NBA – Standings – Say what?????
At the top of the Eastern Conference this fine, first day of November 2021 are the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat. A great many people are asking Jim and I how this could be. There are several reasons, of course, but primarily it’s because we’ve hardly played any games! At this point in the season almost anything is possible in the standings as schedules, an injury and a tiny bit of luck or momentum can carry a team to a few wins. And that’s all it’s been – just a few games. Nonetheless, it does provide us with an opportunity to see a few things that might well get lost in the tidal wave of statistics throughout the course of a full NBA season.
Who’s Hot?
Obviously the 4 teams listed above and well, the only other teams currently sharing the league leading record of 5-1 are the Utah Jazz and the Golden State Warriors. Of those 2 teams, it is only the Warriors that are a bit of a surprise given the Jazz won the Western Conference regular season last year. Perhaps the bigger surprise for the Jazz was having their only loss to date be against the Chicago Bulls. So what’s happening and what are the chances it will continue.
Before the season started, most people would have anticipated a top 3 in the East of the Bucks, Nets and 76ers all of whom have struggles early. In the case of both the Nets and the 76ers, the cause is primarily the same – a reluctant superstar.
The 76ers are missing all star point guard Ben Simmons who has demanded a trade even though he agreed to a max 5 year contract last year. Unable to trade him, the 76ers are in disarray and have losses against the Knicks and the struggling Nets. Indeed, they may be fortunate to even be where they are in the standings given their easy starting schedule. At this time, it seems unlikely that Simmons will suit up again for Philly and just as unlikely that Darryl Morey will get any offers even remotely close to what he is asking for Simmons so the immediate future for the 76ers is murky. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them stagger down around the 8th or 9th place in the conference at least until they get the Simmons debacle settled.
The Nets have a similar issue with a max player and decided that 50% of a protesting Kyrie Irving is not enough and have asked him to stay home until he has acquired his 2 Covid 19 vaccinations. Unfortunately, that is not where Brooklyn’s problems end. Adding insult to injury, it seems that James Harden came to camp out of shape and while he and coach Steve Nash are blaming rules changes for Harden’s early season lack of stats and scoring punch in particular, watching him tells a different story. Fortunately for the Nets, Harden will get back into shape and together he and Kevin Durant will be an offensive juggernaut. Expect them to get back up into the 4-5 spot in the conference before too long.
The Bucks on the other hand, have their mercurial superstar and annual MVP threat in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Still they have lost to the Heat, Spurs, Jazz and Minnesota. Yes, they’ve had some lost time from Holiday and Middleton, but still, it’s surprising that they’ve lost 4 of their first 6 games and perhaps concerning. Still, expect the Bucks to pick up the Championship torch and climb back into the top 3 in the East before Christmas.
Next, we’ll investigate what to expect from the current conference leading teams.