Welcome to The Lab, FiveThirtyEight’s basketball podcast. On this week’s show (Dec. 13, 2017), FiveThirtyEight sports editor Geoff Foster joins Chris and Kyle to break down the latest NBA news. The Golden State Warriors won six straight road games and then continued their streak with a win at home against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. Have the Warriors overcome their early struggles? The group discusses. Next, when the Oklahoma City Thunder padded their team with stars earlier this year, they traded away Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis, Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott. But about a third of the way — and two player of the week awards for Oladipo — into the season, the Thunder’s big moves are suddenly looking less one-sided. The group investigates why the exiles are playing so much better on their new teams. Plus, a small-sample-size segment on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Here are links to what was discussed this week:
- Keep an eye on our 2017-18 NBA predictions, updated after every game.
- Despite the Warriors’ recent success, ESPN still ranks the Houston Rockets above Golden State.
- Victor Oladipo was named Eastern Conference player of the week for the second time this season.
- Doug McDermott has been proving his value to the New York Knicks.