The Up-and-Downers
This group consists of the teams that have had high highs and low lows. Some of them are in great positions while others appear to be dwindling. Where they’ll end up come season’s end is anybody’s guess.
Oklahoma City Thunder
It wasn’t long ago at all that the Oklahoma City Thunder were the only team left in the Western Conference without a win, sitting at 0-4. Now, all of a sudden, they’re 7-4, good for fourth place in the West. That’s a lesson on not reading too much into early results and it’s also an example of how quickly things can change in the deep Western Conference.
The Thunder are still a difficult team to gauge, though, because there’s no denying that they looked awful in their first four contests. They’ve since turned it around obviously, but none of their wins have come against outstanding opponents considering how much the New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets have been slumping of late. The Thunder have posted an elite defense so far this season, second best in the league, but their offense has been erratic at best.
Even stranger, they’ve actually fared quite well in their past two contests despite missing Russell Westbrook. This could be a sign that they have better depth this season and their newcomers are slowly starting to gel after a poor start, but until they continually face and defeat some stiffer competition, it’s hard to define this Thunder team.
Honestly, I think their 0-4 start was a fluke, but I also think their 7-0 bounceback since then isn’t exactly indicative of who they are. They’re almost certainly a playoff team, but finishing middle of the playoff pack, which is where they stand right now, is probably a pretty safe bet.
San Antonio Spurs
Some believed that the San Antonio Spurs would fall off after the Kawhi Leonard trade, but with Gregg Popovich calling the shots and with the incredible play of All-Star DeMar DeRozan, they’ve maintained a steady course. The bad news for the Spurs is that without a transcendent talent such as Leonard, they will no longer be anything close to a threat to the Warriors, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be a very good team.
That said, the Spurs have certainly had some ups and downs so far this season. They got off to an incredible 6-2 start which saw them earn some big wins, but they’ve now lost two straight to two foes that aren’t exactly daunting – the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat.
As San Antonio continues to gel and Popovich continues to get the most out of guys like DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge, I think we’ll see them have more highs than lows. However, hovering just above .500 will likely be the typical experience for the 2018-19 Spurs.
Utah Jazz
I debated between putting the Jazz in this category or in one that will follow entitled ‘Slow out of the Gate’, but ultimately decided I’d place them here. The fact of the matter is that while the 4-6 mark the Jazz had looked like a slow start out of the gate, the 4-2 mark they posted, which included some nice road wins in New Orleans and Houston (before we knew about both teams’ struggles) looked pretty solid.
Then they went back down again with some embarrassing losses to Minnesota, Memphis and Toronto. And now, with a big statement win over the Boston Celtics it appears they may be on their way up.
Honestly, if the Jazz have you a little confused, I think you’re perfectly normal. They’ve simply been a head-scratching team so far this year. However, when they’re engaged on defense (which unfortunately hasn’t been the case consistently so far), they’re still as dominant as any team in the league. Utah isn’t off to quite the start fans might have hoped, but I believe that the team we’ve seen in the highs is more indicative of what they’ll round out to be.
Their early-season schedule will remain brutal through the end of the calendar year, so expect more of a roller coaster ride for them moving forward. But despite sitting at just 6-6 and ninth in the West right now and even though they’ve had some poor stretches already this season, I’d say that a top-four seed in the West is still very much plausible for a team that has yet to fully click and hit their daunting potential this season.
New Orleans Pelicans
Perhaps no team fits this ‘up-and-down’ category better than the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pels got off to an electrifying 4-0 start that had many NBA fans, including myself, proclaiming them as a dark-horse top-four seed in the West. However, after that 4-0 start, the Pelicans went on to drop six games in a row. They since bounced back with a win over lowly Chicago, but it didn’t take long for their quick rise up the standings to transform into a spiraling descent.
Sure, it should be noted that Anthony Davis missed three games during that six-game slide, but even with him back the Pelicans were outmatched by the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. I know I’ve said this a lot so far, but it is simply the truth – early streaks shouldn’t be read too much into whether they be wins or losses. I don’t think the Pelicans are as hot as they started nor as bad as they’ve followed, they’ll likely be in the middle of the playoff pack along with several other of the up-and-downers and fast starters that I’ve mentioned.