The 2021-22 NBA season kicked off yesterday. The sweeping impression among pundits is that this one is wide open with no particular team garnering heavy favorite status.
Let’s post our power rankings here at the onset of the season and see how our top eight teams will fare as the season progresses.
1. Milwaukee Bucks - Make no mistake about it. The defending champions deserve to be at the top spot, no matter how you spin what happened last season. True, they had a lot of breaks coming their way en route to that championship, but Giannis and his crew still performed well under pressure. With the added confidence that an NBA chip brings, look for Giannis to be even more unstoppable. Just yesterday at the opener, they bamboozled through the Brooklyn Nets 127-104 led by Giannis’ 32 points, making a strong statement at the opener.
2. Brooklyn Nets - So many heartbreaking stories can be squeezed out from this team last season—from the injuries that alternatively beset their stars, to Kevin Durant’s shoe being just an inch away from the three point line—but everyone seems to be unanimous in considering this team to be outright NBA champion material as long as their big three of Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden are able to play together consistently.
3. Phoenix Suns - They were the “surprise team” of last season as they were able to claw their way to the NBA finals despite not having so many marquee names on their roster. Of course, Chris Paul has a lot to do with it, as he is consistently able to make any team he plays on instantly better. That he was able to do so in the first year speaks volumes about his value to his team. DeAndre Ayton and Devin Booker are still developing and with Paul there to guide them, the sky’s the limit for this team.
4. Los Angeles Lakers - All that brouhaha about the veterans they added make for good basketball lore. This team seems to be the sympathetic favorite to win the title as we all want guys like Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook to finally win that chip. But don’t be fooled. All the attention given to how old this team is just that—noise. It will all boil down to their dynamic duo in Lebron James and Anthony Davis. As long as they are both healthy, that’s all this team needs to be a title contender. They have done it before. There’s no reason they can’t do it again.
5. Los Angeles Clippers - Kawhi Leonard will still be out for potentially half of the regular season, but considering how this team gutted it out in the playoffs and how Paul George redeemed himself, this team will be very dangerous come playoff time when Leonard rejoins them. A dark horse to win it all this year.
6. Denver Nuggets - You cannot count out a team with the reigning MVP in Nikola Jokic. Last year, they fell short as they missed the services of Jamal Murray. With the latter coming back healthy and Michael Porter Jr. developing into a potent offensive force, this team is one of the most talented and may very well make it all the way.
7. Golden State Warriors - Steph Curry is hungry again and that doesn’t bode well for the league. And with splash brother Klay Thompson, who himself is raring to see action, able to rejoin him, opponents better beware as on any given night this duo can shoot the lights out and beat them by unbelievably wide margins.
8. Utah Jazz - They had the best regular season record last year but flamed out in the series against the Clippers. Of course, they missed Michael Conley but if you consider that they had a 2-0 series lead, but lost four consecutive games, you have to wonder if it’s a coaching issue. Nonetheless, expect the Jazz to be right in the mix during the playoffs.
LAST ROUNDS. These are on Hon. Hernani Espina, presiding judge of MCTC, Borbon-Tabogon and Atty. Alan F. Siu—both celebrating their birthdays tomorrow. Cheers!