Way-Too-Early Overreactions After Opening Week
The NBA season is off to an interesting start. The Warriors have struggled out the gate and the Clippers got blown out by the Mavericks by 50! Kevin Durant and the Nets look like serious contenders. Terry Rozier has been playing out of his mind and the Magic and Cavaliers have not lost a game yet.
After through the first few games, The Crossover put together some early overreactions to the 2020-21 NBA season.
Howard Beck
Strange things happen in an NBA season. A single game means nothing. A loss is a loss, whether by five points or 50. I know all this. I believe it. But man … that 50-point beatdown the Clippers got from Dallas was GRUESOME. And alarming. It’s hard to dismiss as an aberration.
The Clips are supposed to be contenders. But this loss underscored all the frailties that derailed them last summer: a lack of playmaking, leadership and chemistry.
Yes, the Clips were missing Kawhi Leonard. But the Mavs were also down an All-Star (Kristaps Porzingis), and the cast surrounding Luka Dončić doesn’t exactly qualify as a superteam. A loss could be waved away. But not a 50-point rout.
Only seven other teams have lost by that margin since 2010—and it’s not a glorious group. It includes the 2010–11 Cavaliers, who won 19 games; two editions of the Process-era Sixers (2014–15 and 2015–16); plus two teams that went 22–60 (the 2017–18 Grizzlies and 2018–19 Bulls). Two teams in this group did make the playoffs—the 2015–16 Grizzlies, who went 42–40; and the 2018–19 Jazz, a genuinely solid team that won 50 games … and got smoked in the first round by Houston.
Look, this Clippers loss might be long forgotten by the spring. But right now it feels like a blinking red light on the dashboard.
Rohan Nadkarni
Precious Achiuwa will win ROTY. I’ve seen all I need to see from Precious, whom the Heat selected with the No. 20 pick in the draft. He’s already looking a little Bam-ish on the floor with his athleticism, and his hands for a rookie are quite promising. In all seriousness, Achiuwa already looks to be a new favorite of Goran Dragić as a roll man, and on Christmas, he was closing the fourth quarter in only his second game of the season. His athleticism adds some excitement to Miami’s second unit. The Heat will need all the active bodies they can get this season after their short layoff. If Precious can add any semblance of a jumper in addition to being an energy big, he’s going to be an incredibly valuable part of the rotation moving forward.
Ben Pickman
Don’t overlook the Sacramento Kings. The Western Conference playoff picture sure looked like it would be crowded heading into this year, and nothing we’ve seen through the first few games this season have done anything to dissuade people of that. One team overlooked more often than not, however, was the Kings. Led by third-year guard De'Aaron Fox, the Kings look like they're going to be in the playoff hunt all year and could very well steal a spot in the conference’s play-in tournament. Three different players scored more than 20 points in Sacramento’s opening-night win over the Nuggets and Fox’s 24-point night against the Suns on Saturday help Sacramento outlast the Suns. (They later lost to Phoenix on the second night of their back-to-back.) It’s early, but Fox is also shooting a better percentage from three and from the free throw line this season. He remains among the league’s most aggressive players, averaging 9.7 drives per game and shooting 55.6% on his field goal attempts on such plays. If he plays at an All-Star level, Sacramento could make its first playoff berth since 2005–06.
Michael Shapiro
A current undefeated Eastern Conference team will win a playoff series. Orlando, Cleveland, Atlanta and Indiana have impressed thus far, though entering April, it's hard to see these teams exactly eying the Larry O'Brien Trophy. But that doesn't mean we won't see an upset or two along the way. Cleveland is admittedly a long shot, even despite the impressive start from the Sexland backourt. The other three have a legitimate chance to knock off a Finals contender. The best bet? I'd lean toward Domantas Sabonis and the Pacers. The 2019–20 All-Star is off to a blistering start in 2020–21, shining alongside Malcolm Brogdon and Victor Oladipo. Nick Nurse's pupil Nate Bjorkgren could very well knock out Toronto or another championship contender in the spring.
Robin Lundberg
The Golden State Warriors are bad and definitely won't make the playoffs. They shouldn't have been considered anywhere close to contenders when Klay Thompson went down, but it seemed the prevailing notion was that they'd be competitive. It doesn't appear like that will be the case as the roster is simply too thin overall, and thus far Stephen Curry hasn't played well enough to elevate it.
