The NBA has gone “Stranger Things” with rankings after the first week totally upside down.
Not much that we see after the first week will likely stick. It’s still odd to see the rankings how they are with the Timberwolves on top and the Warriors holding every other team up. There are more than a few surprises after week one, here are a few.
Minnesota is #1
On the strength of three wins combined with no losses and the possible emergence of Andrew Wiggins as a bonafide closer, the Wolves earn the top spot. Will this hold? Unlikely. Is it cool to see? Absolutely!
Warriors are bad?
I’m just not sold on the complete demise of the Warriors. I am shocked at how bad they have looked however. Their defense looks to be non-existent and they are, understandably, losing badly. Again, this is likely not to hold, but for those of you that grew tired of their success, this can be kinda fun.
OKC Thunder are respectable
After three games Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 24.3ppg, 6.0rpg and 3.0apg. Danilo Gallinari is who he has always been (when healthy) and, most surprising, Chris Paul is playing and playing well. That’s not to say CP3 isn’t a good player, he has been throughout his career, I guess I’m a bit shocked to see him playing this well on a team he clearly didn’t want to be with.
Houston has a star problem
Is this Harden’s team? Is it Westbrooks? Does it matter? I doubt it matters to the stars, but to others, it’s a real thing. In fact, its a “thing” that tore apart more than one team. Stephon Marbury couldnt play with Keven Garnet, Shaq and Kobe couldn’t co-exist. I don’t see this being an issue in Houston, but for this to rear it’s ugly head this early is concerning.
Battle of LA
The Clippers beat two good teams and lost to one bad one. Well, maybe it’s not fair to call the Suns bad?! The Lakers are at .500 against good teams and beat a bad team. Clippers take the top spot in LA after week one on the strength of their quality wins and victory in the head-to-head match-up.
There is more to talk about, but it’s only week one so we will let things continue to settle before we overreact too much. Regardless of the rankings after the first week we can all agree that its great to have the NBA back!
