The NBA’s 82-game common season is so lengthy and tedious that few groups are ever actually out of it till after the All-Star break. Take the 2021-2022 Boston Celtics because the chief instance: Boston was simply 25-25 by means of its first 50 video games, then completed the yr 26-6 earlier than working all the best way to the NBA Finals.
The brand new NBA season has been underway for less than per week, however that’s already lengthy sufficient for a vibe test across the league. The Celtics and Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder seem poised for a collision course within the 2025 NBA Finals, the Lakers are rolling behind new head coach J.J. Redick, and Cleveland Cavaliers look like taking one other step ahead with new coach Kenny Atkinson.
Some groups haven’t been as spectacular to this point. Listed here are 5 groups which can be at the very least interested by pushing the panic button just one week into the 2024-2025 season.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks are 1-3, together with getting completely shellacked by the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets — two groups extra involved with being within the Cooper Flagg derby than successful video games this yr. Milwaukee entered the season as one of many league’s most determined groups: with Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez all getting outdated, this felt like their final likelihood to make a run at a championship with this core round Giannis Antetokounmpo. It hasn’t been fairly to this point.
The Bucks have a laundry checklist of issues proper now: their depth stinks, their protection is completely disconnected, Middleton is out with an ankle damage, and Lillard isn’t getting again offensively what he’s giving up defensively. It’s simple responsible head coach Doc Rivers, however at a sure level this group wasn’t adequate for Mike Budenholzer or Adrian Griffin, both. It’s a deeply flawed roster that’s fully capped out and devoid of future belongings.
Lillard’s protection is an enormous difficulty particularly. He’s so small and struggles badly to recover from screens, which implies he will get taken out of performs with ease. When Dame will get knocked out with a display screen, he’s hardly ever displaying a number of efforts to get again within the play, and that’s placing the remainder of the Bucks’ protection in rotation.
Lillard’s offense can nonetheless be nice, but it surely appears like his deep pull-ups are much less constant than they was once. For the Bucks to achieve their potential, the chemistry between Lillard and Antetokounmpo within the two-man sport needed to be vastly improved. It was an enormous pink flag the 2 stars admitted they didn’t exercise collectively this summer season. Milwaukee has loads of time to get proper, but it surely wants to maximise the Lillard-Giannis pairing instantly and do no matter it may well to repair the protection.
Denver Nuggets
It was solely 15 months in the past that the Nuggets gained the NBA championship. Within the time since, possession has let a number of key items stroll in free company (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown, Jeff Inexperienced), the younger gamers drafted by the entrance workplace haven’t developed in a significant approach, and Jamal Murray seems to be like he’s misplaced a step at solely 27 years outdated. Nikola Jokic stays unimaginable, however the infrastructure round him in Denver has fully crumbled. At this level, simply grinding out an time beyond regulation win over the Raptors is an enormous deal.
The Nuggets have at all times had a poor bench within the Jokic period, however this may be their worst one but. For a group that desperately wanted capturing, the choice to make Russell Westbrook their large offseason acquisition was a extremely questionable one. The youthful draft picks that prime government Calvin Sales space had a lot conviction in getting into the season simply aren’t assembly the second to this point. It’s no shock there’s reportedly actual stress between the entrance workplace and head coach Mike Malone.
Jokic could make up for lots of points, but it surely’s ridiculous that Denver is placing such an enormous burden on his shoulders. It shouldn’t be this tough to construct round The Joker, a 7-foot point-center who fills the field rating like nobody else alive. The Nuggets want Murray to begin taking part in as much as his expertise degree once more, and so they want everybody else to begin hitting photographs. It’s simple to neglect that Denver gained 57 video games a yr in the past after their second spherical playoff exit. There’s no excuse for this group to be as unhealthy as its been within the first week. The Nuggets will at all times have an opportunity with Jokic round, however the issues right here doubtless aren’t going away.
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Indiana Pacers
The Pacers have been the largest shock group of final season, utilizing a contemporary “7 Seconds or Much less” offense to win 47 video games and ultimately earn a visit to the Japanese Convention Finals. It was at all times going to be laborious for Indiana to measure as much as final yr’s playoff run, however few thought they’d battle as badly as they’ve throughout their 1-3 begin.
The Pacers had the second greatest offense within the NBA final yr. Via 4 video games this yr, it ranks No. 22. Tyrese Haliburton simply hasn’t regarded the identical since struggling a hamstring pressure simply earlier than the All-Star break final season. Haliburton returned early partly to hit the video games minimal to be named All-NBA, and he actually hasn’t regarded like his outdated self since. His assists have been minimize in half from final yr so far, and his scoring is taking an enormous hit too as he struggles to shoot the ball. To date, Haliburton is capturing 33.9 p.c from the sector and 26.5 p.c from three.
Indiana simply doesn’t have a number of defensive punch alongside him. Myles Turner continues to be a very good participant, however his days as a Defensive Participant of the 12 months candidate are over. Pascal Siakam has been stable to star the season, however he can’t be this group’s driving drive. Indiana nonetheless simply seems to be small and weak, and now they don’t have a tremendous offense to fall again on. Haliburton returning to the shape he confirmed early final yr would clear up a number of Indiana’s issues, however that participant has been gone for a short time now. The Pacers are a piece in progress till their star level guard will get proper.
