Sports
By Luke Essig, Staff Writer
The NBA season has been off to a blazing hot start. Both the Eastern and Western conferences have been completely shaken up with teams exceeding expectations, while other teams are disappointing their fans.
Back to the LeBron Days?
The Cleveland Cavaliers have looked nearly unstoppable in the first weeks of this season, starting off 12-0 as of Monday. They are averaging the most points-per-game with the highest field goal percentage and three-point percentage in the league, and their defense has also been near lockdown. They average almost 10 steals a game, and opponents are only scoring 110 points against them per night.
Point guard Darius Garland seems to be stepping into the role that they’ve needed him to, taking the leap and averaging 20 points and almost 7 assists. Point guard Donovan Mitchell has been consistently performing well for the team, hitting a game-winner against the Milwaukee Bucks. Besides their two games against the Bucks, they have been playing like they’re up against high school teams.
Following a 30-point opening night win over the Toronto Raptors, they’ve gone on to beat the Wizards by 19, the Lakers by 24 and the Warriors by 19. They sit on top of the Eastern Conference, 2.5 games ahead of the second place and reigning champion Boston Celtics.
The Least-ern Conference?
The Eastern Conference has been playing sub-par basketball these first few weeks. There are currently only two teams with records over .500: the Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics. The third place New York Knicks are 4-4, and teams with as poor as a 3-5 record are still in the playoff picture.
In their first 11 games, Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Donovan Mitchell has averaged 22.5 points and is shooting 40.5% from beyond the three, helping the Cavs advance to 11-0.
Some of the most highly anticipated teams in the East have fallen completely off. The Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers sit 13th and 15th in the conference, respectively, with the Bucks at 2-7 and the Sixers at 1-7. On the other side, 11 teams in the Western Conference have winning records, the 11th seed in the Western Conference Sacramento Kings would be the third seed in the East.
Capture the Flagg
One of the biggest storylines to follow this season will be who the worst teams in the league are because of the draft lottery. The 14 worst teams are each given chances to receive the No. 1 pick, and this year that pick means more than most. Duke freshman guard Cooper Flagg has lived up to the hype after he took the country by storm in his sophomore year of high school at Montverde Academy in Florida.
The Maine native skipped his senior year to go straight to Duke, where he starts and averages 15 points and nine rebounds per game. Flagg is the betting favorite to go No. 1 this year, as he has been for multiple years. He is seen as a generational talent, and the teams at the bottom can only hope to be so lucky as to win the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.
The 76ers, Raptors and Bucks each have an equal 14% chance of landing the number one pick right now. The Bucks, however, do not own their pick, as they traded it away to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Giannis Antetokounmp-No Way the Bucks Are This Bad
The Bucks, who won the NBA Championship in 2021, have been greatly underperforming this season so far. Since dismissing their head coach last year and bringing in Doc Rivers, the team is 20-27 – surprisingly low for a team with this much talent and a recent championship under their belt. A lot of the heat is now falling on the coaching staff.
Their star man, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is averaging 30 points and 13 rebounds, the third best in the league in both categories. His teammate, Damian Lillard, who the Bucks went all-in on last season in an effort to bring another ring to Milwaukee, is averaging 27 points and seven assists per game. These two are proven to be one of the best duos in the league.
The team only has one other player averaging more than 10 points per game: Bobby Portis with 12. Brook Lopez, the team’s starting center and a 7-footer, only averages five rebounds per game. At this point, the Bucks need a reset. That might mean the end of Giannis in Milwaukee, but that may be what is best for the franchise to do if they want to be successful.
