NBA quarter look
The 2018-19 Season of the National Basketball Association just moved past the quarter point and so far it has sprung quite a number of surprises on various levels.
You have teams that have performed exceptionally well despite the not-so-high prognosis for them in the preseason and you have others which have gone the opposite way to date.
There are also players who have raised their stock early in the season and some who have struggled and not doing well in the first month and half of the ongoing season.
Out in the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Pistons (13-11), Charlotte Hornets (13-13) and Orlando Magic (12-14) have been doing well and are in the postseason if the playoffs started today.
The East is far more open than the West side and it is safe to say that at least 10 teams in the conference have a realistic shot at making it to the next round. But still to see the Magic, Pistons and Hornets strongly in the mix has some surprise to it.
Teams considered with “infirmities” – heck they even changed coaches in the offseason – the three teams are actually playing good basketball in the collective.
Detroit is slipping a bit, losing four straight, but it is showing better fight and aura in my opinion this season than its previous iterations.
Of the teams expected to do well this season in the East, the Boston Celtics (15-10) are disconcertingly lagging at fifth place; to think that they have a more complete roster with the return of Gordon Hayward from injury.
The Celtics are definitely far better than what their record shows. But they are slowly picking it up and now have won five straight.
The Washington Wizards (11-15) are another team not getting it done yet. Seen at least in the low half of the playoff picture, the Wizards are currently out of it all, no thanks to inconsistent play on both ends of the court.
In the Western Conference, things have practically turned over with the San Antonio Spurs (13-14), Utah Jazz (13-14) and Houston Rockets (11-14), teams that have been staples in the postseason in the last couple of years, greatly underperforming so far.
Utah, I believe, has been a huge letdown considering it did well last season and with all indications preseason pointing to a better showing this NBA year. Yet the Jazz motor has yet to deliver.
San Antonio and Houston were expected to struggle early on with weighty personnel changes in the offseason. But I do not think many saw them struggling like this big time.
In their place are the Los Angeles Clippers (16-9), Memphis Grizzlies (15-10) and Dallas Mavericks (13-11).
The Grizzlies may not be much of a surprise since they have their leaders Mike Conley and Marc Gasol healthy to provide some stability.
But the Clippers and Mavericks are truly left field as they were supposed to be in recalibration mode this season. The Clippers are currently at fourth place and at one point led the West in the standings. Now how many of us saw that?
The second-running Oklahoma City Thunder (16-8) and currently third Denver Nuggets (17-9) were seen as playoff-bound teams but have been good than predicted.
As for players, in the East guys like Kemba Walker of the Hornets and Nikola Vucevic of the Magic are two standouts so far and have made strong cases for themselves for All-Star consideration.
Walker (25.8 ppg and 6.2 apg) and Vucevic (21 ppg and 8.8 rpg) are huge reasons why their teams are doing well right now.
Other East players surprisingly doing well this season are Miami’s Josh Richardson, Brooklyn’s D’Angelo Russell and now point-forward Blake Griffin of Detroit.
Not doing well as far as their impact on games, albeit still posting solid numbers, are the Washington duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal.
In the West, Tobias Harris and Derrick Rose take my vote as most surprising.
Harris (21 ppg and 7.8 rpg) has helped keep the Clippers in contention with his steady play in the aftermath of “Lob City” while oft-injured former league most valuable player Rose (18.3 ppg and 4.5 apg) is the steady bright spot in what has been a drama-filled campaign for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Worth mentioning as well are rookie Luka Doncic of Dallas, De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield of Sacramento, Ricky Rubio of Utah and Julius Randle of New Orleans.
Still playing below what they are capable of are LaMarcus Aldridge of San Antonio, Karl-Anthony Towns of Minnesota and Chris Paul of Houston.
A quarter of play down and threefourths of the season to go, there still much basketball to be played for the 2018-19 NBA Season. Will these performances hold? Let’s find out.