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Three early season favorites have just dropped their first preseason games, leaving some of their followers wondering if their lofty pre-season power rankings are overrated.
Golden State Warriors, who have added another superstar in their star-studded lineup opened their pre-season with a loss to Minnesota Timberwolves.
Los Angeles Lakers, the most talked about team in the offseason due to the acquisition of the best player in the planet, LeBron James, have just dropped their first two games despite having a superb performance from JaVale McGee.
And the Boston Celtics who just activated their two injured superstars, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, and are touted to dominate the Eastern Conference, have lost two of their first three pre-season games.
For the diehard fans who have waited for at least four long months to see their favorite NBA teams back in action only to be disappointed by losses to some unheralded opponents, don’t despair. It’s only the preseason.
Here are five reasons why these NBA preseason games should not even be a cause of concern for any team.
#1 Results are not a true measure of any team’s strength
In the preseason games last season, Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, the two finalists in the 2017-2018 NBA finals, had a combined record of 3 wins, 6 losses. Yet, despite the dismal preseason showing, Steph Curry and LeBron James’ teams were able to arrange a fourth straight finals appearance.
In contrast, the Utah Jazz (5-0) and Washington Wizards (4-1), in spite of their impressive preseason performances failed to advance even to their respective conference finals.
#2 Players are barely in game shape
No matter how great NBA players are, they must be in tip-top shape to be able to perform in the greatest basketball stage in the world.
So when they see action in a competitive game for the first time after a long off-season, they are usually no-where near their usual level of performance. And some of them usually don’t heat up until the first few weeks of the regular season as well.
#3 Starters sit out the fourth quarter
With some exceptions, the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and James Harden, don’t usually see action in the fourth quarter of a preseason game no matter how close the games are.
The payoff quarters in preseason games are usually left to the second and third stringers to decide. In addition, it is the perfect time for coaches to look for players who can rise to the occasion in case some of their starting casts would not be available in regular season games.
#4 Coaches experiment a lot
Since nothing is practically at stake yet, NBA coaches aside from tinkering with their lineups find it perfectly suitable to test their newest plays, formations, alignments, and a lot more.
So it’s no surprise at all to see unlikely players handling the ball and taking the last shot when the game is on the line.
The roles of starters and bench players are usually reversed at this stage and some crazy things that fans don’t expect usually happen before their eyes to their dismay.
#5 Preseason games are the final tryouts
The preseason is where the final touches are usually done by the coaches in order to come up with the best lineup possible before the real war begins in the regular season. With the few remaining slots up for grabs, marginal players fight tooth and nail to outdo one another and get the coaches’ nod.
So the regular guys just play limited minutes and leave the chunk of the playing time to those who are trying to crack the regular season lineup.
The season has not yet officially started as these preseason wins and losses have no actual bearing except they are kept as just that, preseason standings. All the points scored, rebounds grabbed, assists dished out, shots blocked, possessions stolen, and everything else are not added to the team and individual statistics at all.
In other words, despite all the spectacles created by the preseason games, you ain’t actually seen nothing yet.
