There are countless paths for an NBA team to reach the championship podium.
It all boils down to one simple formula: play your best basketball when it matters most.
Of course, the hoops calendar isn't quite there yet, but the playoffs are just around the corner. And from the moment it starts, each team is four times away from winning the series.
In a perfect world, championship dreamers would already be giving it their all, creating a wave of momentum they can ride until the confetti falls. However, his five clubs below all have high hopes of winning right now, but instead are going in the wrong direction at (almost) the most inopportune times.
From early January to mid-February, no player ran as hot as JB Bickerstaff. Cleveland won 17 of its first 19 games of the new year, and the Cavs had the league's best net rating of +15.9 during that span.
However, the team's form has deteriorated considerably since then. Part of the reason for that is not only injury issues (Evan Mobley's severe ankle sprain, Donovan Mitchell's bruised knee and recent nose fracture), but also the rapidly declining efficiency on both ends. .
During the scorching period leading up to the new year, Cleveland's offense produced mind-boggling points. 121 points per 100 possessions to be exact. But over the last 18 games (10 of which were losses), Cleveland has scored just 112.3 points per 100 possessions. To make matters worse, the decline in defense is almost as severe, as the club's defensive rating rose from 105.1 (best in the league by a mile) to 113.7 (19th).
Before the disqualification, the Cavs had a real chance to grab the No. 2 seed in the East and position themselves for a first-round matchup against a play-in tournament team, on the opposite side of the bracket from Boston. Celtics. Right now, Cleveland is stuck in third place, effectively in jeopardy of not even hosting a first-round series.
In the case of the Lakers, rather than failing to improve, they are on a downward trend. But it still feels like a failure for a team aiming for a championship and having a place in the play-in tournament standings.
Ideally, this would be a time when LA is coming into its own, racking up wins and at least growing in confidence, if not eclipsing some of the clubs ranked higher. Instead, the Lakers have been spinning their tires since the All-Star break with a near .500 record (7-6) and a negative net rating (-0.3, 16th).
The offense that previously held this group back has at least come back to life, with coach Darvin Ham finally changing his starting lineup to a top five of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reeves, and Louis. There is no doubt that the fact that I buried it helped me. Mr. Hachimura. The Lakers were 18th in offensive efficiency, but have since jumped to third.
Unfortunately, the defensive end where the Lakers' 2019-20 title team did their best work has become a puzzle this team can't solve. LA was ranked 15th in defensive efficiency before the break. After the All-Star break, the Purple and Gold plummeted to 28th place.
If the Lakers had managed to overcome this phase, there was a good chance they would advance to a top-six seed. Instead, they are almost certain to return to the play-in tournament, and will likely need two wins to escape this time.
At one point in the not-too-distant past, the Western Conference appeared to be on track to be headed toward a four-team battle for the No. 1 seed. The remaining three teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves, held out their end of the bargain. The Clippers didn't, but they stumbled so badly that they're now as close to an 8th seed as they are a 3rd seed.
From December to January, this group posted an impressive 23-5 record, outscoring opponents by 8.2 points per 100 possessions. However, since the beginning of February, they have barely won more (12) than lost (10) and their net rating has fallen into the red (-0.6, 17th place).
Injuries are on the rise, but that doesn't excuse the eye test results. Lethargic offensive play, spotty defensive play, and an overall lack of energy that suggests this club is on cruise control.
“I mean, it's not good for us to look like that,” Paul George told reporters. “We want to be a consistent team and we want to have an identity. I've always talked about having an identity and I think it's very important. For now, we I don’t think I have an identity.”
A healthy Russell Westbrook may help restore some energy, but he alone won't keep the Clippers from falling into bad habits. They get loose on the basketball, lazy on transition defense, and lifeless on off-ball movement. A better version of them could be championship-level great, but it's been far too long since they've consistently shown that form.
The 76ers were supposed to spend the stretch run establishing themselves as the Boston Celtics' biggest threat in the Eastern Conference. The injury bug had other ideas.
Current MVP Joel Embiid suffered a torn meniscus in late January, and Philadelphia has been in survival mode ever since. The Sixers snowballed down the standings, dropping 14 of the 23 games Embiid has missed so far, but they were probably lucky, considering the club's net rating during that span was -6.2. do not have.
“hope is, john clark According to an article from NBC Sports Philadelphia, Embiid's expected return in two to three weeks means the big man won't be involved in much, if any, final push. . In other words, the rest of the Sixers need to pull this team out of its slump.
So far, that has not come to fruition. Philly continues to struggle brutally on both ends of the floor without Embiid, and while no team is the same without an MVP candidate, the Sixers seem especially ill-prepared to deal with this kind of absence. Other than breakout bowler Tyrese Maxey, no other player has been consistently productive.
Basketball-Reference's projections give this group a 72.8% chance of finishing seventh, eighth or ninth, so this slide will likely send Philadelphia to the play-in tournament. Hopes for the Sixers to make the long-awaited playoff run are quickly disappearing.
Credit to New York's front office for assembling one of the deepest rosters in the entire association. But even with their depth, the Bockers weren't built to withstand such a horrific series of medical incidents.
The Knicks are currently in a tough spot, missing three starters in OG Anunoby, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson, but they're still healthier than they've been in a while. This, more than anything else, explains how in the nearly two months since New York posted his highest winning percentage in January (.875), he's ranked 19th in the category (.476). It explains whether you are ranked.
“If you take four starters and six rotation players out of any lineup in the league, they're going to struggle,” Knicks swingman Josh Hart told reporters. “I don’t care if they’re Boston with the best record or Detroit or Washington with the worst record. If you beat that many guys at the same time. It’s going to be a struggle.”
Hart is right, but that doesn't really matter. Just because we can explain the Knicks' recent swoon doesn't make it any less damaging. As of the end of January, they were in 3rd place in the East Region and were close to 2nd place. They currently sit in fifth place, likely one game away from losing the play-in tournament.
The Knicks hope they'll be healthy eventually, but it's unclear when Anunoby (elbow), Randle (shoulder) or Robinson (ankle) will return to action. And who knows what will happen to them after a long layoff (or, in Anunoby's case, a long absence followed by a brief return followed by another sideline job).
Although this team's hopes are not completely lost, there is no doubt that the climb towards the championship has become even steeper during this period.
Stats provided by Basketball Reference and NBA.com and are through the current game played on Thursday.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him with X @mtk_nba.