We’re at just about the midway point of the 2021-22 NBA regular season with most teams having played 41 games already or more.
Through the first half of the season, we’ve seen powers of old re-emerge, strong teams from a season ago proving their success wasn’t just a fluke and, most interestingly, some new clubs come from seemingly nowhere and begin to establish themselves as championship contenders in the more immediate future.
Here’s a look at how we view the league halfway through in the latest NBA Tier List.
Tier 1: Embiid for MVP calls are likely to get loud
Quietly, the Philadelphia 76ers have been excellent lately, having won 10 of their last 13 games. Better yet for the Sixers is during this 13-game span, Joel Embiid has been monstrous, averaging 31.8 points, 10 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 53.3 per cent from the floor and 39.5 per cent from three-point range.
Those are MVP-calibre numbers and as Embiid’s level of play has risen so has his team’s to where they’re well-positioned now to take a run at the top four in the conference.
It’s clear Embiid and the Sixers don’t need Ben Simmons to succeed, but it would certainly be nice if they could finish this standoff at some point and just find a trade partner to get some more talent to surround Embiid with.
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Tier 2: Injured elite
If you’re wondering why a bunch of staples in the top tier on this list are suddenly second tier, consider the following:
Kevin Durant will be out of the Brooklyn Nets’ lineup for at least a month, the Chicago Bulls’ Zach LaVine is likely going to be playing on a left knee that isn’t 100 per cent for the foreseeable future, Milwaukee Bucks star point guard Jrue Holiday has a bum ankle keeping him out of the lineup and Klay Thompson, fresh from a two-year layoff, will likely have to carry a much larger load than he first thought for the Golden State Warriors as Draymond Green’s calf injury will keep him sidelined for at least two more weeks.
Tier 3: Hornets teetering on the edge of greatness
The Charlotte Hornets have been a pleasant surprise this season, mainly because they’re among the most entertaining teams in the league to watch with exciting young players LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges coming up with at least one highlight-worthy play every game.
Charlotte, for the most part, is a good team boasting one of the league’s best offences. What has undone the Hornets more often than not has been their porous defence, which has generally been as bad as their offence has been good this season.
However, something’s appeared to change for Charlotte recently. Winners of five of their last six games, the Hornets are continuing to put points on the board but have been much better defensively, allowing just 103.4 points per 100 possessions in that six-game span.
If the Hornets can continue to put together defensive efforts like this, they’ll be able to make a legitimate run at a playoff spot proper in the second half of the season.
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Tier 4: CJ McCollum is thankfully back
There hasn’t been much good news for the Portland Trail Blazers this season, but on Monday they got one of the best moments of the entire season when CJ McCollum was seen back in the lineup after a 17-game absence for a very scary-sounding collapsed lung.
McCollum scored 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting in a Blazers win Monday over the Magic, the Blazers’ fourth victory in their last five contests.
Tier 5: How much will the Pacers and Kings will be willing to sell off?
The Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings aren’t going anywhere this season, but they do have some talented players such as Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, Malcolm Brogdon, De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield on each team.
Any of these players could help a number of the many contenders sprinkled around the league and, for Indiana and Sacramento’s sake, could bring in the kind of desired draft assets and/or young players they’ll be looking for as the clubs move towards a rebuild — or just a start-from-scratch build in the Kings’ case.
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