The NBA has already started and the first week of action could be an indicator of how the season will go for all 30 teams in the league. Although there are always changes on the way.
In these first seven days of competition there was everything: victories in the last second, dazzling individual performances and embarrassing beatings.
As of Tuesday, only four remained undefeated: the Pacers, Hawks, Cavaliers and Magic.. With the exception of Indiana and Orlando, Atlanta and Cleveland did not qualify for the last postseason and had not played since March as they were not part of the 22 quintets that participated in the ‘bubble’ between July and September.
It will be interesting to see how these squads – which are not projected favorites to win the championship – look in 2021.
Here is a look at five stories from the first week.
The Nets are serious
There was a lot of doubt and anticipation as to how the Brooklyn Nets were going to look with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving playing together for the first time. Would Durant be the same after missing a year after an Achilles tendon operation? Can Irving regain his shine after not showing off with the Boston Celtics?
The questions were answered in favor of the team’s bet.
Although they play 2-2, the Nets started strongly, destroying the Warriors and the Celtics themselves on their way. Durant looks like the same star player who won two championships with Golden State before his injury in the June 2019 finals.
The past NBA MVP is averaging 27 points, while Irving looks rejuvenated with 29 points per game. Health will be important for this team to fully impact the Eastern Conference in the coming months. They already face a notable loss with the departure of point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, out for the remainder of the season after suffering a torn anterior ligament in his right knee. It will be operated.
Lakers on pace with James and Davis rested
The main news for the defending champs was their successful offseason work, bolstering themselves with notable players like Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell and Marc Gasol. The cohesion of the new faces with the talent that remained in the squad has been, to date, favorable for the Lakers, who plan to give their stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis as much rest as possible so that they are fresh in the part final.
James and Davis average 30.5 and 33 minutes per game, respectively, and still lead four of the top five statistics for the squad. Schroder is the Lakers’ third-best scorer at 16.8, followed by reigning Sixth Man of the Year Harrell at 15.0. Forward Kyle Kuzma, who recently signed a $ 40 million extension, has taken advantage of the extra minutes to average 13.5 points. Gasol, for his part, is the third best rebounder on the team alongside Harrell with 6.0 each, in addition to leading in blocks (1.5).
With a 2-2 start, the Lakers simmer to serve the entrée last.
Bittersweet start for Milwaukee and Clippers
The Bucks and Clippers haven’t met as a team at the start of the season. Milwaukee, the team with the best record in the last two NBA regular stages, plays 1-2 with star Giannis Antetokounmpo performing erratically.
The two-time MVP missed a free throw to tie the opener against the Celtics, who took the victory thanks to a triple by Jayson Tatum, seconds before the fourth quarter expired with the Greek’s hands in his face.
After walking the Warriors on Christmas Day, they fell by 20 points to the New York Knicks.
Antetokounmpo has struggled to find his aim, shooting 47 percent after finishing 55 last season. He has only hit eight of 30 attempts in the paint and accumulates four triples in 16 attempts.
In Los Angeles, the Clippers have left a lot to be desired. They defeated the Lakers in the first game of the season, a lackluster victory after blowing a 20-point lead. They took it out on the Denver Nuggets over Christmas, but took an incredible beating Sunday from the Dallas Mavericks, scoring 124-73 in manager Tyronn Lue’s new era. If it’s any consolation, Kawhi Leonard was not active in the massacre, in which they only scored 27 points in the first half, to go into the halftime with a 50-point deficit (77-27).
Other disappointing starts were led by the Warriors (1-2), with Stephen Curry without much help in the absence of Klay Thompson and Draymond Green; the Toronto Raptors (0-2), noticing the exits of Gasol and Serge Ibaka; and the Washington Wizards (0-3), wasting the triple-doubles of their new star Russell Westbrook.
Harden da cara
Despite all the drama surrounding guard James Harden in the face of his apparent discontent in Houston, the story seems to be different when he comes out to play. In the two Rockets losses, the former MVP had 44 and 34 points. At the moment, he leads the NBA statistics in points (39.0) and triples achieved (5.5), and is second in assists (12.5). Harden started the season late, as did his team, after being quarantined for attending a party in violation of the league’s sanitation protocols. He was fined $ 25,000.
Another prominent scorer at the start is the renewed Hawks point guard Trae Young (34.0), second behind Harden.
Notable injuries
In addition to the loss of Dinwiddie to the Nets through injury, the Memphis Grizzlies will play the next three weeks without star point guard Ja Morant after being diagnosed with a type two sprained ankle. The player was wheelchair-bound in a win over Brooklyn on Monday. Morant was coming off an explosive start to his second year in the league, scoring 44 points in the opening game and 28 in the second.
In Cleveland, veteran forward Kevin Love will lose more time than expected, about a month, to his sore calf. The Cavaliers, thus far, don’t miss him with his best start to the season since 2016, with wins in his first three games.
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