there have been some teams underperforming their expectations so far:
* Miami is now 6-11 after making it to the ECF 4 months ago. Of course, they have been bit by injuries and Covid real hard: Butler has missed 11 games; Avery Bradley has missed 10; Herro missed 7; Nunn has missed 5; Dragic 4; Adebayo 2. And of course, Meyers, Mr. Swish-3 himself, has missed 14
* after a hot start, Phoenix has lost 4 of 5 and gone from 7-4 to 8-8. They've been really healthy too. But 3 games in a row were cancelled and that time off seemed to take away their Mojo
* Dallas has struggled so far and is 8-10. But there are some major mitigating factors for the Mavs. They've had perhaps the toughest schedule in the NBA. And even though HCA doesn't mean as much as it normally does, it's still a factor, and the Mavs have played 12 of their 18 games on the road. Then you have to factor for injuries and Covid: Porzingas has missed 10 games; Josh Richardson, Maxi Kleber, and Dorian Finney-Smith have missed 9 each; Dwight Powell missed 8; Jalen Brunson 5. Doncic and Hardaway have both missed a game