National Basketball Association

Into the Bears' Den: Our overreactions from the NBA's opening slate of games

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:57 a.m. ET

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October 25, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) celebrates with guard Stephen Curry (30) against the San Antonio Spurs during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

For this week’s “Into the Bears’ Den” roundtable, we gave our overreactions based on what’s happened in NBA’s opening stretch of games.

In an 82-game NBA season, it’s easy to overreact based on such a small sample size, but we all do it anyways. Here’s our biggest overreactions after watching basketball for the past couple weeks.

Writers who participated in the roundtable:

Next: Ryan Snellings

Ryan Snellings (@rsnellings25)

Feb 14, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Eastern Conference guard John Wall of the Washington Wizards (2) drives against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry in the second half during the NBA All Star Game at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Steph Curry and Kevin Durant will make more 3-pointers than the Washington Wizards

Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry will make more 3-pointers than the Washington Wizards’ entire roster combined.

Last season, Steph Curry made an NBA record 402 3-pointers during the 2015-16 season. Kevin Durant made 186. The worst 3-point shooting team in the league, the Milwaukee Bucks, made 440. This season, with Durant and Curry joining forces, I expect those numbers to drop slightly due to lower usage rate for each.

The Washington Wizards were a middle of the pack team (13th) last season, making 709 3-pointers. However, the Wizards lost a lot of shooting production in the offseason. The following list shows players no longer on the roster and are leaving a with a decent number of makes from behind the arc:

There were a few others who made less than 20, but let’s focus on the four listed above. Deduct their total from the Wizards’ 709 3-pointers and you’re left with 509 which is 79 less than Durant and Curry combined for last season.

The only shooting addition the Wizards got this season was Trey Burke, who made 88 3-pointers in 64 games last season. The Wizards have virtually no spacing if Bradley Beal and John Wall aren’t on the floor. Markieff Morris might give them a little room at the 4, but he’s a career 32 percent shooter from deep. Teams will be able to stick tight to Beal, unless he can show that he’ll drive past the defender, Beal’s game becomes limited. Beal is also pretty injury-prone, so him making it through a full season is far from guaranteed. John Wall, who led the team last season in 3-pointers, prefers to drive to the baseline and kick the ball out.

Curry and Durant may not hit the same totals they did last season (especially Curry), but they still have potential to make more 3s than the Wizards team as a whole.

Mike Parrott (@MikeParrott_)

Oct 29, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view of the United Center during the second half between the Chicago Bulls and the Indiana Pacers. The Bulls won 118-101. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bulls have the best offense in the league

With sample size being a huge (and fun) creator of overreactions, I’m going to bring my biased side out for this argument and say that the Chicago Bulls now have the best offense in the NBA.

Yes, I’m saying they have a better offense than the Spurs, Cavaliers, Clippers, and even Warriors, and that’s because the Bulls are specialists in two areas that create high-octane, efficient offense: offensive rebounding and transition points.

At press time, the Bulls were first in the NBA when it comes to offensive rebounding percentage, with a staggering 33.6 percent, 5.6 percent higher than the second-place team. This offensive rebounding stat creates a league-best offense due to the extra chances created, and with the Bulls sixth in the league in effective field-goal percentage (.530), they’re getting more chances than anyone else while being in the top six in EFG%.

Parker Fleming (@PAKA_FLOCKA)

Nov 2, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) celebrates a basket in the first quarter of their game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Hawks are the best Eastern Conference team behind Cleveland.

Who leads the league in point differential? Take a guess. The Golden State Warriors? Nope. The Cleveland Cavaliers? Nah. The San Antonio Spurs? No, it’s the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks have outscored their opponents on average of 12.8 points (http://www.espn.com/nba/standings).

But, wait? The Celtics and the Raptors are supposed to be the toughest competition for LeBron. I thought losing Teague and Horford meant the being of the end for the Hawks. Because of the resurgence of Dwight Howard and Tim Hardaway Jr., the Hawks have jumped out to a 3-1 start. Should they be a credible challenge for the Cavaliers?

Don’t let the 3-1 start fool you. They’ve played the Wizards, Sixers, Kings and Lakers. Not the best competition, but no pushovers ,nonetheless. Furthermore, their bench is unreliable. Aside from Thabo Sefolosha and Tim Hardaway Jr., there’s no one off the bench the Hawks could count on. What happens when Paul Millsap goes down? Who runs the point if Dennis Schroder is hurt?

The Atlanta Hawks will be a solid playoff team. However, it’s tough to imagine a glorified backup point guard and a weak bench topping the giant in Cleveland.

Ryan Schmitz (@XC_Gang_Schmitz)

Nov 2, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden (13) reacts during the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

James Harden will lead the league in assists

James Harden will have to contend with a few players for that top spot for which he currently holds in the assist standings. He will be contending against his former teammate, Russell Westbrook, new Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul. Harden moved to point guard this year and so far is averaging a crazy 12 assists per game, albeit with a small sample size. Can he continue to assist at such high rates? Maybe not 12 per game, but I think he will easily have double digits if he continues to play point guard. Harden has averaged over seven assists per game.