NBA - Main

So much on my mind with how the season's played out:

Thunder are a stellar team. Their experience together, while being young, as a unit has really shone through. Their chemistry as a unit. Chet has unlocked Shai in a monstrous way and Chet is a monster himself. Having the length they do 1-5, multiple ballhandlers, and finally having the rim protector in Chet they do takes OKC to a totally different level. They're in an awesome position as a team.

Very disappointed in the Jazz but Keyonte George has indeed shown a lot of great things as u/East_Bed1194 said. Expected more out of Utah but too many turnovers and the defense hasn't been good enough, with or without Kessler. It's been even worse without Kessler, but Kessler and Collins and their chemistry together was off. Collins just isn't a 5, even though some have said that's where he'd be at his best...the strengths of his game are neutralized as a 5. He does have his 3 ball back and I believe he and Kessler can be a good fit together in time. Jazz guard/wing play hasn't been good enough. I don't know if they have their future SG or SF on the roster currently.

Bulls at 5-11 may be able to rally and sneak a play-in spot but this team is done realistically. Just not enough shooting, they play too slow, they're getting essentially nothing out of the PF spot, PWill looks broken, and they're getting little out of Coby as the starting PG on either end of the floor. Team lacks chemistry and lacks an identity and LaVine is clearly disenchanted. Vucevic has taken a real step back this season, shooting as badly as ever from 3, his all around efficiency has been very poor for his standards, shooting less 3's, and bad body language. I think Donovan deserves the ability to play with the assuredly new roster that'll be coming in after the deadline and a fresh start but he may not want to do so.

The impact Porzingis has made on the Celtics defense is something I expected to see going into the year and has borne out that way. Celtics are a team that can switch 1-4 and cause havoc on the perimeter while having an excellent rim protector and for a C, a solid shower/switcher on the perimeter in KP. Not to mention the versatility of his offensive skill set and how that compares to what the Celtics have had at the position the last few years. Celtics are a monster.

Suns undefeated since Booker has come back, their injuries of course is what has stood out the most because that was the biggest concern with them. The competition hasn't been elite but the Suns with Book and KD are just so explosive offensively. Now we can only imagine how they'll play with Beal and having some measure of table setting ability out there on the floor with them. They could use that, which has been obvious early on.

Pacers are Pretenders in my book. Their lack of size, rebounding, and very poor perimeter defense is gonna catch up to them as the season goes along...I don't see them as anything more than a play-in team. I'm not that impressed with what I've seen because we already knew what they could be offensively. Bruce Brown isn't a great SF defender but been forced into that role. Generally he's the one defending the opponents' best wing. He's too small to do it. He can be beaten off the dribble by quick guards. He's overrated defensively. Haliburton is incredible though and proven he can be almost as dynamic as a scorer as he is a playmaker which was something some questioned.