Week three of the NBA season is complete and we are finally able to discuss and formulate more concrete analysis and predictions for the rest of the season. 

Ladies and gentlemen here’s week three of Hardwood Hypothesis 

Alright, you know what I’m gonna say… Milwaukee Bucks. 9-0. The only undefeated team in the league. Wow!

I will say, they haven’t faced the most formidable of competition, the exception of course being the 76ers and Hawks with a case to be made for the Nets and Timberwolves. Still, 9-0 is 9-0 and there is no disputing the fact that this is a great team. 

As I said in the first article of Hardwood Hypothesis, I could very much see the Bucks going all the way this season and winning another title. 

I mean look, Giannis, Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Grayson Allen, Bobby Portis and a few others. This lineup has great chemistry, ironclad defense, and an offense spearheaded by the matchup monster in Giannis. 

Looking at the Bucks’ schedule, I could very well see them remaining flawless this next week, as the only potential danger would be Trae Young and the Hawks. You can’t stop Young, your only hope is to limit the offense to just him. As long as Holiday is the one covering Trae and the rest of the Hawks’ offense is locked down the Bucks will have an easy win. 

Next, let’s talk about Cleveland. The Cavaliers, also out of the east, are 7-1.

You might remember me selecting them as a dark horse favorite out of the East. Are they still in the dark horse category, or can we now see them as a formidable top-ranked team? I really hate saying this, but it still might be too early to tell. I mean, they have definitely had a hot start. Certainly hotter than I would have expected, but let’s not kid ourselves, there is plenty of basketball left to be played. 

They have beaten Boston twice and Donovan Mitchell has totally stepped into his role of becoming the lead scorer. In week one I talked about the team needing a man to lead the offense, and Mitchell is the perfect fit.  He leads the team in scoring with a stellar average of 31 points. 

I mean I don’t know what to add, the roster isn’t bad at all, they are 6th in team scoring at the moment and the team is playing well together. Definitely a team to watch for the rest of the season. 

The Warriors … 3-7, Really? 

Last year’s NBA Champions have not started this season well whatsoever. Four of their losses were to the Pistons, Hornets, Magic and Pelicans. Seriously? I mean I understand the losses to the Suns, Nuggets and Heat, those are good teams, but the rest of the losses are so out of character. 

We know this team can score. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole are some of the most fun and creative scorers in the league. 

But this team struggles in rebounds. The man once responsible for that role, Draymond Green, is now a husk of his former glory. The man is 32 and he doesn’t move like he used to. He’s had a spectacular career, but I think it’s time to hang up the sneakers. In the past the Warriors’ scoring was always able to outweigh the need for defense, this might be the time to change that. 

But then again, the season is early and this is the Warriors we’re talking about, they might end up just fine. 

All right, time for our player of the week. 

I personally had a bit of a hard time here deciding between two players, but I’m going to go with De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings. Fox is a young point guard who shows great skill facilitating the ball to his teammates. As a scorer, he possesses shifty midrange shooting and the ability to finish at the basket. 

Fox saw an incredible performance against the Magic on Saturday with 37 points the last three of which were scored in a half-court buzzer-beater shot to steal the game in overtime.

Fox is the Kings leading scorer averaging 26 per game and he always knows how to put on a show. 

As always the NBA is a constantly changing crucible of competition and I am simply salivating for more.