NBA: Reaching Up, Falling Back; Denver
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NBA: --- ONLY one NBA team can speak of having a commanding lead over competing franchises within its division, and that’s the 20-4 Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA Western Conference’s Northwest Division, ahead of second place team, the 14-12 Denver Nuggets.
The Thunder is also leading the WC in wins, two ahead of the conference’s Southwest Division’s San Antonio Spurs, now 19-8.
Closest to the Thunder in the NBA Eastern Conference are the 18-6 New York Knicks, leading the EC’s Atlantic Division, five games ahead of the Brooklyn Nets. All other NBA division leading franchises are but one or two games ahead of a runner-up team.
Were the NBA season to end on this day without subsequent playoffs, the Thunder would be the league’s championship team.
Meanwhile, nearly half of the NBA has been struggling to break upward from having more losses than wins. In other words, 13 of the league’s 30 teams are below .500, a line suggesting separation of the competent from “the less than.” Two of these below the line franchises have as many or more losses than the Thunder has had wins, the 7-20 Detroit Pistons, and the 5-21 Cleveland Cavaliers. Four other franchises are close to that embarrassing low, each at the bottom of their respective divisions, the WC Southwest Division’s 5-18 New Orleans Hornets, the WC Pacific Division’s 7-17 Sacramento Kings, the EC Atlantic Division’s 7-19 Toronto Raptors, and the EC Southeast Division’s 3-19 Washington Wizards.
But it’s the eight NBA teams currently .600 and above that now paint the NBA as being a credible league were it to be compared with others of its kind (the Thunder holds at .833 today, while five of the eight are .704 and higher).
Were the regular NBA season to end today, the Thunder would be atop the WC’s Northwest Division in much the same way as when the 2011/12 season ended in April, with the Nuggets also in the number two spot, the Utah Jazz third, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Portland Trail Blazers with win/loss differentials also similar to their April end-of-season counts. Implied, then, is a vein of consistency within the WC’s Northwest Division, which seems to thread through all of the NBA, in that most teams seem to be positioned where they were when April, 2012 came about and the post-season began, e.g., most of the teams that finished last or next to last as 2011/12 closed are in that same ranked spot now---the Hornets, Kings, Raptors, Wizards and the Cavaliers, while hovering only slightly above them are the now 7-16 Charlotte Bobcats, which finished last in the league, 2011/12.
Yet there are today’s surprising let-downs: the 11-14, thus under .500 L.A. Lakers (3d place, WC Pacific) and the 12-12 Boston Celtics (3d, EC Atlantic). Both led their divisions when the 2011/12 season ended.
The unexpected turnabout, and a happy one for a town long without a sports team to identify with, has been the currently 13-11 Brooklyn Nets (2d, EC Atlantic), chasing the Knicks. When 2011/12 ended, the Nets, then of New Jersey
Quickly back up from the number four spot to second place within the WC Northwest Division, the 14-12 Denver Nuggets could be cited as an emblematic franchise, a team that represents the majority of those that reach and seem to stay above .500 but under .600 throughout most of the NBA season. This said, there are many values that separate the Nuggets from the rest of the league, a major characteristic being the difference between its win/loss record and its team and individual player statistics, the latter highlighting boldly that the team’s win/loss status should be a lot higher, that a Nuggets win like that against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, 112-106, ought to be happening a lot more often. For example, eight of Denver
Moreover, only two of Denver’s losses this season posted with less than 90 points, while only two of the team’s wins has had Denver finishing under 100 points, four of them with more than 110 points, the highest being a win versus the Sacramento Kings, 122-97. Of all Nuggets victories this year, in 13 of them the team kept its opposing teams below 100 points, in five of those games below 90 points.
Among Nuggets losses, only two have signaled reason for embarrassment, a 126-100 loss to the Spurs in early November, and a 122-103 loss to the Lakers, November 30. All Nuggets defeats since then have been by six points, or less. And, of the six games played against teams now in first or second place within their divisions, the Nuggets have defeated four. Ironically, the second highest number of points achieved by the Nuggets during a game this season was during a loss, 116 vs. the Miami Heat’s 119.
Also, a comparison of averages shows that the Nuggets are ahead of most NBA teams regarding major performance categories. The Nuggets field goal attainment percentage factor leads the opposition average, .468 over .439. As for free throws, the Nuggets lead, .431 over .428; total number of rebounds thus far, 1,123 above 1,033; number of blocks during the team’s first 25 games, 165 above 160; points per game, 101.6 over 100.5. In addition, five Nuggets starters and a reserve can boast of having double-digit ppg averages, forward Danilo Gallinari highest with a 15.6 ppg average.
What’s the major flaw, the Nuggets holdback? Looking at the team’s losses, mishaps noted most by analysts are fourth period slowdowns in offense efficiency, namely wasted shots, and sudden sloppiness in late game defense, along with not enough successful three-pointers providing a lead large enough for the team to guarantee an offset to its fourth period troubles.
Before meeting the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 16, 2013, the Nuggets have 13 games within which attempts can be made to correct the team’s deficiencies---should that happen, Thunder beware!
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NFL --- The three teams carrying double-digit wins within each of the NFL’s two conferences are definitely post-season billeted, the American Conference’s 12-2 Houston Texans (1st place, AC South), the 11-3 Denver Nuggets (1st, AC West) and the 10-4 New England Patriots (1st, AC East). Paired are the National Conference’s 12-2 Atlanta Falcons (1st, NC South), the 10-4 Green Bay Packers (1st, NC North), and the 10-3 San Francisco
From even a cursory look at their schedules, it seems that neither of the double-digit division leading teams will encounter serious trouble before the regular season closes. The Texans will face the 8-6 Minnesota Vikings (2d, NC North), the Nuggets the 5-9 Cleveland Browns (last, AC North), the Patriots the 2-12 Jacksonville Jaguars (last, AC South), the Falcons the 4-10 Detroit Lions (last, NC North), the 49ers the 9-5 Seattle Seahawks (2d, NC West), and Green Bay the 5-9 Tennessee Titans (3d, AC South). The season’s compiled data advises that only the Vikings and the Seahawks could undo any of these double-digit division leading teams.
Also on Sunday, and next Sunday, as well, division leading franchises with less that 10 wins will still have a shot at gaining post-season slots---the 9-5 AC North’s Baltimore Ravens, and the NC East’s 8-6 Washington Redskins. On Sunday, Baltimore
As to likely achievement of post-season wild card positions, there are still chances for the 8-6 Cincinnati Bengals (2d, AC North) to shine on Sunday. Add, the Indianapolis Colts (2d, AC South), the Giants and the Seahawks, if they can win two in a row and the teams just ahead of them lose two straight. The Bengals will play the 7-7 Pittsburgh
What could be the kill of the day on Sunday is the likely takedown of the Jaguars by the Patriots, this page’s take a Patriots win by 20 or more.
Broncos/Browns. This hasn’t been a season during which some of the worst hasn’t bested “the best.” The Jaguars nearly took the Texans apart at mid-season, prior to a fourth period Texans comeback, and the Panthers embarrassed the Falcons, 30-20, in November. Upsets like this can happen to the Broncos only if the Denver team goes into Sunday’s game overly confident and cavalier, or too concerned about avoiding injuries, submitting to lackluster performances all-around. There’s no other way that the Browns could prevail against the Broncos. It’s possible that the Broncos will use the Browns weaknesses as what could seem like pliable means for a laboratory, experimenting with plays that Denver’s head coach, John Fox, his offense and defense coordinators and quarterback Peyton Manning might want to employ during the post-season, i.e., for the Broncos on Sunday, it could be playoff rehearsal time.
END/mlR
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