I’d have to go with the Magic being 11-5 and on a 6 game win streak.
Watched the Celtics game and they played great individual and team defense while taking high IQ shots. Which is a rarity now because usually teams with young rosters keep chucking it with no disregard with what is happening on the court (Grizzlies). This Magic squad is very well coached.
Legit if they can get a couple of 3 and D players, or resurrect prime Klay Thompson, this team can be extremely scary.
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Not the biggest surprise, but I gotta shout out the Lakers somehow fixing Cam Reddish. He’s been excellent for us
Team wise - It’s the magic
Player wise - there’s so many players that made a jump… I couldn’t even make a full list. It’s wonderful to see the new era of the league come into fruition
Bridges playing this good after being out for so long has been a surprise
Rockets. They were getting memed on so hard this offseason for their pick-ups.
Magic is a close second. I love their squad but I didn’t think they were gonna take such a big leap so soon.
Magic being ahead of schedule, their defense is stifling
Maybe not the most surprising thing but nobody has said it, I didn’t think the Wolves would be this good. The double big lineup looks good, Ant is dominating, they’re a great squad.
Before the season someone pointed out there are 11 teams in the West who seem to have playoff aspirations this year, one will miss the Play-ins. Popular answer was the Wolves.
The play in champs finally living up to the hype
Suggs is playing defense like Marcus Smart. Their numbers this season are nearly identical. Not to mention Jonathan Isaac’s resurgence isn’t talked about.
For me it’s honestly scoot not being able to perform
the Magic being 11-5 and on a 6 game win streak
This part by itself actually does not surprise me. Anyone who watched any of their games toward the end of last season can see that there’s a LOT of raw talent on that team. Side note I’m also a big Fultz believer, I think some people still haven’t realized how much better they looked when he was playing vs not playing last season. I feel for the kid after all the stupid ‘fultz forgot how to play basketball har har’ nonsense that keeps getting spread even now, as opposed to ‘fultz had a rare and easily misdiagnosed condition that screwed him over’. Hope he continues to correct his trajectory along the rest of the improvements the Magic have made/are making.
Anyway, what does surprise me about the Magic’s strong showing atm is that they’re doing it while Franz is in the middle of a fairly noticeable slump. I would have expected him to be one of the key factors in a strong early start/win streak like what they have, but they’ve actually done a great job with much less contribution from him than I could have guessed.
It’s gotta be the Rockets. Most people took under on 40 wins but they are playing like a top 6 seed
Rockets or Magic. Maybe the Grizzlies for the wrong reasons. I didn’t think they’d be great but I wasn’t expecting then to suck this much
As a magic fan, I’m not completely surprised. This team has been formulating over the last few years. Banchero has star potential. But yes, 11-5 start, Back to back wins against Denver and Boston. I’m happily surprised. I don’t see us being a title contender but damn I’ll be happy to be back in the playoffs
Minnesota putting all the pieces together in a way that works. I’d have to say KAT surprised the hell out of me so far.
Surprised by the Pacers hot/historic offensive start, but then was surprise how good the Magic defense is. Clamped us
Pacers score 150 only to allow 140 being scored on them
The Wolves had no business being this good with how mid they were last year.
I didn’t think the Gobert/KAT experiment was going to work. But by god they made it work so far. Top that with the fact that Ant is a legit star and you have a bonafide contender
Orlando for sure