NBA 2018-19: 3 Teams that have been underperforming this season

The beauty of the NBA is that it does not take long to change the landscape. Things can change in a matter of days. This NBA season is about a month old and there are some teams that are playing really good like the Toronto Raptors or the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Memphis Grizzlies have been a pleasant surprise out in the West. The Los Angeles Lakers after a bad start have finally started to show up and LeBron James is back to his best.

But there are also some teams that are not playing as per the expectations. We knew that the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to be bad on LeBron James departure but they have become the worst team in the league after a trip to the NBA Finals in the previous season. Let's have a look at some of the teams that are under-performing this season.

---

#3 Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz haven't been impressive this season

The Utah Jazz are off to a 8-10 start in this early part of the season and have failed to live up to the hype of their early season expectations.

Everyone expected Utah Jazz to provide the toughest challenge to the Golden State Warriors in the West. They had an emerging guard who tore apart the Thunder defenses in the playoffs. They also had a great defensive team to match up with any other team in the NBA.

But things haven't gone by plan this year for the Utah Jazz. Donovan Mitchell is not having it easy this season with the opposition teams making him their first priority on defense. Other Jazz players have failed to impress much on the offensive end and that is hampering them every game.

But there are plenty of games in the season still left to play. The Utah Jazz will have to sort out their things soon in a very loaded Western Conference.

#2 Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors have struggled massively without Steph Curry

The Warriors were off to a rampant 10-1 start. Everything was going perfectly for them. Steph Curry was having another MVP caliber season, Kevin Durant was scoring consistently and efficiently and Klay Thompson had just broken Steph's most threes made in a game record.

Since then the Warriors have lost seven of nine games and are currently sitting 5th in the Western Conference standings. They have lost four straight games for the first time in the Steve Kerr era and for the first time since 2013.

The Warriors are struggling. They are struggling to shoot and the ball movement has been very poor. Their struggle can mostly be attributed and linked to Steph Curry's injury or the Durant-Green tussle. But the Warriors haven't looked as dominating as people expected them to be.

The Warriors will be hoping that Steph comes back soon from his injury. Having said all of this, they have everything still intact to have another championship season.

#1 Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics have been underwhelming this season

The Boston Celtics are sitting right at the edge of the playoff standings with a 9-9 record in the Eastern Conference after the first 18 games of the season. The Celtics were expected to challenge the Golden State Warriors for the NBA championship this season. They were expected to come out of the East which doesn't have LeBron anymore.

But the Boston Celtics have failed to live up to the hype. Toronto, Milwaukee and Philly all look better than Boston at this moment in the East. Kyrie Irving hasn't produced consistently this season. Jason Tatum has failed to manage expectations from his rookie season when he led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals in the absence of their two All-Stars. Gordon Hayward is yet to sync properly with the team after his long injury layoff.

The Boston Celtics need to get back in the act quickly or the other teams might take advantage of a wide-open Eastern Conference.