We are already at the 8-9 game mark, so here's a review of what teams have started strong enough to be called contenders, and the early-season trends in each conference (based ONLY on the games played, not future potential - so if I don't list a team, it's because I don't rate them top tier at this point).
First, the head-to head between the conferences isn't even close, with the West winning 26 to the East's 11. Blame it on the Raptors, who started 0-5, and the Bucks, 0-4. Only the Hawks, Bulls, and Nets are over .500 vs the West so far. Also, there are 8 teams with winning records in the West, and just 4 in the East.
Atlantic Division - The Atlantic division is the weakest in the league right now, as it has been for a couple of years, with only the Celtics having a winning record, and a division record of 15-25.
Contenders: 1
Celtics (6-2) Clearly the best team in the East. With significant injuries at the center position, the Celtics are undefeated at home, and have only lost to a Cavs team that is overachieving under a new coach and system in their home opener, and a 1-possession game vs the Mavericks, thought by many to be a contender this season in the West. They are 6th in points allowed, pt differential and FG% (92.6/+5.3/.476, 4th/3rd/4th in the East), 13th in 3-pt FG% .368 (7th), 12th in Adj FG% (.506, 6th) and 8th in opponents' FG% .441 (4th).
Significant improvement over last season in rebounding, currently 23rd in rpg, and 10th in reb margin (5th in the East).
Other positive avg margins are (with rank in the East): Points, +5.3 (3rd), steals, +1.87 (2nd), FG%, +3.5 (4th), FG made, +3.3 (2nd), FG attempts, +1.3 (7th), FT%, +.03 (4th), assists, +7.12 and assist differential +7.1 (1st/1st).
Big improvements by starters KG, averaging 15.0/10.3, Rondo, leading the league in assists at 14.8 apg, and 2nd in steals at 3.13 spg (2nd only after John wall had 6 last night), and PP, shooting almost 10% over his career numbers from the 3-pt line. Reserve Glen Davis has also improved his scoring and FG% over his career numbers at 12.3 ppg/.571.
Central Division - Three .500 teams at the top, the 4th place team 1/2 game out, and last place Pistons just 2 behind make this division the most competitive in the league. The overall record is 16-21.
Contenders: None
Southeast Division - Three good teams here, with the Magic currently in 1st, tied with the Hawks despite 1 less loss, and the Heat 1/2 game back. I expect this division to be a dogfight, with all three top teams flawed. Overall record is 20-18, good for 3rd in the league.
Contenders: Magic, Hawks, Heat (?)
It's tempting to say that the Celtics are the only East contender, but with these three within 1 game fof 1st in the east I just can't support that decision. Still, I don't see any of these teams making it out of the east this year, but regardless...
Magic (5-2) The Magic's signees from this offseason, Quentin Richardson and Chris Duhon, are proving to be worse than the players they replaced, which isn't much of a surprise. Despite a strong start by the backcourt of Jameer Nelson and Wince Carter, and the significantly improved offensive repetoire of Dwight Howard, they are slightly weaker than last season at this point, having just 1 quality win (vs the Hawks), and losing at the Heat and hosting the Jazz (losing an 18-pt lead giving up 38 in the 4th Q)... Dwight Howard leads the team in ppg, rpg, and bpg (21.9/11.0/2.71) but his ft percentage is DOWN 6.9% so far.
Statswise, the team is 3rd in points allowed (90.9) and differential (8.1, 2nd in the East) and 4th in opponents' FG% .426 (2nd). They're currently 4th in the league in rpg (1st), and 1st overall in reb margin (by an impressive +7.7), 20th in FG% .448 (9th), 13th in Adj FG% .505 (7th), 4th in 3-pt made 9.1 (2nd).
Other positive avg margins are (with rank in the East): FG%, +2.2 (5th), FG made, +2.0 (4th), FTA's, +7.3 (2nd), and blocks, +1.2 (3rd).
Hawks (6-3) - The Hawks have gone from 6-0 to 6-3 under their new coach as the schedule got a bit tougher. Joe Johnson has been a "most overpaid" contender since they signed him to a big contract in the offseason, and is averaging below his last 5 years' numbers with the Hawks at 19.9 ppg on .431 FG%, and a miserable .256 from 3-pt range. He's leading them in assists with 5.2 pg. C's killer Jamaal Crawford has also started slowly, at 14.4 ppg and just .281 from downtown. Better news is Al Horford and Josh Smith shooting much more efficiently than their career numbers (.663/.485) and both are over 9 rpg. Smith is 2nd in the league in blocks at 3.22 bpg.
The Hawks are 10th in points allowed and 9th in differential (4th in the East) and 17th in opponents' FG% .458 (10th in the East). They're currently 10th in the league in rpg (9th in the East), and 9th overall in reb margin (+1.9), 1st in FG% .498, and Adj FG% .532, 25th in 3-pt made 5.2 (12th).
Other positive avg margins are (with rank in the East): Points, +3.2 (4th), FG%, +3.97 (2nd), FTA's, +4.3 (3rd), FT's made, +4.5 (2nd), Ft% +5.5 (1st), assists, +3.6 (2nd), and blocks, +0.6 (7th).
Heat (5-3) - The most hyped team in recent memory has been tough but inconsistent, with just 1 quality win, a 26-pt thrashing of the Magic, and 3 losses by a total of 13 points. Their well-documented flaws at center and PG have been worsened by the slow start of Chris Bosh at PF, as reserve Udonis Haslem leads the team in rpg with 8.3 to Bosh's 5.9 despite 8+ less minutes per game. LeBron James leads in assists, steals, and turnovers (8.6/1.6/4.4). Dwyane Wade is scoring 26 ppg on .493 FG%, including .426 from the arc, susbstantially higher than his career percentage of .293.
The team is 1st in points allowed at 90.1, 2nd in differential +11.3 (1st in the East) and 1st in opponents' FG%, .416. They're currently 10th in the league in rpg (5th in the East), 11th overall in reb margin (+1.2, 6th), 12th in FG% .464 (5th), 8th in Adj FG% .512 (3rd), 8th in 3-pt made 7.4 (4th).
Other positive avg margins are (with rank in the East): FG%, +4.8 (1st), FG made, +1.4 (6th), FTA's, +7.7 (1st), FT%, +4.8 (2nd), FT made +7.1 (1st), and blocks, +3.3 (2nd).
Wow - this took way longer than I expected, so I'll close with this:
Celtics win a close one tonight at the AAA!
Topic: East Early Season Contender Review - Stats/Trends With 10% of the Games Complete (Read 997 times)