Through the first 20 days of the NBA’s regular season, injuries and setbacks have already occurred. Some, like Chicago, were injuries we already knew about; they would be without their former MVP, Derrick Rose, for a large portion of the season. Others, like the Los Angeles Lakers, lost their former two-time MVP point guard in the inchoate days before we’d really seen them play as a full, Hall-of-Fame, group. But most of the teams missing their stars have banded together and kept from sliding all the way to the territory of Detroit or Washington. It should be noted, the Wizards are themselves without their top two players, John Wall and Nene, but they’re still winless through eight games this season. They fell apart when their stars went down, but these five other teams have remained tough to beat as they await their convalescing stars.
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5. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
This wasn’t supposed to happen. The Sixers’ deal to acquire mercurial big man, Andrew Bynum, from the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, in return for a draft pick and Andre Iguodala, was finally going to solve the riddle of a team good enough to make the playoffs, but without the necessary offensive force to pose a legitimate threat. However, he hasn’t played a single minute for the Sixers this year with his constant leg battles now extending into both of his knees, and a return date that’s been pushed back now three times.
So far this season though, this Doug Collins-led squad has performed admirably without their seven footer even sniffing the court. While Bynum rehabs and blows out his hysterical perm, the Sixers, led by third-year point guard Jrue Holiday, have managed to stay above .500 through their first 10 games. Their record of 6-4 has them in third place in the tough Atlantic Division, and if you discount their two losses to divisional rival, New York, they’re 6-2 on the year.
They need Bynum if they’re going to be considered legitimate threats in a middle-heavy Eastern Conference with at least four or five teams battling for the last couple playoff spots. Yes, Thaddeus Young has played well and Jason Richardson isn’t the sad sack toss-in to the Bynum deal many believed, but the Sixers need a low-post presence if they’re to have any hope in the East. Spencer Hawes is a nice player, but his 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game are nothing compared to Bynum’s projected impact. While Bynum’s right knee is expected to knock him out until at least January, and the recent revelations of bowling, of all things, which might have hurt his left — supposedly healthy — knee, there’s no telling when Bynum will be on the court with his teammates. Even if the Sixers manage to play .500 ball through the holidays and into the new year, there’s no telling how fast Doug Collins can get Bynum into the lineup and playing big minutes. If Bynum fully recovers and the Sixers have enough time to work out their rotation with him playing significant minutes at center, they’ll be a serious threat in the homogeneous Eastern Conference. That’s a lot of ifs and Bynum’s health has been a cause for concern long before this season’s issues. The Sixers are hanging tough, but how much longer can they do so?
4. LOS ANGELES LAKERS
The Lakers are easy to castigate after they signed Steve Nash and Dwight Howard this summer without losing Pau or Kobe, but Nash is the fulcrum by which the Lakers’ fortunes, and new coaching hire, Mike D’Antoni, swings. If he’s not on the court running D’Antoni’s offense (whether Seven Seconds or Less, or with this older Lakers group, Sixteen Seconds or Less), the Lakers will again be the Kobe show, with Pau and Dwight collecting the leftovers.
According to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell Nash is going to be re-evaluated next week to see if the fracture in his leg has healed. If it has, D’Antoni can work Nash into the rotation however he wants without the rush of an impending playoff seeds. The Lakers are currently 5-5 on the season, good for third in the Pacific Division, with their same-town rival Clippers looking dominant in their first two weeks. If the Lakers are going to finish with a record good enough for home court in the opening round of the playoffs, and some possible time to rest their weary, older roster, Nash has to come back prepared to run the show at near to 100 percent. The Lakers fired a coach already, and if Nash is kept out longer than expected, the rush of adrenaline D’Antoni felt when the Lakers spurred the interest of Phil Jackson to hire him instead, will seem like a nightmare.
The Lakers have enough talent to win without Nash, but they’ll be expending a lot of energy to do so. If they don’t improve on their record so far this season, it will place their Hall-of-Fame worthy roster on the verge of the unthinkable: not even making the playoffs. Obviously this is just a reach right now what with the talents of Bryant and the most dominant, when healthy, big man in the game, in Howard on the roster, but Nash is the most important cog for an offense that’s currently ranked next to last in the league in turnover differential, according to Hoopdata. The Lakers need to protect the ball and find their finishers and there’s nobody that does that better than Nash. They need him back almost as much as the other, less heralded, teams on this list.
