The NBA season is finally underway and we’ve already seen some mighty performances through the opening week. From 50-point outbursts to career nights for the ages, from triple-doubles to tactical thrashings. It’s a long road ahead but some performances, some strategies, some moments have already set the tone for how thrilling this season is going to be.
If you thought the road to the championship was a mere formality and the champions could well be crowned already, think again, and think hard!
Also read: A record three Indians enter the 2016 NBA D-League draft
On that note, take a look at 5 things we learnt from the opening week of the NBA:
#1 LeBron is still the King of the East
If there still was any doubt left on who the gatekeeper of the East was, LeBron answered that with a triple-double in the season opener, following that up with two solid games, one of which saw him play Center in Tyronn Lue’s latest experiment.
LeBron finished the opening week with averages of 21 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 10 assists. The Cavs may not have faced the most dangerous of opponents in the new look New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic, but with a hard fought win against last year’s Eastern Conference Finalists in the Toronto Raptors, the King and the Cavs are hitting the right chords early on.
LeBron may not match his career average when it comes to scoring, but the offense will flow right through him while he’s on court. With minutes’ restrictions on the cards, he may not have an MVP-esque season statistically, but we all know that once playoff time looms, who the Cavs Go-To man will be.
We’re still through only 3 games of 82 in the regular season for the Cavs, but the King definitely looks all set to defend his throne, both as an individual and as the leader of the defending champions.
#2 Pops will always be the master in a league full of ‘protégés’
Few would have anticipated the final score-line of the Warriors v/s Spurs opening night game, but if you knew coach Popovich any better, you would realize it was all planned. For a man bringing method to madness for generations of ball players, one would not be foolish in assuming Pops is probably the greatest coach of his generation, across sports.
Gregg Popovich may have lost the Big Fundamental Tim Duncan to retirement but he does have a few old dogs left in Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. New recruit Pau Gasol may not have had enough ball-time to prove his efficacy yet, but we all know Pops’ magic, it either makes you a champion or the next person out of the roster.
With the likes of Steve Kerr, Luke Walton and Tyron Lue leading some of the other marquee franchises, one would tend to believe Pops is the grand-daddy of the coaching fraternity, but who would dare call him that. The race for Coach of the Year would be a tough one, but can you ever really rule Pops out of it?!
Kerr may have the most incredible starting five, with 4 NBA All-stars donning the white and gold, but his squad was decimated by the tactics deployed by Popovich, which included not starting the star recruit, Gasol. What made the win sweeter was the fact that it erased memories of the thumping the Warriors inflicted on the Spurs last season.
#3 The Warriors will explode, but they need to get the chemistry right
Explosions usually require the right chemical formulations and balances, and Golden State didn’t seem to have that on opening night. That being said, the Warriors have bounced back well from humiliation at home, and seem to be headed in the right direction for another earth-shattering campaign.
With 4 All-NBA stars from last year, MVPs from the last three seasons, multiple scoring championships, a walking triple-double machine, the most explosive backcourt in the league, and championship pedigree, not to forget a team that set the record for most wins in a regular season, sans a few members; the title is definitely there’s to lose according to betting odds-makes from around the globe coupled with popular perception.
However, they need to get their on-court chemistry right, to ensure they explode and not implode. What the Spurs did to them with their pace and counter-measures against the small-ball methodology employed by the Dubs, especially in the post, would have definitely caught the attention of coaches around the league.
The Warriors have never been the most defensively efficient team in the league, and their summer exits would definitely hurt them there, but can they continue to offensively execute well enough to score more than their opponents, given the offensive juggernaut they are, now even more so with the inclusion of Kevin Durant, remains their Holy Grail!
#4 Kawhi Leonard’s offensive game has sky-rocketed, defensibly so
Kawhi Leonard may not have proclaimed to have set his sights on being this year’s MVP, but much like the ethos of the Spurs organization, he lets his play and the ball do the talking. The two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year, a former Finals MVP, and last year’s runner-up in the MVP race, Kawhi has blossomed into one of the best two-way forces, with a sharp upside in his offensive abilities.
He may not be shooting well enough from deep, but he’s averaging 28 points per game through the first four games of the season (mind you, his career average is 14.4 ppg). He has never been the greatest facilitator, but his knack for forcing turnovers and stealing the ball, make him an incredible offense initiator.
His tenacity to be in the mix of things, coupled with his ever-increasing range and offensive prowess, have also made him a dynamic shooter. With the likes of Pau Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge pounding the offensive glass, second chance opportunities will come aplenty for the Spurs, as was evident against the small-ball lineup of the Warriors on opening night.
What is encouraging also was the fact that he followed up his career night with another 30-point effort. His 35-point outburst against the Warriors definitely made a lot of heads turn, especially from worried coaches who would have to draw plays to get past Leonard and defend him on the offensive end at the same time.
You can undoubtedly expect bigger things from him offensively in the post-Duncan era.
#5 Westbrook looks the most likely to follow Tiny Archibald
Tiny Archibald did the unthinkable back in the 1972-73 NBA season, he led the league in both scoring and assists. There has been a lot of talk recently about how James Harden’s ‘transformation’ to a point-guard could make that stat-line happen again, but apparently Russell Westbrook has his own ideas of repeating history.
The front-runner in the MVP race as part of the build-up to the season and pre-season odds (owing to Durant’s departure), Westbrook could well be chasing multiple histories at the same time. He has two triple-double in his team’s first three outings (last happened in 1982: Magic Johnson), has already recorded a 50-point triple double game (last happened in 1975: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), and currently leads the league in both scoring and assists.
Westbrook will be at the heart of all of Thunders’ basketball this season, and if you think he was scathed by the departure of Kevin Durant, that is one hell of a start to show how he’s feeling now. Expect a lot of volume shooting, a lot of insane and incredible facilitating, a lot of pounding the glass, a lot of steals and lest we forget, a few turnovers here and there from Russ, but as an individual, this is probably going to be a season for the ages.
If you thought this guy had a monstrous 2015-16 season, expect a Thunderous season from him this time around.
