Each year, NBA teams’ seasons are decided by many things, including injuries and how well their star players do. This season has shown that the teams from last year are still the dominant teams that made the playoffs last year. The NBA season started almost a month ago, and there have been drastic changes to the best teams.
Although there is more of the season to watch, “I think nothing really has happened in this season,” said sophomore Kyle Taylor. “No one’s really dropping crazy points or standing out from what I’ve watched.”
While there is more of the season to go, here are the teams that made my top 10 cut.
The Boston Celtics
Last season, the Celtics were defeated by the 8th seed, the Miami Heat (4-3) in the Easter Conference finals. This year, they have looked like the best team in the NBA because of their strong net rating (the number of baskets they scored), helping them in their point values against other teams in the league.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Last season, the Timberwolves finished as the 8th seed in their conference and eventually got knocked out (4-1) in the first round of the playoffs by the soon-to-be NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets. This season, the Timberwolves hope to make a deep playoff run with their strong defense.
Orlando Magic
Last season, the Magic finished as the 13th seed in their division, which completely left them out of the playoffs. This year, they have surprised many people by starting as the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
Milwaukee Bucks
Last season, the Bucks lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Miami Heat (4-1) in a huge playoff upset. This year, the Bucks acquired Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers which has boosted their success. They have looked as good as they did when they won the championship in 2021.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma last year was the 10th seed, making it into the play-in tournament for the playoffs. They ended up losing in the tournament finals to the Timberwolves, effectively ending their season. This year, the Thunder are the second seed in the Western Conference and are shining like never before.
Denver Nuggets
The previous NBA champion Denver Nuggets have started this season very well with star Nikola Jokic leading the team in every category. The Nuggets are looking great to start this season, but the only question to ask is if Jokic can keep leading his team to victory.
Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers last year were knocked out of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics in a disappointing playoff series loss for a very talented team. This year Philadelphia has been looking good behind MVP runner-up Joel Embiid.
Phoenix Suns
The Suns are an arriving monster this season and are looking like a very collected team that is to be feared in the league. Last season, though, the Suns finished as the 5th seed and were knocked off by the Denver Nuggets.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks were the 11th seed in their division last season after losing almost every game in the second half. This season, MVP runner-up Luka Doncic hopes his team does not give up a good playoff position so that in the second half of the season, they don’t have to fight for a play-in seed.
Miami Heat
Previous NBA finals losers, the Miami Heat have looked pretty good to start this regular season. Their only flaw is giving up huge 20 and 30-point leads to their opponents, but besides that Jimmy Butler has been leading his team fairly well.
These are the NBA teams that have looked the most dominant this season. How each team is ranked can quickly change depending on each team’s star power and their ability to win games.
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