The Pistons lost seven of their last eight, but the one win came over the Celtics, who were previously riding an eight-game win streak. Detroit continues to hit highs and lows, but somewhere in the middle probably lies an Eastern Conference playoff team.
Well, the Kings might be … good? A stinker against Minnesota aside, the Kings are two games above .500 in the hyper-competitive Western Conference. De’Aaron Fox won’t make the All-Star game, but he’s putting together an impressive sophomore campaign. Things are looking up in Sactown.
The Jazz continue to perform below expectations. The offense needs a serious jolt outside Donovan Mitchell, who continues to carry the volume scoring burden. Rudy Gobert is an elite two-way player, but Utah needs something to push them out of mediocrity.
Robert Covington is finally getting the recognition he deserves after transforming the Timberwolves defense post-Jimmy Butler trade. He’s a legit Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner, which speaks to how under-appreciated he was in Philadelphia.
The Pelicans’ depth has been called into question on multiple occasions, but Anthony Davis is good enough to put NOLA in the postseason discussion. Julius Randle, Nikola Mirotic and Jrue Holiday are all having strong seasons as well.