2021-22 Regular Season Thread

[WilyWestbrook0]

Watched some of the Lakers/Warriors opener, mostly the fourth quarter. Poole was smooth and impressive. Warriors had great passing in the final quarter to get some nice looks. Curry had his first triple double since 2016 despite a terrible shooting night. Westbrook looked awful. No one on the Lakers had double figures other than LeBron and AD. It will take time for all their geriatric Millennial superstars to gel, if they end up gelling at all.

[pwaldo]

Didn't even realize the season started. Weird to have the NFL, MLB, NHL, and now NBA going all at once.

[qman316]

Interesting start to the season. Injuries, vaccination, and covid sickness all already playing a roll. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out over the long season.

[shockwiresports]

What is the biggest surprise so far, early this season? Two things that we could have maybe seen coming but still different or classified as a surprise:

Knicks are winning and looking good

Miles Bridges is having an awesome start, 22.5ppg before tonight

[WilyWestbrook0]

Cavaliers have been surprisingly good. Evan Mobley is a stud.

[pwaldo]

What is the biggest surprise so far, early this season?

So far I am a bit surprised that the Bucks have such an average record and that the Mavs are 7-3. Player wise Tyler Herro seems to be doing very well off the bench and even though I knew he would take a hit stat wise RW seems to be a total disaster so far in LA.

[WilyWestbrook0]

So far I am a bit surprised that the Bucks have such an average record and that the Mavs are 7-3. Player wise Tyler Herro seems to be doing very well off the bench and even though I knew he would take a hit stat wise RW seems to be a total disaster so far in LA.

I always kind of suspected Russ' game wouldn't age well. Love what he did in OKC, but playing at 100 mph well into your 30s isn't usually a recipe for success. Not sure he can adapt to any other play style, though.

[pwaldo]

I always kind of suspected Russ' game wouldn't age well. Love what he did in OKC, but playing at 100 mph well into your 30s isn't usually a recipe for success. Not sure he can adapt to any other play style, though.

I don't really think it is age as much as it is a completely different animal when you are on a last place team with no expectations versus a team that people actually watch and have expectations for. Much easier to exceed when nobody expects nothing from you versus living up to the pressure. Plus I don't think Lebron James helps anybody's career at all. He's destroyed more careers than he has ever helped.

[WilyWestbrook0]

https://www.espn.com/nba/standings

After so many years of Western Conference dominance, the East so far looks to finally be the better of the two.

12/15 teams in the East have a positive point differential, and only 2 are 40 or below win percentage.

In the West, meanwhile, only 6 teams have a positive point differential, including the #5 seed Mavericks, and 5 teams are 40 or below win percentage.

[pwaldo]

https://www.espn.com/nba/standings

After so many years of Western Conference dominance, the East so far looks to finally be the better of the two.

12/15 teams in the East have a positive point differential, and only 2 are 40 or below win percentage.

In the West, meanwhile, only 6 teams have a positive point differential, including the #5 seed Mavericks, and 5 teams are 40 or below win percentage.

I think as a whole that is finally true (took them long enough and I still don't really get the reasoning for the shift) but the 2 best teams in the NBA probably still reside in the West so the West is probably still the best for now