NBA week 4: Five things we learnt as Clippers struggles continue

Ben Appleby looks back on this weeks action and sees two title contenders continuing to struggle

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Something still not right at Houston

Kevin McHale was sacked as the head coach of the Houston Rockets after four consecutive blowout defeats and a thoroughly underwhelming 4-7 start to the season. Some may see the decision as harsh after he led his side to last year’s Western Conference Finals, but something has not been right this year. James Harden has only shot 38 per cent from the field and just 27per cent from beyond the three-point line, both are career worsts for a man that was expected to once again be in the MVP discussions this year.

The Ty Lawson trade has proved to be a nightmare with the point guard averaging just 7.7 points per game on 32 per cent shooting and being dropped to the bench as a result of a number of below-par performances. There has been no immediate response to the dismissal of McHale, however, with the Rockets losing in Memphis and then suffering a sixth home defeat in nine games against the New York Knicks. Last year they had a 30-11 record at home, but things have been so different at the Toyota Centre this time around. It remains to be seen whether the decision to let McHale go was the right one, but Houston need to start winning games, starting against the Grizzlies on Wednesday night.

The Warriors are the best team since the 1995-96 Bulls

Played 15, won 15. Golden State Warriors became the third team in NBA history to win their first 15 regular season games and will make history if they record a 16th win against the Los Angeles Lakers at Oracle Arena in the early hours of Thursday morning. The Lakers have won just twice in 13 this season, so it looks more like a formality than anything else at this stage.

In Stephen Curry, they continue to have the league’s most in-form player with last year’s MVP averaging 32.7 points per game as the Warriors seem to have got even better over the summer. A scary thought. Draymond Green continues to improve on both ends of the floor and Harrison Barnes remains one of the most underrated players in the NBA. Klay Thompson has actually been nowhere near replicating his outstanding numbers last year, if he did then this team could become almost unplayable. Their small-ball line-up remains the most effective in the league as they once again showed in outscoring the Clippers 25-8 in the final six minutes to complete another outstanding turnaround after trailing by 23 points in the first half. Unsurprisingly, their superb start has brought comparisons to a team that is widely regarded as the best in NBA history, the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. They still boast the best 82-game record, after losing just 10 games all year and dropping just one-game in the Eastern play-offs en route to defeating the, now defunct, Seattle SuperSonics in six games. Comparing the two teams just seems wrong with both sides coming from completely different eras, but this Warriors side is the real deal and they could well become only the second side in history to win 70 games.

The Suns are a team to be feared

There were question marks over whether Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight would work together in the Suns backcourt, with both players undersized in comparison to the league and similar with the ball in hand. But both players are averaging over 20 points and five assists per game and are drawing comparisons to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson when they started out together. T

hey’ve led the Suns to fifth in the West with a 7-7 record and Monday night’s defeat against the Spurs proved that without these two in the side, they are far worse off. After averaging over 110 points per game this week, they suffered a resounding 98-84 defeat as Bledsoe missed the game with a knee injury and Knight had eight turnovers, albeit against one of the league’s elite defensive teams. With the current struggles being faced by the New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets, this year could well offer a chance for the Suns to make the post-season for the first time since 2010. They have suffered most from the depth of the Western Conference, including failing to qualify for the play-offs with a 48-34 record in the 2013-14 season. But things are looking up for Jeff Hornacek’s side and that can largely be attributed to the huge success of the Bledsoe and Knight backcourt combination.

It's good to see Melo and the Knicks back

There’s been something quite sad about watching the struggles of the New York Knicks in recent seasons. Last year they won just 17 regular season games, meaning they suffered over 60 defeats for the first time in franchise history. They then selected Kristaps Porzingis as the fourth pick of the 2015 draft, a decision that was booed by fans at the time. You can sympathise with them, however, there have been a number of Eastern European big men picked early in the draft and then flopped over recent years. But it has proved to be quite opposite, Porzingis posting excellent rookie numbers of 13.7 points and 9.1 rebound per game. His good start has coincided with the return to form of Carmelo Anthony as the forward is back in the league’s top 10 scorers. They sit over .500 for the first time in a long time and boast one of the best road records in the East with five wins from eight. They suffered a first defeat in four games last time out in Miami, but they have a chance to get revenge when they meet them again this week, sandwiched in between two winnable games against Orlando and Houston.

The Clippers and their summer additions are struggling

Talked about as potential title contenders over the last few years, the Clippers have been perennial underachievers when it’s come to winning vital games. They led last year’s play-off semi-final 3-1 against Houston before losing the last three matches to exit within touching distance of the Western Finals against Golden State. This year they has once again been talk of a first title for the Clippers and a 4-0 start backed that up. But they have since lost seven of their last nine, including woeful last quarters that cost them games that they should have won against Golden State and the Portland Trail Blazers. Their latest defeat against the Toronto Raptors prompted raised voices in the Staples Centre and an apparent argument between Josh Smith and one of the Clippers coaches.

Things don’t seem to be clicking for the new players brought in over the summer for Doc Rivers’ side. Indeed, Smith, Paul Pierce and Lance Stephenson have all shot less than 40 per cent and the Clippers rank near the bottom of the league in terms of three-pointers made. They also have the unwanted record of being the worst defensive team over the last two weeks. We’re still just over 15 per cent of the way through the season and it’s the nature of the leagues that teams will suffer from these dips in form, but unrest in the locker room can often point to a strained relationship between players and coaches. Time will tell if this is just a blip or if there is more of a problem than meets the eye.