Yet now Karl-Anthony Towns is injured for at least another month, and the schedule will get a lot trickier, too. The Timberwolves rate worse on offense and defense compared with last season, even after going all in with the Rudy Gobert trade, and even though they’ve enjoyed a tissue-soft schedule with their new starting lineup. While the Heat’s sluggish start is partially the product of a tough schedule, Minnesota has no such excuse. Past SOS: 30th by point differential, 29th by recordįuture SOS: First by point differential, tied for first by record Let’s wait until that stretch is over to see whether it makes sense to bury the Heat in full. But over the next week and a half, they face the Spurs, Pacers, Thunder, Rockets, and Spurs again. That’s not to say that the Heat will definitely rebound once the schedule lightens-they just lost to the Pistons by 20 points, after all. Yet an underrated factor in their decline is a challenging early schedule. Miami’s offense has struggled, even with nightly excellence from Bam Adebayo. Injuries are a partial culprit, with Jimmy Butler missing 10 games and Tyler Herro eight. The drop from their preseason expected winning percentage-as measured by Vegas odds-to their actual winning percentage is the largest so far. 1 seed last season and coming one missed shot away from a trip to the NBA Finals, the Heat are now mired in a tie for 10th place in the East. Past SOS: Third by point differential, fourth by recordįuture SOS: 27th by point differential, 26th by recordīoston’s opponent in last season’s conference finals might be the league’s biggest disappointment through the first quarter of the season after landing the East’s no. 1 seed, with a chance to challenge the title-winning 2007-08 Celtics, who went 66-16, for the franchise’s best record since the 1980s. It’s rather obvious that they’re the favorite for the East’s no. Let’s start with the easiest analysis, which is no less remarkable for its simplicity: The Celtics are the NBA’s best team, with the best net rating, and they have the easiest remaining schedule. Past SOS: 12th by point differential, tied for 23rd by recordįuture SOS: 30th by point differential, 30th by record The strength of schedule ratings is through Tuesday’s games. 1 ranking means the most difficult schedule. All schedule rankings are ordered from hardest to easiest, so a no. The other two illustrate the strength of a team’s remaining opponents (B Ref again uses point differential, while Tankathon measures by record). Two illustrate the strength of a team’s schedule thus far (Basketball Reference measures by point differential, while ESPN measures by record). And trade talks are heating up as players who signed as free agents over the summer become eligible to be traded after December 15.īut the early standings can still lie, whether because of injuries, luck in close games, or an imbalanced schedule-so as we do every year around this time, we’ll focus on that latter issue and analyze a handful of teams whose schedules mask or reveal some underlying truth about their outlook.įor each team, we’ll offer four accompanying rankings. Tank commanders are dropping to the bottom. Championship contenders are separating themselves with the best records (at least in the Eastern Conference). As teams reach the 25-game mark, the NBA standings have started to take on firmer shape after a most cluttered start to the season.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |