We are one week into the NBA season and just as we expected, the heavy hitters have come out firing.
The Clippers came out and made a statement on opening night, taking care of LeBron and the Lakers, only to back that up with an absolute beat down of the Warriors. Not the way Golden State wanted to open up business at their new arena.
LeBron and AD managed to bounce back and find their feet after opening night for the Lake Show, with a nice win against a very good Utah team, in what was a grinding affair.
Someone who’s flown under the radar to start this season, but will be there when the big games count, the Denver Nuggets.
Denver has started the season 3-0, opening their season with a tough win at Portland. I was lucky enough to be in attendance for this one at the Moda Centre, and both teams looked very impressive. Denver has incredible depth in their line up, and that’ll be huge this season with the old argument about load management, as their bench will be ready to step up to the plate when any of their starters need extended rest.
Out in the Eastern Conference, “Australia’s team” Philadelphia have started the season extremely well also, opening up 3-0.
Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons have started the season in brilliant form, along with their other studs (Horford and Tobias Harris), this team is primed for a big year and top 2 finish in the regular season.
The reigning NBA Champs have made sure no one has forgot about them either, beginning the season 3-1, with Pascal Siakam showing the Raptors faithful why they gave him that big pay day. Even without Kawhi Leonard, this team still has what it takes to give the Eastern Conference a little shake up and at the very least a top 4 finish out East.
There have been a few surprise packets to start the season, and look no further than the Atlanta Hawks.
The Trae Young for Luka Doncic trade hasn’t looked so bad after all (I’ll put my hand up and admit I was one to over react to this deal). It’s clearly worked out for both teams, and Trae Young has been on fire to start the season. It wouldn’t be a shock to see this team sneak into playoff contention on the back of Young and John Collins this season. Watch this space, this team is young and exciting, and won’t fear anyone with an attitude of nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Staying on that topic of Young and Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks have also looked impressive to start this season on the back of their young superstar. It may help the Mavs were gifted the services of Kristaps Porzingis from the Knicks (laughable), and this duo will be one to watch this season. Dallas are another team that’ll be on the fringe of the playoffs out West, and if these two can stay healthy, there’s no reason they can’t sneak in there and make some noise.
There’s been a few early season disappointments and there’s no need to look any further than the Golden State Warriors. They were embarrassed in their season opener against the Clippers, with Kawhi giving them a little reminder of how he toyed with them in the NBA Finals. Steph and co backed that up with an awful display of basketball in Oklahoma City, falling behind by 40 at one point.
This team will be missing the playoffs this season unless something drastically changes. Outside of Curry and Russell, the buckets will be hard to come by. Klay is out for an extended period (potentially season), and Draymond’s shot hasn’t necessarily improved at all. It could be a long season for Warriors fans.
Brooklyn have also started the season a little slow, losing their home opener to Minnesota (side not Towns has his team motoring at 3-0). They needed last second heroics from Kyrie to bail them out against the Knicks (yes the Knicks) and managed to drop one in Memphis to start the season 1-2. It may take some time to adjust to Kyrie running the show in Brooklyn.
Plenty more hoops to come this season and it’s sure to be one of the best seasons in a long time!
Bauky