As of All Star Weekend, here's the up-to the minute standings in the NBA:
Eastern Conference:
1 Atlanta Hawks * 43-11 .796
2 Toronto Raptors * 36-17 .679
3 Chicago Bulls * 34-20 .630
4 Washington Wizards 33-21 .611
5 Cleveland Cavaliers 33-22 .600
6 Milwaukee Bucks 30-23 .566
7 Miami Heat 22-30 .423
8 Charlotte Hornets 22-30 .423
9 Brooklyn Nets 21-31 .404
10 Boston Celtics 20-31 .392
11 Detroit Pistons 21-33 .389
12 Indiana Pacers 21-33 .389
13 Orlando Magic 17-39 .304
14 Philadelphia 76ers 12-41 .22
15 New York Knicks 10-43 .189
Western Conference:
1 Golden State Warriors * 42-9 .824
2 Memphis Grizzlies * 39-14 .736
3 Houston Rockets 36-17 .679
4 Portland Trail Blazers * 36-17 .679
5 Dallas Mavericks 36-19 .655
6 Los Angeles Clippers 35-19 .648
7 San Antonio Spurs 34-19 .642
8 Phoenix Suns 29-25 .537
9 Oklahoma City Thunder 28-25 .528
10 New Orleans Pelicans 27-26 .509
11 Denver Nuggets 20-33 .377
12 Sacramento Kings 18-34 .346
13 Utah Jazz 19-34 .358
14 Los Angeles Lakers 13-40 .245
15 Minnesota Timberwolves 11-42 .208
There have been quite a few surprises this season in the league, but the biggest one, for me, has been the Atlanta Hawks. When the season started, most people felt that the Hawks would squeak into the playoffs, based all on how they finished the year last year. But that's not the case. Atlanta has the best record in the East, holding a 6.5 game lead over Toronto in the East. They have won game after game by playing fantastic defense and playing as a whole unit. What really makes Atlanta different from other teams in the East is that they do not have a singular player who takes over games for them. Instead, It is a group of guys who play their hearts out every night and someone steps up to make the big plays when they are needed. The Hawks look really good, but we will have to wait and see if they can compete with the likes of the Cavaliers and Bulls. using the entire starting five of DeMarre Carroll, Al Horford, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, and Jeff Teague has the Hawks as the biggest surprise team in the league right now.
While they may be the biggest surprise team, they aren't the best team in the league. That record belongs to the 42-9 Golden State Warriors. The Splash Brothers of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have been killing it for the Warriors this season. When Golden State has all five starters on the floor at the same time, that being Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes, the Warriors are an outstanding 22-1. Golden State really has one of the NBA's nastiest defense by a mile and an offense that's even scarier as of late. This is an offense that's averaging 118.6 points over their past 10 games. That is just plain scary. Yes these guys are really that good. To anybody that is trying to find a hole in this basketball team, I wish you the best of luck. They are just that good.
While those teams have been fun to watch, there are two clubs who have been playing a little below par this season, that being the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the Thunder, there were big expectations with this basketball team going into the year. Right now they are a couple games over .500, sitting 9th in the West. Injuries have been what has killed this team this season. Kevin Durant getting hurt didn't help things much, but they have not performed like everyone thought they would. They were a preseason favorite to win the West, but now they may not even get a playoff berth. Russell Westbrook has carried the team this season, and if the Thunder want to make the playoffs and make some noise, they will have to get Westbrook and Durant healthy and playing at an elite level. With how good the West is this year, it may be a tough task for OKC to climb back into this thing.
Cleveland too has been a bit of a disappointment this season. Much like the Thunder, Cleveland was a favorite at the start of the preseason to walk away with the East. But what has hurt the Cavs so far was their play in the months of November and December. Blame was being place on everyone was blaming LeBron and Blatt for all the things that were going wrong. People thought that Blatt wasn’t the right fit for the Cavs because he and LeBron James weren’t on the same page. Cleveland took those rumors out quickly, then started to turn things around with some big moves. The Cavs made trades for Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith, and Iman Shumpert, who have all been key contributors to the Cavs current success. This paid off, as the Cavs winning 14 out of 16 games leading up to the All-Star break. LeBron James finally looks like he is playoff ready, and the teams is following his lead. The Cavaliers are still my favorite to come out of the East this season. Sure Cleveland has turned it around right now, but they looked flat for a while, which as a shock due to all the hype going into the start of the year.
