Run it Back! NBA Week in Review - 2025-26 - Week #16

Untitled project from SquadCast === Jose: [00:00:00] Week 16 of the 20 25, 26 NB. A season is over, which means it's time to run it back. This is run it back NBA week in review. I'm Jose Salviati, Editor at thePeachBasket.net, and this is the show where we recap the week that was in the NBA by sharing the only objective B. Power rankings, the stats standouts. That's the best to do it by average in the week it was. And then we look at viral NBA news in a segment we call full court press. Finally, we highlight the marquee matchup for the week to come. We start like we always do, with the only objective overall top 10 NBA power rankings. Anywhere you can read more about how we get to these rankings and see the entire list@thepeachbasket.net. Let's take a look at the top 10 at the conclusion of week number 16, we start by saying that no teams moved in and out of the top 10 this week, which is really odd. It's a second week in a row. This has happened. All of the shuffling happened entirely within [00:01:00] the same group of top 10 contenders. Another call out, two teams in the top 10 were perfect this week, no losses. Let's find out what teams pulled that off this week and what it did for their ranking. Let's start at number 10, where the Toronto Raptors were two in one and week number 16. A good record, but not good enough to keep them where they were last week. That was number nine. They dropped one spot to number 10. The Minnesota Timberwolves were one and two. They also had a rough week, but it cost them a little more than it cost. The Raptors that one and two week in, week number 16, saw them drop from number six. They come in at number nine, the number 18, or the Denver Nuggets. They had a rough week, one in three in week 16, but it wasn't enough to drop them any lower than where they were last week. The Phoenix Suns also had a rough week, one in three, but it did cost them. They dropped from number five to number seven [00:02:00] this week. The New York Knicks didn't have that kind of problem. They were three and one in week number 16, and it saw them move all the way up from number 10 in large part because everybody else had a rough week. So the Knicks are surging. They are the number 16, number five belongs to the Houston Rockets. They were two and two in week 16, and it did cost them ~one ranking one. What would I call it? ~One spot in the ranking, they dropped from number four to number five. The first perfect team in week number 16 are the Boston Celtics. They were four in o and. They move up as they should from number seven. They are the number four team with a bullet coming after the top contenders in the east. The number three team also went four and oh, but they're not in the east, they're in the west. The San Antonio Spurs were perfect in week number 16, and they did not [00:03:00] move up because those top two teams have got a lot of room between themselves and all the other contenders. But the Spurs are. Coming up quick there. Number three, four, the ~1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,~ seventh week in a row. The number two team for the second week in a row are the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were two and two and it didn't cost them much, but like I said, they had a lot of cushion.~ Spurs are coming on quick. Of course, ~the number one team with three and one in week number 16. The second week in a row, they are at the top. That is the Detroit Pistons. That's the objective top 10 list for week number 16. If you wanna see where all 30 teams landed this week, please visit the peach basket.net. Now let's shift our focus to the players. These are the best to do it by average in week number 16 of the 20 25 26 NB. A season. The best by average in shooting. Rebounds, assists, blocks, steals points. Game score. [00:04:00] We start with the best score. The Ant man played three games in week number 16, averaged 34.7 points to lead everybody. He was the top score in the association. The top sniper, the best three point shooter was Trey Murphy the third. He also played three games and averaged seven, made three pointers per game to lead everyone. The top field goal getter was Jalen Brown. He played two games and he averaged 13 made shots to lead the association. It's moved to rebounds. Donovan Klingen played three games and averaged a pretty remarkable 17 rebounds. He and Dames Saboni both average seven offensive rebounds, but the shout out goes to clinging 'cause he played three games to Saboni is one. The top defensive rebounder was. Ic, he played one game and pulled down 13 defensive rebounds to lead [00:05:00] everybody. Isaiah Collier was the top assist man. He played three games and averaged 14.3 assists. Robert Williams and Keshawn Gilbert, both average three blocks, but Robert Williams gets the out for playing two games where Gilbert only played one. And we have a bit of a log jam in the Steels department. Three players averaged four steels, Norman Powell, Kevin Porter Jr. And Jamal Maha. Now the shout out goes to Maha, A player you may not have heard of. He played three games averaged ~five steels. Pardon? No.