Legit top 3 team in the West?

Yes

Aldridge is playing fantastic right now and they are shooting the three incredibly well.You'd have to think some of that 3 pt shooting will level off at some point but they are certainly legit.

Defensively they rank pretty poorly in some major areas (29th in DefEff, 24th in OppPPG, 26th in OTS%) Teams that tend to rank low like this in these categories don't tend to do very well once the playoffs arrive though.

Legitimate top 4 team in the West? Yes. Legitimate best team in the league or NBA Finals contender? No.

Agree with Hotard.
I can see them being top 3 I West regular season, but not in WCF.


Also, give the curse of Portland, I can see a major injury or two coming.

They are good but I still don't like them because they depend so much on outside shooting. They are one of the worst teams scoring in the paint.

Also their road schedule up to this point has been easy.

As a Spurs fan I would hate to draw them in the playoffs because quick PGs and jump shooting bigs have always been a problem for SA, but at the same time I can't really see them working their way successfully all the way through the playoffs.

How about the Phoenix Suns?

Currently sit in 6th place with an 18-11 record.
I keep expecting them to slide, but now more than a third of the season is past, and they still are playing decent enough to win.

And you are what your record says you are.

I think they are legit. Damian Lillard and Lamarcus Aldridge are a serious 1-2 punch. They aren't great defensively, but they can score and rebound. I think if by some miracle OKC gets knocked out before the conference finals they have a legit shot at the finals. I think a Portland/S.A. conference semifinal could be really fun to watch.

[This message has been edited by 12thMan2012 (edited 12/28/2013 11:05p).]

Looking at their remaining schedule against the current playoff teams of the West:

* SA (3, 2 on the road)
* OKC (3, 2 on the road...both in January when Westbrook will be out)
* HOU (2 on the road)
* LAC (2, 1 on the road)
* GS (3, 1 on the road)
* PHX (1 at home)
* DAL (2 on the road)

10 of 16 on the road.

They have a 4 in 5 nights on a road trip in mid-January that will test them.

@ SA
@ DAL
@ HOU
@ OKC

Also of note: They have had no significant injuries to any starters, as they have started the same 5 every game this year.

If they stay healthy and Wesley Matthews can continue his great shooting (he's having a career year from the field), they can probably get to 60 wins (36-16 the rest of the way)...I'm not sure I totally trust their bench outside of Mo Williams if someone gets hurt.

Great so far, not totally sold on their long-term success.