3. DALLAS MAVERICKS
Just one year ago, this Mavericks team was tipping off on opening night against the team they defeated the preceding June as the defending champions. Now, after a mediocre strike-shortened season where they were a seventh seed before being swept out of the playoffs by Oklahoma City, they’re stuck in the same position they’d be anyway: awaiting the return of their leader, Dirk Nowitzki. Without their German superstar, the Mavericks are just holding on until Dirk’s surgically repaired knee heals.
So far, so surprisingly good. Through nine games, they’re where the other teams mentioned are: 5-4 and in the middle of everything in a loaded Western Conference. Their late pick-ups this off-season, Darren Collison and O.J. Mayo, have helped them in the offense department. Mayo has been the deep threat they’ve needed and he’s averaged over 21 points per game through the season’s first two weeks. That’s nice, but can they hang on until Nowitzki comes back? When he had arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 19, the team’s physician anticipated a three-to-six-week recovery; it’s looking more like the latter.
This is Dirk’s first surgery in a remarkably injury-free career so far. That would bring Nowitzki back around the same time as Love for Minneapolis, think late November or early December. So far, the pieces Cuban cobbled together after the power players had made their moves this off-season, have paid off, but they’ve got to stay near .500 if Dirk is going to have any chance of a long playoff run this spring. If they get strapped in a low seed and have to face the Lakers, Clippers, Grizzlies or Thunder in the first round, it might be two straight years of first-round defeats, and the halcyon days of Dallas’ championship parade will seem even further in the rear-view mirror.
2. CHICAGO BULLS
Rose missed a bunch of time last year, knee-injury related and not, which is how the Bulls’ Bench Mob was able to form in his absence. Their presence helped lead the Bulls to a second consecutive season with the league’s top record even though Rose only appeared in 39 out of 66 games regular-season games. But Bulls fans knew Rose would be gone this season after he tore his ACL in Game 1 of the playoffs in May. An ACL injury typically takes 8-12 months to fully recuperate (unless you are the freak of nature Adrian Peterson, who was leading the NFL in rushing 10 months after his ACL tear). With that timetable in mind, many are predicting a February or March appearance for Rose, but it’s most likely he’ll return after the all-star game in early February. He’s on schedule so far, but the Bulls aren’t going to rush him back — team executive John Paxson was blunt by calling any Rose rush “foolish.”
In the meantime, even with the losses of Omer Asik, Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver this summer, the Bulls are 5-4 through nine games. This is with Nate Robinson playing significant minutes, which shouldn’t be overlooked. Carlos Boozer appears healthy, as does Richard Hamilton, who is quietly having an excellent year. Luol Deng is a second or third offensive option thrust into a bit of a leading role, but he’s not shirking from those duties. Joakim Noah is still antagonizing opponents and grabbing a ton of offensive rebounds; currently, the Bulls rank eighth in the league in offensive rebounding differential, per Hoopdata. Taj Gibson signed an extension and offseason acquisition Kirk Hinrich, when healthy, has proved a suitable replacement for Rose and has been complemented by Marquis Teague at point guard. The Bulls aren’t going to lead the league in winning percentage again this year, but with Tom Thibodeau‘s defensive scheming and the hustle of the surrounding cast, Rose might join a team in the hunt for a playoff berth.
1. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Everyone forgot what a great coach Rick Adelman was. It took the MCL And ACL tears of Ricky Rubio in March plus the broken hand of Kevin Love this preseason for us to see what Adelman has done with a middling cast of also-rans. With Brandon Roy having arthroscopic knee surgery this week (Trail Blazers fans are getting horrible flashbacks), J.J. Barea hobbled by a sprained foot, Chase Budinger suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and Nikola Pekovic also battling injuries, even the Love and Rubio-less Wolves are banged up.
Right now, the Wolves are expecting Pekovic back shortly, he practiced with the team today. No one knows about Barea, who again sat out practice today with a sprained foot. Roy has been reported to be out two weeks, but his history of knee trouble suggests he won’t be at full potential for much longer. Budinger will be out three months.
Right now, the Timberwolves are 5-4, and they’re expecting Love back at the beginning of December, with Rubio coming at the end of the same month. If the Wolves can hang on for a .500 record, or a close approximation, they should be in good shape once they get their Christmas presents of Love and Rubio returning in time for the Holidays. They were a playoff team before Rubio went down last season, and Adelman’s offensive ingenuity, not to mention some better than expected shooting from the supposedly washed up Andrei Kirilenko (shooting .597 from the field), has kept them from falling off the map. Now they just have to survive another couple of weeks before Love returns.
Who has held it together the best?
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