~ Four steals a game to lead everybody. This is a ~second round,~ late second round pick playing for the Memphis Grizzlies averaging an. Un impressive. Two points, one rebound and just under one assist per game. But he had himself a heck of a week defensively averaging four steals. ~Good for him.~ Good for Jamal Maack. Now the top game score goes to Donovan [00:06:00] Mitchell. He played two games and he had a respectable 27.6 game score. And of course, he's got himself a brand new teammate in James Harden. Those are the best to do it by average in week number 16. Now let's take a look at week number 17. The best matchup is in the East where the number one Detroit Pistons will travel to Madison Square Garden and take on the number two and very hot New York Knicks. The pistons have been number one in the east and are objective power ranking since week number four. The Knicks are coming on strong. This is an important game in the East as teams start to think about playoff seating. I'll certainly watch that one. That should be a great game. Now we're gonna end with a segment we call full core press, where I ask AI for its thoughts on viral trending, NBA press news as we head into week number 17, and this is what it came up with. [00:07:00] It always happens like this, doesn't it? After all of the rumors, the big guns don't move. Giannis has stayed put, but the saga gets louder. In Milwaukee, there was a blockbuster guard swap. I don't know that I would call classify as a blockbuster, but Harden and Garland Switch teams Anthony Davis feel bad for him. Wish him nothing but success in health. He is in Washington where the wizards might have a little bit of a plan. If their team can stay healthy they, they might shock some folks. Next year the Warriors pivot from Giannis and Chase Pingus. It's a bit of a gamble 'cause there's another guy who has trouble staying healthy and then. They called out these quiet super teams, right? There was no big super team developed or created at the trade deadline, but there was what they're calling a noisy middle class, right? The Lakers, the Knicks, and the Celtics all added pieces to retool. And that's interesting, right? The Lakers added lunar [00:08:00] certainly an area that they need in shooting. And Nicks added Jose Alvarado and the Celtics short up their front court by bringing in Nico Levu Chevi. Now I wanna focus on that noisy middle class because that's interesting to me. Now, ~casual fans,~ casual. NBA fans definitely know Michael Jordan, magic Johnson and Larry Bird. But more diehard fans of the NBA are familiar with the game ~of contributions but the more diehard fans of the NBA are familiar with the game~ and contributions of Steve Kerr, Michael Cooper, and an aging at the time, but still impactful. Bill Walton, without their under the radar contributions, Jordan Johnson and Byrd would not have as many rings as they do. That's what makes these middle class moves so interesting. Did any team bring on the guy that will make a difference in this year's playoffs? In 1987, Michael Thompson was traded from the San Antonio Spurs to the Los Angeles Lakers. Larry Bird knew what that meant for the Lakers. He said, of the trade, if San Antonio needed money, [00:09:00] we would've sent them money. But to go and help a Lakers like that is just terrible. Larry Bird was right to be concerned. Thompson was not a star on that Lakers team, but he was instrumental. The Lakers Beat Bird and the Celtics as Thompson thrived as a backup center, and that's exactly the kind of player every NBA champion needs. So who'll be that guy this season? Did the Lakers pick him up in Luke Canard? Did the Knicks with Jose Alvarado, maybe the Celtics with Vukovich. Personally, I have a soft spot in my heart for Jose Alvarado. He's exactly the type of player that can cause problems in the playoffs. He can hit a big shot, get a big steal. Y'all remember Gerald Henderson or just get under the skin of the other team. The Knicks have a few things left to prove this season, but in Alvarado, they have someone cut from the same mold of these [00:10:00] great but unsung NBA finals players. Now the Knicks have to get there to see if Alvarado can be their secret weapon. I'm excited to see how far they go, and I would love to see the Knicks in the finals. Let's see how it plays out. That's it. Week number 16 of the 20 25, 26 NBA season is in the books. Join us again after week number 17 when we once again run it back.