The second week of the NBA season has wrapped up and, man, a lot happened. It’s still very early in the season and I believe you don’t really get a good sense of a team until 25 games in, BUT this is the perfect time for speculation and fun. So let’s get started with the ten things I noticed this week in the NBA!
Week 2 in the NBA
The Warriors Shined and the Pelicans Crashed
The Golden State Warriors went 3-1 last week in a week that saw them without Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins for 3 out of those 4 games. One of those games, by the way, they were down 19 points to the New Orleans Pelicans and ended up winning that game by 18 on the back of a massive second half by Buddy Hield. The Pelicans, on the other hand, did not have a great week. While they went 2-2, they lost CJ McCollum and Herbert Jones for multiple weeks on top of already losing Dejounte Murray for a few months. Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson also had a concerning performance on the second of a back-to-back against the Warriors. The first game saw them tag teaming with 31 and 30 points respectively, but followed it up with 12 and 14. I get back-to-backs are tough, but still.
Dallas Mavericks Treading Water Despite Luka Doncic’s Struggles
The Dallas Mavericks have had a lot to be excited about when it comes to this season, but one area that has been concerning and frustrating is the tough start to the season by Luka Doncic. Luka is averaging 27/8/6 but has a shooting slash of 38%/29%. However, the Mavericks are still 3-2, and their losses, against lesser-quality teams, were still competitive. It helps that Kyrie Irving is averaging 24 and Klay Thompson is averaging 15 and they still have the 14th-rated offense. Not what you expect, but much better than I would have thought with an inefficient start from Luka. Luka has had slow starts before, but I don’t think this has anything to do with his conditioning. I think you combine it with the least amount of offseason ball he played and missing all preseason and he is rusty. He’ll be back to Luka Magic soon and they’ll be fine.
Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves Concern Me
Minnesota hasn’t seemed the same this year. Offensively they aren’t as efficient out there and defensively they are much worse. They seem to be the team that plays to their competition. They put up a great fight against the Mavericks and, a great win against the Nuggets, but then lost to the Spurs. The team just doesn’t seem to be clicking yet. Anthony Edwards, even though he is playing like an MVP this year, seems to have an issue disappearing in the 4th quarter when they need him. He had 24 points in the first quarter against the Mavs but only had four shot attempts in the fourth when they were trying to come back. Three shot attempts against the Nuggets, and four against the Spurs. He also went six for twelve against the Mavs and two for four against the Spurs at the free-throw line. This was an issue Edwards had against the Mavs in the WCF and seems to be carrying over.
Denver Nuggets Are Not Right
The Denver Nuggets are struggling right now. They handled the Utah Jazz, who have not won a game yet but lost to the Timberwolves (again). On top of that, they needed two games from Nikola Jokic where he had 40/10/4 and 29/18/16, AND overtime to beat the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors. Both of those two teams are subpar teams and not as good as the Nuggets. I understand it’s the NBA and it can happen to anybody, but the fact it happened to the Nuggets two times in a row and then lost to the Timberwolves after is concerning.
Indiana Pacers Still Do Not Believe in Defense
This week saw the Indiana Pacers go 1-3. In these four games, they allowed an average of 123.5 points per game and a player scored 50, 45, 37, and 34 points against them. So the average highest scorer against the Pacers had a scoring average of 41.5 points. While they beat the Boston Celtics in OT, they were up 24 points at one point and up 19 points in the 4th quarter. Tyrese Haliburton is struggling and the Pacers will not be able to run up and down the court and outscore all their opponent like they did last year to reach the playoffs.
Norman Powell as Paul George‘s Replacement?
Norman Powell has had a great start to the year so far. A lot of people, myself included, have commented on how the Clippers’ offense would be with Paul George gone, Kawhi Leonard hurt (again), and James Harden as their only main scorer. Well, Norman Powell has forced me to eat my own words. He is averaging 25 points per game with shooting slashes of 51%/42%/85%. Will it hold up? No idea, but good for Norman Powell to show the world he is a walking bucket.
Give Tyrese Maxey His Flowers
The start of the Philadelphia 76ers season has been rough at best. 1-4 start, no Joel Embiid, no Paul George, and a lot of drama. Tyrese Maxey, despite it all, is trying his best. He is averaging 30 points per game this year and, while his shooting is inefficient, you kind of give him the benefit of the doubt considering he is the offense right now. It will get easier when Embiid and George get back, but props to Maxey.
Struggles for the Alien
Victor Wembanyama is off to a slow start this year. He’s only averaging 18 points so far and his three-point shooting has been horrible. For some second-year players, you would expect this as a sophomore slump, but the hype behind Wemby I think has blinded a lot of us to the possibility of this. I think he’ll get over it and take a big step still.
Cleveland is Looking REALLY Good
Man, the Cavaliers are looking great. Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley seem to have finally figured it out combined with their new coach in Kenny Atkinson. They have an offense and defense that ranks in the top 5 of the league and some great quality wins this season. It is early and since Mitchell was traded to Cleveland they have had a trend of great runs in the season and not being able to close it out, but wow. They look impressive.
Milwaukee is Looking REALLY Bad
On the flip side of the previous topic, the Bucks look awful. They just came off of a game where Damian Lillard scored 41 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 34, AND Dame hit a Dame Time shot. Only to lose to the Cavs because Donovan Mitchell hit a shot with .3 seconds on the clock. They have only beaten the Philadelphia 76ers and are 1-5. Add on that they are in the bottom 10 of defensive and offensive rating and it is not looking good. May be time to start talking about Gianni’s trade destinations.
Wow. What a week! Is there something I missed or something you want to comment on? Comment below!
Main Image: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images
