Rising up, crashing down - 6 NBA early season surprises and shocks

The Rockets’ deplorable start led to the exit of coach Kevin McHaleThe first six weeks of the NBA season have blasted by us like a blur. There has been chaos, and from that chaos – like a scrambled loose ball that somehow ended up in the hands of Stephen Curry – we have seen beauty like never before. So while Curry and the Golden State Warriors continue to make history in the league’s greatest-ever start, there have been a lot more teams left faded in their dust. But look beyond the Doof Wagon of Destruction that are the Warriors and you’ll see many more intriguing storylines unfolding around the league.Before the season began, NBA fans and analysts such as myself had rough premonitions of how the future could unfold, of which teams would perform well and which ones will disappoint. While those at the top (Warriors) and the bottom (76ers) have fallen in their predictable places, there has been a lot of unforeseen movement of teams in the middle. Here are the teams soaring up and crashing down in surprises and shocks early in the 2015-16 NBA season.

#6 Crashing down: Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks’ talent isn’t translating to wins

Milwaukee are the Eastern Conference mirror image of the Pelicans. A young team with freakishly athletic pieces that rose impressively to the playoffs last season and returned this year with expectations to rise higher up the charts.

Unfortunately, just like the Pelicans, the results haven’t matched the expectations, and a team that I was expecting to challenge for 4th or 5th in the East with the development of Giannis Antetokuonmpo, the return of Jabari Parker, and the signing of Greg Monroe, is currently way outside the playoff picture.

The problem starts front and center with the team’s offense. Milwaukee is 29th in the NBA’s scoring charts, ahead of only the woeful 76ers. They are among the slowest teams in the league with the second-fewest possessions per 48 minutes, and are dead last in rebounds despite having a tall and athletic lineup.

Still, it’s early in the season, and I’m confident that the core of Khris Middleton, Antetokuonmpo, Monroe, Carter-Williams, and Parker will turn things around for the better.

#5 Rising up: Orlando Magic

The Magic are burgeoning with young talent and will improve with time

A lot of teams are performing better than expected in the East, including the Hornets and the Pistons, but one of the biggest movers have been the young and imperfect Orlando Magic, who Scott Skiles has motivated to perform at a high level every night.

Orlando has moved to top 7 in the NBA’s defensive rating charts, and it’s a defense that is keeping them competitive in games despite being one of the worse shooting teams in the league. Since trading away Dwight Howard, the Magic have finished 15th, 13th, and 13th in the Eastern Conference.

This year, the maturing core of Evan Fournier, Tobias Harris, Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo, Nikola Vucevic, CJ Watson, and Andrew Nicholson has given Orlando fans a reason for optimism, and perhaps even a first playoff appearance in four years. Fournier in particular, has been a revelation and has thrived as a go-to guy for the Magic.

#4 Crashing down: New Orleans Pelicans

Despite AD’s heroics, the Pelicans are down in a hole

Before the season began, I’d predicted that the Pelicans would improve on their young playoff appearance last year by finishing 6th or 7th in the West this season, and earn Anthony Davis an MVP award for his superhuman efforts.

The superhuman efforts from Davis are there, but there was no basketball sunshine for the injury-plagued Pelicans early in this season.

The Pelicans have started the season 5-15, second-to-last in the West ahead of only the woeful Lakers, and already showing signs of a season that may be too late to salvage. Despite nearly 11 boards per game by Davis, the rest of the Pelicans can’t grab any rebounds, and the team as a whole is ranked in bottom five in rebounding percentage in the NBA.

Also, despite having one of the NBA’s best defenders and a DPOY candidate in Davis, the Pelicans are dead last in defensive rating. They have had more lineup changes than any other in the league, and the constant reshuffling and injuries have given new Head Coach Alvin Gentry a disappointing start to the promising team.

#3 Rising up: Dallas Mavericks

I realize that being 11-9 with a squad coached by Rick Carlisle, featuring a sure-fire Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki, and a decent supporting cast won’t be unusual to many fans, but I have certainly been pleasantly surprised with the Mavericks’ start to the season.

Losing out on the emoji-fueled DeAndre Jordan, watching Dirk get a year older and slower, and settling for Zaza Pachulia and the supposedly washed-up Deron Williams seemed to be signs of trouble for a team that finds itself in the thick of the strong Western Conference. But Carlisle has been able to breath new life into his team’s veterans, and in return, the vets have shown gritty performances to start the season.

A semi-rejuvenated Williams is scoring at his best rate in a few years, Wesley Matthews, despite his struggles, has done well to spread the floor, Pachulia has been a surprisingly steady personality in the center, Dwight Powell has provided a strong spark of the bench, and Dirk has continued to be as great as ever.

I had expected this team to fall to 11th or 12th in the West; instead, they are currently ranked 5th and could surprise many more with a playoff spot by the end of the season.

#2 Crashing Down: Washington Wizards

The Wizards are 8-10 so far in the season

The future was supposed to be so bright, with one of the league’s best back-courts (John Wall and Bradley Beal), a young up-and-comer in Otto Porter Jr., and a couple of years of early playoff experience under their belt.

But something has gone horribly wrong again for professional basketball in DC. The Wizards, who were supposed to be good enough for anywhere between the fourth to sixth seeds in the East, now find themselves middling outside the playoff picture of the suddenly-good conference.

Their offense is in shambles (they rank bottom five in offensive rating) and they are outrebounded by the opposition nearly every night. Their shooting and defensive percentages are all around the middle of the league table, but for a team which higher ambitions, ‘middle’ just isn’t good enough.

#1 Rising up: Indiana Pacers

Paul George has shouldered his extra responsibilities admirably

Raise your hand if you thought that the Pacers – minus Hibbert, West, and the long-departed Lance Stephenson, and with the addition of Paul George coming off the most horrific of injuries – would return to become one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and actually, the entire NBA. Nope, I don’t believe you.

But that is exactly what has happened. George hasn’t just returned; he has returned better than ever, and is averaging career-best numbers across the board in the team’s impressive 12-7 start to the season.

George is averaging over 26 points per game (five better than his previous career high), 8.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, on 44.4 percent from the field and a blistering 43.1 percent from the three-point line. All of those numbers are his best-ever.

And if George’s stupendous rise to form wasn’t surprising enough, Indiana’s overall performance has been a joy to watch, as Coach Frank Vogel has created a team gritty on defense and fluid on offense to provide a nightmare challenge to all comers.