It was another quick week in the NBA with teams having Thanksgiving off before hopping right back into the action on Friday.
In a week with one less game to be played, there was still plenty to talk about with the conference standings. Most notably, the New York Knicks improved to have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and are three games back of the Detroit Pistons. We’ll dive more into how the Knicks played this week, but the team pushed through adversity with a few injuries hobbling players like OG Anunoby and, for a short stint, Jalen Brunson over the past few weeks.
The Pistons continue to be the surprise of the Eastern Conference. We saw the team play well last season and made into the playoffs, but this team, so far, has improved in nearly every way since last year. Detroit ran through its schedule in October and strung along 13-consecutive wins to help claim the best record in the East and fell one win shy of setting a new franchise record for longest winning streak.
Detroit’s success can be attributed to a few things, but star player Cade Cunningham has drastically improved this season and is facilitating in the leadership role very well. His 28.3 points per game this season is two points better than last season when he ranked seventh in MVP voting and is nearly six points higher than his career average. Cunningham’s turnover issues are still the main issue with his game, but it seems that issue is on the down trend from last season, going from 4.4 turnovers a game to 4.2.
In the Western Conference, Oklahoma City continues to run the conference with a record of 20-1. OKC is the only NBA team with 20 wins this season and holds a 4.5 game lead over the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference standings. The Thunder are currently riding a 12-game winning streak after falling to the Portland Trail Blazers in Portland on Nov. 6.
The most impressive thing about the Thunder, aside from the excellent, MVP-caliber play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, is the depth of the roster. Seven players average at least 12 points per game while the tandem of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein are combining for nearly 19 rebounds per game. The duo is solidifying itself as the best centers in the game today.
Brooklyn Nets (4-16)
Results this week: 115-103 loss vs. Philadelphia, 116-99 loss at Milwaukee, 116-103 win vs. Charlotte.
The one bright side of the games this week is that the defense has improved in Brooklyn.
After its 36-point loss at New York on November 9, the Nets have not allowed more than 119 points in any game. Is that still a lot? Maybe, but when the Nets previously had allowed more than 125 points in seven game this season, you will take any improvement when you can.
The margin in these losses is dwindling, too. Since that loss to the Knicks, Brooklyn’s largest margin in a defeat was 17 in the loss to Milwaukee. Besides that, there were a few games where the Nets lost by 13-14 points, which is more manageable than earlier this season.
Whether its the younger guys stepping up, or Nic Claxton being Nic Claxton, the Nets are improving even if its record isn’t exactly showing that.
The Nets also won its first home game this season against Charlotte a month-and-a-half into the 2025-26 season.
New York Knicks (13-6)
Results this week: 129-101 win at Charlotte, 118-109 win vs. Milwaukee, 116-94 win vs. Toronto.
The Knicks are getting back into the New York Groove.
The team has won four games in a row now and had an impressive win against Milwaukee to advance in the NBA Cup quarterfinals against Toronto, who the Knicks beat the game after defeating the Bucks. Brunson led the team with 37 points against Milwaukee while Josh Hart put up a double-double against the Raptors.
While Charlotte might not be the most amazing team to steal a win from away from home, its still good to see the Knicks win a game away from the Garden. New York is 3-5 on the road and needs to improve in order to make a deep run in the playoffs later this season as most people projected them to be. 10-1 at home is phenomenal, but when these road games take up half the season, if the Knicks can’t win away from the Garden then it’s going to be a slow burn of a season for them.
The biggest challenge for the Knicks coming up is the NBA Cup quarterfinal in Toronto. After that, the Knicks will play three away games after Christmas and the first half of January mostly on the West Coast; eight of the 11 games after December 25 are on the road. The Knicks have to embrace being the road warrior in the coming weeks and have to figure out how to win on the road.
Philadelphia 76ers (10-9)
Results this week: 115-103 win at Brooklyn, 142-134 loss vs. Atlanta.
It was just a short week for the 76ers, but the issues have popped up over the last few weeks and were highlighted in the loss to Atlanta.
Against Brooklyn, Philadelphia led the whole way through. Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe continue to shine for the 76ers while Paul George put up 14 points in 21 minutes after coming off the injured list last week. George is improving, but also worth noting is the play of Jared McCain off the bench, who scored 20 points with four rebounds and five steals in 29 minutes.
Now against Atlanta, Philly just didn’t shoot the ball well and especially from behind the arc. The 76ers shot 23 percent from three-point range in a game that finished in overtime certain isn’t going to help win games. It was good seeing Joel Embiid back on the court, who scored 18 points with four rebounds in 30 minutes. Maxey led the game with 44 points while tallying nine assists with seven rebounds.
After a strong start to the season, the 76ers are a better team on the road as Philly owns a 5-6 home record.
