LA Clippers and OKC Thunder Headline Good Teams with a Lot Yet to Prove
Thursday's game between the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder (8 p.m. ET on TNT) might be a preview of the 2014 Western Conference Finals.
But both teams have a long way to go before putting that matchup into place.
Despite having a glut of on-paper talent, neither team has separated itself from the rest of the pack. In fact, some analysts would put the San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors well ahead of this group based on their bodies of work.
The Clippers can overwhelm with offense but have yet to show anything near championship-caliber defense. LA might be 8-4 on the season, but this team is just 1-4 when it scores fewer than 107 points.
Oklahoma City is still searching for a reliable third option. Even the go-to-scorer spot remains a mystery, as Russell Westbrook (19.3 field-goal attempts per game) continues biting off bigger chunks of the offense than Kevin Durant (18.1).
But these are just two of the should-be elites that have failed to comfortably wear that title through the early portion of the 2013-14 season. There's plenty of time left to add that label, but there's questions that need to be answered first.
*Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
Brooklyn Nets
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In order to enter the ranks of the elites, the Brooklyn Nets will first have to pass through the mediocre and good levels.
Anything that can go wrong has gone wrong.
It's still November and already nine different players have started at least once. Brook Lopez and Deron Williams have been sidelined by ankle injuries. Back problems have limited Andrei Kirilenko to just four appearances in Brooklyn's first 11 games. Kevin Garnett (34.1 field-goal percentage) and Paul Pierce (40.0) are finally acting their age.
Jason Kidd looks like someone with no coaching experience. "He doesn't do anything," a veteran scout told B/R's Howard Beck.
The Brooklyn sky might be falling, but this team's playoff chances are alive and well. A 3-8 start might be a lottery ticket out West, but in the East the Nets are one game back of the No. 7 seed.
Once Lopez (20.5 points on 57.4 percent shooting) gets healthy, the Nets can wake up from this nightmarish start. Supporting players are filling leading roles right now, and the standings reflect that.
This team has enough experience that any playoff ticket is a good one. No other team may better understand the value of the second season.
Chicago Bulls
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The Chicago Bulls are riding the league's third-longest winning streak (five and counting). No team can claim a better statement win than Chicago's 110-94 pasting of the then-undefeated Indiana Pacers.
But something still doesn't feel right in the Windy City. And I don't mean the turf toe that has Jimmy Butler on a "week-to-week" status, via Aggrey Sam of Comcast SportsNet.
Derrick Rose is back in the physical form.
But this isn't the Rose hoops heads remember. And it's definitely not the "way better" version he described before the season started, via ESPN Chicago's Nick Friedell.
He has one 20-point outing under his belt. He's topped five assists just twice in eight chances. His single-game field-goal percentage has yet to clear 44.0 and has been less than 40.0 six different times.
So, how are the Bulls winning? Luol Deng has found his rhythm (45.1 field-goal percentage). Carlos Boozer has solidified the offensive interior (16.3 points on 53.0 percent shooting) and Mike Dunleavy's been a one-man wrecking ball on the perimeter (54.5 three-point percentage).
Throw in Tom Thibodeau's typically stingy defense (92.8 defensive rating, third overall), and you have a problem for the Eastern Conference contenders. Get Rose back in his groove, though, and the Bulls could move to the head of that class.
Houston Rockets
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It was a misguided premise from the start.
The Houston Rockets knew their defensive limitations. They remembered each and every one of the 102.5 points they surrendered on a nightly basis last season (28th).
So they planned to protect their perimeter sieves by employing two shot-blocking presences under the basket: Dwight Howard and Omer Asik.
But pairing two space-sapping bigs killed Houston's offense (87.3 points per 100 possessions with the twin towers). And it didn't help the defense much, either (103.1 points allowed per 100 possessions).
Now that coach Kevin McHale has mercifully ended that experiment, Houston's defensive woes continue. Look no further than the 36 fourth-quarter points the Rockets gave up to the Dallas Mavericks in a 123-120 defeat Wednesday.
The Rockets can still score points in bunches (108.0 offensive rating, third in the NBA). But their defensive floodgates have only widened (105.9 points allowed per game, 29th).
