It’s only one month. It’s only one month.
It feels like The Wizard of Oz, as Dorothy says over and over again, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home…”
Say something often enough, with sufficient belief, and the world you long for might appear.
In the 2015-2016 NBA season, can various teams convince themselves that after one month, the world will change in the ways they want? Will the pleasant surprises be able to keep the feel-good carpet ride intact?
Every NBA team played its first game by the time October 28 came to an end. On the morning of November 28, where do we stand?
Here are five facts which might not rate as startling to seasoned NBA observers, but should certainly create a lot of rethinking about the nature of this particular season:
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5 – In the East, 10 of the top 11 teams allow under 100 points per game.
If the new season forces teams to quickly develop a rhythm on offense, it doesn’t place fewer demands on defense, which is just as intricate an art. Sure, the Chicago Bulls stand out as a team well above the .500 mark which nevertheless lacks knockdown shooters and does not possess a full complement of offensive talent. Noticeable flaws exist on that roster, especially in relationship to offense and shotmaking. Given that playing the Bulls (which averaged under 100 points a game entering play on Nov. 28) will help one’s defensive averages, one shouldn’t expect a cartload of East teams to allow triple-figure point totals per night. However, 10 of 11? All under 100 at the defensive end?
Brad Stevens’s Celtics are under 100? The offense-first Hawks? The work-in-progress Knicks? That rates as an eye-grabber if not an eye-popper, even though… “It’s only one month. It’s only one month.”
4 – In the West, only one team other than the Warriors and Spurs allows under 100 points per game: the Jazz.
That the Jazz are really good on defense is, of course, not a surprise at all. However, the West — in one month — has become a tale of two first-rate teams (with the Warriors requiring a label a few notches higher than “first-rate”), the “trying-to-get-there” Thunder, and then everyone else.
The Memphis Grizzlies allow more than 100 a night. The Los Angeles Clippers, despite the rim protection offered by DeAndre Jordan, are giving up nearly 103 per game. That the Timberwolves are doing better than expected is not a mind-blowing reality. One can see how much skill resides on that roster. However, the fact that Minnesota has risen to the seventh spot in the West despite giving up more than 101 points per game — with Karl-Anthony Towns carving out a considerable defensive presence in the painted area — is conspicuous to say the least.
That the West is so far behind the East in per-game defensive averages — even when adjusted for the presence of James Harden and Russ and other stat-sheet-stuffers — comes across as a head-turning reality. The Suns and Nuggets have lunch-pail bigs such as Tyson Chandler and Kenneth Faried. They both allow more than 104 points per game.
Furrow your brows, folks.
3 – The Minnesota Timberwolves have the second-best road record in the league, behind only Golden State, and the third-worst home record, better than only Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Warriors haven’t lost a game. Naturally, then, they own the best road mark in the Association, at 8-0.
One month into the season, surely the San Antonio Spurs (they are 13-3, after all) or the Cleveland Cavaliers (they are 12-4, you know) have the number-two road record in the league.
Nope — it’s the Timberwolves, at 6-2 compared to 5-3 for the Spurs and 4-4 for the Cavs.
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The Philadelphia 76ers haven’t won a game. Naturally, then, they own the worst home record in the NBA, at 0-7.
The Lakers do have the second-worst home record in the league at 1-5, but surely, the Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, Milwaukee Bucks, or Sacramento Kings — or another 6-10 team (there are a few) — would own the third-worst homecourt mark in the league.
Nope — it’s the Timberwolves, 2-6 in Minneapolis compared to the Nets’ 2-3 in Brooklyn and the Pelicans’ 3-4 mark in the Big Easy.
Minnesota has, for good measure, swept the season series from the Atlanta Hawks and split with the Miami Heat, swapping road wins.
The Timberwolves’ profile is one of the more fascinating ones in the NBA thus far.
2 – The Houston Rockets have not only stumbled; they’ve stumbled in relatively equal measure against the East and the West.
This is the biggest reason the Rockets are in trouble in terms of their push toward any kind of playoff spot (toss seeding aside; that’s not even something the team can think about right now).
Whereas a lot of teams in the West have yet to face an extended swing against the East, Houston has already taken the plunge. The Rockets have played six of their 16 games — nearly half — against the East. That they’re 6-10 even with a relatively balanced distribution of games by conference points to a more West-heavy slate in the future. Going 6-10 with 13-15 games against the West (six West teams have played at least 13 games in their own conference thus far) would be one thing; 6-10 with only 10 games against the West should alarm the Rockets and their fans.
The upward push to a playoff spot will become very difficult starting on Christmas Day. If James Harden is going to park himself in the playoffs, he will have to start playing defense against loaded West offenses.
1 – The Golden State Warriors’ brilliant start has been achieved with a West-heavy schedule.
The East has not done that poorly relative to the West in the first month of the season. Moreover, long Eastern road trips were not walks in the park for Golden State last season. That said, the Warriors’ 17-0 start has been built on the back of a 13-0 record against the West. That takes care of 25 percent of the Dubs’ West slate for the regular season. If the East continues to overachieve, perhaps this stat won’t mean as much going forward. Yet, if the West does round into form and the East does lose ground in the coming months, a mixed East-West palate of opponents should help the Warriors more than it will hurt them in the pursuit of the 1996 Chicago Bulls… and NBA history.
