This season, the NBA has witnessed a proverbial change of the guard. The Eastern Conference is in shambles, the West has seen new powers rise to the occasion, and weekly power rankings are becoming increasingly more difficult to assemble.
While everyone may love an underdog, the value of statistics shouldn’t be lost when exploring sustainability. Some may defy the odds and continue winning, but three teams have emerged as the primary cases when it comes to shockingly strong starts that are worth examining.
The question is, what could bring these teams down?
Charlotte Bobcats
They may not be experiencing glorious levels of success by conventional standards, but the Bobcats are off to the best start in franchise history at 14-15. Rookie coach Steve Clifford has Charlotte in sole possession of the fifth seed in the East behind elite-level defense and a 12-9 record against the conference.
There’s no question that the East is struggling mightily, but that doesn’t mean earning wins over teams Charlotte could face in the playoffs is irrelevant to its sustainability.
Charlotte’s success has been all about defense, ranking third in the league with 93.6 points allowed. Furthermore, the Bobcats are third in opponents’ field goal percentage at .426 and second in opponents’ points in the paint at 36.2. Only the Indiana Pacers are better.
Bismack Biyombo is forcing opponents to shoot .386 when he is defending the rim and Jeff Adrien checks in at .441 in those situations. Charlotte is legitimate on defense.
The unfortunate truth for the Bobcats is that offensively, they’re a two-man show. When Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker aren’t scoring, the only player who has provided some form of quality number is the inefficient Gerald Henderson.
Thus far, Jefferson and Walker are accounting for 38.3 percent of the Bobcats’ scoring. Jefferson, Walker and Henderson are scoring 54.2 percent of their points. Considering Henderson is shooting .407 from the field and .250 from the arc, that’s concerning.
The Bobcats are dead last in the NBA at .313 from the arc, and that spells trouble for a team that relies on a group of slashers and a big man for its offense. For all of its extraordinary defense, Charlotte also is 26th in points created via turnovers and 23rd in fast break scoring.
Charlotte controls its own destiny in terms of reaching the postseason, but it’s quite concerning that this team’s top-tier defense is being destroyed by an offense that is showing no signs of improvement.