One week is in the books, and just like everyone predicted, the Warriors, Clippers, Thunder, Raptors, Pistons and Timberwolves are the NBA’s undefeated units.
Wait, what? That’s right. The Pistons and Wolves are off to hot starts in 2015-16.
Stan Van Gundy is making magic happen in Michigan, and though it’s early, there are a lot of positives. They’ve beaten three projected playoff teams in Atlanta, Chicago, and Utah.
Andre Drummond is starting to make all those Dwight Howard comps look legit. Despite still lacking a post game, he’s already enjoyed the first of many 20-20 games in 2015-16, and he’s going to put up gargantuan numbers with Greg Monroe having moved on to Milwaukee.
Reggie Jackson, for all the talk of how insanely overpaid he was this summer, has been efficient running the show. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who has shown gradual improvement since a rocky rookie season, has been brilliant. New additions Marcus Morris and Ersan Ilyasova have both added much-needed scoring and versatility. Oh, and Stanley Johnson has done some nice things as well. They’ve already lost marksman Jodie Meeks for three-four months following foot surgery, but these Pistons look primed for a playoff push.
The Wolves beat the Lakers in their opener, a poetic victory if ever there was one, having won one for Flip, and coincidentally against the franchise that left Minneapolis long ago for Los Angeles. This could be a sign from the basketball gods, who’ve blessed the Lakers with lots of luck and star-power since their arrival in L.A., that the tables have finally turned, with the Lynx and Wolves set to rule the respective basketball worlds.
OK, so they beat the Lakers and the Nuggets, but Ricky Rubio’s mid-range jumper was silky against L.A. Nemanja Bjelica is stepping out beyond the three-point line, putting the ball on the ground, and appears to be making a smooth transition after playing professionally overseas for several years.
Karl-Anthony Towns has been downright ferocious, scoring and rebounding at will. He’s fast and fluid attacking the basket, and makes his moves quickly without rushing. He might already be the best player on his team, and that’s no disrespect to his mates.
The Wolves aren’t as likely to make the playoffs as the Pistons given their location, but Andrew Wiggins hasn’t even played well yet, and Minnesota is too much fun not to talk about.
Without further babbling, here are the must-watch lottery games in week two.
Monday, November 2—Blazers @ Wolves
So, C.J. McCollum can hoop. And there’s a lot more where that came from, because it’s going to be a Damian Lillard-McCollum montage all season long—at least League Passers are hoping so. I’ve already gushed about the Wolves; so let me go on about the Blazers. I don’t think they’re going to win a lot of games—in fact, I’d be surprised to see them reach 30 wins, but they’re going to be exceedingly fun.
This matchup offers an intriguing matchup at point guard, with Lillard and Rubio, two point guards that have much different games, squaring off. If Rubio doesn’t get obviously outplayed, I like the Wolves to improve to 3-0.
Tuesday, November 3—Pacers @ Pistons
Well I’ve already gone on at length about Detroit, so let’s talk Pacers. They’ve gotten off to a 0-3 start, with losses to the Raptors, Grizzlies, and Jazz. Small-ball hasn’t been a success yet, and Monta Ellis has looked elderly. Ironically two of the three teams the Pacers lost to are among the few teams bucking conventional wisdom by running out two-big lineups (Z-Bo, Marc Gasol, Favors, Gobert). If those games were any indication of what the future holds, Drummond is going to eat on Tuesday versus Indy.
Tuesday, November 3—Lakers @ Nuggets
Emmanuel Mudiay vs. D’Angelo Russell should be a lot of fun—assuming they spend at least a little bit of time matched up against one another. The Nuggets snuck out a shocking win in the season opener at Houston before falling to the Wolves and Thunder. They have the chance to recover to .500, while the Lakers are still looking for win number one of the new season.
Wednesday, November 4—Kings @ Suns
The Kings are 1-2 after beating the Lakers and losing two close ones to the Clippers in week one, and this should be a good one between two teams hoping for the playoffs after considerably long droughts.
If the Suns fall to L.A. on Monday in Eric Bledsoe’s return to Clipper-land, Phoenix will be 2-2 heading into its meeting with Sacramento. Meanwhile, the Kings host the Grizzlies on Tuesday in a matchup between two of the league’s top centers, and will be playing their second game of a back-to-back versus the Suns on Wednesday—meaning Boogie could be feeling extra feisty, or fussy.
Bledsoe vs. Boogie, baby. OK, so they won’t be covering each other, but this will be a good game with lots of watchable individual matchups (Rajon Rondo-Bledsoe, Rudy Gay-P.J. Tucker, and Cousins-Tyson Chandler).
Friday, November 6—Pistons vs. Suns
Reunited and it feels so good. Marcus and Markieff going toe-to-toe like the good old days at the park. Hopefully we see them get matched up a fair amount, and the two teams mistakenly pass the ball to the wrong twin. Ideally, the Morris’ switch jerseys in the tunnel prior to pre-game and then let the chips fall where they may.
Saturday, November 7—Magic vs. 76ers
The Magic has had three close losses against teams projected to make the playoffs, namely the Wizards, Thunder, and Bulls. Orlando is outstanding to watch, but they have to start stringing some wins together if they want to at least contend for a playoff spot this year. Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades; and right now, the Magic are almost good enough to beat good teams and make the postseason.
The Sixers, on the other hand, suffered the franchise’s worst home opening loss in history versus the Jazz on Friday. Understandably, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert bullied the young duo of Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. The Utah big men dominated the boards, and blocked what felt like a billion shots. Of course, the Sixers will hopefully have Robert Covington back soon, and the matchup with Orlando makes for must-see-basketball between two young teams.
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