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DOG Bag • Nov. 5th

-Baro

DOG BAG (11/5)

A few, current storylines in the Association…

STANDINGS UPDATE 

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(About) 8 games into the season, the league is just starting to take shape. As always, the East is a step behind the West in terms of elite teams.

Cleveland & Boston lead the East at 1 & 2, respectively - the Cavs surprisingly have the best record in the entire league at 8-0. After making minimal offseason moves, Cleveland’s internal growth from the likes of Evan Mobley, combined with another year of chemistry between Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and the rest of the starting five, has worked wonders so far.

New head coach Kenny Atkinson’s schemes and overall voice has played a large role as well: in tight situations this season, the Cavs have executed flawlessly.

It’s less of a surprise to see the defending-champion Celtics at 7-1. Jayson Tatum’s been a top 5 scorer through 8 games - he’s on a mission to prove doubters wrong after playing sparingly in the Olympics. Just what the rest of the league needed: a pissed-off-all-league player whose team is already a prohibitive favorite to return to the Finals in 2025.

From there, NO ONE ELSE has a record over .500 - Miami is barely at the mark and sits in third place. The biggest surprise, however, comes out of Milwaukee - the once-mighty Bucks are last in the conference at 1-6. Do’t expect their ineptitude to last all season but for now, it will be an uphill climb back to a firm playoff spot.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

It’s a completely different story out West. The Oklahoma City Thunder are in first place, once again, proving they weren’t one-hit wonders from a year ago…not that anyone ever thought that. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is balling: he’s the MVP frontrunner in my eyes.

Phoenix (6-1) & Golden State (6-1) have both been extremely impressive. Adding Tyus Jones has helped round out their lineup but it’s the play of Kevin Durant and role players (Royce O’Neale, rookie RYAN DUNN) that’s made the biggest difference.

Even without Stephen Curry for a few games, Steve Kerr’s Dubs look like a well-oiled machine. What they lack in size, they make up in movement, shooting, and a desired, two-way sort of balance that carries from the starters to reserves. Draymond Green is turning back the clock with well-rounded performances (like the 18-8-5 he put up @ WAS last night), young guns Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody are settling in off the bench, and veteran Andrew Wiggins is creeping back to his old form.

Maybe we shouldn’t count out the Warriors just yet.

After that, SIX TEAMS are tied with a 4-3 record - like the East, parity is the name of the game. The LA Lakers, with ew head coach JJ Redick, look promising but have had a few early ups & downs. As a whole, it will be interesting to see how certain teams can separate themselves. It might not be possible - like last year, the play-in race could ignore teams with 41+ wins.

5 PLAYERS TRENDING UPWARDS

BUDDY HIELD (GSW) • avg. 21.9! ppg (OFF BENCH!)

GRADEY DICK (TOR) • avg. 21.6! ppg

CAM THOMAS (BKN) • avg. 24.9! ppg on 49!% shooting

NORMAN POWELL (LAC) • avg. 24.9! ppg on 51!% shooting

LAMELO BALL (CHA) • 28.6! PPG

NOTES AROUND THE LEAGUE

 

(info via nba.com/stats)