Is the West really as "brutal" as it was in the past?
The Warriors of course are still playing like World Champs but is the rest of the West still as strong as we believed it would be before this season started? It's still very early in the season to be asking this question but Memphis and Houston have both looked weaker than expected. The Clippers look strong on paper but the Suns are now tied with them for 4th place in the West and are 1-1 against them so far. Yeah, several players were out (or ejected) during our win but we played them a tough game in the loss to them. San Antonio is off to a good start (8-2) but their 8 wins have been against Brooklyn, Boston, NY, Charlotte, Sacramento, Portland (twice) and Philadelphia. Their losses have been against OKC and Washington. Their winning percentage is very good (.800) but so far they have only beaten one team with a record over .500 (Boston). OKC sits at 6-5 but with Durant being injured I'm not ready to count them a a declining team. And New Orleans has had a terrible start but has also had a lot of injury problems.
So far both Phoenix and Dallas have done pretty well in the West even though neither team was expected to do so.