NBA – Who's Hot, Who's Not

With the first full month of the NBA season in the books, let's take a look at which teams are living up to expectations and which teams are surprising one way or another. As a reminder, online sports bettors might want to check out the following offers - Sky Bet Promo Code for a £20 free bet.

Who's Hot
A quick peer at the standings finds all the usual suspects sitting with the best records in the NBA.

Golden State Warriors - After a rocky start, the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors have finally started asserting themselves. After a record-breaking 2015-16 regular seasons with a record of 73-9, the Warriors were upset in the NBA Finals by the Cleveland Cavaliers after leading the series 3-1. In an effort to make sure they don't experience a similar fate in 2016-17, they picked up perennial all-star Kevin Durant, creating a three-headed monster (Durant/Curry/Thompson) for the rest of the league to deal with over the next couple of years. Even after a rocky 4-2 start, it was clear it would only be a matter of time before the Warriors hit its stride. They are currently on a 12-game winning streak.

Los Angeles Lakers - With the Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs all playing as expected, the Los Angles Lakers have claimed a spot as one of the league's biggest surprises at this point into the season. As future Hall of Fame Kobe Bryant took his victory lap last year, the Lakers slipped to a dismal record of 17-65, by far the worst record in the Western Conference. After 20 games, the Lakers are currently sitting at 10-10 with the 8th best scoring offense in the league at 107.0 PPG. Playoffs or not, the Lakers might be just one major free agency signing away from rejoining the NBA's upper-echelon.

Who's Not
At the other end of the spectrum, there are a few teams that continue to have difficulty jelling despite having talent on the roster. The Denver Nuggets, Sacrament Kings and New York Knicks all come to mind. With that said, there are two teams in desperate straits.

Dallas Mavericks - The aging process and mid-level draft choices have created a slow burn in Dallas over the last couple of seasons. After finishing 50-32 in 2014-15, the Mavs slipped noticeably to 42-40 in 2015-16 as age finally caught up with future Hall of Fame SF Dirk Nowitzki. This year, he is facing serious injuries in what might be his last season. The Mavs currently hold the worst record in the NBA at 3-15 while facing the prospects of an elongated rebuilding process over the next few years. They currently rank last in the league in field goal percentage, scoring and rebounds.

Miami Heat - The era of James/Wade/Bosh is finally over in Miami. With the retirement of F Chris Bosh and the departure of G Dwayne Wade to Chicago through free agency, a depleted Heat team is left in turmoil. All those years of getting low draft choices has left very little to work with in the pipeline, which indicates a major rebuild is directly on the horizon.With Wade in the mix last season, the Heat easily made the playoffs. Without him, they currently sit at 6-12 with a list of players anyone would be hard pressed to name.

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