The NBA season is approaching the two-month mark, and every team in the league has played around a quarter of their 82-game slate.
The trend of parity that has swept the league is continuing, with essentially 24 teams competing for playoff/play-in spots still.
There are a lot of teams playing above average basketball, but only 10 spots to give out… who are the standouts currently?
HM: Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets continue to look the part of a team that should be able to sneak into the playoffs- they would be on a seven-game win streak if not for a nail biting defeat at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets during the stretch.
The Suns backed up their best stretch of basketball this season with yet another up-and-down effort in the last week. The Suns stay in the top 10 due to benefit of the doubt- they lost the game to Sacramento Friday night without Kevin Durant or Grayson Allen.
The silver lining in Phoenix is that star Bradley Beal is expected to return to the lineup on Tuesday night barring setbacks, as is Kevin Durant.
The new big-three era being ushered in nearly two months later than expected is still a welcome sign, and the trajectory of the Suns’ season could be taking off soon.
9: Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers potentially had a franchise-altering week, as the small market squad advanced to the first ever in-season tournament championship game after topping the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Pacers are on pace to have an all-time great offense behind budding superstar Tyrese Haliburton, and ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Indiana is going to be aggressive in the trade market this season.
8: Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are continuing to have an up-and-down season in the midst of their title defense.
The champs have dropped three games in a row, having lost games to the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers, and losing their first home game of the season to the Houston Rockets.
Leave a Reply