*All stats recorded prior to Monday night's games
Best Team
No surprise here. It may be getting repetitive but, until someone finally defeats the defending champs, the Golden State Warriors will remain the best team in the NBA. They are currently in the midst of a seven-game road trip, which has included two three-point victories.
When it looked like the Utah Jazz and Toronto Raptors were going to do the unthinkable, Stephen Curry and the Warriors came out with victories to keep their historic start alive. They are now 22-0 and will look to improve to 25-0 before returning home to Oracle Arena for a home game next Wednesday.
Worst Team
The Phoenix Suns began the season as one of the more pleasant surprises but now find themselves riding their second four-game losing streak in the past nine games. All four of their most recent losses have been decided by five points or less. The Suns have slipped to 8-13 on the season and rumors are now swirling around Markieff Morris as a potential trade target.
If history is to repeat itself, the Suns will trade Morris along with several other players as they did with Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas at the deadline last year. Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight have been exceptional but the Suns have put too much weight on their backcourt and it is starting to take a toll. Meanwhile, a hamstring injury to Tyson Chandler has thinned out their frontcourt dramatically.
Best Player
Stephen Curry: 'Nough said. Scored 26, 40, 44, and 28 in the Warriors' four games last week.
Worst Player
The Oklahoma City Thunder have benefited from a balance of scoring between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. They are third in the Western Conference with a 12-8 record. But other players on their roster have underachieved. D.J. Augustin has been a poor backup to Westbrook at point guard and has given other teams' second units a chance to take advantage. Augustin was 0-for-6 in three games last week, marking the second, third, and fourth times this season the seven-year veteran has been held scoreless in a game. His stat sheet was littered with zeroes on his way to a combined minus-22 over the three-game span.
Best Moment
Tied up at 93 with the Phoenix Suns, the Memphis Grizzlies had 0.8 seconds to inbound the ball and score. And that's just what they did when Courtney Lee threw an alley-oop from the end of his bench to Jeff Green, who slammed it home with no time left on the clock.
Worst Moment
John Wall went down with a knee injury on Sunday as the Washington Wizards took on the Dallas Mavericks. An MRI revealed no structural damage to the All-Star point guard, which could imply that Wall will be able to return to the court soon. Nonetheless, it was a frightening moment for the Wizards and their fans. At 8-10 overall, Wall and Bradley Beal continue to the team. The loss of their point guard would be devastating.
Fantasy Watchlist
Kyle Lowry
The Toronto Raptors have lost three of their last four, but Lowry has been on the upswing. He had 31-point and 41-point performances last week, but it didn't take away from his ball distribution. Lowry had at least seven assists in two of the Raptors' three games last week. The 10th-year point guard has also been active defensively on the boards as well as forcing turnovers.
Isaiah Thomas
The Celtics' leading scorer has also been a facilitator of late and is playing great all-around basketball. He is the go-to guy on offense as Brad Stevens' play-calling continues to center around his point guard.
Reggie Jackson
A repeat appearance on the watchlist, Jackson was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week after guiding the Detroit Pistons to a 4-0 record last week. He averaged 27.0 points and 8.8 assists over that stretch, which was fueled by a 34-point, 16 assist performance last Wednesday against the Suns.
Derrick Favors
Favors' scoring was fairly inconsistent last week as he notched 23, 12, and 35 points in the Utah Jazz's three games to begin December. One thing that was consistent, however, was his rebounding. The sixth-year forward had ten or more rebounds in all three games last week, bringing his double-double total to seven on the season. It was the first time this season Favors had a double-double in back-to-back games.