There are only so many races to 110 points that this team can win. Especially with the turnover bug still plaguing James Harden (4.3 per game), and Howard forgetting the lessons learned at Hakeem Olajuwon's Dream School.
If Houston doesn't start getting defensive, its preseason championship hype will never be more than words.
Los Angeles Clippers
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Chris Paul didn't appear to need much from first-year Clippers coach Doc Rivers. As the owner of the sixth-highest player efficiency rating all time (25.58), CP3 seemed to be doing quite well on his own.
But what a difference a head coach can make. Under Rivers' guidance, Paul has now embarked on the longest stretch of double-digit points and assists to start a season in league history, via Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
And Paul's not the only one thankful for Rivers' arrival.
Blake Griffin has stormed out of the gates. His scoring (22.7) and field-goal percentage (56.8) have never been higher.
DeAndre Jordan (13.3 rebounds, 2.1 blocks) looks like the Defensive Player of the Year candidate Rivers thought he could be. Jamal Crawford (15.8 points, .490/.456/.704 shooting slash) is making an early push for Sixth Man of the Year consideration.
But Rivers' hands have yet to touch the one thing keeping the Clippers from reaching their ceiling. If defense wins championships, then LA doesn't need to entertain any title talks.
The Clippers are allowing 105.3 points per 100 possessions (27th in the NBA). The same pressure they put on opposing defenses can be felt at the opposite end regardless of their opponent. Even the Los Angeles Lakers (98.3 offensive rating, 25th) looked like an offensive machine when they dropped 116 points against the Clippers on opening night.
Jordan's doing his part. "I'm screaming pretty much the whole game," he told Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. It'd be nice to see his words stop falling on deaf ears.
New York Knicks
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It must be something in the Empire State's water supply. The New York Knicks join their cross-city rival Nets as the two biggest disappointments of the 2013-14 season.
Carmelo Anthony (26.1 points per game) has no help at the offensive end. Andrea Bargnani (14.5) is the No. 2 option by default. J.R. Smith (.310/.289/.688) has been a volume scorer minus the, well, scoring part.
Injuries (past and present) have decimated coach Mike Woodson's rotation. Not that it's made a real difference which players he deploys.
New York's minus-6.0 net rating is the sixth-worst in the league. The five teams trailing the Knicks in the category have a combined record of 16-45.
"It's too early to panic, but me, personally, I'm panicking," Smith said via ESPN New York's Ohm Youngmisuk. "I don't like this."
I can't imagine anyone does.
The Knicks City Dancers have been shut down, Iman Shumpert's now on the chopping block and Woodson could be next. Oh, and Anthony has already dipped both feet in next summer's free-agent waters.
Yet, like the Nets, the Knicks aren't out of this yet. Not with the Eastern Conference boasting a whopping four teams above .500.
If Chandler's return stabilizes the frontcourt, New York could still make a run. Not the championship run that James Dolan expects, but something that looks drastically different from the present.
Oklahoma City Thunder
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Maybe it was all those seeds that Jalen Rose planted in his season preview for Grantland. Something hasn't quite settled right for Scott Brooks' Thunder.
Their record's still impressive (7-3), although it lacks a signature win. But it feels like a broken record keeps playing in Oklahoma City.
Serge Ibaka has expanded his offense (14.0 points, 50.4 percent shooting), but he's not James Harden. Neither are Reggie Jackson (9.8, 43.2) or Jeremy Lamb (8.3, 40.0).
But the Thunder don't need another Harden, right? Not with both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook still on the roster.
Problem is this pairing only adds another difficult dynamic to the offense. Westbrook's an electric scorer (22.8), but even he might not put himself on Durant's level (29.6). Yet, Westbrook—and his twice surgically repaired right knee—leads the team with 19.3 field-goal attempts a night.
Durant, career-high 5.2 assists, continues to try and emulate LeBron James. Only he doesn't have James' passing ability. Or the same supporting cast. Or as much discipline (4.1 turnovers per game).
Therein lies the problem for OKC. The margin of error for Durant, Westbrook and, to a lesser extent, Ibaka is wafer-thin. This team doesn't have the depth to compensate for off-nights from its Big Three.
Help could be coming, though. For as talented as this team is, it's incredibly young. If a few of these prospects start to find consistency, the Thunder could be every bit as good as they were in Harden's tenure. Or even better.
