Week 9 of the 2024-25 NBA season is done and dusted so we’re looking into the notable moments with three big takeaways from the chaos.
NBA Wrap
The Milwaukee Bucks won Week 9 while taking out the NBA Cup. Giannis Antetokonmpo’s 26 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists led the Bucks to a 97-81 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Darvin Ham also won his second NBA Cup, leading to some quite frankly wild quotes about his time with the Los Angeles Lakers post-game.
“To do as well as I did, I swear to God, anywhere else I’m probably looking at an extension with what I did. I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking actual facts. They go from not making it to the playoffs to the final four in the NBA, the conference finals. And then you win the in-season tournament, navigate through all the injuries and win both of your play-in games to get to the playoffs.”
Despite losing to the Bucks in the NBA Cup Final, the Oklahoma City Thunder are also winners of the week, riding the longest winning streak of the league at seven games. As expected, the Thunder remain as favourites to come out of the Western Conference at $2.60. The Washington Wizards earned a week off as the biggest losers. While still in possession of the worst record in the league at 4-22, the Wizards weren’t the worst performers. Instead, the Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Pelicans are riding out six-game losing streaks to start a new week.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic on Scottie Barnes performance tonight/lack of aggressiveness:
“As you can see, he’s not being himself. He’s banged up. He got that hit in his hip the last game… he’s still not himself.” pic.twitter.com/MEMMiXFZTj
— Toronto Star Sports (@StarSports) December 23, 2024
The NBA produced some monster results throughout the week. Notably, the Utah Jazz scored 48 points in the first quarter against the lowly Detroit Pistons. The Memphis Grizzlies went even better in thrashing the Golden State Warriors by 51 points in a shocking result. In another shock, the Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 117-108 on their own floor. Although, the Celtics corrected things in the following game to win 123-98 and establish themselves as favourites to win the NBA title at $3.
3 Takeaways From Week 9
LaMelo Ballin’
The Top 10 in usage rate for the NBA season are names you’d roughly expect.
Tyrese Maxey (30.8) and Cade Cunningham (30.9) have been tasked with the burden of leading bad teams. Franz Wagner (31.0) took over the Orlando Magic when their superstar was ruled out for a lengthy period due to injury. Nikola Jokic (31.2) is the best player in basketball and the Denver Nuggets are nothing without him. On the best team in basketball, Jayson Tatum (31.4) is the leader.
Victor Wembanyama (31.5) is one of the most exciting prospects in NBA history. While he’s far from a finished product, the San Antonio Spurs are happy for him to develop with his hands on the ball as often as possible.
The Dallas Mavericks don’t have much choice but to run everything through Luka Doncic (32.5). The Oklahoma City Thunder being so dependent on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (33.5) is about the only issue with the team at the moment. Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokonmpo (36.9) kept the Milwaukee Bucks relevant early in the season and has propelled himself into consideration to win the Most Valuable Player award.
The top name might come as a surprise, though.
LaMelo Ball.
Ball leads the NBA with a 39.8 usage rate which, as it stands, is one of the highest in NBA history.
Lamelo Ball’s 39.81 usage rate this season ranks 3rd in NBA history right now.
— Bet Sports (@betsports.bsky.social) 2024-12-22T19:22:48.017Z
The 23-year old is putting it to good use to average 30.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. While his 34.4% shooting from beyond the arc could do with some work, he’s an elite scorer at every level and capable of finding a pass when the defence closes in.
He’s an outsider to win Most Improved Player at $23, but if he keeps up this usage and continues to pile up numbers, he will be in the conversation by the end of the regular season.
Nobody Cares About The NBA All-Star Game
‘’Something had to change.” – LeBron James
The two teams combined for 397 points last year and not a single point is memorable. The NBA All-Star Game isn’t even of a scrimmage game standard these days and Adam Silver has changed things up in an effort to bring some interest back to the weekend.
The NBA and NBPA announced today a new format for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In addition, NBA All-Star Voting presented by AT&T will tip off on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 10 a.m. ET.
Full details ➡️ https://t.co/KntyklRIe7 pic.twitter.com/3jIbW1tZWZ
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) December 17, 2024
Even while announcing changes, those with little interest barely changed their tune. In fact,Kevin Durant, who will no doubt feature on the day, couldn’t hide is lack of excitement.
“I hate it; I absolutely hate it. Terrible — All-Star Game format changing, all the formats — terrible in my opinion. We should just go back to East-West. Just play a game.”
The irony of Durant’s comments – which has since expressed regret over saying – is that the players created the issue. They’ve turned the game into a glorified layup line, and NBA fans have turned it off.
Something does need to change, and while the NBA can change rules and formats, the change starts with the players and how seriously they want to take it.
Denver Nuggets: Contenders or Pretenders?
Nikola Jokic is the best player in basketball. He can make the Denver Nuggets competitive on his own on any given night.
With the right players around him, Jokic can ensure his team are contending for the NBA championship. As it stands, he’s surrounded by pretenders.
The Nuggets front office took the fiscally responsible approach to their future after winning the 2022-23 title. They hoped to get lucky with the players signed and keep towards the top of the standings. However, the lack of quality is showing at the moment. They’re a non-factor in the championship conversation at $17.
The Nuggets shit the bed again against another one of the worst teams in the league on a long losing streak.Really just inexcusable for a team that considers themselves to be title contenders.But they're looking more like pretenders.
— Joel Rush (@joelrushnba.bsky.social) 2024-12-20T05:32:46.347Z
Their struggles to elevate into the contending tier of teams have inspired trade scenarios around the league. Whether or not those scenarios are also playing out in the Nuggets front office remains to be seen. One that does seem to be gaining traction is a move for Zach LaVine.
LaVine turning up in Denver could change things, but is he a significant upgrade on Michael Porter Jr. in this system? Does a backcourt partnership with Jamal Murray make sense?
Any trade will add interest to the Nuggets at the deadline, but not necessarily improve their odds to win the NBA title. Any true improvement needs to come on the defensive end where the Nuggets rank 18th allowing 114.5 points per 100 possessions.
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