NBA Fraud Meter: What To Make of Bucks, Suns and Other So-Called Contenders
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Spencer Dinwiddie and Damian LillardStacy Revere/Getty Images
After quiting a 19-point 4th quarter league and losing in your home to the LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, there needs to be at least a tip of issue for the Milwaukee Bucks.
They’re not the only prospective title competitor getting some intriguing outcomes of late.
The Phoenix Suns simply lost to the San Antonio Spurs without Victor Wembanyama today. After losing their last 2 video games, the Los Angeles Clippers are now 10-12 in their last 22. The Golden State Warriors are unexpectedly in risk of missing out on the play-inwith the red-hot Houston Rockets rising behind them in the standings. Even the Lakers are worthy of a reference here, particularly if LeBron is unexpectedly handling injuries.
At numerous times this previous offseason and into this season, all of the above have actually been considered as competitors (or fringe competitors). The truths of this 2023-24 project might be exposing some as scams, which is why they’re here.
The competitors who have not had as lots of worrying losses just recently (like the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets) are safe in the meantime.
Where do those who aren’t rest on the absolutely clinical “Fraud Meter?” Scroll listed below to discover.
Golden State Warriors
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Stephen Curry and Jonathan KumingaJeff Haynes/NBAE by means of Getty Images
Scams Meter: High
It feels strange to state this about the dynastic Warriors who won 4 champions in between 2015 and 2022, however that’s how irregular they’ve been all season.
Even after Tuesday’s win over the banged-up Miami Heat, Golden State is 5-7 in its last 12. Klay Thompson has actually needed to adapt to a brand-new function midseason (though he went back to the beginning 5 on Tuesday) and is plainly previous his prime. Draymond Green’s volatility cost him 2 prolonged suspensions this season. Chris Paul turns 39 in May. And though Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski have actually been much better than anticipated, there are still extends when they appear like gamers in their early 20s.
More crucial than all of that, however, is that throughout the unusual stretches in which Stephen Curry has actually dipped into a sub-star level, it’s been completely apparent how over-reliant the Warriors are on him.
When Curry plays and shoots 40 percent or even worse from the field, Golden State is 9-19.
Naturally, shooting nights like that aren’t always most likely, particularly when the pressure is on like it will be through completion of the season and into the play-in competition. One bad video game, especially in the one-and-done play-in, might end the Warriors’ project.
That would be a legally devastating outcome for the group with the league’s greatest payroll in 2023-24.
