Ranking the NBA's Most Surprising Hot Starts
When it comes to the NBA, some things are easy to predict. The Miami Heat will contend for a championship, LeBron James will be an MVP candidate and Kevin Durant will push for yet another scoring title when it's all said and done.
Very little about what the stars do is surprising, but for the rest of the league, it can be tough to predict who will come out of the gate hot.
Throughout the early part of the year, we've seen players such as Anthony Davis and Michael Carter-Williams do serious damage. Teams such as the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers have also shocked the Association.
The sample size may be small, but the production is undeniable. Anything can happen in the NBA, and we've seen that early in the 2013-14 season.
From players to teams, which of these season's hot starts are the most surprising?
10. Anthony Davis
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What Anthony Davis has done so far is less of a surprise and more of a relief.
After an injury-plagued rookie campaign, fans wondered how long it would be before we could see the power forward at full capacity. He showed signs of brilliance in his first year, but staying on the court was something he just couldn't do consistently.
As it turns out, patience truly is a virtue—especially when it only takes one season.
As a sophomore, Davis has become the two-way player the New Orleans Pelicans hoped he'd be. He's averaging 19.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per contest, and his PER stands at 28.39, which is the second-best mark in the league.
Putting Davis low on this list is not an indictment of how hot his start has been. It's to say we knew he had it in him; we just needed to see it in person to believe it.
Needless to say, we're seeing it at this point in the process, and it's clear why he was the No. 1 pick for a rebuilding New Orleans franchise.
9. Eric Bledsoe
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When a player is touted as an up-and-coming point guard for too long, fans across the league stop believing it.
That's what nearly happened to Eric Bledsoe, but his move to the Phoenix Suns has shown us what his potential truly looks like.
Following the escape from Chris Paul's shadow, Bledsoe is proving to be a regular stat-sheet stuffer in the desert. He's averaging 20.4 points, 6.8 assists and an impressive 4.6 rebounds.
His three-point shooting is below 30 percent on the year, but he's making up for it in other areas, making 50 percent from the field in nine outings.
If the 23-year-old can stay healthy, he'll be an integral part of this rotation the entire season. Phoenix is exceeding expectations early, and Bledsoe has a chance to make his mark as the team rebuilds toward the future.
8. San Antonio Spurs
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The San Antonio Spurs are too old.
Their championship window closed when Ray Allen shattered their hearts in the 2013 Finals.
These are the things we heard entering the season, but once again, the team out West is proving doubters wrong from the onset of the new season.
Despite "being too old," the Spurs have tallied a 13-2 record in their first 15 outings. Their only losses have come to the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trail Blazers—another team off to a surprisingly hot start (more on them later).
The team is finding an excellent balance between offense and defense, as it is scoring 101.2 points per contest while allowing just 90.3 points along the way.
Nobody should be surprised by what the Spurs are doing, yet we are because we write them off year after year. They got off to the hottest start in franchise history, according to the Associated Press (via KENS5.com), and it's safe to say their championship window is officially open for another year.
7. Arron Afflalo
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The Orlando Magic are a rebuilding franchise, and the sad truth is they don't receive much coverage.
You probably heard about Victor Oladipo being drafted or Nikola Vucevic's strong showing last season. But throughout the first month of the 2013-14 campaign, Arron Afflalo is the one proving he is a go-to option.
Afflalo may never make an All-Star Game, but his numbers scream otherwise. He's scoring 21.7 points while collecting 4.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. He also has a PER of 21.2 through the team's first 15 contests.
He's taking a career-high 5.2 three-pointers every night and making them at a career-best 50 percent rate.
Afflalo received praise recently for his 36-point showing against the Milwaukee Bucks (he shot 8-of-11 from deep), but he deserves more recognition. The East appears to be incredibly weak this season, and a strong performance the rest of the way could boost the Magic to a surprising appearance in the 2014 postseason.
6. Jeff Teague
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The Atlanta Hawks matched the contract the Milwaukee Bucks offered Jeff Teague this offseason, and it's proving to be an incredibly smart move at this point in the year.
With Josh Smith gone from the roster, Teague has emerged as a vital part of the offense. He's averaging 16.9 points and 8.4 assists, and he's getting it done defensively, posting 1.4 steals per contest.
Through 16 games, Teague has not shot the ball well from behind the arc, but he's made up for it by getting to the foul line frequently for the first time in his career. He's earning 6.6 attempts at the stripe this season, which is more than double his previous career high.
With Rajon Rondo and Derrick Rose missing time out East, the conference is looking for point guards to step up. Kyrie Irving and John Wall are the more popular names to make that claim, but Teague is making a case as a top-three floor general in the conference.
