NBA weekly awards: Week 14

TEAM AWARDS

Best Team of the week:

The San Antonio Spurs defy time, and it’s a privilege for us to see the how an aged group keeps on playing team basketball every single day on the court. Gregg Popovich’s team are the epitome of a band of brothers going to ball and each knowing what’s best for the team rather than caring for one’s individual accolades.

The Spurs capped off a 10-game winning streak in the week while having a +10.9 point differential during the stretch. The streak looks even more impressive when we consider that Tim Duncan was missing in 5 of the 10 contests after he sprained his left knee and right ankle after a collision with Wizard’s Martell Webster.

Worst Team of the Week:

There wasn’t a team that was more terrible than the Orlando Magic in the week that passed us. With Glen Davis likely to be out for the season, the Magic went on a 9-game losing skid dating back to the 18th of January, as the wheels seem to fall off the spirited effort that Orlando put in earlier in the season.

The streak looks even worse when you consider that it included losses against really bad teams like the Bobcats, Pistons, Raptors and a Rondo-less Boston.

PLAYER AWARDS

Best Player of the week

Denver Nuggets‘ power forward Kenneth Faried may have played his best seven days of basketball till date. The week produced two great games from the Nuggets’ big man, who shot 67% from the floor against the Rockets and the Hornets, while averaging 16 points and 9 rebounds for the week.

Worst Player of the Week

The Grizzlies’ power forward Zach Randolph may be regarded as the season’s best Power Forward till now this season, but he had a week to forget last week. Z-Bo shot a dismal 26.7% from the floor, while averaging a meagre 6.7 PPG. The All-Star was quite a bit short of his usual mark of 17.2 PPG and 47.3% shooting mark that he has garnered this season.

Player on the Rise

You can name this “Player on the comeback”, but whatever you may name it, Ricky Rubio certainly gives us the feeling that he is on a comeback trail this season. His recent performances are reminiscent of the Rubio we saw last year before he went down with the horrible ACL tear. Before last week, Rubio was shooting a horrible 22.2% from the floor, while averaging 3.8 PPG. Last week saw him shooting 47% from the floor and average 11 PPG.

Add to that a 15 point, 14 assist effort against Portland on Monday and he makes his case even stronger.

When you see Rubio make things like that again, you just know he is back!!

Player on the fall

Dwight Howard certainly hasn’t taken Los Angeles by storm this season. His performances have been below-par, and the lack of chemistry with the Lakers’ other big man, Pau Gasol has been a large reason for LA’s struggles this year. Now, Howard’s added problems with his shoulder are becoming more than anyone could have imagined.

Howard has been playing hurt for most of this season, and it has done no one any good so far. While Howard is absent due to injuries, the Lakers have gone on to win five of their last six, with Pau Gasol looking like his former All-Star self. It will surely be interesting to see what lies ahead in the future for Dwight Howard.

P.S.- Howard is an unrestricted free agent in the summer.