Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
This isn’t the same Golden State Warriors team from the last five years.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Noah Graham/Getty Images.)
We just ended 5 weeks of the NBA regular season. Let’s go see the standings again.
First, in the Eastern Conference:
(PHOTO CREDIT: NBA.)
I’m usually a positive guy and it’s rough for me to put down anyone. But let’s take a look at teams that have not met expectations thus far.
Let’s be honest; it’s tough to find three because I feel like the East has held serve with most predictions.
Atlanta Hawks (4-13)
Currently #14 in the East
Rey-Rey’s Season Prediction: 35-47 (9th)
The Hawks won their first two. Trae Young looked phenomenal. Sure, this was followed by three straight losses; they lost a tough one to Philadelphia and lost both home-and-home games to the surprising Heat. Still, it looked like they were competing.
Then they lost John Collins for 25 games. They won their game later that night against the San Antonio Spurs but have lost 10 of 11 since then. They also lost Kevin Huerter to a rotator cuff injury and the roster around Trae Young doesn’t have enough playmakers.
It’s a shame because Trae Young is trying to do everything. But it’s tough to do anything when your best supporting players aren’t on the court.
Chicago Bulls (6-12)
Currently #12 in the East
Season Prediction: 34-48 (12th)
So I guess this is a bit of a disappointment. Not because of their place in the East but their record in general should be better. They’re on pace for 27 wins. I feel this team should be better than that.
Not only that but they’re still in the bottom three in offense (their offensive rating, which is points per 100 possessions, is at 104.3). Zach LaVine is bringing it again on offense but Lauri Markkanen has regressed. Otto Porter is out. Kris Dunn has been awful in his shooting.
This same team that rebelled against coach Jim Boylen might be on the verge of doing it again. Boylen sat LaVine a few minutes into their game against Miami because of “how bad he was on defense.” LaVine came back with an unbelievable game against Charlotte (49 points and the game-winner). Unfortunately, they couldn’t do much against the hungry Blazers, when they scored 94 points.
While they’re in the middle of the pack in defense, it might be a mirage, according to our friends at Blog-A-Bull. This team might self-destruct soon.
Orlando Magic (6-10)
Currently #8 in the East
Season Prediction: 40-42 (7th)
These guys have trouble putting the ball into the basket, too. They are dead last in offensive rating (104 points per 100 possessions), dead last in scoring (101.2 points per game), dead last in field goal percentage (42.3 percent), dead last in three-point percentage (31.1 percent), and even dead last in pace (97.4 possessions per 48 minutes).
They didn’t score 100 points in a game until Game 8. You can’t win if you can’t score. And now that they’ve lost Nikola Vucevic until probably Christmas, they’re going to have even more trouble putting it in the hole.
What are you laughing at?
Now let’s look at the West:
(PHOTO CREDIT: NBA.)
So what about the ones that are not meeting expectations in the West?
Golden State Warriors (3-15)
Currently #15 in the West
Season Prediction: 49-33 (7th)
I was very generous with my prediction because I thought I would give the core of the five-time finalists the benefit of the doubt.
But if you look at the current active roster, NOBODY is from last year’s roster. That’s AMAZING. Stephen Curry is out with a hand injury. Draymond Green has had multiple injuries. Klay Thompson tore his ACL in the Finals. The other returning players from last year (Kevin Looney, Jacob Evans, Damion Lee) are also all out.
Oh, yeah. The all-star that they traded for, D’Angelo Russell, is out with a sprained right thumb. They’ve been trying to get by with an active roster of 8 or 9 players. They’re all draft picks and free agents that were supposed to support the core. So yeah, no cohesion and not talented enough. What we get is a 3-15 team.
We didn’t think the Warriors would go down like this. It’s in spectacular fashion and it actually feels unprecedented with the way all these injuries happened.
It was almost like the Warriors sold their souls for five years of bliss before they were given this cursed season.
Portland TrailBlazers (6-12)
Currently #12 in the West
Season Prediction: 51-31 (5th)
In terms of injuries, they weren’t hit as bad as the Warriors (let’s face it; no one will probably ever be hit like the Warriors). But Jusuf Nurkic is still out from last year’s devastating injury and then Zach Collins went down for shoulder surgery.
Personnel changes might have also affected them. They traded Meyers Leonard for Hassan Whiteside in hopes for more defense. Evan Turner was traded to Atlanta for Kent Bazemore. Al-Farouq Aminu left for Orlando. Desperate for frontcourt help, they got Carmelo Anthony. They finally broke a four-game skid against Chicago on Monday.
Too much turnover for the team. They could still make a comeback but I don’t think anyone expected them to flirt with the bottom of the conference.
San Antonio Spurs (6-12)
Currently #13 in the West
Season Prediction: 45-37 (8th)
The problem with the Spurs is not because they keep shooting midrange jumpers; they can’t stop anybody. They’re 27th in defensive rating, allowing 114 points per 100 possessions.
I mean, I felt they were going to be okay; they were a 48-win team that was adding DeJounte Murray. But Derrick White has since replaced him on the starting line-up to get back to what worked last season. Once again, though, the Spurs overall are a bad defensive team and they might have to make moves to get better on that end.
A 22-year playoff streak is on the line this season for the Spurs. But this might be the end of the San Antonio Spurs as we know it.
Bullet Passes
Giannis Antetokounmpo went for 50 points in a win against Utah on Monday night. He’s having better numbers this season so far than last year’s MVP campaign. Of course, he’s in the mix to win for the second straight season.
In the first time since Kawhi’s miraculous shot, the Sixers and Raptors faced off. The result? Toronto won by five and held Joel Embiid to ZERO POINTS.
This tweet cracked me up so much.
Marc Gasol is like a bear who only comes out of his cave to beat the shit out of Joel Embiid.
— Kelsea Larry O’Brien (@kelsea_lately) November 26, 2019
Yup.
I mentioned that the Blazers defeated the Bulls on Monday. Carmelo Anthony had his best game of the season as he scored 25 points and grabbed 8 boards. Good for them.
The Lakers turned on the SWITCH in the fourth quarter. Now they’re 15-2. I find this all amazing and hilarious.
On the other side, the Warriors were up by 14 points against the Thunder with 9:20 left. That lead evaporated and the Thunder came back to win the game. That is the Golden State Warriors’ season in a nutshell.
Watch This Play
Spencer Dinwiddie was the NBA Player of the Week in the East last week and he showed why.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Clutch Points.)
I’m sure he’s fine being Kyrie Irving‘s back-up and all but man, is he doing well as a starter. Another dub for Brooklyn.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.