Storylines to watch in the NBA post-All-Star break

After a week without games, the NBA regular season finally resumed from the All-Star break last night with a 12 game slate. With just under two months to go in the regular season, the time is now for teams and players to be playing their best basketball ahead of the playoffs. Let’s look at the biggest storylines and questions to watch as the year starts to wind down.

Can the upstart Timberwolves and Thunder stay atop the West?

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At the end of the preseason, very few people thought that the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder would be the first and second ranked teams, respectively, in the Western Conference after the All-Star break. With powerhouse teams such as the Nuggets, Suns, Lakers, and Clippers reloading for an important season, who would’ve thought that two small market teams would be atop the standings with eight weeks left?

The Timberwolves haven’t won a playoff series since 2005 and if this season didn’t work out, it would not have been a shock if the team traded away Karl-Anthony Towns, who has been a cornerstone of the franchise for years. Barring any drastic changes, Towns looks right at home next to budding superstar Anthony Edwards who is perhaps the best young player in the league. The Rudy Gobert trade two summers ago that caught so much heat is also starting to pay dividends, as the Timberwolves have the best defensive rating in the league. After years and years of ruined plans and missed windows, Minnesota now looks to be in as good of a spot as anyone to make a deep run not only this season but for years to come.

The Thunder are another team who have struggled to find their footing as they haven’t won a playoff series since 2016, their last season with Kevin Durant. Unlike Minnesota, however, the Thunder have been methodical and have accumulated more draft assets through the next 10 years than any other team. So, naturally, it makes sense that they would continue to get better. However, what makes them notable is the meteoric step that they’ve taken this year. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has become a frontrunner for MVP and Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are looking like future stars, vaulting Oklahoma City into surprise contender status. If things continue to go as planned and they can avoid falling prey to lack of experience, this Thunder crew looks poised to succeed come springtime.

Will the Lakers and Warriors figure it out or are their respective championship windows closed?

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Unlike the previous two teams that were discussed, the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors look like two aging teams whose championship windows have either closed or are close to it. They are ninth and tenth in the conference, respectively, and neither has looked like what we’re used to seeing. The Lakers look slightly more fixable, as they have looked more like themselves as of late. Firstly, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are still playing at an all-NBA level which means they can compete with anyone on any given night. The offense and coaching hasn’t been great, but let’s not forget that basically this same roster went to the conference finals last year as a seven seed. D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves have also improved in their play recently. For Los Angeles, the alarms are starting to sound, but we’re still confident in their ceiling, especially James and Davis’s.

On the other hand, Warriors fans should probably panic. While Stephen Curry has been great (per usual), just about everything else has not been. Klay Thompson has taken a significant step back and Draymond Green has not played well enough to validate his extra erratic behavior, which has cost him 21 games of suspension so far this season. Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney, key parts of their 2022 championship run, have also been bad and the offseason trade for Chris Paul isn’t paying off. This iteration of Golden State basketball just does not look capable of making any sort of noise in a crowded Western Conference and the front office may regret not trading Thompson or Wiggins at the trade deadline. On the bright side, they have the 25th easiest remaining schedule and Brandin Podziemski has looked like a steal in his rookie season, so all hope is not completely lost as of yet.

After Boston, who is the next best team in the East?

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Through 56 games, it’s become obvious that the Boston Celtics are the clear-cut favorite in the Eastern Conference. They’re seven games ahead of the pack, and it’s hard to imagine that much will change in the next couple months. However, after that it gets much murkier. The Cavaliers currently occupy second-place after their hot streak in January but they’re an unproven team who is known to get cold at the wrong time. Their first game post-All-Star break was a home loss to the Magic, so Cleveland could be in for one of their rough spells. The Bucks are in third and unlike Cleveland, have proven that they can win in the playoffs. However, they’re in major turmoil after their recent coaching change. Replacing Adrian Griffin with Doc Rivers has not made much of an impact and Milwaukee went into the break in the midst of a losing skid. While it could just be a rough stretch, going 3-7 in their last ten games could be indicative of a team who has simply just lost their edge. Maybe the coaching between Griffin and Mike Budenholzer wasn’t ever the problem, and their offseason roster shakeup of acquiring Damian Lillard and trading away Jrue Holiday just isn’t panning out the way they wanted.

The Knicks and 76ers sit in fourth and fifth, respectively, but both face their own injury problems. New York has seen its core fall apart in recent weeks as Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, and Jalen Brunson have all missed time as of late. Brunson is back and Anunoby is slated to return soon, but Randle still remains without a timetable, joining starting center Mitchell Robinson who was lost to an ankle injury early in the season. For Philadelphia, the team is anxiously waiting for the return of superstar Joel Embiid, who has been out since late January with a knee injury. The 76ers have not looked like themselves since then and are 3-6 since Embiid went down. 

Let’s not forget about the Heat, who won the conference last year as an eight seed. Miami has been underwhelming in the regular season once again, but Jimmy Butler has been in and out of the lineup all year and if he can get healthy for the playoffs, the Heat will be as dangerous as ever. Also, keep an eye on young teams such as the Pacers and Magic as while they might not have the firepower or experience to win a championship, they can certainly make some noise in this murky Eastern Conference.

Who will emerge as the clear favorite in the MVP race?

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The league is facing an unprecedented MVP race this year as the effects of the new 65 games played rule are becoming evident. A few short weeks ago, Embiid looked like the clear-cut favorite to win his second straight MVP award, but the recent injury has caused him to miss enough games to where he is no longer eligible. This has never happened in the history of the league and other stars are scrambling to climb into the vacant top spot.

As of now, Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic looks like the favorite to win the award for the third time. Jokic is averaging 26.0 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 9.1 assists per game and is leading his reigning champion Nuggets team in their race for the #1 seed. However, closely behind Jokic is Gilgeous-Alexander, who, as mentioned before, has been the face of the upstart Thunder. The Oklahoma City star is averaging 31.1 points, 6.6 assists, and a league-leading 2.1 steals per game so far this season. While Jokic is probably slightly in front as of now, do not be at all surprised if Gilgeous-Alexander puts on a late surge to win the award. With Embiid’s ineligibility, the door is still open for stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Jayson Tatum to jump into contention, but they’ll have to do something special in the final two months.