NBA 2018-19: 5 Early takeaways from the season so far

The NBA season is finally underway and it hasn't disappointed so far. Teams are going at each other from the get-go. The Eastern conference has definitely become a lot more competitive now following LeBron James's decision to join the Los Angeles Lakers.Whereas competition in the Western Conference has increased threefold. After a couple of games played let’s look at some of the early impressions from the season so far.#1 The Oklahoma City Thunder are really struggling Sacramento Kings v Oklahoma City ThunderThe Thunder have started the season with a 0-3 record. Not the start that they were hoping for at all, considering the talent they have at their disposal. It’s the first time that they have started the season 0-3 since the 2007-08 season.The Thunder have been poor defensively and have given up more than 100 points in all three games so far. Added to that, has been the absence of former MVP and superstar athlete Russell Westbrook, whose offensive prowess has been missed to a great extent.Westbrook returned for today’s game against the Sacramento Kings after a two game absence due to an arthroscopic knee surgery that he had in the offseason and was back to his usual best with a 32-8-12 stat line.He and Paul George had great games but they eventually fell short and lost the game 131-120. With Westbrook now back, the team needs to work on their chemistry, the fact that they need help from other role and bench players and work on their defense in order to get back to winning ways in the packed western conference.#2 LeBron’s had a great start, what about the Lakers? LeBron James is off to a good start this seasonEveryone from the basketball world has really high hopes from the Los Angeles Lakers this season. Why? Since the greatest player on the planet, LeBron James, signed with the team this offseason changing the entire dynamic of the league.Veteran players like Rajon Rondo, Micheal Beasley, JaVale McGee and Lance Stephenson were added to the roster as well to join the talented young core of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart.Through two games this season, LeBron has averaged 25.0 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game and 5.5 assists per game. The point is that LeBron is going to be great every night, he will give it his all and will put his team in winning positions but ultimately it is up to the team to perform well which has not happened so far, as the Lakers have started the season 0-2, losing to the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets.Things got chippy at the end of the game against the Rockets as both Rondo and Ingram were involved in an altercation with Rockets guard Chris Paul. Ingram was handed a four game suspension and Rondo was handed a three game suspension.The season hasn’t started on a bright note for the Lakers. Let’s see how they respond going forward.

NBA 2018-19: 5 Early takeaways from the season so far

#3 The Rockets are missing some key defensive players