Early Season Update for NBA 2021/22

After two interrupted seasons of hoops, thanks to the global pandemic, the NBA tipped off the 2021/22 season a few weeks ago to begin a year of celebrating its 75th anniversary.

Milwaukee is looking to repeat its championship performance last year but the Nets and the Lakers were favored when it came to NBA betting markets at the biggest sportsbooks. We are now a few weeks into the new season and have already been treated to some great basketball. Here are some of the big stories so far. 

After missing out on the playoffs entirely for the last two seasons, Golden State has sprinted out of the blocks this year. The Warriors won nine of the first ten games of the season and lead the way in the West. Injuries have played a major part in the Dubs recent problems but Steph Curry is back at the very top of his game now.

Klay Thompson is still out but Curry is leading a reshaped team to multiple wins. He managed nine three-pointers, ten assists and seven rebounds on the way to 50 points against the Hawks and showed very publically that the Warriors are back. It is a long season, of course, but Golden State looks like it will challenge again this year.

The Lakers have always attracted the big names of NBA basketball – and this season was never going to be different when it was announced that Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony would be joining the rest of the gang at the Staples Center.

Anthony Davis and LeBron James have returned to bolster what had been a less than impressive start to the new season. But there have been more wins of late and the Lakers are keeping up with the rest in a star-studded Pacific Division. The rest of November will see the Lakers enjoy some home court time before a demanding December on the road that may show us just how good this team is.

Kyrie Irving’s ball skills have never been in doubt. It is his off-court proclamations that have attracted criticism – or even widespread ridicule. But his refusal to be vaccinated broke new regulations brought in by the state of New York when it comes to public sporting arenas – and now he has sat out the start of the new season and remains suspended.

The good news for Brooklyn is that it has enough talent on the roster to always be in the upper reaches of the Eastern Conference. James Harden is dropping a lot of points and KD is showing MVP form at the moment. Brooklyn doesn’t look like it needs Kyrie Irving to win a championship – and it may be forced to prove that this season.

There have already been some standout performances from some of the biggest names in the league so far – and some NBA records have already been claimed in the early weeks of the season. 

Chris Paul came so close to winning the championship for the first time ever last season but has managed to become the first player to reach 20,000 points and 10,000 career assists. He has also just passed Steve Nash to go third on the all-time assist list. Lorenzo Ball also became the first player to record a triple-double for three different teams before the age of 24.

The last time we saw the Heat was when they were swept by the Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. Miami brought in some experience in the offseason and the combination with the younger players on the roster has made for some entertaining performances so far,

Miami was less fancied than a good chunk of the league before the season started – and a third successive playoff meeting with the Bucks would probably end the 2021/22 campaign fairly early on again. But Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro are all looking good. So if Victor Oladipo can return from injury things could look good for the Heat.