Cleveland Cavaliers
Observation: Cleveland is going to be a dangerous team attacking the paint offensively
The Cavaliers opened up their season with a starting lineup consisting of their dynamic backcourt duo of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton, but the rest of their lineup was rounded out by three 7-footers in Lauri Markkanen, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.
In today’s NBA, many teams have adapted to the “small-ball” approach of putting more shooters out on the floor in favor of big paint players, but the Cavaliers have decided to go big, making it tough for teams to guard them.
They may not have won this game against the Grizzlies, but this “big” lineup may actually wind up working for the Cavaliers this season because of all the chances they are going to get to score in the paint.
We know what to expect from Garland and Sexton, but with a ton of 7-footers on their roster, the Cavaliers could absolutely punish smaller teams who do not have as much frontcourt depth as they may have.
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Believe it or not, this is going to be the best team Cleveland has had without LeBron James in quite some time and it should not be shocking to see them in play for the 9 or 10-seed by the end of the season.
Dallas Mavericks
Observation: This team had no identity in their opening game
At some points in their first game on Thursday night, I was left truly wondering whether or not the Dallas Mavericks knew this was a regular-season game or thought this was still part of the preseason because they simply did not come to play. Luka Doncic is a sensational talent and this team does have plenty of other key talents around him, but they looked lost, they look lethargic and most of all, they had no fight in them the second the Hawks threw the first punch in this game.
This was just a bad team loss and you definitely cannot pinpoint one player because nobody other than maybe Jalen Brunson did their job. Brunson came off the bench and gave the Mavericks 26 really solid united, scoring 17 points on 7-13 shooting and he also had 3 rebounds, 3 assists.
Dallas’ entire starting rotation was a combined -106 for the game and the effort level compared to Atlanta just was not there. Starting off 0-1 is one thing, but starting out the season with a 26-point blowout loss that was not really close is really disappointing for the Mavericks.
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Jason Kidd is going to get this team back on track and the only thing they can do at this point is to learn from this game. Wins and losses will happen for the Mavericks this year, as they are looking to prove that they can be a real threat in the Western Conference, but Kristaps Porzingis is going to be the key for them.
If he can play well and make a difference in the paint on both ends of the floor, Dallas can potentially transcend into being a top-tier team in the Western Conference, but if his struggles continue, they are nothing more than a six, seven, or eight-seed in the West that will once again lose in the first round.
Denver Nuggets
Observation: Compared to last season, this Nuggets starting-unit showed no quit in them
Maybe because it was the first game of the season and they were in a hostile environment, the Denver Nuggets starters played a little better than many would have expected against the defending Western Conference Champions, but this looks like it could wind up being a recurring theme this year.
Losing Jamal Murray is a big hit to the Denver Nuggets, as he will be out for almost the entire 2021-22 season as he recovers from ACL surgery, but this team seems to be in good hands because of all the depth they have.
Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and Will Barton, the three guys who received new contracts this offseason, are going to be keys to success for the Denver Nuggets this season and they played extremely well against Phoenix on Wednesday night.
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Monte Morris, Jeff Green, and P.J. Dozier were also key factors in this game, but this should not come as a surprise. Denver has always played with that “next man up” mentality and with Nikola Jokic still looking like a viable MVP candidate, the Nuggets are going to be a top-tier team in the Western Conference all year long.
Detroit Pistons
Observation: Cade will balance the Pistons a little more, but they will end up with another Top-5 pick
Losing their season opener by six points to the Chicago Bulls is going to hurt the Pistons in the short term because this was a game they could have won, but they are in a really good spot as a franchise right now.
Jerami Grant is still a high-level talent and young talents like Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes, and others are going to continue to grow, especially when 1st overall pick Cade Cunningham takes the court for the first time.
Cade is out with an ankle injury right now and is basically being deemed “game-to-game” at this point, but he is going to provide some much-needed stability to this roster. He can facilitate, score and while he himself is only 20-years-old, Cunningham is going to make some of the other young players on this roster much better overall talents.
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However, this Pistons team is still building for the future and as a result, they will finish with one of the worst records in the league again, resulting in another Top-5 pick in the NBA Draft.
Golden State Warriors
Observation: The Warriors finally have have depth, experience and that guy named Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry is good at basketball… like really, really, really good at basketball! He had a triple-double in the Warriors season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers, the 8th triple-double of his career, and he followed up this performance with a 45 point night against the Los Angeles Clippers in his team’s home opener on Thursday night.
Bringing in the likes of Andre Iguodala, Otto Porter Jr., and Nemanja Bjelica has done so much for this team already and these three guys give the Warriors veteran experience, something they did not really have last year.
These three are going to be key talents for Golden State all season long and so far they have been the difference in them starting the season 2-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 season, a year in which Golden State went to the NBA Finals. Both wins over the Lakers and Clippers were very impressive, but there are still some flaws present with this team that will need to be corrected as the season progresses.
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Golden State came away with a two-point win on Thursday night against the Clippers, however, when they turn the ball over, this team is still susceptible to blowing leads as they did in this game. The Warriors led by as many as 19 points at one point and gave up this lead because of 21 total turnovers.
Other than hanging onto the ball and limiting their opponents’ fastbreak opportunities, this team is poised to be one of the best teams in the league again, especially when Klay Thompson and James Wiseman return from injuries.
