Golden State entered the regular season as the team to beat and despite a couple of hiccups, the Warriors are finding their game and starting to play like the team experts predicted before the year began, but despite having a 9-2 record and winning five straight, last years runners-up in the finals are sitting third in the latest power rankings.
Cleveland, who won the title last year is sitting second, also with a 9-2 mark, but the biggest story in the first month of action is Atlanta, who is tied in the Eastern Conference with the Cavaliers and have jumped to fourth in the league, not bad for a team that many picked to finish outside the top-8 during the preseason.
The Hawks aren’t the only squad in the east making headlines as Charlotte is also off to a strong start with a 7-3 record. The Hornets are surprisingly third in the east heading into the weekend and are starting to show they are a team to watch for the rest of the 2016-17 season.
With all the talk on teams kin the east, the LA Clippers are healthy, hungry, and out to prove they can play against anyone. Los Angeles is the first team to 10 wins on the year and a perfect 5-0 on the road, earning them this weeks top spot in the NBA power rankings.
Not to be outdone, the LA Lakers are among the best stories in basketball with the young squad at 7-5 under first year head coach Luke Walton. This franchise has struggled for the last five years, but the youth of this team and the excitement of winning basketball games has the Staples Center the place to be with both Southern California teams playing better than the experts predicted.
