Western conference 1. OKC Thunder 5-1 Well as expected the thunder went out this week and absolutely dominated their competition to the tune of a +131 point differential. With their only loss coming against the top line of the Suns, these guys look like the real deal and should remain the top seed in the west through-out the season OKC player of the week – @THEKIDDKEL 18.8ppg/13.3Ast/3.3stl 2. Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 The reigning western conference champs look to be in good form in the early season. Boasting a +94 point differential and a big win over the Suns top line and a very close game against the OKC thunder these guys look like they’ll be around the top all season, much like the thunder. LAL Player of the week – @GEE5iVE04 21ppg/8.5ast 3. San Antonio Spurs (!) 5-1 Well, well, well. It’s our first surprise of the season and good for them because @manEATgod deserves it after sticking through a tough time last season. The spurs are coming in at 5-1 with a lot of close wins as shown by their +57 point differential so far. Not to put a damper in the mood of current spurs but all their wins except one have come against the 2nd lines of teams and haven’t faced nearly as good competition as some of the other teams, however 5-1 is 5-1, so congrats. SAS Player of the week – @xxGotti 19.3ppg/12.3ast/3stls 4. Phoenix Suns 2-4 The suns started out of the gate strong with wins against Portland and OKC and then faltered with 4 straight Ls, the 2nd line lost close games to the Spurs and Nuggets which really hampered the week. However as shown by the Suns +33 point differential against from what my understanding was the best line of every team they faced, (minus OKC), they deserved better fate than 2-4 hence why they are put into the 4th spot over the next team on this list. PHX Player of the week @Jlm1410 22.8ppg/9.3ast/2.5stls 5. Portland Trailblazers 3-3 Portland came out this week with a so-so performance, they won the games they were supposed to win and lost the games they were probably favored to lose, unlike the teams above them though they are the first team with a minus point differential, sitting at -21. However they have some good players and a good owner and should continue to remain competitive throughout the season. POR Player of the week @ttp-21- 21ppg/8.8ast/4.5stls 6. Houston Rockets 1-5 The rockets are off to an abysmal start but I don’t think it can continue with the wealth of talent on this roster. They boast a bunch of WR players, a former #1 pick and a former 1st team all NBA PG, this team does not scream 1-5 and should still be seen as a threat in the west when they start clicking. Watch for complex to get the boys going and go on a win streak here in the future, or at least a winning week. HOU Player of the week @HaadDaGr8_ 38ppg/9ast/6stls 7. Memphis Grizzlies 2-4 The grizzlies won the games against very weak lineups this week and got thrashed by the teams they lost against to the tune of a -79 point differential. I see this trend continue with the current makeup of the team at this point, they’ll win some games against 2nd lines and lose all the games against 1st lines unless some additional changes are made. MEM Player of the week @R3my_martin10 21.3ppg/5.3ast 8. Denver Nuggets 2-4 Despite owning the same record as the Suns, this team has played extremely bad. Both of Denvers wins have come by 6 or less points and all of their loses have been by 23 or more, and to make matters worse the guy they spent 7m on in bidding has played a grand total of only 2 games. This appears as if it could be a long season for Denver if some changes aren’t made. DEN Player of the week @Demobeatz 15pts/6ast Eastern Conference 1. Toronto Raptors 6-0 This team is LOADED, how loaded do you ask? Loaded enough that a guy could be averaging 52.5 and 13 and not get player of the week on his team. Yeah that loaded. The Raptors are 6-0 and there’s really not much I can say about them other than this is currently the best team in the league by a lot. Oh yeah they’re currently +209, yikes. TOR Player of the week @StayFarAway_ATR 35.3ppg/12.8/7stl 2. Chicago Bulls 5-1 The Bulls currently look like a solid team in the east, however as shown by their loss to the raptors and other close wins against stiffer competition they’re still a bit behind Toronto. They have a +92 point differential but they beat Miami by 80 so that number is kind of deceiving, however this team has the talent to keep winning and should challenge for a 2-4 seed in the east. CHI player of the week @Kingdeydey_ 29.5pts/6.8ast/2.8stl 3. Charlotte Hornets 4-2 Charlotte looks exactly like what I thought they were, a team that has some talent and will win a bunch of games of their defence. Even in Charlottes loses to Phi & Toronto they played well enough to win and will continue to play this way based on the current make-up of the team. Furi is currently out of CCs grasp and is playing like a MVP contender, watch out for Charlotte. CHA Player of the week @Furix24 24ppg/5.5rpg/8ast/4.5stl 4. Philadelphia 76ers 2-4 This team has started out of the gate slow, plus they’ve dealt with a tough opening schedule against the top 3 teams in the east, however this team is a bit to talented to keep struggling. They did manage to sneak by with a win over charlotte showing the potential that this team has. Look for the 76ers to have a bounce back week next week and finish with a winning record. Our pre-season rankings had this team as the best in the east, I think Toronto now holds that record, however Thorpe should have these guys gunning for 2nd not before long. PHI Player of the week- @WetLikeKyleLowry 20.8ppg/7ast 5. Brooklyn Nets 3-3 Brooklyn currently looks like the best bet as the team who will challenge the most for the 4th seed in the east, they have enough to beat the les skillful teams in the east and might even sneak a game or two against the better teams (ie their win over PHI). All 3 of the nets loses came against the Top 3, yet they won the games they were supposed to. Kudos to Brooklyn for surprising people this week and hopefully they can keep it up. BKN Player of the week- @JakeFaceBabYeaii 18.5ppg/15.5rpg 6. Cleveland Cavaliers 2-4 The Cavs don’t look great, considering they only beat the heat by 3 and their only other win came against the Knicks. They are only -40 though in the point differential category so they’ve been somewhat competent. I can’t see this roster though as currently constructed challenging for anything close to a playoff spot. CLE Player of the week- @G0bL1n_412 28ppg/6.5ast 7. New York Knicks 2-4 Another team that snuck a win against the 76ers yet somehow got blew out by the Cavs, I don’t understand. The Knicks look to have some good players, and should improve and move up the standings once they develop some chemistry and face some weaker competition but right now I can’t see them challenging for a playoff spot unless Brooklyn severely slips up NYK Player of the week @scholz2k 19ppg/3.5ast/1.5stl 8. Miami 0-6 F In summary the league is a lot more competitive than I thought it would be pre-season and it can only help for the growth of LG basketball. Good luck all in week 2.
