Around the NBA: The favourites and the surprise packages

Every other week, the staff writers of Sports With Biers gather together and come up with questions regarding the NBA. We offer our opinions on trending league news and team performances.

Who is your favorite team to watch this year, besides your favorite team?

Kevin Durant has been in the form of his life since the injury to Russell Westrbrook

Parker Ainsworth (PA)

Favorite Team: Houston (If you think I’m a bandwagon fan, I’ll show you my Steve Francis and Tracy McGrady jerseys)

Favorite team to watch: OKC and KD. For no other reason than, as someone who loves Kevin Durant and has been watching him since I had season tickets to the ’06-07 Longhorns, I honestly feel like he has a chance to get 60 every time they tip off. KD has gone to another level this season. While Nike thought that KD was “not nice” a year ago, he now is showing that ruthlessness people used to say he lacked. He is the most unguardable player in the league. Disagree? Ask Atlanta, who sent three people to guard him with the game on the line and still went home with an L. As writer Bomani Jones tweeted, sending multiple guys at Kevin Durant is just sending over more people that can’t guard Kevin Durant.

Ryan Rodriguez (RR)

Favorite Team: Sacramento Kings

Favorite Team to watch: This question for me ties into the most surprising team, as I find the Phoenix Suns absolutely fascinating. I love watching KD and Steph (shooters are one of my kryptonites), but in terms of full team, I simply can’t get enough of the Suns. Good foreign player, check. Physical freak at point guard (when not injured), check. Shooters, shooters, and more shooters, check. Team exceeding expectations and young up-and-comers, check and check. Ever since Villanova dropped a four guard lineup during the 2005-2006 season, I have loved teams who get as many guards as possible on the court. When they turn this philosophy into a run and gun, 3-point shooting, 2-point guard lineup (think last years Knicks but without mid-range isolations thrown in), I end up in basketball heaven. It’s fun trying to figure out which Morris twin just drilled another mid-range jumper or where Channing Frye will splash down another 3. PJ Tucker’s reclamation project, Gerald Green’s dunks, and Goran Dragic’s craftiness make this team a must watch on League Pass. Now if only Eric Bledsoe could come back and continue his stellar play.

Viva La Suns. See you guys in the playoffs.

Josh Biers (JB)

Favorite Team: Los Angeles Lakers (unfortunately)

Favorite Team to watch: Indiana Pacers. Many people think the exact opposite, that watching a defensive-minded team is anything but exciting; that all it is, is battling for position and long, drawn out possessions. YOU’RE WRONG!

The Pacers are a defensive-minded team that has some of the most exciting players to watch in the league. To start off with, you have Paul George, an all-star forward who is one of the best in-game dunkers in the league. With dunks like this on the ‘Birdman’, or this dunk against the Clippers, how can he not be? Throw in deadly 3-point accuracy and the ability to get hot at any moment and you’ll realize George is a must-watch every night. To complement George is Lance Stephenson, a player I think to be the most dangerous dribbler and ball handler in the game. He’s quick with the ball and can make you fall at any time (Hi Courtney Lee). He has an explosive swagger that matches his play and you can’t help but love it. While those two are the most exciting players on the Pacers’ roster, my man crush on Roy Hibber (The Sheriff of the Paint) ensures that every swatted shot is an added bonus.

James Barnett (James)

The Spurs. Just because they’ve been doing it my entire life doesn’t mean I’m not fascinated anymore. Popovich is the best coach in the NBA, hands down. He keeps his key players’ minutes down (Parker 31.5, Duncan 29.3, Leonard 28.6) so they’ll be fresh enough come playoff time, but still manages to win consistently in the regular season. He can do it because he gets the absolute best out of his “role” players. Don Nelson only dreamed of Marco Belinelli scoring 11 PPG on 50% shooting. And even if you’re bored with the Spurs’ “they play like a team, they play the game the right way” narrative, it’s impossible to get tired of Popovich’s hilarious sideline interviews… like this one.

What team has been the most surprising this year?

Under Terry Stotts, the Blazers have been a revitalized team this year

PA - Has to be Portland, right? Portland is averaging 108.4 points per game, which is 1st in the entire league. Consider that last year they had 97.5 in the same category (exactly average, 15th out of 30 teams), that’s a big jump. The addition of Robin Lopez was huge, but he’s actually averaging 2 points per game less than J.J. Hickson was a year ago. Aldridge has elevated his game to another level, going from 21 ppg to 24.3, and in turn, Portland has gone from 33-49, good enough for in the West, they’re now 33-13, good enough for 3rd in the west. Exact same win total, but this year it’s before the All-Star break. That is huge. And I don’t know of many that saw it coming.

RR - I gotta go with the Suns for most surprising. I know that the Blazers are in the top 3 of the Western Conference, but people at least thought they would challenge for a playoff spot, especially with an improved bench this year. However, the Suns were picked to 21 games (fewest in the West) this year by sportsbook.com and they are already up to 28 wins, while sitting 6th in the West. They weirdly own the Blazers and the Pacers this year and have been getting along just fine without Eric Bledsoe right now thanks to Goran Dragic playing like an All Star (Sadly he plays in the stacked West instead of the East where Joe Johnson got selected). On top of all this, they are an extremely fun team to watch that will hopefully continue to play their terrorizing, 2-point guard lineup when Bledsoe gets back.

JB - It pains me to agree with Ryan, but I agree that the Suns have been the most surprising team in basketball this season. Everyone knows that Portland has the league’s best power forward in LaMarcus Aldridge, one of the best point guards in Damian Lillard, and dependable supporting players like Nicolas Batum. While I agree that 34-13 is probably a better record than most people would have anticipated for the Trail Blazers, it isn’t too shocking to me. On the other hand, there was no way I ever thought that Phoenix would make the playoffs this year, let alone be sixth in the Western Conference right now. And this happened after an early season trade sent the Suns’ best player, Marcin Gortat, to the Washington Wizards for an injured Emeka Okafor, who has yet to play!

The explosive guard duo of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe have stunned opponents who struggle to defend two guards who complement one another so well. Miles Plumlee has become an offensive and defensive powerhouse down low and Gerald Green..GERALD GREEN has been absolutely marvelous as a perimeter defender and outside threat. They have guys who drop 20-30 points every night and you have to prepare for anyone on the Suns roster, because any of them can go off. The Suns are by far the biggest surprise this season and I’m really rooting for them to go far in the playoffs.

James - Phoenix has to be the pick since they were projected to win only 21 games and if you asked most of us before the season, we would have said that number was too high. Nobody predicted Jeff Hornacek as a Coach of the Year candidate, but what can you say. The guy is really good at whatever he does, whether its coming off screens to whap open j’s or helping Dragic play out of his mind. He’s even made Miles Plumlee look legit. Coupled with Bledsoe, that backcourt will be good for a while. What’s really interesting is if Marc Stein’s Pau-to-the-Suns trade rumor has any real merit. Who do they give up? Okafor and a first rounder? Okafor and Archie Goodwin?