2021 NBA Season – First Half Recap

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On Thursday night, the NBA concluded its first half of scheduled games in this pandemic shortened season.

Through all of the ups and downs, learning curves, and schedule-altering obstacles, the league has all in all done an exceptional job of maneuvering through the murky waters of playing basketball in a pandemic.

The quality of basketball has been off the charts, from insane solo performances of some of the leagues brightest stars, as well as teams that appear to be on the cusp of special runs in the second half, there can’t be many complaints about the overall product that has taken the hardwood through the opening 36 games.

After an abbreviated offseason that saw teams like the defending champion Lakers and runners-up Heat have to begin their campaigns on limited rest, it took a little while for almost every team to get into the full swing of things.

In the Eastern conference, teams that were far and away the most dominant in last year’s regular-season saw themselves actually take a step back, and as of right now a below .500 record is good enough for the final playoff spot in the conference.

The Philadelphia 76ers appear to be a powerhouse on the backs of MVP candidate Joel Embiid and defensive anchor Ben Simmons. Head coach Doc Rivers has done a phenomenal job working to the strengths of his players in his first season on the Sixers bench.

The Brooklyn Nets, who entered the season as a team to watch in the East, made one of the biggest splashes in league history, acquiring future hall-of-fame guard James Harden for an expensive package of players and future draft picks. The move brought the Nets from a stout threat in the East to the odds-on favorite to win the conference with the big three of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and the before-mentioned Harden.

As for the biggest surprise of the first half, the New York Knicks, who have gone through a long and painful stretch of being a basement-dweller in the NBA. FIrst-time all-star Julius Randle has been a major contributor to the teams’ success and will likely be highly considered for the NBA”s most improved player award come season’s end.

Out west, it is all about the Utah Jazz to this point. A team that has been virtually unbeatable to this point and will likely be the runaway winner of the league’s top seed overall.

The Jazz are a different animal in that they don’t have one or two players that can beat you on a nightly basis, it is the entire five-man unit that teams must gameplan around.

They handle their business defensively and it opens up many options for their offense, most heavily the three-point shot, where Utah is torching opponents at a record-breaking pace.

Another one of the feel-good surprises of the first half is the Phoenix Suns, who went out and acquired veteran point guard Chris Paul in the offseason, and the move couldn’t have fit any better. Paul is the leader that this young team needed and has been a terrific side-kick to the lethal scoring ability of Devin Booker, who has added winning to his resume in the 2021 season.

As for the ‘City of Angels’, LA is currently a hot spot for the NBA and basketball as a whole. The reigning champs have navigated their way through the first half for the most part without the services of Anthony Davis who has been sidelined due to injury and currently sit third in the western conference standings.

For the Clippers, they seem to be a team that has the potential to beat any opponent on any given night, but also suffer from a bad case of inconsistency and have struggled against some of the NBA’s elite squads.

MVP?

Obviously, it is well-known that the NBA MVP honors are perhaps the most coveted in all the sports. The criteria are very strict and to have what it takes to even be considered as MVP, your season has to be close to flawless.

In my rankings, I don’t think you can look at it anyway and not immediately have Nikola Jokic at or near the top.

Nearly averaging a triple-double per game, on 27 points and 12 rebounds a night, is incredible for a Nuggets team that maybe wouldn’t even be a playoff-caliber squad without him. Jokic is special in a way that he will not take a night off. As durable as they come playing in all 36 of Denver’s games to date, the Joker has made a very strong case for MVP of the first half.

Looking back at the 76ers, you also can’t ignore the work of their big man, either.

Joel Embiid has found a new gear under the guidance of coach Doc Rivers. He appears to have rounded into shape and be in the best condition of his career. Embiid’s ability to draw contact and earn opportunities at the free-throw line is better than anyone in the NBA, and it has fueled him to massive scoring games of 45 or more points on various occasions.

Finally, this could be the year the best player in basketball gets recognized as the league’s most valuable player. A strange concept to say the least, and quite frankly it doesn’t look great on the league or its voting committee that LeBron James hasn’t been an MVP for nine seasons now.

His value can not be explained over a couple of sentences. In his 17th season, 36-year-old James has made his impact on the Lakers across the stat sheet this year. Some nights he can score at will, others he will be facilitating and allowing his teammates to thrive. In the absence of LA’s best interior scorer, Anthony Davis, LeBron has found a way to make the Lakers’ offense continue its potent attack.

With the first 36 games of each NBA team’s schedule in the books, the all-star break couldn’t come at a better time. The schedule has been drastically more compact this season and with protocols being the way they are, personal time for the players and staff has been hard to come by.

With a week off for everyone except the all-stars, hopefully, this time will go a long way in the rest and rehabilitation of all the teams league-wide, and we are in for a stellar second-half stretch drive.

Evan Power, Evolution 107.9

One thought on “2021 NBA Season – First Half Recap”

  1. As a fan, I’m a little disappointed with the performance of the Lakers during this period of time. As a team with such a high salary, I can only achieve such results.

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