The NBA has started a little over a month, reaching the first halfway point of this season: in fact, the teams have played a quarter of the games of the regular season. So, what better occasion to draw up a Top 5 for the month of November and in general this first quarter of RS?
PHOENIX SUNS
They were lucky. LeBron was injured. Eh, but the Nuggets played without Murray. Kawhi broke. These are all considerations that each of us has made when commenting on the path of the Phoenix Suns to the 2021 playoffs. Monty Williams’ team is claiming victims in the League by proving otherwise. In the first 4 of the regular season there were three defeats. Then? 18 consecutive wins: The Suns haven’t lost a game since October 27th. The team is traveling on automatic pilot, on the wave of the certainties gained from last season: consolidated hierarchy, precise roles and a strong team chemistry. Chris Paul at 36 is once again the best assistman in the league with a 10.1 average, in which category he reached third place all-time. Phoenix has the best league record alongside Golden State. The team has grown a lot in terms of defensive efficiency recording the third best Defensive rating for 100 possessions (from 111.3 last year to 104 this year), it is the second team by differential and places in the top 10 of all shooting statistics.
DEMAR DEROZAN
The last season in San Antonio seemed to lead to a slow and inexorable fall into oblivion. Maybe because of his characteristics, maybe because of his style of play, but DeRozan gave the impression of being too “old school” a player to return to playing the role of first violin. This start of the season, on the other hand, has shown exactly the opposite. The former Spurs pleasantly surprised everyone, starting with the Bulls themselves. In his 13th nba season DeRozan travels to 26 points on average, second for individual performance only to the 2016-17 vintage. Six races have already closed with 30 or more points (5-1 the team record).
The most interesting aspect is the impact it is having on the team: the differential on 100 possessions with or without DeRozan in the field is +18.6 (last year in San Antonio it was -1.9). It is also curious to note how in the 9 away games he shot with an average of 42.4%, compared to 32.8% overall. To say that in this early season for the Bulls he managed to steal the show from LaVine is not so far from reality.
WES UNSELD JR
Below is the Washington Wizards 2021-22 roster: Spencer Dinwiddie, Raul Neto, Aaron Holiday, Bradley Beal, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Davis Bertans, Corey Kispert, Deni Avdija, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Daniel Gafford. Thinking at the start of the season that such a team could have a record higher than 60% after the first month of the regular season was crazy. Wes Unseld Jr, first experience as head coach in the League, he took 14 wins and lost 8 races after the first quarter of the season. It’s true: Washington had a pretty easy schedule and we’ll have to understand when it will last, because the roster doesn’t offer many ideas. The team, however, found meaning around its star, Bradley Beal, and despite the absences of Thomas Bryant and Rui Hachimura, he continues to fight at the top of the Eastern Conference. Dinwiddie has returned to shine after his crusader injury (15 + 5 + 5 on average in 30 minutes in this first quarter of the season). Harrell has found the desire and energy seen in the Clippers jersey. Gafford is proving to be a decent rim protector, capable of giving solutions even in the offensive half of the pitch. Unseld Jr is leading a mediocre team with success and this was by no means to be taken for granted.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Don’t talk aboutStephen Curry’s season start it would be inconsiderate. To discuss only the Curry season, however, would be an understatement. Golden State is back to being that steamroller we all knew. Draymond Green is excited again to lead an NBA defense (the first for Defensive rating). Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins are both averaging nearly 20 points per game. The Warriors are the second best offense in the NBA to date: in 22 games out of 23 the team has scored more than 100 points (except for the game lost against the Suns). Golden State tops any shooting statistic, in first place for steals and assists. The aesthetics of the Warriors’ game are transformed into results on the pitch: the record in the regular season is 18 wins and 3 defeats, after a season, the 2020-21 one, closed just above 50% of victories in which the playoffs were missing. Little by little the feeling that, if in the day, Golden State is not a team that can be faced on a basketball court. All this, waiting for Klay Thompson.
JA MORANT
The potential risk was that of losing one of the nba’s most thrilling protagonists. Fortunately, the first rumors tell us that Morant will be away from the field for a short time. In his third year in the league he is traveling to 24 points on average, thus giving continuity to the growth recorded last year (from 17.8 to 19 points). The impact it has had on the game is so evident that according to bookmakers it is the main candidate for the Most Improved Player award. Critics have often pointed the finger at his archery rates (30.3%) this year Morant has significantly improved on this aspect of the game, recording 35.6%.
This upgrade increases the panic in the opposing defenses, which when they are forced to reduce the space they can grant to Morant, they know that they will be systematically punished with the iron. His start to the season was once again overwhelming, so much so that it attracted the attention of Kevin Durant and Allen Iverson. It remains to be seen only whether Memphis will be able to react to his absence.
Journalist and collaborator from Udine, he has written for BasketUniverso since February 2014. He is a great fan of stars and stripes basketball, with an eye for his Chicago Bulls.
