Week 22 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 NBA playoffs are just around the corner. While the championship contenders have made themselves known and draft-reliant teams are long checked out, there is still congestion in the middle of the standings. The play-in tournament has succeeded in its vision to at least offer something to play for at this point of an NBA season.
The Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves are riding league-high five-game winning streaks towards the playoffs to be the 5th and 6th seeds.
Steph Curry exploded to become the oldest point guard in NBA history to record back-to-back 35-point games this week. Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards joined him has one of only four players to hit 300 threes in a season.
H.O.R.S.E 🤯 pic.twitter.com/zep7RxpavS
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 6, 2025
The Utah Jazz are at the opposite end of the spectrum, finally succeeding in their quest to tank. Eight defeats on the bounce have given them the worst record in the NBA at 16-62 and a 52.1% chance of landing the No.1 pick in the Draft according to Tankathon.
Elsewhere in the league, OG Anunoby is stepping in admirably for the injured Jalen Brunson. He’s scored 23+ points in eight consecutive games to add another element to the New York Knicks offence. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the Milwaukee Bucks offence. He became the first payer in NBA history to record 35 points, 20 assists and 17 rebounds. And having done well to keep himself out of the negative headlines of late, Ja Morant shot himself back in with a poorly thought hand-gesture he should have known better to make. It ended up costing him $75,000…
3 Takeaways From Week 22
Lakers Looming
Could they?
Could the Los Angeles Lakers really win the NBA championship after barely rating a mention before the trade deadline?
Adding Luka Doncic to a roster can do that, but with the league, right now, dominated by three teams all riding cohesion to the top in the Oklahoma City Thunder ($2.70), Boston Celtics ($2.88) and Cleveland Cavaliers ($4.60), can the Lakers come together quickly enough to contend at $9.50?
Their big win over the Thunder will inspire confidence. It marks only the second time all season the Thunder has lost back-to-back games and acts as a confidence boost for the Doncic and LeBron James combination. Their collective basketball IQ offered hope of a quickly-forming bond, but to see it in action is something else.
Doncic finished up with 30 points to lead the Lakers while James added 19 points and seven assists. They can take turns dominating the ball and make reads on who takes control and when depending on what the defence offers up. As he is making a habit, Austin Reaves is doing whatever the Lakers require on the day to score 20 points in this one.
Notably, from a defensive standpoint, Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t attempt a free throw for the first time this season. It’s on the defensive end, where they have improved, that will determine how far the Lakers go this season.
Jokic Can Only Do So Much
We circled Nikola Jokic as an appealing $7.50 option to win the Most Valuable Player award last week. Regardless of how short Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in the market and the tendency of voters to ignore a multi-time winner, it’s a price too good to pass up.
Shortly after, Jokic dropped a career-high 61 points along with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. It’s the highest triple-double in NBA history, but still not enough for the Denver Nuggets to win…
Russell Westbrook with the DUMBEST SEQUENCE IN THE HISTORY OF BASKTBALL EVER 😭😭💀pic.twitter.com/OS9CDGDwaU
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) April 2, 2025
Playing with this and still being able to dominate and put the Nuggets into championship conversation at $23 only adds to Jokic’s MVP argument.
He’s on pace to become the first player in NBA history to finish in the Top 3 in scoring, rebounds, assists and steals.
What more does he have to do?
Sun Sets On Phoenix
The Phoenix Suns organization should put an end to the idea that simply acquiring enough top end talent will create an NBA championship contender. It requires strong leadership from top to bottom, a winning culture and cohesion.
Phoenix doesn’t have much outside of that top-end talent right now.
The Sacramento Kings losing three on the bounce has kept the door open for the Suns to sneak into the play-in tournament and fight for their spot in the playoffs, but they’re nothing more than a speed bump for the rest of the playoff teams. They aren’t serious contenders at $301 to win the championship.
While still a long shot of reaching the post-season, Devin Booker is already talking about finishing up the campaign.
“I’ve said I didn’t think I’d be in this situation (again), but it’s part of it. It’s part of the journey. It’s part of the story. We’ve built it up before. We’ll do it again. I trust everybody in here. Finish this thing up the right way, keep playing the right way and already start thinking how we can prepare to get better this summer and just continue to get it back to where it was.”
Kevin Durant is out with yet another injury. Desperate for Bradley Beal to step up and justify his massive salary, he finished with a single point in 30 minutes of playing time with their season on the line.
Like Booker, the front office needs to start thinking beyond this season and do whatever they can to balance the roster and find players to improve on their 27th-ranked defence at the very least.
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