Everyone creates certain expectations for every team at the beginning of the season. What teams/players haven’t played at the level that was expected? These are the biggest disappointments early in this NBA season.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics made a good playoff run with two of their starters injured last season. This year they have a healthy team, and since the beginning of the season, they’ve been favorites to win the East. At the beginning of the season Kyrie struggled, but now it looks that he’s found himself on the court. We can’t say the same things for other players like Gordon Hayward, who’ve been underperforming. Right now the Celtics are the sixth seed in the East and barely have a record over .500.
Houston Rockets
Houston fell one game short from going to the NBA finals. In the offseason, they lost Trevor Ariza who was fundamental for their defense. Houston was never a good defensive team but losing one of the only players that helped in that aspect really hurt their game. In his place, they signed Carmelo Anthony. He was expected to play better than in OKC and to even show some flashes of his old self. Not even 20 games into the season and he’s not even with the team anymore. The Rockets keep struggling defensively, as they’re now the ninth seed in the West.
Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball
In his third season, Lakers fans expected Ingram to make a big jump on the court and help LeBron make a deep run in the playoffs. He’s only averaging 15.1 PPG and 4.4 RPG, though he was suspended early in the season. Ingram’s not doing enough for the Lakers to get to the WCF.
Lonzo Ball has always been a pass-first player, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t help by scoring at times. He’s only averaging 8.2 PPG, which is worse than his average during his rookie year. Last year he averaged 7.2 APG, and this year he’s only averaging 4.9.
Ball is expected to be a player who can score a double-double any night, but this season he hasn’t shown the same ability. If I were a Lakers fan, I wouldn’t be worried. They’re still young, and the team added a more ball-dominant player in LeBron. LA will have to learn to still score without LeBron having the ball every possession.