Stephen Curry took center stage to start the week as he continued his pursuit of Ray Allen’s 3-point record. Curry hit six 3s on Monday night against the Indiana Pacers to pull within two shots of the top spot, then quickly hit two 3s in the first quarter of Tuesday’s win over the New York Knicks, bringing the crowd at Madison Square Garden to its feet.
The focus has quickly shifted to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which caused three games to be postponed on Sunday alone due to the high number of players entering the league’s health and safety protocols. The Brooklyn Nets announced Friday that Kyrie Irving, who has not played all season due to New York’s vaccination mandates, would be activated for road games in the wake of a team outbreak. Irving, however, entered protocols the next day, and he is one of 10 players on the team out because of health and safety protocols.
Our experts break down where each team stands after a week of coronavirus-related postponements.
Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.
1. Phoenix Suns
2021-22 record: 24-5
Previous ranking: 1
Suns leading scorer Devin Booker made his return to the court Sunday night after missing seven games with a hamstring injury. Phoenix put up a balanced effort without Booker, but one player in particular who stepped up his play was reserve forward Cameron Johnson. In 30.3 minutes per night in the seven contests, Johnson averaged 14.6 points and was Phoenix’s second-leading scorer in that stretch. — Lopez
2. Golden State Warriors
2021-22 record: 24-6
Previous ranking: 2
Stephen Curry broke Ray Allen’s all-time 3-point record at Madison Square Garden early in the week, and the Warriors went on to finish with a 3-2 mark on their five-game…
Source : espn
