deficit

A more granular analysis of Saturday’s loss to the Mavs.

By now most of us are already sick of moral victories, but until the Boston Celtics find a way to put the things they are learning to do together on the court consistently enough to earn some wins of the non-moral variety, it is what we have to work with in terms of assessing the team and the players on it.

So with that said in regards to the team’s 107 – 104 road loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night, turning a more granular lens on the team as a whole to see how the Celtics did player by player is still a productive exercise, and possibly one of the only positives we can pull from such a winnable game.

Let’s take a look at the individual play of some of the game’s more important players against Dallas.

WATCH: Boston’s Jayson Tatum snaps slump, gets 32 points, 11 boards vs. Mavs (11/6)

The Duke product shook off his early-season slump and nearly carried Boston to the win.

The Boston Celtics nearly won their road game against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday night, and might have done so handily had they not fallen into a 19-point hole early on. But that the team lost did not make the contest a total loss, as All-Star forward Jayson Tatum seems to have finally broken out of the scoring funk he has been in since the start of the season, the Duke product one of many stars around the league dealing with such a problem.

Tatum put up 32 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, as many steals and a block in 38 minutes of game time, shooting a sizzling 12-of-19 from the floor, 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.

Given the game ended in a Luka Doncic dagger for the Dallas win, we doubt you want to watch the game again.

But if you want to see Taco Jay go off, or just want the best plays of the night to watch without torturing yourself, watch this collection of Tatum highlights put together by fan YouTuber Tomasz Kordylewski.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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