Gordon Hayward’s strong start is giving Jazz fans reasons to smile.
We are a couple weeks into the NBA season now, and while the season is still young, there is plenty to discuss. First, let’s take a look at the lottery standings:
[table id=45 /] [table id=46 /]There aren’t any real surprises in the West; San Antonio sits 3-3 largely because of their decision to rest key players during back-to-backs, while OKC is struggling without Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (though they did pick up a home win against Sacramento). Denver is off to a terrible start, and the Lakers finally picked up their first win after beating the Hornets at home Sunday.
If there was a surprise in the East it would be Charlotte, who is 9th at 3-4, and hasn’t shown the consistency needed to be in the top eight. Two division wins in a row were followed up by the 15 point loss to Los Angeles, and their schedule doesn’t get easier, with road games against Portland, Phoenix, and Golden State all looming.
Lottery Teams Rising
The Sacramento Kings won five straight before losing to the Thunder, and now sit at 5-2. DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay, and Darren Collison have had strong starts to the year, but it is the team’s defense, and the amount of free throws they are attempting, that has helped them to this strong start. They have a defensive rating of 103.5, which is 11th best in the league, and are averaging more free throw attempts (37.3) than any other team in the league, and are converting them at 80.8 percent, which is 3rd best in the league.
In the East, the Boston Celtics are 3-3 after winning two straight against Indiana and Chicago. Their defense hasn’t been good (27th in points allowed, 25th defensive rating) but they are 2nd in points per game at 106.3. This way of playing isn’t sustainable however, so Boston must improve defensively if they want to stay in the top eight.
Links
In an interview with SI.com, Anthony Bennett revealed how poor his vision was last season:
“You see that white board?” Bennett said recently, pointing to a board no more than 10 feet away. “Last year, I couldn’t read the writing on it.”
And during games?
“Anything far, I couldn’t really see,” Bennett said. “I couldn’t see the people in the stands. Now I can see the scoreboard. I can see what plays coach wants to run.”
Bennett had laser eye surgery in the offseason, and it has dramatically improved his vision. It is puzzling though why Cleveland didn’t look to fix this last season, unless Bennett never brought it up.
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Over at SB Nation, Ricky O’Donnell profiled Philadelphia’s K.J. McDaniels, who he says is the player that makes the 76ers watchable. With Joel Embiid and Dario Saric unlikely to play this season, McDaniels is the rookie that could have the biggest impact for the team this season (unless you count Nerlens Noel, which technically you should, but whatever). McDaniels is averaging 9.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks.
Player of the Week (and a half)
Because the Lottery Roundup didn’t go up this weekend (this is all my fault), this edition’s Lottery Player of the Week is based off the last week and a half of games. The honor goes to Gordon Hayward, who is averaging 19.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game, with a field goal percentage of 50.5 percent and a 3-point percentage of 36.4 (oh he’s also shooting 97.2 from the free throw line).
Against Cleveland, he hit a wild game winner:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUY8KWiJjGk?rel=0]Hayward was offered a $63 million contract by Charlotte this summer, but Utah matched, and so far he’s living up to the deal. The Jazz are 3-5, but Hayward has helped to keep them in most games. If he continues putting up similar numbers, he will make Jazz fans forget last year ever happened, and give them added optimism that the team will be back competing in the West sooner than later.
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