Run it Back! NBA Week in Review - Week #15

Untitled project from SquadCast === jose_1_02-02-2025_112521: [00:00:00] Week 15 of the 2024 25 NBA season is over, and what a week it was, 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, and then highlight the marquee matchup for the week. to come. We start not with breaking news about a minor trade, but instead with the only objective overall top 10 NBA power rankings anywhere. We'll get to the trade a little bit in a little bit. You can read more about how we get to these rankings and see the entire list at thepeachbasket. net. Let's take a look at the top 10 at the conclusion of week number 15. The Minnesota Timberwolves are the lone team that dropped out this week. They were three and one in week 15. And that wasn't good enough to stay amongst the elite. They dropped to number 11. Number 10 belongs to the [00:01:00] team that dominated the news today, the Los Angeles Lakers. Again, we'll talk to them, or about them, in just a little bit more detail. They were 3 1 in Week 15. And yeah, they also acquired Luka Doncic. So yeah, that happened, and we'll talk about it in more detail, like I say, in a bit. Number 9 stays in LA. The Clippers dropped one spot after 2 1 week to hang on in the top 10. The very hot Indiana Pasters move up one spot to number 8 after going 2 0 in week number 15. Number 7 belongs to the New York Knicks. This is where they landed now for the second week in a row. The dangerous Denver nuggets come in at number six. They were two and two in week number 15 and earned number six for the third week in a row. The grizzlies were 501 and one and week 15. That was enough to keep them at number five for the ninth week in a row. Number four is all Boston. The Celtics were 2 [00:02:00] 1 in week number 15 to earn number four. The Houston Rockets were 2 2 in week 15 and continued to come in number three. This is their fourth week at that spot. The Cleveland Cavaliers were perfect. At three, in week 15, but that wasn't enough to retake the number one spot. They come in at number two for the third week in a row. The number one team after week number 15 plays in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunderbird two and one week number 15 and come in at number one again for the third straight week. That's the objective top 10 list for week number 15. If you want to see where all 30 teams land this week, please visit thepeachbasket. net. Now let's shift our focus to the players. These are the best to do it by average in week number 15 of the 2024 25 NBA season. These are the best by average in shooting, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals. points and the game score. [00:03:00] Shea Gilgis Alexander was the points leader again. This is his second week in a row taking this spot. In week 15, he averaged 38. 7 points per game to lead everyone. Clay Thompson, Anthony Davis's new teammate. So weird. was the top threat from deep in week 15. He averaged 5. 3 made three point shots in the week. Giannis Antetokounmpo was the best shot maker, averaging 15. 3 field goals made over his three games played in the week. One of the most underrated players in the NBA is Ivica Zubac of the Los Angeles Clippers. He led everyone in Week 15, pulling down 16. 3 rebounds on average over his three games played in Week 15. Charles Bass, he was a leading offensive rebounder averaging 7 in his one game played, while Giannis was the best defensive rebounder, pulling down 11. 7 on average. The best assist man in the NBA continues to be a center. Nikola [00:04:00] Jokic averaged 12. 5 assists over his four games played to lead everyone in Week 15. The top rim protector in Week 15 was Zeke Nagy of the Denver Nuggets. I could not find a single video of any of his five blocks, which is Disappointing, but he had five blocks nonetheless in his one game played to lead everyone. The top thief in week 15 was Blake Wesley of the San Antonio Spurs. He had all four of his steals in the final minutes of a blowout game, but he counts. He's the top steals man in week number 15. And the top game score in week 15 goes to Giannis Atticumbo. His game score of 30. 7 led everyone in the week. Now looking ahead to week number 16, we have another battle of LA between the new look, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. And as interesting as that matchup might be, the best matchup in the week has to be in the East, where the Boston Celtics travel to Cleveland to take on the [00:05:00] Cavaliers. The two teams have split their first two matchups and the top spot in the east is really important so that they can eliminate playing some of the other stronger teams in the east. You definitely want what that number one or that number two spot. So I'm expecting this to be a good game between two great teams. Now, this is where we normally talk about trending NBA news, and we rely on AI to pull that for us, see what it says. It thinks it's the top trending news of the day. This time, we don't need AI. It's obvious. The Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers pulled off one of the most shocking trades in NBA history. This is something no one was thinking about or even considered possible. It's one of those where were you when you heard moments, if you're an NBA fan. So let's break down what we know about the Luka for Anthony Davis trade. First, from the Lakers perspective, Brian Windhorst said that this had little to do with the Lakers. It was more about [00:06:00] the Mavericks wanting to move on from Luka. They initiated the conversation and the Lakers couldn't say no. How do you say no to Luka Doncic? You don't. The Lakers have always been about stars. This is Hollywood after all. In their history, they brought in players like Kareem, Shaq, LeBron. All stars and all led the Lakers to championships. Is Luca next? Only time will tell. This acquisition feels different though. To get Luca, they had to unceremoniously send off Anthony Davis, who was, according to reports, shocked by the trade. Lakers GM Rob Pelinka is getting a lot of credit for the trade, but again, the Mavericks called. The Lakers had to make the pieces fit, which is no doubt a tough thing to do, but the move was all Mavs. This was not something that was cooking for months that, somebody in the back office, connected all the dots for to make work. It just happened quickly and the Lakers did what they had to do to make it work. Not discrediting the Lakers, because again, [00:07:00] they had to pull the trigger, but it was the Mavericks who did the heavy lifting here. Now the Mavericks, that makes them a much more interesting case study. What the heck happened? Luca just led them to the finals, but their GM called him out on the way out the door for not playing defense. It was also some rumbling about conditioning. It's just crazy. Luke is a star. He's not a defensive stud and his conditioning may or may not be ideal, but it hasn't kept him from dominating. Now, when you look at what the Mavericks look like now, they get Anthony Davis. It's huge for them. And pairing a defensive stud like that alongside Kyrie Irving, an offensive stud and Klay Thompson, a guy who can still go off in spurts. I think makes them the better team between them and the Lakers in the short term. It feels like the Lakers didn't do this for now. They did it for the future. Now their odds [00:08:00] in Vegas all of a sudden have gone up. People like this for the Lakers, but I feel like they've still got holes. Anthony Davis himself said we need a center. And they do and they lost their best defensive player. Now they've been playing okay defensively without him, but I just don't think this strengthens the Lakers in the now. This was something that was done for the future, but the Mavs look like the better team in the now trades are always reviewed ideally years after they happen. The time will tell who won this trade, but right now, in my opinion, the needle is pointing more to the Mavs than the Lakers in the trade that shook the NBA. That's it. Week number 15 of the 2024 25 NBA season is in the books. Join us again next week after week number 16 when more dominoes might fall. You just get that sense. This was the big day. piece to drop and there will be more dropping in week 16. So join us again [00:09:00] next week when we review that and when we once again, run it back.