HEADING into the much-awaited Christmas day match-ups of the NBA, we look into how the NBA is after eight weeks.
The Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers share the best record in the NBA at 24-3. They have been the hottest NBA teams thus far with the Bucks having an 18-game winning streak and the Lakers having their own 14-game road winning streak. The current impasse in the standings can be broken this week with the Lakers facing the Pacers on Tuesday (Wednesday, Philippine Standard Time) and the Bucks on Thursday (Friday, Philippine Standard Time).
With Lebron James and Anthony Davis averaging 26.1 and 27.1 ppg, respectively, they have carried the Lakers to their best regular-season start since 1985.
Meanwhile, for the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo is leading them in ppg with his 31.0 clip and 12.8 rebounds per game. No wonder they are the hottest teams in the league right now.
One of the surprise teams this season is the Miami Heat (19-7). They have been scorching the competition headed by Jimmy Butler’s 21.0 ppg. The team is averaging 112.3 pts/g while holding down opponents to 106.9 pts/g. If they sustain this pace, they are a team to be reckoned with in the East come playoff time.
Another breakout star this season is the Dallas Mavericks (17-8), Luka Doncic. The second year player is taking charge of the Mavs leading his team in almost all stats department with his current stat line of 29.3 ppg, 9.6 rebs per game, 8.9 assists per game, and 1.2 steals per game. He also surpassed Michael Jordan’s 18-game streak of consecutive 20-5-5 games with 20. He is off to a hot start, and hopefully, his recent ankle injury sustained in their game versus the Heat will not hamper his stellar play this season.
On to the Christmas day match-ups:
Bucks vs 76ers- This could be a preview of the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals
Celtics vs Raptors- This is the first Christmas day game for the 2019 NBA Champs.
Pelican vs Nuggets- This is supposed to be Zion Williamson’s first NBA Christmas game day. Unfortunately, we may have to wait another season to see him play.
Rockets vs Warriors- This was a highly anticipated match-up, but a gutted Warriors roster taking on the Harden-Westbrook Rockets team may already be a sleeper.
Clippers vs Lakers- Battle of Los Angeles, Round 2.