Week 7 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.
With Victor Wembanyama out injured, Nikola Jokic is the freak to focus on this week.
He recorded his 139th triple-double with 27 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists in their 126-114 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He passed Magic Johnson for third on the NBA’s all-time list in the process. Later in the week, the Denver Nuggets wasted a career-high 56 points from their superstar while losing to the Washington Wizards.
Nuggets just had one of the worst losses of the season of any team. Nikola Jokic with 56 of Denver's 113 points. Don't care they were without two starters. Playing such garbage defense and losing to the Wizards is embarrassing. Played like a team that's given up.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnor) December 8, 2024
The win snapped a 16-game losing streak for the Wizards. More to come on five-man lineups, but Jordan Poole, Carlton Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyle Kuzma and Alexandre Sarr is the second-worst in the NBA (min. 100 possessions).
A Wizards win has the Charlotte Hornets recognised as the biggest losers on the back of eight consecutive defeats. At the opposite end of the scale, the Dallas Mavericks hold the NBA’s longest current winning streak at seven games. Still, they remain out at $10 to win the championship.
The Dallas Mavericks WIN THEIR 7TH STRAIGHT🚨
MAVS are 11-1 over their last 12 GAMES and have moved to 2ND in the West 😤 pic.twitter.com/joT6k4WCU4
— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) December 8, 2024
The Los Angeles Lakers are hard to pick at the moment. They can beat any team on their day, but can also produce mindbogglingly bad performances, as they did while losing to the Miami Heat by 41 points.
“I’m embarrassed. We’re all embarrassed.” – JJ Redick
Injuries continue to plague the NBA. The Orlando Magic, in particular. Already without Paolo Banchero for an extended period, Franz Wagner is out indefinitely with a torn oblique. Wagner’s 24.4 points, 5.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds had him in the All-Star conversation and the Magic up to third in the East at 16-9. The Under ($1.87) at 47.5 wins is worth considering on the back of the news.
3 Takeaways From Week 7
Best Lineups In The NBA
With a quarter of the NBA season played out, we’re starting to get a good idea of what works and what doesn’t.
Coaches, in particular, are working out their most effective rotations. While there is a lot of noise in lineup data and it’s not always the most reliable measure of good and bad, we can still learn from looking down the list.
Interestingly, despite their relative struggles to start the NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves claim two of the best three five-man lineups in the NBA per Cleaning The Glass.
Anthony Edwards, Dante DiVincenzo, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert have played with a +36.9 point differential per 100 possessions for the best lineup in the NBA. Mike Conley, DiVincenzo, Alexander-Walker, Reid and Gobert have posted +34.1 for third, too. Notably, Julius Randle doesn’t feature…
Anthony Edwards finished with 30 PTS (11 in Q4) and 9 AST in the @Timberwolves’ fourth-straight win 🐺 pic.twitter.com/tgW40CUjBo
— NBA (@NBA) December 7, 2024
Infact, the Edwards, DiVincenzo, Jaden McDaniels, Randle and Gobert is -21.2 for the third-worst lineup of all of those to have played 100+ possessions together.
The Houston Rockets have been fantastic to start the NBA season.
“Whether the Rockets continue to fly or stumble as the season progresses, their current 50.5 win total (Over – $1.87) is higher than anybody imagined.” – Rockets Flying Up The West
They’ve climbed the standings thanks to Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun posting a +34.3 differential (2nd in the NBA).
The Orlando Magic have managed to keep their heads above water without Paolo Banchero. Jalen Suggs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Franz Wagner, Goga Bitadze and Wendell Carter’s +33.5 is good for fourth in the NBA.
Unsurprisingly, the Cleveland Cavaliers feature in the top five through Donovan Mitchell, Caris LeVert, Sam Merril, Georges Niang and Evan Mobley (+30.2).
We Have To Talk About LeBron
We’re blessed to be able to watch LeBron James light it up in the NBA in 2024. People will be telling their grand kids about him one day and recounting games he played late in his career, long after most players retire let alone dominate.
We’re also probably going to forget how bad he is right now overall, too.
His 0.082 win shares per 48 minutes are the lowest since his rookie season. He’s never recorded a value over replacement rating lower than his current 1.0. In fact, the 2.9 from his rookie season is the next lowest.
James isn’t getting to the rim. He’s never got to the free-throw line less, either. While missing 20 consecutive three-pointers, it’s safe to say this is one of the worst statistical periods of his career.
Father Time appears to finally be catching up with him. Although, he did just drop 39 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists on the Atlanta Hawks.
We can’t be wasting LeBron 39-point triple-doubles in Year 22 pic.twitter.com/8cXVQrhkYI
— LeBron History 🏀 (@bronhistory) December 7, 2024
Has LeBron just snapped himself out of a poor patch, or are these patches becoming more common as he inches closer to his 40th birthday?
Even with LeBron’s incredible individual performance, the Lakers went down to the Hawks and moved to 12-11 for 10th in the Western Conference.
At $1.67 only a week ago, the Lakers have blown out to $2.17 to make the NBA playoffs.
Middleton Returns, Bucks Improve
It has been an up-and-down start to the NBA season for the Milwaukee Bucks. Doc Rivers struggled to bring the group together early, but as Giannis Antetokounmpo carries them through the struggles with MVP-level play, the Bucks are finally starting to look like the contenders they were touted to be.
Khris Middleton returning from injury has come at the right time, too.
He finished with 11 points, three rebounds and five assists in 23 minutes upon return. His 2-10 shooting isn’t a concern just yet. It will take a few games for him to find form with his shot. Still, he rekindled his on-court relationship with Antetokounmpo quickly.
Khris Middleton and Giannis pick and roll is just as deadly as you remember pic.twitter.com/NuKQU36XGi
— Follow HeavenlyBuckets (@Heavenlybuckets) December 7, 2024
Slowly climbing the NBA standings, the Bucks are 11-11 following back-to-back losses. Notably, they once again ran close to the Boston Celtics in their last defeat, but lost a winnable game 111-105. Antetokonmpo and Damian Lillard combined for 61 points, though. Should Middleton find his feet around the improving one-two punch of Antetokounmpo and Lillard, the Bucks will appeal as title contenders at $20.
NBA Futures
The Boston Celtics continue to come in as favourites to win the NBA championship from $3.30 last week to $3.20.
Little else has changed towards the top of the market. The Oklahoma City Thunder ($6) are unchanged, the Cleveland Cavaliers are into $9 from $10. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks ($10) and New York Knicks ($11) remain on the fourth and fifth line of betting, respectively.
The Milwaukee Bucks are the big movers in the market from $26 a week ago into $21 after Week 7.
| TEAM | CURRENT PRICE | LAST WEEK’S PRICE |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Celtics | $3.20 | $3.30 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | $6.00 | $6.00 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | $9.00 | $10.00 |
| Dallas Mavericks | $10.00 | $10.00 |
| New York Knicks | $11.00 | $11.00 |
| Phoenix Suns | $17.00 | $16.00 |
| Golden State Warriors | $20.00 | $20.00 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | $21.00 | $26.00 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | $26.00 | $18.00 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | $36.00 | $- |