In the 1971-1972 NBA betting season, the Los Angeles Lakers had an average point margin of +12.3 for the entire season. That means that the average game result had them winning by 12.3 points. That record seemed untouchable, but this year Golden State has averaged +13.4 so far, and the Spurs are averaging +13.2. So clearly there are two titans in the league…and then everyone else. Let’s see how the 30 teams in the Association stack up.
The Sixers have brought in Hall of Famer Jerry Colangelo as a special adviser and Mike D’Antonio as a sort of mentor to Brett Brown, but there is still no team that has just won 1 of its first 29 to start a season, until now.
Kobe appears to be waking up a little bit, although he still went just 7-for-22 in Wednesday’s thrashing by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Nets did take the Dallas Mavericks to overtime before losing on Wednesday. Thaddeus Young is an underutilized force in the middle.
Damian Lillard has been suffering from plantar fasciitis in his left heel, and the team has been floundering too. The Blazers are 1-15 when they don’t score at least 105 points.
The Pelicans came back in the fourth quarter to beat the Jazz on the road, their first comeback from a deficit after three periods in the last 26 chances.
Will Barton is a new contender for the Sixth Man Award. He put up 32 points for the Nuggets the same night when Danilo Gallinari went down with an ankle sprain.
Omri Casspi is tied for fifth in three-point shooting percentage this year…tied with Steph Curry.
The Wolves were 8-8 at one point, and then they hit a 1-8 skid in their next nine. However, Karl-Anthony Towns led them to a big win at Brooklyn.
In two games against Golden State, Milwaukee has only trailed for 11 of 96 possible minutes, even though the Warriors earned the split. Why can’t the Bucks beat anyone else?
The Suns started 7-5 and have gone 5-12 since, losing all 10 games when they don’t score 100 points.
Washington is just one of five squads who have hit 100 or more against the Spurs. Once they can get their quality players out of the infirmary, this will be a tough team in the East.
If you really think the West is always terrific, this year might surprise you, as the Jazz have the #8 spot in the standings today. However, the East isn’t that good either.
Kristaps Porzingis had seven huge blocks against Minnesota as the Knicks have built a four-game winning streak. Arron Afflalo is shooting 55 percent from the field in December.
The Rockets are 0-5 against Brooklyn and Denver, just another reason to scratch your heads at this team that sent Kevin McHale packing.
The Grizzles have five losses by at least 20 points so far, third only to the Lakers and 76ers. Marc Gasol has three games with 15 points, 10 boards and five assists in December.
Evan Fournier averaged 19.2 points per game in the first 13 games…and 9.6 in the last 14 games. However, the Magic are still playing well above expectations.
The Clippers need a small forward. The players they have started at this position have combined to average 5.0 points per game (last in the NBA), 3.0 boards (last), 21.5 minutes (29th) and 1.1 assists (25th).
Dirk Nowitzki is one of just seven NBA teams with a winning road record. Dirk Nowitzki continues to bring maximum effort and big results every night.
When the Bulls keep their opponent under 100, they are 14-1. When they don’t, they are 1-9. Jimmy Butler has called out new coach Fred Hoiberg, making this already a season of drama in the Windy City.
They almost knocked off Golden State and got a tough win in Charlotte. However, they have to keep their opponents under 100 to win (13-2 vs 1-11).
A year ago, Stan van Gundy released Josh Smith still owing him $26 million over two years. They were 5-23 at the point; since then, they have gone 43-39.
The Atlanta Hawks simply do not rebound the ball. If they did, they would be on pace to win 60 games or more.
Toronto collapsed in Indianapolis and also had a tough overtime loss. They should still contend in a middling East, though.
Jeremy Lin went off for 35 against Toronto that reminded us of the 2012 Linsanity.
Indiana trailed 26-5, and then went off on a 47-15 run to take over the game and lead into a 3-1 week.
Miami is 8-1 against the West and 8-9 against the East. Goran Dragic is still trying to find his way building a smooth relationship with Dwyane Wade.
Cleveland is 34-4 when Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving have started with LeBron James and Timofey Mozgov has been on the team. This will be the team’s starting lineup when the Cavs face Golden State on Christmas Day.
Kevin Durant is 4-16 in head-to-head showdowns with LeBron James. However, their annihilation of the Lakers on Wednesday shows that this team is deeper and more powerful…when they can get the King out of their heads.
San Antonio is 15-0 at home, the league’s best home start by a team in the West since 1988-89, when the Lakers started 17-0.
This 27-1 record is the best any NBA team has ever had at Christmas. Will their tilt with Cleveland make them 28-1? Or revive the talk of Cleveland as this year’s champions?
# 30 Philadelphia 76ers (1-28)
# 29 Los Angeles Lakers (4-23)
# 28 Brooklyn Nets (8-21)
# 27 Portland Trail Blazers (11-18)
# 26 New Orleans Pelicans (8-19)
# 25 Denver Nuggets (11-16)
# 24 Sacramento Kings (11-16)
# 23 Minnesota Timberwolves (11-16)
# 22 Milwaukee Bucks (11-18)
# 21 Phoenix Suns (12-17)
# 20 Washington Wizards (11-14)
# 19 Utah Jazz (11-14)
# 18 New York Knicks (14-14)
# 17 Houston Rockets (14-14)
# 16 Memphis Grizzles (15-14)
# 15 Orlando Magic (15-12)
# 14 Los Angeles Clippers (16-12)
# 13 Dallas Mavericks (16-12)
# 12 Chicago Bulls (15-10)
# 11 Boston Celtics (14-13)
# 10 Detroit Pistons (16-12)
# 9 Atlanta Hawks (17-12)
# 8 Toronto Raptors (17-12)
# 7 Charlotte Hornets (15-11)
# 6 Indiana Pacers (16-10)
# 5 Miami Heat (16-10)
# 4 Cleveland Cavaliers (18-7)
# 3 Oklahoma City Thunder (18-9)
# 2 San Antonio Spurs (23-5)
# 1 Golden State Warriors (27-1)
