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Over the last week, the San Antonio Spurs have continued their hunt for the best possible lottery odds. They are still 14th in the West with a 12-24 record, although the Lakers are getting ever closer to the bottom, which would hurt the Spurs.
San Antonio beat the Jazz and Knicks last week and kept it very close against Dallas. They lost by 16 last Tuesday against the Thunder, who have been very hit-or-miss all season.
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Keldon Johnson continues to break out, posting back-to-back 30-point games against New York and Dallas. In those two games, Johnson shot 53% from deep and confirmed that he is an elite, multi-level scorer. Malaki Branham dropped 20 points for the first time and is looking like a steal, being drafted 20th overall. Recent signee Stanley Johnson has been a solid player off the bench, shooting 40% from three this past week.
Despite Johnson stuffing the stat sheet, the real standout was Jeremy Sochan. Sure, he allowed Luka Doncic to score 51 points, but Luka has been unstoppable as of late, and Sochan managed to get under his skin.
Sochan started the season shooting 46% from the charity stripe, and since going one-handed, he has made 71% of his shots over the last six games. On top of that, he is playing very well-rounded basketball and seems to be doing everything right on the court, even if his shots aren’t falling at a high rate.
Jeremy Sochan has averaged 14.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.1 assists for the Spurs in his last seven games.
— Noah Magaro-George (@N_Magaro) January 1, 2023
The 2022 lottery pick ranks third, third, and fourth among all rookies in those categories over that timeframe.
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Over his last five games, Luka Doncic is averaging a 45-point triple-double, which is just absurd. I don’t get an MVP vote, but he would earn mine. LeBron James may have hinted at wanting to be traded away from Los Angeles, and I can’t say I blame him. Not only are the Lakers bad, but they also aren’t even fun. The Cavs might be compelled to make an offer, but they’re doing perfectly fine without him.
The Denver Nuggets take the number one spot in the NBA’s power rankings, and the top five are rounded out by Boston, Brooklyn, Memphis, and New Orleans. The Spurs sit at 27, which is pretty much expected.