The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets are Top 4 seeds in the Western Conference through 10 games this season.
We all expected that right?!
The Minnesota Timberwolves are playing some of the best basketball they’ve ever played and have themselves at 8-2 through the first 10 games (7 game winning streak and current 2nd seed). Some of their wins have been super impressive to say the least:
- 1st team to defeat the Denver Nuggets (110-89) and their first win of the 7 game winning streak.
- 1st team to defeat the Boston Celtics (114-109 OT) with Anthony Edwards popping off for 38 Points.
- Back to back wins at Golden State, the latest involving a fiery encounter with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson getting ejected.
Anthony Edwards is playing at another level this season, and coming off the back of a huge World Championship campaign with Team USA, he’s firmly in the MVP conversation.
Edwards is averaging 27.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 5.3 APG. Everyone knew Ant could score the basketball, but the fact he’s averaging over 5 APG shows the maturity of the young man, and knows he needs the likes of Towns and Gobert to be enough of a threat to make it easier for him to close out games.
Houston have been a mess the last few seasons and were one of the youngest teams in the NBA heading into this season.
They clearly have some great young talent in Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith, but needed some veteran leadership. They did just that in the off season.
Fred VanVleet along with Dillon Brooks and Jeff Green have come into this team and made an immediate impact and have this Houston Rockets team riding a 6 game winning streak and current 4th seed. Houston’s winning streak rivals that of the TWolves.
- Back to back wins v Sacramento (18 and 25 point wins respectively).
- 34 Point victory v the Los Angeles Lakers!
- 3 Point wins v New Orleans as well as the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
Houston next face a reeling Los Angeles Clippers team who are yet to win a game with James Harden in their line up, and there’s no doubt they’ll believe they’re a chance to continue the misery this Clippers team is currently facing.
It’s not the same story out East, apart from the likes of Indiana currently in the 3rd seed at 7-4. The Pacers are playing a great brand of basketball, highly entertaining and look to have one of the best young Point Guards leading the way into the future.
Tyrese Haliburton has started the season averaging 25.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG and a whopping 12.7 APG. The Pacers have wins @ Philly and against the Bucks at home, but have also been on the end of a 155-104 defeat to the Celtics. They won’t win the title, but they’re still going to be a very fun team to watch moving forward, and as long as Haliburton stays healthy this season, there’s no doubt they’re a playoff team.
Outside of the surprise packets there’s some usual suspects at the top of the pecking order.
Philadelphia have a new lease on life and are currently tied with the Boston Celtics for 1st in the East. They’ve handed the keys over to Tyrese Maxey since moving on from James Harden and very much seem to be enjoying their new brand of basketball.
Maxey and Embiid have dominated to start the season, both having All-NBA 1st/2nd teams in their sights. Philly have a bad taste in their mouth for blowing a 3-2 lead to the Boston Celtics in the East 2nd Round playoff series last season and are doing everything they can to make sure things turn around this season!
The other team who’s tied for 1st in the East look absolutely incredible. The Celtics have gone small ball with Holiday and White in the back court, with Brown, Tatum and Porzingis in the front court, arguably the best starting five in the league.
They’ll be a very tough team to beat this season, only realistically competing with the likes of Philly and Milwaukee in the East to make the NBA Finals, pretty much the exact opposite out West which is a gauntlet for the Nuggets to run through!
It’s been an exciting first few weeks of NBA Basketball, and there’s no doubt we are in for another crazy couple of weeks of In-Season basketball finals to go with it!
Cheers
Bauky