The Golden State Warriors didn’t exactly begin the 2017-18 NBA season well, but the defending NBA champions are now on fire (again). The Warriors have won seven-straight games and nine of their last 10 to take over first place in the Western Conference. Having the best record in the West is where fans and NBA analysts expected the Warriors to be, but it took a little bit longer than projected. The updated NBA standings better reflect how good the team is this year.

On Tuesday night (Nov. 14), the Houston Rockets lost, dropping to 11-4 on the season.

This allowed the 11-3 Warriors to pass them in the standings. It’s quite possible that this is the last time that the Rockets will hold the No. 1 seed in the West this year. The 129-113 loss to the Toronto Raptors raises more questions for the Rockets than how they can keep up with the Warriors, as giving up that many points at home is inexcusable.

Shaking out the West

The Golden State Warriors are running away with the Pacific Division this year, as the Los Angeles Clippers have regressed quite a bit. After dealing point guard Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets, the team has lost a step on the court. Six-straight losses have the Clippers down to 5-8 and out of the running for a divisional title.

It has allowed the Los Angeles Lakers and their 6-8 record to take over second place.

There are a lot of problems with the Lakers roster, including Lonzo Ball getting benched during the most recent game for the team. It’s unclear how good the Lakers can be once this team has had a little while to play on the court together, but the early-season look isn’t a positive one.

The team has lost six of its last 10 games and seems to have even regressed from the terrible team that was on the court during the 2016-17 NBA season.

Warriors better than Boston Celtics?

After starting out the season 0-2, the Boston Celtics have now won 13-straight games. It is the longest win streak in history for a team that started out the season with two losses.

The Celtics now have a 13-2 record that is the best in the NBA through November 14. It also puts the Celtics just ahead of the Warriors in that ultimate battle for home-court advantage in the NBA Finals.

Though the Celtics are definitely playing great basketball lately, the team hasn’t proven that it is better than the Golden State Warriors. To do that, the team would need to beat them head-to-head and maintain the best record in the league for a while. As coincidence would have it, the NBA schedule presents Golden State vs. Boston on Thursday night (Nov. 16). The Warriors are currently favored by seven points, but the Celtics get to host the big game.
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