I wrote an article before the season began about which teams I thought would have the best pace in the league. Here were my guesses from that article and where they currently stand:
1. Milwaukee Bucks (6th)
2. New Orleans Pelicans (25th)
3. Minnesota Timberwolves (7th)
4. Golden State Warriors (3rd)
5. Memphis Grizzlies (14th)
Big yikes. I actually didn’t do too badly when you take into account that Ja Morant has missed significant time this season (eight of 13 games) and three out of five are in the top seven. The Pelicans are the main surprise here as coach Stan Van Gundy has them playing at a snail’s pace straight to a 5-10 record. Woof. They’ll need to figure it out and probably play faster with all the talented, athletic guys on the team.
It’s also important to note that I made these predictions before the Russell Westbrook – John Wall swap which has helped vault the Wizards into 1st and well before the James Harden trade to the Brooklyn Nets, but I digress.
Anyways, here are the actual top 5 in pace:
Please, blog, may I have some more?