As the beginning of March arrives, the majority of teams are set to make one last strong push in preparation for the playoffs in the last quarter of the season:
Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers: The Cleveland Cavaliers star sat out the team’s first two games of the week with a left shoulder strain and his proficient scoring was sorely missed by the Cavs in tough losses to the Pacers, 93-86, and Rockets, 105-103.
However, the rest seemed to have a positive impact on the 22 year-old standout, who corrected Cleveland’s recent woes by playing a big role in each of the team’s victories against Boston and Toronto. Irving totaled 18 points—on an efficient 6-of-10 shooting performance—against the Celtics in a blowout victory, 110-79, Tuesday and poured in 26 points—hitting nine of his 17 shots—to help the Cavaliers beat the Raptors 120-112 Wednesday. The youngest player on the Cavs has settled into his role nicely as King James’ sidekick, evidenced by his 23.4 points-per-game average and 45.6 percent shooting clip from 3-point range.
J.J. Redick, Los Angeles Clippers: Redick came out firing for the Clippers this week, as his team looks to charge up the Western Conference standings. The 6-foot-4 guard scored 18 points against a stingy Memphis defense on 6-of-12 shooting, helping his team to a 97-79 victory against the second-seed in the Western Conference. In the guard’s next game, against Chicago, he scored a mediocre 12 points in a 96-86 victory. However, he made up for his lack of scoring production by grabbing eight rebounds, which was a season-high for him.
The ACC’s all-time second leading scorer bounced back and scored 18 and 26 points in his next two games against the Timberwolves and the Trail Blazers, respectively. The Clippers handled Minnesota 110-105, but the main focus of the game came as Redick was ejected for arguing with referees late in a close game that could’ve been decided by his premature exit. Redick’s 26 points in the 93-98 loss to the Blazers was his second-highest scoring performance of the season.
Luol Deng, Miami Heat: With Chris Bosh out for the season due to blood clots on his lungs, the Heat look to Deng to shoulder more of a scoring load. Deng answered the call with 22 points against the New Orleans Pelicans Friday. Although the Heat lost 104-102, this is exactly the kind of production they will need out of the two-time All-star if they want any chance of hanging onto the seven-seed in a weak Eastern Conference.
Mike Dunleavy Jr., Chicago Bulls: Like Deng, Dunleavy will be expected to increase his scoring to aid an ailing Chicago Bulls team that lost its top two scorers—Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler— recently to injury. Both will eye returning in the last week of the regular season or near the beginning of the playoffs. Against Minnesota Friday, Dunleavy poured in 21 points, his fourth-highest total of the season. However, the 2001 national champion managed just eight points in his next two games. The Bulls will need more games like the one against Minnesota from the Texan if they want to secure the two-seed with Cleveland and Toronto playing excellent basketball and they got another similar effort Thursday against Oklahoma City, when the 6-foot-8 forward had another 21-point effort in a dramatic win.
Mason Plumlee, Brooklyn Nets: Plumlee had an outstanding week for a Nets team that is making a serious push to nab the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The 6-foot-11 center scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting Friday against a tough Rockets team. Plumlee followed up the performance in his next game by recording his 12th double-double—with 14 points and 10 rebounds—of the season in a 104-94 victory against the Mavericks. The former McDonald’s All-American finished the week averaging 11.8 points on 59 percent shooting from the field. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native’s play in the upcoming 23 games might be one of the deciding factors for the Nets’ playoff hopes.
Gerald Henderson, Charlotte Bobcats: Henderson’s stellar play this past week for the Bobcats was capped by his 21-point outburst in a 104-103 victory against the Lakers. The former third-team All-American averaged 17.5 points this week, which dwarfs his season scoring average of 11.4 points. He looks to continue his hot start in March against a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way.
Rodney Hood, Utah Jazz: Hood continued his return from injury with two double-digit efforts in four contests and looks to be settled in nicely as a reserve wing who will consistently see 15-20 minutes for Quin Snyder's squad. The southpaw will look to take advantage in the coming weeks after averaging 8.8 points per game this week despite being held scoreless last Saturday against Milwaukee.
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