Top 5 NBA Surprises

1. Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavs finished the 2007-08 season at 45-37, 14 games behind the Detroit Pistons. Oh what a difference a year can make. The Cavs already have 39 regular season wins this season and are playing like a team very capable of getting back to the NBA Finals. While Cleveland was good at home last season (27-14), they weren’t anywhere near as good at the “Q” as they are in 2008-09 (23-0). As good as LeBron already was, he has found a way to take his game to a whole new level and the Cavs have also been getting great production from Mo Williams, who has been a pleasant surprise himself. The Cavs showed a lot of character and toughness by continuing to win without Zydrunas Ilgauskas for an extended period of time also.

2. Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee finished with only 26 wins last season, but already has 24 this season. That’s only two less than the Pistons. The Bucks endured a tough break by losing Michael Redd for the season, but I still expect the Bucks to continue to wins games as Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villanueva have really elevated their play. Milwaukee’s quick turnaround has made it a very valuable betting team through the first half of the season. Being undervalued a lot early, the Bucks covered the spread in 24 of their first 36 games. If the playoffs started today, Milwaukee would be in.

3. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets won 50 games last season, but they are already 33-16 this season, emerging as one of the top three teams in the West, despite losing defensive stopper Marcus Camby. You can credit the trade of Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups for much of the success. Billups has brought a toughness to this team that it was desperately missing. Camby has not been missed as much either because of the improved play of Nene. J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza also give the Nuggets a nice lift coming off the bench.

4. Miami Heat
Miami finished last season with a 15-67 mark, resembling nothing of the team that won it all in 2006. Dwayne Wade is healthy and has arguably been the best player in the NBA pre-All-Star break. The Heat are 26-22 this season while playing rookies Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley a lot of minutes. This team is a dominant big man away from challenging in the East. While I expected Miami to improve, this team is ahead of schedule in terms of what it has to work with because of the exceptional play of Wade.

5. Orlando Magic
The Magic did win 52 games a season ago, but I was still surprised at how this team came out of the gate. Orlando is one of the rare teams in the NBA that plays as well on the road as it does at home. It is 19-5 at home and 18-6 on the road this season. What really put the Magic as an over the top selection for this list was its 4-0 road sweep from January 11-17. During that stretch, the Magic beat the Spurs, Lakers, and Nuggets. It’s too bad that Jameer Nelson went down, but I think this team will still be a force without him.

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