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NBA Roundtable: Analyzing contenders at the season’s midway point

NBA Roundtable: Analyzing contenders at the season's midway point

It’s the midway point of the season, with the All-Star break approaching fast β€” and the NBA is seeing a level of parity it hasn’t seen in years.

This week, our panel of NBA reporters β€” Ric Bucher, Melissa Rohlin and Yaron Weitzman β€” takes a look at which teams and players are shining above all others, the favorites out East, and what’s going wrong with the supposed title contender in Los Angeles.Β 

1. At the halfway point of the season, which team has impressed you the most and why?Β 

Weitzman: The Memphis Grizzlies. They own the league’s second-best net rating, despite both Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. being sidelined for extended periods of time. Both are back on the court now and the Grizzlies look, to me, like the team to beat in the West. They’ve got the league’s top-rated defense, anchored by Jackson, and the combination of Ja Morant and Bane is going to give opponents fits in the playoffs. Sure, we could hang around and wait for teams like the Warriors or Clippers to get their stuff together, but don’t overlook just how dominant this Grizzlies team is.Β 

Bucher: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Utah Jazz. In that order. Honorable mention: Sacramento Kings. It’s easy to forget that the Celtics are playing under a first-year head coach after losing their last first-year head coach to an organizational scandal, after losing a Finals series they were expected to win. And now they have the best record in the league and are pummeling teams on the regular. The Nets’ players were architects of their controversy, but they’ve emerged from it seemingly with a renewed sense of purpose. As for the Jazz, yeah, they’ve fallen off since their hot start, but they took all the talk about them sandbagging for Victor Wembanyama as a shot at them, as players and said, “Not so fast.” Respect.

Rohlin: The Nets. Where did they come from? They were on pace for yet another disastrous season before it even began. Kevin Durant wanted to be traded. It seemed as though Kyrie Irving would be out the door right behind him. When they were both on the roster at the top of the season, the drama continued. Irving was suspended after he tweeted a link to an antisemitic film. Coach Steve Nash was fired. The Nets were a dumpster fire and their play on the court was just as disastrous. Through the first six games, they had the worst defensive rating in the league. Then, in the blink of an eye, they skyrocketed to the top of the league. Durant was playing…

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