Quick NBA Thoughts

As the NBA season chugs past the 25 game mark, a separation between the haves and the have-nots is beginning to take place. There are three legitimate juggernauts (Lakers, Celtics, Cavaliers), ten good teams with a chance of making noise in the playoffs and then everyone else. Twenty-five games into the season, there are thirteen teams that have won eleven games or less. That, my friends, is ugly. On the whole, however, I think the disparity is actually good for the fans. If you are a fan of the Thunder, it’s not much fun to watch your team lose 117-82 to Cleveland, but, as a fan of basketball, the level of play amongst the stronger teams has been an absolute joy to watch. I cannot wait for the L.A-Boston game on Christmas Day. Cleveland – Denver on Friday should be great and the Detroit – Atlanta game on Sunday will be good too. It seems like every day or two, there is a good to great basketball game being played. The game tonight between the Celtics and Hawks was a great example of how much fun a basketball game can be. There was intense play on both ends of the court, skilled players making big shots at the end and the game wasn’t decided until the final buzzer.

I’ve been following the NBA closely for about eight years now and I can’t remember being so excited about the league. There has been a major influx of high quality players in the last five years or so and the level of play has risen accordingly. Even the bad teams have diamonds in the rough. O.J Mayo and Derrick Rose have looked fantastic and Michael Beasley has shown flashes of brilliance. As a Raptors fan, it’s been tough. Their performance against Dallas tonight didn’t exactly give me a lot of hope. Every time I’m down though, I’ll flip to SportsCentre and see a clip of LeBron James absolutely destroying the rim on a fast break. I am immediately reminded of why I love basketball.

On Thursday, I’ll have an in-depth post up about the big three and why I think no one else will challenge for the title.