NBA
LAL 104 PHI 118
HOU 100 ATL 96
UTA 103 GS 114
MIL 112 POR 125
NHL
BOS 2 BUF 7
WIN 4 MON 1
CAR 4 NYR 0
COL 2 NYI 5
WAS 3 CGY 1
DAL 4 VEG 3
Soccer
Petrojet 2 VS National Bank 0
ZED 1 VS Smouha 2
Limassol 0 VS Omonia 3
Lierse 2 VS Seraing 0
Jong Genk 1 VS Futures 4
Millwall 1 VS Portsmouth 0
NBA midseason grades for every East team: Cavs earn 'A+,' Knicks and Celtics have same mark, one team gets 'F'
We're halfway through the 2024-25 NBA regular season, and the Eastern Conference is filled with some of the league's most surprising teams. No one could've predicted that the Cavaliers would have not just the best record in the conference, but the best in the whole league at 36-6 (a 70-win pace). They've looked like the team to beat in the East, even with the Boston Celtics looming right behind them in the No. 2 spot.
The Knicks and Bucks are where they should be, but there's one notable absent from the top five that was expected to contend. That's the Philadelphia 76ers, who have by and large been a massive disappointment thus far. That's mostly due to injuries, as Paul George has been in and out of the lineup and Joel Embiid has been kept in a bubble for most of the season. But even when they are healthy, little chemistry can be built before one of them is back on the injury report. But thanks to a less-than-competitive Eastern Conference, only 6.5 games separates them and the No. 6 Hawks.
Speaking of Atlanta, it appears as though the front office has found the appropriate stable of young talent to surround Trae Young, and it has resulted in the Hawks being the only team this season to beat both the Cavaliers and Celtics twice. The Pistons have similarly pulled out some impressive wins, as Cade Cunningham is playing his way to an All-Star berth.
With the first half of the season in the books, we're assessing where each team is and handing out some grades for their performance through ~41 games. These grades are specific to each team, so the wins and losses won't hold the same significance for everyone.
The Hawks have run hot and cold all season long; thus far they have three winning streaks of at least three games and four losing streaks of at least three games. All told, it has been enough to keep them above .500 and in control of an automatic playoff spot in the Eastern Conference at the midway point of the season. Their grasp on a postseason berth feels tenuous, but if they can get there they've proven they can beat the East's top teams (7-3 against the top four seeds).
Perhaps the biggest question for the Hawks is whether they can stay healthy in the second half of the season. Clint Capela is the only player on the team who has appeared in all 42 games, and Onyeka Okongwu, Jalen Johnson, De'Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Larry Nance have all missed at least seven contests. If they can keep their top players on the floor together, they'll have a good chance to get back to the playoffs after missing out last season.
It's a testament to the standard the Celtics set last season and early in this campaign that playing .500 ball for a month is seen as a borderline crisis. Even amid this disappointing stretch, which has featured some bizarre fourth-quarter performances, they still have the third-best record in the league and are the only team in the top five in both offensive and defensive rating. There's also probably a bit of a perception problem going on given the absurd records the Cavaliers and Thunder have posted.
There have been some bad moments lately, but there's no reason for long-term concern in Boston. As Steve Kerr put it after his shorthanded Warriors lost by 40 to the Celtics, "it's perfectly natural for them to have a little bit of an emotional hangover ... come playoff time, they'll be ready to roll." One trend to watch from now until the playoffs is the Celtics' shooting. They're still putting up a league-leading 49 3-pointers per game, but are making just 36.3% of them, which ranks 14th. Save for a few big games, they have not shot the ball all that well this season, and have been particularly cold as of late. It will be interesting to see if they can snap out of that shooting slump by the spring.
