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It's hard to believe that the 2017-18 NBA season is already a fifth of the way done. Before we know it, we'll be watching the Christmas Day spectacle that the league is known for.
As I covered in last week's power rankings, there are some surprising teams off to great starts like the Boston Celtics who have won 15 straight games after starting 0-2 and losing Gordon Hayward six minutes into the season. After finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference last year, the Detroit Pistons are in 2nd with a 10-5 record.
With the good comes the bad. This article is going to take a look at five teams that have disappointed the most in this young NBA season. They include a team that has reached the NBA Finals for three straight seasons, a team with one of the best players in the league that added two superstars, as well as some up and coming teams that looked great last year but are faltering to start this year.
Continue on to see #5, an NBA team with the worst record in the league...
#5 Dallas Mavericks (2-14)
This is probably not the way that Dirk Nowitzki wanted to spend the final years of his career. Only two years removed from a team that was the sixth seed in the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks are a mess.
Through 16 games the Mavericks are a league-worst 2-14. The odd part to this season is the fact that Dallas' two wins are against teams who made the playoffs last year and are pretty much in the thick of the race early on (Memphis and Washington).
The offense just isn't there as they're 28th in the league in scoring with 98.2 PPG. The defense isn't there either as they're 21st in the league at 107.3 PPG given up.
#4 Utah Jazz (7-10)
The Utah Jazz surprised everyone last season when they finished 20 games over .500 with a 51-31 record. It was good for a fifth-place finish in the Western Conference, but they're not firing on all cylinders this season.
Currently, the Jazz are sitting on a 7-10 record, including a brutal 1-6 record on the road. The defense is very solid as they rank seventh in the league in points given up per game (101.8 PPG), but the offense is sputtering.
Their 99.0 PPG rank 27th in the league, led by shooting guard Rodney Hood at 16.8 PPG. The good news is that the Jazz have time to turn it around, especially since they're playing well on the defensive side of the ball.
#3 Los Angeles Clippers (5-10)
On paper, it appeared that the Los Angeles Clippers would be able to survive in their first season without Chris Paul with the addition of Patrick Beverley and the solid play of Lou Williams off the bench. The season hasn't started off well for the Clippers as they are 5-10 and in 12th place in the Western Conference.
The big problem the Clippers have is the ability to set up plays for success. They replaced Chris Paul who averaged 9.2 APG last year with Beverley who only has 3.0 APG so far this year. Beverley has never been a big assist guy with a career average of 3.4 APG, but it is an adjustment for the team having a different style at point guard.
They are currently on a eight-game losing streak and have lost ten of their 11 games.
#2 Cleveland Cavaliers (9-7)
The last few games kept the Cleveland Cavaliers out of the #1 spot as LeBron James and company are in the middle of a four-game winning streak. Before that streak, they were sitting a 5-7 after reaching the NBA Finals for the past three seasons (including an NBA Championship in 2016).
The problem is Cleveland cannot defend anyone. They're giving up 112.2 PPG which is 28th in the NBA. The interesting thing is they were able to make the NBA Finals last year with a lackluster defense that finished 20th in the league last year. They're just not getting away with it early in this season.
#1 Oklahoma City Thunder (7-8)
The Oklahoma City Thunder thought they had the answer to losing Kevin Durant after the 2016 season to Golden State. In the offseason, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony joined the Thunder and they were expected to challenge (and try to get revenge) the Warriors.
With 15 games completed in the 2017-18 season, the Thunder have a losing record and are currently in 9th in the Western Conference. Part of the reason the Thunder aren't clicking is the same reason the Utah Jazz aren't either.
Also read: What's going wrong with the Oklahoma City Thunder
It's the lack of offense as they're only scoring 102.9 PPG good for 22nd in the league, but their defense is spectacular by only allowing 97.5 PPG which is good for 2nd best in the NBA. It's all about getting hot at the right time when the playoffs come around, but if the playoffs started today, the Thunder wouldn't be a part of them.
