Winners of just two of their past seven games, the Chicago Bulls are in a mini-slump, but one positive is that Derrick Rose is starting to turn the corner in his return.
Averaging more than 35 minutes per game in his past three outings, Rose has notched back-to-back double-doubles (only has three on the season) and has averaged 28.0 points and 8.3 assists per game during that three-game span.
In his first 28 games this season, Rose averaged just 16.96 points and 4.86 assists per game on less than 29 minutes per game.
Meanwhile, Pau Gasol has played really well over his past 10 games.
To begin the season, Gasol had 15 double-doubles in his first 21 games and then had only two double-doubles in his next nine games. Since then, Gasol has seven double-doubles in his past nine outings.
With 23 double-doubles on the season, Gasol is tied with DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis for second in the league behind Nikola Vucevic (24).
Over the past 10 games, Gasol is averaging 22.7 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
Atlanta Hawks extend winning streak to 12 games
Pulling a trick out of Gregg Popovich's book, the Atlanta Hawks sat their entire starting lineup (in waves) against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics in back-to-back games to kick off last week.
It's not as though they needed their starters as the Hawks won both of those games by at least 14 points.
With their squad at full strength, the Hawks faced two tougher foes -- Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls -- in back-to-back at the end of the week, although the results were the same. Atlanta won those games by 21 and eight points, respectively.
During that four-game road trip last week, the Hawks averaged 106.75 points (with a minimum of 105) while holding their opponents to 91.5 points (maximum of 99) per game.
On Monday, the Hawks will host the Detroit Pistons, who have won 11 of 13 games since parting ways with Josh Smith. The toughest game of the week will be Friday's tilt against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are extremely dangerous with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook back at full health.
That said, their next seven games and nine of their next 10 games are all at home.
Russell Westbrook's triple-double aided by "execution"
Against the Warriors on Friday night, Russell Westbrook recorded his ninth career triple-double.
Westbrook finished the game with 17 points, 17 assists, 15 rebounds as well as four steals. Among active NBA players, Rajon Rondo is the only other player in the league with a 15/15/15 triple-double.
After the game, Westbrook attributed his and the team's offensive success to "execution."
As part of the short interview, Westbrook goes on to tell The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel, author of the "Mr. Unreliable" column on KD, that he doesn't like him.
Here are my NBA Power Rankings heading into Week 13:
1. Atlanta Hawks (Record 33-8, Last Week 2)
2. Golden State Warriors (Record 32-6, Last Week 1)
3. Portland Trail Blazers (Record 30-11, Last Week 3)
4. Memphis Grizzlies (Record 29-11, Last Week 4)
5. Houston Rockets (Record 28-13, Last Week 6)
6. Washington Wizards (Record 28-13, Last Week 10)
7. Chicago Bulls (Record 27-15, Last Week 5)
8. Toronto Raptors (Record 26-14, Last Week 7)
9. Dallas Mavericks (Record 28-13, Last Week 8)
10. San Antonio Spurs (Record 26-16, Last Week 9)
11. Los Angeles Clippers (Record 27-14, Last Week 11)
12. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record 21-20, Last Week 15)
13. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record 20-20, Last Week 13)
14. Phoenix Suns (Record 24-18, Last Week 12)
15. Milwaukee Bucks (Record 21-19, Last Week 17)
16. New Orleans Pelicans (Record 20-20, Last Week 14)
17. Detroit Pistons (Record 16-25, Last Week 24)
18. Denver Nuggets (Record 18-22, Last Week 18)
19. Miami Heat (Record 18-22, Last Week 19)
20. Charlotte Hornets (Record 16-25, Last Week 20)
21. Brooklyn Nets (Record 17-24, Last Week 16)
22. Sacramento Kings (Record 16-24, Last Week 21)
23. Indiana Pacers (Record 15-27, Last Week 22)
24. Orlando Magic (Record 15-29, Last Week 23)
25. Utah Jazz (Record 14-27, Last Week 26)
26. Boston Celtics (Record 13-25, Last Week 25)
27. Los Angeles Lakers (Record 12-29, Last Week 27)
28. Philadelphia 76ers (Record 8-32, Last Week 28)
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record 7-32, Last Week 29)
30. New York Knicks (Record 5-36, Last Week 30)
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