If this season is teaching us anything it’s that clarity regarding the middling teams around the league may never actually come to fruition.
Though we’re more than quarter of the way into the season, things around the league appear to be getting murkier with most of the teams in the NBA and it’s likely because of a combination of this season still being played out in the midst of a pandemic, and the prospect of the play-in tournament.
Suddenly, being a No. 10 seed isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be because that still means there’s a possibility of the post-season, but at the same time it makes figuring out the pecking order of the league that much harder as the definition of a team that’s actually good has become that much blurrier.
With that said, here’s a look at how we view the league this week.
Elite teams
The Utah Jazz finally saw their 11-game win streak snapped by the Denver Nuggets Sunday, thanks to a magnificent performance by Nikola Jokic.
Thanks to their long streak, the Jazz shot straight up to nearly the very top of the NBA and are, unquestionably, one of the best teams in the league.
As for the Nuggets, they’ve won six of their last seven and have appeared to hit their stride after a slow start to the season, looking every bit the elite team many expected them to be when the season started.
Eastern Conference contenders
In the Eastern Conference, the only truly top-tier club has been the Philadelphia 76ers and after them, it’s been slim pickings to identify clubs that have performed consistently and sustainably well.
The Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks -- mainly because of their talent levels -- are as close as you’ll find in the Eastern Conference to being teams that can be contenders, however, whether it be porous defence from the Nets or just odd mental lapses from the Bucks, these two clubs certainly aren’t without fault.
Nine not bad but not very good teams
If there’s any one team to point out from this tier it’s the Houston Rockets, who are 6-3 since trading James Harden -- including winning five in a row -- and have been playing the league’s best defence. Additionally, it looks like they have quite the “Big Three” of their own in Christian Wood, John Wall and Victor Oladipo, who have all been fantastic for the Rockets since Harden’s departure. If they keep up this or a similar level of play there will be no stopping Houston from shooting up the standings and this list, subsequently.
Looking elsewhere at this level, LaMelo Ball certainly looks like a lock for rookie of the year here in the early going. Not only is he putting up eye-popping highlights and pretty good numbers for a rookie, he’s also made his Charlotte Hornets somewhat competitive for the first time in seemingly forever and -- perhaps more important -- a team that people may actually want to watch.
Nine not good but not completely terrible teams
The Toronto Raptors are the only team in the NBA with a losing record and positive point differential, a good indicator that they’re better than the wins and losses have captured. However, as the old saying goes, the reality is you are as good as your record says you are. Until the they start stringing together wins consistently and find a way out of this hole they’ve been in all season long it’s hard to consider them a team that’s actually good at the moment.
As for other teams, the most head-scratching team here at Tier 4 is definitely the Dallas Mavericks. Luka Doncic is putting up his usual MVP-like numbers and this is a club that’s at full strength with no one on the injured list, yet they’ve lost eight of their last 10 and appear lifeless in contests, getting blown out in the majority of those losses.
There’s something seriously wrong going on in Dallas and one way or the other it’ll likely spill out publicly if the Mavericks continue to trend downwards like this.
Bad teams
The Washington Wizards, like all the teams down here, are quite bad, but on Sunday they had what’s probably the moment of their season when they managed to stun the Nets and beat them thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook with 8.1 seconds remaining in the game.
Congratulations Washington. Savour this moment, because chances are that kind of elation is never coming again this season.
The mostly postponed Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies just played their first game Sunday after a run of five straight contests postponed.
They ended up winning Sunday -- beating the San Antonio Spurs 129-112 -- and extended their winning streak from Jan. 18 to six straight, but because of how few games they’ve played of late we’re choosing to not rank them again this week.
Hopefully, they can get back into the tier list properly next week.
