Sports
Examining five NBA trends since the start of the season – ESPN – ESPN
It’s been nine days since the defending champion Denver Nuggets opened the season by beating the Los Angeles Lakers on ring night. The Dallas Mavericks, who missed the play-in a year ago, are one of the last two unbeaten teams.
Meanwhile, with Ja Morant serving his 25-game NBA suspension and center Steven Adams sidelined by season-ending knee surgery, the Memphis Grizzlies were the first team to five losses after winning 50-plus games each of the past two years.
Sometimes, a week of play doesn’t tell us very much. This time a year ago, the Portland Trail Blazers were the NBA’s top team at 4-0 before fading into the lottery. Two of the last three winless teams, the Lakers and Sacramento Kings, ended up making the playoffs.
Let’s sort through the data to see whether we can tell which early trends are meaningful and which are not.
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