This edition covers the previous Monday through Sunday of the NBA.

Team of the Week: Miami Heat

The Heat may be starting their second half push a little early, as they have won seven straight games, including a perfect 3-0 week. They started the week with a one point win over the Raptors in Toronto, then beat the Pacers in Indiana before coming home to manhandle the Bucks.

Miami is getting it done while dealing with a host of injuries to rotation players, including Dion Waiters being ruled out for the season. Erik Spoelstra has been playing only eight to nine guys out of necessity. But that reduced rotation has been very efficient on both ends. The Heat offense is the definition of “death by a thousand cuts”, as they are currently playing at the league’s slowest pace. They run so many actions per set, that it hard to keep track, but it almost always ends in a good shot.

On defense, Miami has been just as impressive. They are very versatile 1-4 and do a great job of running shooters off the arc. And when those shooters become drivers, the Heat have Hassan Whiteside anchoring the back line and protecting the rim. Miami closed 31-10 last year, after a 10-31 start. This year’s start was a lot better, so anything approaching that kind of close will have the Heat with homecourt advantage come playoff time.

Others receiving consideration: LA Clippers, LA Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves

The Clippers had a 4-0 week that matches their current winning streak. The streak has seen them climb back to .500 and back into the playoff picture. Three of the wins were over the Hawks and the Kings twice, but sandwiched in the middle was a victory over the Warriors in Oakland. The Clippers keep doing it with mix-and-match lineups featuring two-way players and deep bench guys, in what has been one of Doc Rivers’ better coaching performances.

The Lakers aren’t going to make the playoffs, but after dropping to the NBA’s second worst record, they turned it around this week with three wins. They handled the Kings and Spurs with relative ease at home, before heading on the road to pick up an overtime win over the Mavericks. Los Angeles has no reason to tank, since they don’t own their first round pick, so look for them to push hard in the season’s second half.

Minnesota won all four games they played last week, as part of a five game run overall. All of the wins came at home, but all were over quality opponents. The Timberwolves blew out the Cavaliers and Thunder to start the week, then beat the Knicks and Trail Blazers to close it. And don’t look now, but the Wolves are starting to play some defense to go along with their good offense.

Player of the Week: Lou Williams

Lou Williams is playing the best basketball of his career and is keeping the Clippers in the playoff race. He averaged 35 points and 4.8 assists per game this week. He also made over five three-pointers a night, on 45.7 percent shooting from downtown. Included in his big week was a 50 point outburst at the Warriors.

Others receiving consideration: Anthony Davis, Chris Paul

Anthony Davis is back and healthy and rolled up a big week. He averaged 38 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks per game. He shot over 67 percent for the week and New Orleans won all three games he played.

Chris Paul is carrying the Rockets while James Harden is out, and he’s doing it with style. He scored 28.7 points, dished out 8.7 assist and grabbed 7.7 rebounds per game, as Houston went 3-0. Without Harden, the Rockets stumbled a bit, but Paul’s steady hand righted the ship and Houston is back on track.

Line of the Week: Anthony Davis at New York Knicks

There is something about playing in Madison Square Garden that brings the best out of players. Anthony Davis was the latest example, as he scored 48 points on 17-of-30 shooting. He also grabbed 17 rebounds, blocked three shots and snagged four steals. Most importantly, Davis made huge plays down the stretch and in overtime, as the Pelicans picked up a much needed road win.

Others receiving consideration: Lou Williams at Golden State Warriors

It was mentioned above, but a little more context is necessary on Williams’ huge night at the Warriors. He scored 50 points and got there by making a variety of shots from all over the floor. He hit 16-of-27 overall and 8-of-16 from behind the arc. He was also a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line. If that wasn’t enough, Williams handed out seven assists. The Clippers can struggle to score at times, but know Williams is there to bail them out when necessary. 

Win of the Week: Minnesota Timberwolves win over Cleveland

Despite some early success, there were still a lot of “Are the Wolves for real?” questions. They answered several of those by destroying the visiting Cavs. At one point, Minnesota had a lead as big as 41 points. The Wolves rolled so big that Tom Thibodeau was able to rest his starters for large chunks of the second half. And no stat tells of the Timberwolves dominance more than LeBron James being a career-worst -39 rating, in his first loss in Minnesota since 2005.

Others receiving consideration: Miami Heat win over the Milwaukee Bucks

It wasn’t so much that the Heat beat the Bucks, as how the Heat beat the Bucks. They shut down everything Milwaukee tried to do on offense. The Bucks scored 79 points and hit just 31.6 percent from the field. Miami was even stingier at the arc, as Milwaukee was just 4-for-28 on three-pointers. It was a completely dominating defensive performance from the Heat.

News of the Week: File this one away under something to keep an eye on: the Lakers may have interest in David Fizdale as a possible head coach. Luke Walton took some heat this week, as LaVar Ball criticized him from afar. Speaking from Lithuania, where his two youngest sons made their professional debuts, Ball said Walton has lost the Lakers. The Lakers refuted Ball’s quotes, but the comment still raised eyebrows around the league.

Later in the week, news came out that the Lakers like Fizdale, who was surprisingly let go by the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this season. Many players came out in support of Fizdale after his firing, including LeBron James. Fizdale was a Heat assistant coach when James played in Miami and the two have a good relationship. For those looking to connect the “LeBron to LA” dots, file this one away for later. 

Transactions of Note: With the trade deadline three weeks away from this Thursday, NBA teams continue to position themselves to make moves. All contracts are now fully guaranteed, teams are eligible to sign players to 10 Day contracts, two-way signings end tomorrow and players who signed large contract extensions using Bird rights became trade eligible on Monday.

Trade buzz has been somewhat muted so far, but most NBA executives expect it to be a busy deadline. The Cavaliers look vulnerable in the Eastern Conference, giving more teams hope of making a Finals run than in recent seasons. And with most of the NBA capped out that generally means the trade market is busy, with trades being the easiest way to improve your team.

The most often mentioned name right now is Nikola Mirotic of the Chicago Bulls. He wasn’t eligible to be traded until 1/15/18, but that date is now here. Mirotic possesses a no-trade clause, by virtue of being under a one-year contract with Bird rights. But he hasn’t backed off a trade request he made earlier this season, so expect to see plenty of rumors surrounding Mirotic.