There has been some debate going on as to who has been the first half MVP. Is it Stephen Curry? Damian Lillard? Russell Westbrook even? I'd have to give the nod to Curry just slightly ahead of Lillard. Sure Lillards putting up impressive numbers in Portland with less of a support cast than Curry has in Golden State. But, Curry is the only player in the top 10 in scoring average, assists average and total 3-pointers. (James Harden is half an assist from joining the club, but his team has twice as many losses.) Bottom line is this. Stephen Curry has the ball in his hands the most in the league's best offense, and he has taken on added defensive responsibilities. With LeBron and KD not playing like themselves this year, the door has been left wide open for somebody else to step to the forfront. Stephen Curry has done just that.
With the crazy first half we have seen this season, there have been some notable games and ervents that have already taken place. On November 1, Carmelo Anthony surpassed 20,000 career points, becoming the 40th player in NBA history to do so. He reached the milestone in the 1st quarter of a 96-93 home win against the Charlotte Hornets. Then on November 11, Dirk Nowitzki surpassed Hakeem Olajuwon as the highest-scoring player born outside the United States and the 9th all-time scoring leader, as the Mavericks came from behind 24 points down to beat Sacramento 106–98 for their 21st straight regular-season win at home against the Kings. Nowitzki hit a jumper from just inside the three-point line early in the fourth quarter to pass Olajuwon at No. 9, and he finished the night at 26,953 career points.
On November 12, Kobe Bryant entered the Record book in an area he might like to forget. Kobe surpassed John Havlicek and became the all-time leader for missed field goal attempts in the league. His career-breaking record 13,418th missed shot came at 6:22 in the fourth quarter with a missed 14-foot fadeaway in a 107-102 loss on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies. The next night, November 13, the Dallas Mavericks led the Philadelphia 76ers by 44 points, tying for the 2nd-highest leading margin in NBA History at halftime. On December 2, 2014, the Phoenix Suns announced that the US Airways Center would be renamed the Talking Stick Resort Arena.
To December we go, as on December 3, the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves created the first ever mulligan during a start of an official NBA game by nullyfing the first 16 seconds where the 76ers gained possession and drew a foul against the Timberwolves. The 76ers won their first game of the season. On December 13, 2014, Dwight Howard reached 10,000 career rebounds. Kobe Bryant entered the record books again on December 14th, when he passed Michael Jordan for third place on the all-time scoring list. He reached the mark at 5:24 in the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves by making two free-throw shots. Bryant finished with 26 points in the Lakers' 100-94 victory over Minnesota.
On January 5, 2015, Dirk Nowitzki passed Moses Malone to become the 7th best all-time scorer in the NBA. He scored 15 points in the Mavericks' 96-88 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets. The Atlanta Hawks became the sole leaders of the Eastern Conference in January for the first time since near the end of the 1993-94 NBA season. Shawn Marion would be the first player in NBA history to score over 15,000 points, grab 10,000 rebounds, have 1,500 steals, block 1,000 shots, and score over 500 three-point shots throughout his entire career. On January 15, 2015, the Los Angeles Clippers acquired Austin Rivers, the son of Clippers head coach Doc Rivers, in a three-way trade with the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns. Rivers is the first son to play for his father in NBA history.
On January 23, 2015, Klay Thompson entered the record books, when he scored 37 points in a quarter, when he was a perfect 13-for-13 from the field and 9-for-9 from three-point range in the third quarter of a 126–101 win over the Sacramento Kings. He broke the previous record of 33 held by George Gervin and Carmelo Anthony. The 9 three-pointers were also a league record for a quarter, surpassing the mark of 8 by Michael Redd and Joe Johnson. The 13 field goals tied David Thompson's record for a quarter. On January 31, 2015, the Atlanta Hawks became the 1st team in NBA history to go 17-0 in a month after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers.
So there you have it. A look back at an exciting first half of the NBA season!
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