The 25-year-old has lifted the Hawks to the third-best record out East, and consistent play the rest of the way will boost his status league-wide.
5. Michael Carter-Williams
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Despite starting the season 3-0, the Philadelphia 76ers will not make this list because of their string of losses that followed the shocking start.
Michael Carter-Williams, on the other hand, has played solid basketball almost every step of the way, and he's earned recognition as the early favorite for Rookie of the Year.
For those who looked closely at the 76ers in training camp, it was clear that Carter-Williams would be given a chance to succeed. Jrue Holiday was gone, the team was clearly tanking rebuilding and there would be plenty of minutes passed his way.
The fear, of course, was that he would be shell-shocked at the NBA level, but as it turned out, the 22-year-old has taken his role to heart.
Up to this point, Carter-Williams is averaging 17.8 points, seven assists and 5.6 rebounds. He has a PER of 19.70, and he's leading the NBA in steals with 3.1 per contest.
Time will tell if the youngster gets burned out, but if he keeps up this pace, he'll be taking home ROY hardware when the year comes to a close.
4. Indiana Pacers
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If defense truly wins championships, the Indiana Pacers are well on their way to a miraculous season.
Through 15 games, the Pacers are allowing just 86.5 points per game. That's the No. 1 mark in the league, and it's the reason they're 14-1 on the year.
Nobody expects Indiana to win 93 percent of its contests in an 82-game season, but the truth is that this group can continue to win at a high rate all year. Defense is the essence of success in Indy, and that's not going away any time soon.
Most reasonable fans expected a strong start out of the Pacers. To see them near the top of the Eastern Conference is far from a shock, but the near-perfect record is what should surprise any fan across the league.
A subpar strength of schedule keeps them out of the top three on this list, but having lost just a single game through the first month is impressive no matter the expectations entering the year.
3. Monta Ellis
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Up until this season, Monta Ellis has earned his rap as an inefficient scorer. The 2012-13 season saw him shoot just 41.6 percent from the floor—the lowest mark since his rookie year—while averaging 17.5 shots per game.
Now with the Dallas Mavericks, Ellis has reduced his shots (16.6 per game) and boosted his percentage (.474), and he's showing once again that he can be a reliable scorer from behind the arc (35 percent three-point shooting), culminating in 22.3 points per contest.
The biggest difference between Dallas and his previous stops has to be the presence of Dirk Nowitzki. The franchise player allows Ellis to play sidekick, which is a role fitted nicely for someone who has struggled bailing previous offenses out of stagnant situations.
He's even getting it done on nights when his shot is off, as evidenced by his four-point (2-of-16 shooting), 10-assist performance in a win over the Golden State Warriors.
As skeptical as fans can be across the league, let's not be so quick to ignore what Ellis has accomplished. He's reinvented himself as an efficient player, and he's showing he can be a distributor with his ability to drive and kick.
Sometimes a change of scenery is all a player needs, and in the case of Ellis, the third time has proved to be a charm.
2. Dallas Mavericks
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Ever since the Dallas Mavericks won their first championship in 2011, they just haven't looked the same. Mark Cuban has yet to bring in a full-fledged superstar, and a myriad of one-year contracts have muddled the rebuilding process as the team looks toward the future.
The 2013 offseason appeared to be on cue with the past few years, but as it turns out, the team is back and ready to push for a spot in the playoffs.
Through the first month of the season, the Mavs are a top-six team in the Western Conference. They're just one game back from the No. 4 seed, and they reached the Thanksgiving weekend having won seven of their last 10.
We all knew the West was going to be tough; we just didn't know Dallas would be in the thick of things at this point in the year. The paltry sample size is fuel to the critics' fire, but you can only make that argument for so long before it becomes irrelevant.
Sustaining success is the next step in the process, and with Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki leading the way, fans are confident as the year rolls on.
1. Portland Trail Blazers
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Nobody saw this coming, and that includes the fanbase tucked away in the Pacific Northwest.
The Portland Trail Blazers began their season with a game against the "tanking" Phoenix Suns, only to drop the opener in surprising fashion. The team lost by double digits, and fans in Rip City cringed at the thought of another year mired in mediocrity.
Then Portland went on to win 13 of its next 15 contests (including 11 in a row), and the team out West has become a threat to take down anybody on any given night.
The biggest surprise from the Blazers is their impressive road record. In 2012-13, the team won just 11 games away from home, but through 16 contests this season, Portland has already taken down seven opponents away from the newly named Moda Center.
Time will tell how legitimate this group is when it comes to postseason aspirations, but it's safe to say that "fighting for their playoff lives" will no longer be an issue.
The Trail Blazers are for real, and as long as fatigue is managed appropriately (unlike 2012-13), they'll be in good shape for a return to the postseason.
