The Eastern Conference standings are not looking as expected after a month from the 2021-2022 season. The Washington Wizards (10-3), Chicago Bulls (10-4) and Brooklyn Nets (10-4) top the standings and are the only 10-win team in the East, finishing about six points. One schedule.
Considering that the Nets have been a favorite in the NBA since the summer, Brooklyn’s record is not surprising. After sneaking into the 2021 playoffs through the play-offs, Washington was seen as a marginal contender for the playoffs. Chicago exceeded expectations and hopes to enter the playoffs for the first time in five years.
The Wizards and Bulls made major changes to their roster, and these changes paid off immediately. Washington sends Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers (8-7) A sensational five-team dealA few months after trading Nikola Vucevic, Chicago added DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso to the free agency market.
In Monday’s Chicago 121-103 victory over the Lakers, DeRozan scored a season-high 38 points. The 32-year-old player spent a year of revival with the Bulls, averaging 26.9 points per game, ranking third in the NBA.
DeRozan said on Monday: “I can go down the list that was just excluded,” DeRozan passed ESPN“I have so many chips on my shoulders. I just want to be a winner and enjoy this trip. We can’t play this game forever, so I want to benefit as much as possible from it.”
DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points in the 4th game this month, tying a career high.
38 points
6 AST
15-23 FG
2-5 3POnly halfway through November. pic.twitter.com/sdZIECX9Js
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 16, 2021
The trio of DeRozan, Ball, and Zachravin averaged 65.7 points and 12.5 assists per game, and made 39.8% of their 3-pointers. Caruso averaged 2.5 steals per game, ranking third in the league. Vucevic averaged a double-double per game.
Chicago ranked fifth Defensive ratingWashington has the league’s fourth-best defense, leading the team to a five-game winning streak with the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards defeated the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks (6-8) and the current No. 5 seed Cleveland Cavaliers (9-6) in that time.
Bradley Beal leads Washington with 23.3 points per game, but the role players who join the Wizards in the offseason are the most important. Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma averaged 32.5 points and 17.6 rebounds per game. Spencer Dinwiddle had 17.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and a team-high 6.0 assists per game. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope contributed to both ends of the court.
The Nets defeated the Wizards earlier this season and quickly rebounded from a sluggish start. Brooklyn had eight victories in nine games and climbed up the standings, losing only to Chicago during that time. In the past nine games, the Nets’ point difference exceeded 11.4 points.
Kevin Durant is the top MVP candidate, leading the league with 29.6 points per game. Durant’s shooting percentage is 58.6%, the highest of the league’s top five shooters.
James Harden averaged 20.4 points and 10.0 assists per game in November.
The Miami Heat (9-5), Cavaliers and New York Knicks (8-6) completed the early stages of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Photo: Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images
