Underdogs ruling NBA while powerhouses falter

While the bigger names of the NBA struggle, some of the underdogs are taking advantage.

For the past few years, the top of the NBA standings has consisted of teams such as the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, etc. But for once, with those teams flailing for various reasons, some of the underdogs in the league have taken advantage of the vacancies at the top of the standings.

If you hadn’t tuned into the NBA at all this season and all of a sudden peeped the standings, you’d probably be surprised. Or shocked, even. Heading the Eastern Conference is the Atlanta Hawks, and the Golden State Warriors for the West. Based on record, the top 10 teams in the league either fell out of the playoffs in the first or second round last season. Five in the first, five in the second.

The four teams in the conference finals last season all have legitimate reasons to not be at the top of their respective conference this season. Miami lost LeBron James to his hometown Cavaliers. Indiana lost Paul George to a season-ending injury. Oklahoma City had to battle in the beginning sans Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. San Antonio had their fair share of injuries as well, especially with Kawhi Leonard.

With those four teams much further down the standings compared to last season, teams on the fringe of contending are taking their place. The Bulls, with the addition of Pau Gasol and the immense improvement of Jimmy Butler, have placed themselves in the top four of the East. The Raptors, with All-Star play from Kyle Lowry, have taken a major leap from last season. The Wizards, with John Wall’s excellent play and Paul Pierce’s veteran leadership, are truly building towards something great and currently hold the East’s no. 2 seed.

For the West, the Rockets’ spaced-out lineup led by MVP candidate James Harden has them at 4th in the NBA’s toughest conference. With their normal grit-and-grind playstyle we have become accustomed to led by Marc Gasol, the Grizzlies are truly elite and third in the West. The Trail Blazers are second in the West, and all that needs to be said about them is Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Wes Matthews (tied for first in the league in three-pointers made with Kyle Korver, for those wondering).

All those teams have taken advantage of the vacancies left by last year’s conference finalists, but it’s all about the two teams leading the East and West.

Coming into the season, the Cavaliers–with James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and all–were expected to hit the ground running and hold the no. 1 seed for most of the season. Sure, there were some expected adjustments and bumpiness along the way, but no one really expected this much time needed to get things going. In turn, Mike Budenholzer has his Hawks surging at the halfway point.

Golden State has been just as impressive–if not more–than Atlanta, as both are the only two teams in the league to rank top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency. In defensive efficiency, the Warriors lead the league. The reason Steve Kerr’s job with the Warriors has been so impressive is the fact that it’s his first experience coaching, period. He was never an assistant coach before taking the Golden State job, while Budenholzer was under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio for nearly 20 seasons before becoming the Hawks’ head coach last season.

Kerr’s job might be more impressive with the fact that he is coaching in the West, and currently holds a 19-6 record against the vaunted conference. With only six losses on the season, that means the Warriors are 13-0 vs. East opponents. While the Hawks’ record isn’t that impressive, it’s pretty close.

In the East, Atlanta is 23-6, meaning they are 10-2 vs. Western foes. Give them some more Western Conference opponents and maybe they will top Golden State’s record in that conference (winning percentage, of course, as the Warriors will play more games vs. the West being in the conference).

Miami and Indiana are out of the question as far as contending goes for this season, but San Antonio and Oklahoma City are certainly still in the mix. With Leonard healthy, the Spurs will surely start to ascend in the standings as they are currently 7th. Things will be a little tougher for the Thunder, who don’t even own a playoff seed at the moment. But now, at full strength and only three games back from the 8th seed, there is no reason for them to not find themselves in the postseason come April.

With healthy stars, San Antonio and OKC will be tough in the playoffs whether they have home court advantage or not. It’s impossible to gauge if either of those two teams will be better than Golden State come playoff time as they haven’t had their stars all season up until now, but it’s hard to ignore what the Dubs have done up to this point. From what they have shown thus far, it’s hard to not put the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.

In the East, the road is much easier for the Hawks. Sure, their fellow top four teams can’t be overlooked, but there are no lethal powerhouses to challenge them. No one is as strong as a healthy OKC or San Antonio in the East. With another half season left, the Cavs could get their stuff together, but nothing is guaranteed at this point.

While things may change down the line, it is nice to see some of the underdogs playing well. And with those powerhouses struggling, there has been no better time to make a leap from last season. And come on, admit it: after all the years of the Lakers, Heat, Mavs, and Spurs in the Finals, who doesn’t want to see a Warriors-Hawks finale?

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