WE are officially on the home straight for season 2016-17. Some teams have lived up to the hype and exceeded expectations, others not so much and have plummeted towards the bottom of the lottery. Teams have be reviewed at the quarter, halfway and three-quarter mark of the year. Let’s quickly wrap the third portion of the season so far for the teams from the Southwest division.
San Antonio Spurs (46-13)
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IF you eliminate Utah from the conversation then San Antonio are the best defensive team in the league this year. They ranked in the top five for opponents field goal percentage and three point percentage in the past two months, thanks to the rangy Kawhi Leonard and team orientated philosophy embedded by Greg Popovich.
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EVEN though San Antonio has the 2nd best record in the league they aren’t as dominant on their home floor as they would like to be. There are nine teams in the NBA with more wins at home. Regardless of the Spurs road dominance, if they can’t win at home they won’t go far in the playoffs.
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WITH Kevin Durant out for at least four weeks of the Warriors, now is the Spurs chance. They can have a red hot crack at taking the #1 seed in the West and currently sit just four games behind Golden State. The have the best road record in the league, but only eight of their remaining games are away from the AT&T Center, meaning they have to improve at home to steal home-court advantage.
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Houston Rockets (43-19)
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HOW the hell did the Rockets manage to have the top two favourites for the sixth man award on their bench? Lou Williams and Eric Gordon are going to cause teams a lot of headaches come playoff time.
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OFFENSIVELY Houston have the talent to challenge anyone, it’s defense that is their Achilles heel. Their defense is buoyed by gritty guard Patrick Beverly and center Clint Capella, meaning the wing spot is where they can be exposed. The Rockets have shown they can compete defensively in patches, but their consistency will be key come post-season.
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THE success of the Houston Rockets rest on the shoulders of Trevor Ariza. No really. If they are serious about contending for a championship then Ariza MUST play good defense. Guys like James Harden, Sam Dekker and Eric Gordon aren’t going to shadow Kawhi Leonard or Klay Thompson come playoff time, so it will be paramount that their starting SF can lock those players down.
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Memphis Grizzlies (36-25)
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NO secret here the greatest strength for the Grizzlies is their defense. They not only slow the pace and tempo of the game down, disrupting teams usual rhythm, they hold those opponents to an extremely low shooting percentage. Over the past two months they were the best in they were second only to the Warriors in opponent field shooting percentages.
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CHANDLER Parsons has been a failure for Memphis. His six points a night shooting 34% are straight up woeful and unfortunately for the Grizzlies one more capable offensive player was all they needed to realistically challenge for a title. At four years for $94 million, something tells me that more Instagram posts than points per game is not what Memphis had in mind from Parsons.
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THE defensive dominance somewhat makes up for the offensive shortcomings, and the Grizz have a few super talented scorers. Players like Conley, Gasol and Z-Bo are all going to combine for roughly 60% of the teams score, but the secondary pieces like Carter, Green, Allen and so on need to help on offense. That will be the difference between a first round exit and a decent run at a NBA finals appearance.
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Dallas Mavericks (24-36)
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SEEMINGLY destined for the bottom of the standings earlier in the year, the Mavericks have surged into mediocrity going 14-12 since the 1st of January. Considering they would have accepted 30 wins for the year at the end of 2016, they will be happy to climb the standings.
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EVEN though the Mavs have found a way to win more games recently they still lack scorers. Harrison Barnes is averaging a hollow 20ppg and some other numbers from guys might look good on paper, but they are still scoring at the worst clip in the league since the turn of the calendar into 2017.
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I loved LOVED LOVED LOVED the trade by Dallas to get Nerlens Noel, effectively for nothing. He is the perfect complimentary piece next to the likes of Nowitzki and Barnes and will develop into a solid pro as a Maverick. Mark my words.
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New Orleans Pelicans (24-37)
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BY far the biggest trade of the season, and the move that I think moves the Pels in the right direction, was acquiring DeMarcus Cousins. Pairing him with twin tower Anthony Davis gives them a formidable front court for at least the next 18 months. Beware.
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NEW Orleans went all in on the Boogie Cousins idea, but they sacrificed depth as a result. Already one of the worst bench units in the league got considerably worse by trading Buddy Hield away, and there isn’t a ton of available players who can come in and help immediately. This off-season is going to be important.
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THE end of 2017 shapes as a crucial stretch for New Orleans, with a playoff spot there for the taking. Failure to win the games and swipe the eighth seed would be considered as an opportunity lost and could dictate the futures of Davis and Cousins.
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IF you liked what you read be sure to check out the Central division team’s 1st quarterly and 2nd quarterly reviews as well as more SportsbyFry articles by hitting this link. Follow our fan pages on Facebook and Twitter to never miss a minute of the action!
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