The Hot’s:
I’m not going to lie. When Gordon Hayward went down with that disgusting leg injury during the opening game against the Cavs, I thought the Celtics were going to have some issues trying to fill his spot. Holy Hell was I wrong. After losing the first two games of the season, Kyrie and company went on a 16 game winning streak and now sit at the top of the Eastern Conference at 18-4 and tied for first in the league with the Rockets. Irving has quickly shown that he doesn’t need King James by his side to lead a championship caliber team.
Speaking of great leaders, James Harden is going insane (in a good way) on the court. The Beard is leading the league with 31.7 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game, making himself a strong candidate in the MVP race. The Rockets have been killing it this season, the majority of games without CP3. Paul was out all but six games dealing with a knee injury, but has been lighting it up the assist category since his return.
The Warriors are no shock sitting at #3 in the league. The three-headed monster of Curry, Thompson, Durant are tearing up the points category, accounting for 70.9 of the teams 116.9 ppg this season. I see Golden State lingering around the top three spots throughout the entire season.
To my surprise, the Pistons are sitting at the # 4 spot with a 13-6 record. The last time the Pistons had this great of a start was the 2007-08 season where Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton, and Chauncey Billups made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before being knocked out by the Celtics. Detroit defeated Boston this past Monday, where Andre Drummond absolutely dominated the game with 26 points and 22 rebounds while Avery Bradley held Kyrie Irving to 6/16 from the field and six turnovers. Could Monday night’s game have been a look into this year’s Eastern Conference Finals? I sure as Hell hope so.
The Not’s:
The Thunder aren’t close to being the worst team in the league, but when Paul George and Melo were signed in the offseason, I certainly didn’t see them being under .500 at this point of the season. Being 3-9 in the conference and a terrible 2-8 on the road, OKC has a lot of work to do to be serious playoff contenders. Shit, they just lost by 16 to the 5-16 Mavericks, the 3rd worst team in the league.
The Grizzlies are a train wreck that you can’t look away from. Losers of the last eight games, Memphis GM Chris Wallace decided to say “bye-bye” to head coach David Fizdale. Griz fans don’t have much to be excited about, whether it’s seeing the team go 4-7 at home or Mike Conley being out since November 13th and expected to be gone another 2-3 weeks. This team is falling apart faster than a meth head’s teeth. I personally feel it’s due to them letting go of Zach Randolph, whose talents are now being wasted on a garbage Sacramento team.
Wes Calhoun covers the NBA and NCAA basketball for The SoBros Network. He drinks beer and bourbon while cursing at the TV watching games which will most likely lead to a heart attack. Go Cats! Follow on Twitter: @WesCalhoun1229
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