NBA Team of the Week (Dec. 25 - Dec. 31)

The Christmas week was filled with a lot of exciting matches and even more exhilarating refereeing decisions too. From the Christmas Day non-calls on LeBron James to the James Harden's back-to-back charging fouls against the Boston Celtics to the obvious missed call on Giannis Antetokounmpo stepping out of bounds for the eventual game-winner against the Oklahoma City Thunder, referees were on fire the past week!

Let's talk about the game action now. We were not lacking in that part too, from Houston's meltdown against the Celtics, to Curry and Griffin's powerful comebacks, to Cleveland now losing last 4 out of 5 and ending their West trip 0-3 showing glimpses of their past problems, the week was filled with surprises!

Also, a shout out to LeBron, turning 33 and playing in his 15th season and still being one of the best players in the game.

In the midst of all that, there were few players who stood out with their performances in the week. Now with that being said, let's announce our team of the Christmas week!

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#6th man- Lou Williams

Lou Williams

Team Record: 3-0

Player Stats in the Week: 28 ppg, 4.7 apg on 50% shooting, 48% from threes,

He just doesn't want to lose the 6th man of the year award at any cost. He was on fire the entire week, also his stats converting into team wins. Just see his personal stats for the week, that is a bench player we are talking about playing more than 31 minutes per game. Let that sink in.

Also, he had a 40-point outing against the Charlotte Hornets along with 8 assists. Arguably the leader of the 6th man award till now and is also our 6th man of the week.

Other Candidates for this position this week:

Nikola Mirotic (3-1, 19.3 ppg, 6 rpg on 50.8% shooting and 45.5% from threes)

JJ Barea (4-0, 12.5 ppg, 7.8 apg on 48.8% shooting and 39% from threes)

Point Guard- Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook

Team Record: 2-2

Player stats in the week: 34.8 ppg, 11 apg, 10.8 rpg on 51.8% shooting

Despite going 2-2 last week, the stats of the Westbeast make us tend towards him for the point guard of the week. To be honest, they may not even be 2-2 if it was not for the referee's completely blown non-call on Antetokounmpo's game-winner.

After a strong outing against the Raptors and the Houston Rockets, they dropped back-to-back against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Dallas Mavericks, and both were disheartening losses which could have gone either way.

Westbrook is averaging a triple-double in the entire month of December and is playing like he was last year, and that is way better for the franchise. Now, as OKC is starting to get their groove, it will be interesting to see just how more dangerous can they become. They have just been outstanding against the better teams.

Other Candidates for this position this week:

Kyrie Irving (3-1, 23.8 ppg on 46% shooting 34.5% from threes)

John Wall (3-1, 17.3 ppg, 9.5 apg on 41.4% shooting)

Shooting Guard- Bradley Beal

Bradley Beal

Team Record: 3-1

Player stats in the week: 26.3 ppg on 46.7% shooting, 38.7% from threes

Washington inexplicably has been playing mediocre this entire season but had been picking up recently. The deadly backcourt of Wall-Beal are finally picking it up a notch and helped the team to win against the Celtics and the Rockets this week. It is tough to separate both of them, but Beal made it through because of his splendid performance against the Bulls (39/9/9) almost notching a triple-double going 55.2% from the field on 29 tries and 7-of-13 (53.8%) shooting from the threes.

Let's hope the Wizards continue playing this way and make the East even more interesting this year.

Other Candidates for this position this week:

Tyreke Evans (2-2, 26.3 ppg, 6.5 apg on 52.1% shooting, 52.2% from threes)

Small Forward- Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler

Team Record: 3-1

Player Stats in this week: 27 ppg, 6.3 apg on 52.5% shooting

Although he plays as a shooting guard primarily, with his 6'8" stature, he can easily be shifted to the small forward position. He had been firing from all cylinders in the past 2-3 weeks and has been guiding the young Minnesota Timberwolves. Started a little slowly with the Timberwolves this season, he has finally fit in and has been since taking over the clutch moments as well.

Because of him, Towns' usage rate has dropped but I guess he won't mind as the Timberwolves are rolling as of late. He had an excellent outing against Denver, scoring 39 with 50% from the field and from the threes as well.

Other Candidates for this position this week:

Paul George (2-1, 27.3 ppg on 56.8% shooting and 62.5% from threes)

Power Forward- Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin

Team Record: 2-0

Player Stats in the week: 24.5 ppg, 6 apg, 6.5 rpg on 46.8% shooting, 33% from threes

Wow! It must good to be Blake. Just back from the injury, he directly enters our team of the week (Let's hope that it will not remain his biggest achievement in life). Although against some no-so-tough competition, still, he manages to enter our list. His stats are decent, not extraordinary, but his advanced stats of net rating and box plus minus stands out the most.

Clippers again back in the hunt for the 8th seed in the West, can't lose focus now if at all serious. Amidst the DeAndre Jordan trade rumors, it will be interesting to see how well the Clippers will cope up.

Other Candidates for this position this week:

Giannis Antetokounmpo (2-1, 24.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg on 60.4% shooting)

Kevin Durant (3-1, 23.3 ppg, 5.5 apg on 50% shooting, 52.9% from threes)

Center- Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond

Team Record: 2-1

Player stats in the week: 17.3 ppg, 19 rpg, 4.7 apg on 55% shooting

This was a tough decision to make, but we had to go with the Dre. Detroit rolling currently, winning 6 of the last 8 matches after losing 7 straight. Not as versatile as other centers in the list, but still performing on a high level, averaged 19! rebounds per game the last week. He is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league right now, averaged 5 offensive rebounds per game last week.

Also, with him, Detroit has a defensive rating of 88.7 last week!

Other Candidates for this position this week:

Dirk Nowitzki (4-0, 14.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg on 57% shooting, 43% from threes)

Karl Anthony Towns (3-1, 18.8 ppg, 10.5 rpg on 57% shooting, 45% from threes)

Joel Embiid (3-1, 25.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg on 48% shooting, 44% from threes)

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