The Whiteboard: 3 streaking NBA teams to keep an eye on

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The NBA trade deadline has come and gone, the buyout market has basically shriveled up, and for better or worse, most teams simply are what they are heading into the home stretch. There’s only so much time to make up ground in the playoff (or tank) race, and for the next few months, teams will be jostling for position in that race to the top, to the middle for a playoff/play-in spot, and to the bottom for a top draft pick.

However, as familiar as we might think we are with the lay of the land, a couple of teams are going streaking right now. We’re not talking about the LA Clippers (winners of five straight) or any of the teams at the top of their respective conference standings; we expect win streaks from them by now, because that’s what contenders do.

Rather, we’re going to focus on three teams that got off to underwhelming starts and are finally starting to put it all together. While only one is expected to truly contend this year, all three of these teams are making a push to solidify themselves as playoff squads. Can these hot streaks be trusted? Are they sustainable? Who knows! But all three of these streaking teams are worth monitoring over the next few weeks to find out.

3. Sacramento Kings

Don’t look now, but the Sacramento Kings are alive and well in the hunt for one of the Western Conference’s two play-in spots. Even in a normal year, their recent 10-5 spurt over the last 15 games would’ve put them in the hunt for the 7- or 8-seed again.

Winners of five straight and seven of their last 10, the Kings are currently BLANK 11th in the West, but they’re only BLANK 0.5 games behind the Golden State Warriors for the final play-in spot. They’re also only 1.5 games back from the Memphis Grizzlies in ninth place, 2.5 games back from the San Antonio Spurs in the 8-spot and 3.0 games behind the Dallas Mavericks in seventh.

Since the Kings’ turnaround began around Feb. 26, De’Aaron Fox has been playing like a man possessed. He’s averaging 29.1 points, 7.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game over that 15-game stretch, all while shooting 51.6 percent from the field. His 3-ball hasn’t been falling (29.2 percent on a whopping 5.9 attempts a night), but other than that, the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week been incredible in almost every other facet.

He’s not the only high-octane scorer over that stretch, however. In addition to Fox, the Kings boast five other players averaging at least 13 points per game in that span: Buddy Hield (19.3 per game), Richaun Holmes (17.4), Marvin Bagley (15.1), Harrison Barnes (15.0) and Tyrese Haliburton (13.0). That number jumps to six if you include the recently-acquired Terence Davis (10.0), and it’s no wonder the Kings are the NBA’s third-ranked offense over this stretch. Don’t sleep on the surging Kings sneaking their way into the play-in conversation, even after an ugly start to the season.

2. Atlanta Hawks

A combination of injuries, an underachieving record and friction between Trae Young and Lloyd Pierce ultimately led the Atlanta Hawks to change head coaches, and ever since Nate McMillan took over, they’ve looked a lot more like a playoff-caliber team.

Since McMillan was named interim head coach at the start of March, the Hawks immediately started trending in the right direction with an eight-game win streak. They’ve gone 1-3 over their last four games since then, but the three losses have come against the LA Clippers (winners of five straight and one of the best/hottest teams in the league) and the Kings and Denver Nuggets (the other two teams on this list). In other words, the Hawks are 9-3 overall under McMillan, and their losses all came against quality opponents.

That’s been enough to catapult Atlanta all the way up to sixth in the Eastern Conference standings, with the New York Knicks (fifth) and Charlotte Hornets (fourth) well within reach, only 0.5 games ahead. One coaching change and couple healthier players later, the Hawks suddenly have home-court advantage in their sights.

Trae Young and John Collins are leading the charge on offense, and Atlanta’s offensive rating ranks eighth in the NBA since the start of March. But what’s more interesting is their jump to 12th in defensive rating in that span, since this team ranks 22nd in that category for the whole season. If that defensive progress is real, Atlanta’s 5.9 Net Rating for this month could prove to be sustainable for a legitimate playoff squad.

1. Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets‘ trade for Aaron Gordon solidified their status as a legitimate contender out West, but the scary thing is, this team was figuring things out before it bolstered its frontcourt with him and JaVale McGee at the trade deadline.

Gordon’s only played in one game for his new squad, but it was a rip-roaring success, and now the Nuggets have won 11 of their last 14 games after an uninspired 17-15 start to the year. Their recent turnaround has them sitting fifth in the West, only 1.5 games behind the plummeting, injury-ravaged Los Angeles Lakers in fourth, 2.5 games behind the streaking Clippers for third and 3.5 games behind the 2-seeded Phoenix Suns.

Making up ground on the Clippers and Suns may prove to be difficult, given how good those two teams have been this season. But without LeBron James and Anthony Davis for at least the next few weeks, the Nuggets are in prime position to move into home-court advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs.

Denver’s defense has been league-average since first kicking off this turnaround back on Feb. 27, but since then, Nikola Jokic’s squad also boasts the NBA’s best offense, putting up a whopping 120.1 points per 100 possessions. Their 8.5 Net Rating in that stretch is fourth-best in the NBA, and Gordon should not only improve the defense but enhance the offense with his cutting and 3-point shooting as well. The Nuggets were already figuring things out, and now Gordon’s arrival should kick their ascent into high gear.

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