Around the NBA: The favourites and the surprise packages

What team has been the most surprising this year?

Under Terry Stotts, the Blazers have been a revitalized team this year

PA - Has to be Portland, right? Portland is averaging 108.4 points per game, which is 1st in the entire league. Consider that last year they had 97.5 in the same category (exactly average, 15th out of 30 teams), that’s a big jump. The addition of Robin Lopez was huge, but he’s actually averaging 2 points per game less than J.J. Hickson was a year ago. Aldridge has elevated his game to another level, going from 21 ppg to 24.3, and in turn, Portland has gone from 33-49, good enough for in the West, they’re now 33-13, good enough for 3rd in the west. Exact same win total, but this year it’s before the All-Star break. That is huge. And I don’t know of many that saw it coming.

RR - I gotta go with the Suns for most surprising. I know that the Blazers are in the top 3 of the Western Conference, but people at least thought they would challenge for a playoff spot, especially with an improved bench this year. However, the Suns were picked to 21 games (fewest in the West) this year by sportsbook.com and they are already up to 28 wins, while sitting 6th in the West. They weirdly own the Blazers and the Pacers this year and have been getting along just fine without Eric Bledsoe right now thanks to Goran Dragic playing like an All Star (Sadly he plays in the stacked West instead of the East where Joe Johnson got selected). On top of all this, they are an extremely fun team to watch that will hopefully continue to play their terrorizing, 2-point guard lineup when Bledsoe gets back.

JB - It pains me to agree with Ryan, but I agree that the Suns have been the most surprising team in basketball this season. Everyone knows that Portland has the league’s best power forward in LaMarcus Aldridge, one of the best point guards in Damian Lillard, and dependable supporting players like Nicolas Batum. While I agree that 34-13 is probably a better record than most people would have anticipated for the Trail Blazers, it isn’t too shocking to me. On the other hand, there was no way I ever thought that Phoenix would make the playoffs this year, let alone be sixth in the Western Conference right now. And this happened after an early season trade sent the Suns’ best player, Marcin Gortat, to the Washington Wizards for an injured Emeka Okafor, who has yet to play!

The explosive guard duo of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe have stunned opponents who struggle to defend two guards who complement one another so well. Miles Plumlee has become an offensive and defensive powerhouse down low and Gerald Green..GERALD GREEN has been absolutely marvelous as a perimeter defender and outside threat. They have guys who drop 20-30 points every night and you have to prepare for anyone on the Suns roster, because any of them can go off. The Suns are by far the biggest surprise this season and I’m really rooting for them to go far in the playoffs.

James - Phoenix has to be the pick since they were projected to win only 21 games and if you asked most of us before the season, we would have said that number was too high. Nobody predicted Jeff Hornacek as a Coach of the Year candidate, but what can you say. The guy is really good at whatever he does, whether its coming off screens to whap open j’s or helping Dragic play out of his mind. He’s even made Miles Plumlee look legit. Coupled with Bledsoe, that backcourt will be good for a while. What’s really interesting is if Marc Stein’s Pau-to-the-Suns trade rumor has any real merit. Who do they give up? Okafor and a first rounder? Okafor and Archie Goodwin?