The first month of the NBA season was pretty interesting. We had the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies look like the top teams in the Association, combining for a 29-4 record. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs continue to prove why they are consistent championship contenders.
In the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors quietly put up a stellar first month with a 13-4 record. Unfortunately for the Raptors, they are stuck in the lesser of two conferences with most of the news on the east coast coming out of Cleveland.
Without jumping too far off point, here is our look at the top-five NBA contenders through the first month of the season. These aren’t necessarily the top-five teams in the Association. Instead, they are the five teams (ranked in order) that we believe are the top contenders thus far in the young season.
1. Golden State Warriors (14-2)
Courtesy of ESPN.com: Stephen Curry and the Warriors are playing elite ball.
Now winners of nine in a row, there is little question that Golden State is the best squad in the NBA through the first month of season. Fresh off an undefeated east coast road trip that saw the Warriors win by an average of nearly 11 ponts per game, Steve Kerr’s squad has proven that it can dominate inferior opponents. That’s going to be a necessity moving forward this season, especially in a ridiculously tough Western Conference.
Stephen Curry is playing MVP-caliber basketball, averaging 23.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists and nearly two steals per game. Meanwhile, Klay Thompson has taken his game to an entirely new level and is showing that the long-term extension Golden State gave him wasn’t foolish.
The big difference from the previous two seasons is depth. Marreese Speights is playing the best basketball of his career off the bench, Harrison Barnes continues to improve his overall game and Draymond Green has stepped up big time for an injured David Lee. One of the biggest keys for sustained success in Golden State is going to be the health of Andrew Bogut. Golden State is a ridiculous +10.7 with him on the court this season.
One of the primary reasons that Golden State gets the top spot here is simply due to the fact that it’s disposing of opponents at a crazy rate thus far this season. The Warriors average margin of victory is 10.6 while they are an absurd 9-1 on the road thus far this year.
2. Memphis Grizzlies (15-2)
Courtesy of NBA.com: Conley is the key to Memphis’ success moving forward.
Here’s another team that’s been downright dominating early on this year. Returning from an injury-plagued 2013-2014 season, Marc Gasol is putting up some splendid numbers. He’s averaging about 20 points and eight rebounds per outing. Teaming up with Gasol is yet another veteran big man in Zach Randolph, who is averaging a double-double on the campaign.
Improved play from Courtney Lee, Mike Conley and Tony Allen makes Memphis an even more dangerous team than we have seen early on. If Conley can continue to put up solid numbers as the team’s third-scoring option, the Grizzlies will be in a good position moving forward.
The Grizzlies have also been downright scary against top-tier competition of late, beating the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Blazers by a combined 55 points over the past two weeks.
3. Portland Blazers (13-4)
Offensively, Portland ranks in the top six of the NBA in scoring, rebounds and assists. It’s also sixth in the Association in points against thus far this season. And with an average margin of victory over over eight points per game, the Blazers know how to put teams away.
The interesting dynamic here is that Portland’s four losses have come against Golden State, Memphis, Sacramento and the Clippers…four teams that have played stellar ball to start the year. Portland will need to find a way to beat the three legitimate contenders of that group if it wants to be taken seriously in the Western Conference.
With that said, the combination of LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard may make up one of the best one-two punches in the Association. They are averaging a combined 41.3 points, 14.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game. Equally as important for the Blazers, the duo of Chris Kaman and Robin Lopez have proven to be awesome at the center position. Both are putting up over 11 points and seven rebounds per outing.
4. Washington Wizards (10-5)
Courtesy of CBS Sports: Once Beal gets back into playing shape, the Wizards will take off.
After missing the first nine games of the season, Bradley Beal has returned to pair up with John Wall to form the most potent backcourt in the Eastern Conference. And while Beal is still getting back into game shape, he figures to take off some time soon. For his part, Wall is playing elite-level basketball. He’s averaging a near double-double (18.1 points and 9.1 rebounds).
Despite a horrendous road outing against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers last week, Washington seems to have what it takes to come out of the Eastern Conference. It’s going to be about the rest of the team, Paul Piece included, to do their parts as secondary options to Beal and Wall in the backcourt. If Pierce can show the type of leadership that he displayed in Boston, that’s going to be huge for this relatively young team moving forward.
5. San Antonio Spurs (12-4)
Why not? After losing three of their first five games, the Spurs have won seven in a row and 11 of their last 12. And while many will look to Tim Duncan as the primary reason why the most complete team in basketball over the past decade is right back where it belongs, Tony Parker is playing the best basketball we have seen from him in years. He’s putting up over 17 points and nearly six assists per outing while shooting a ridiculous 51 percent from the field.
Outside of those two future Hall of Famers, up-and-coming star Kawhi Leonard is playing outstanding overall basketball. If he can continue to improve on the court like we has seen over the past three years, San Antonio may very well be the team to beat in the Western Conference once again.
Photo: USA Today