I have to say, it’s a pure joy to be able to watch the NBA every single day now, thanks to BTV! And this season has been “simply amazing” to watch. There have been quite a number of surprises and disappointments in the current 2008-2009 NBA season and this is the first part of my year-end review of the teams that are surpassing everyone’s expectations and the teams that have been total disasters. These are the Top 5 teams and 5 most disappointing teams of the league in the first half.

TOP 5:

1. LOS ANGELES LAKERS (25-5) – it was a toss-up but Kobe’s squad had their revenge against the Celtics on Christmas day by defeating them by 9 at home. It was the same day Phil Jackson notched his 1000th win and became the fastest coach to do so surpassing Pat Riley. The Lakers are 16-1 at home and are definitely the most balanced squad in the league. And with Jordan Farmar being out until late February due to surgery, the Lakers still haven’t missed a beat.

2. BOSTON CELTICS (28-5) – they were off to a historic, franchise-best 27-2 slate which is the BEST start in NBA history for a team with only 2 losses. In that streak, they are currently 17-1 at home, had a 19-game winning streak, and had KG surpass David Robinson for 27th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Unfortunately, December was a terrible month for them as they ended their West Coast year end trip with a 1-3 slate starting with that Christmas loss to the Lakers on the road, and followed it up with a terrible loss to the hapless Warriors who were without 2 of their main guns. And then they ended the year losing to a Roy-less Blazer squad to close out their record at 28-5. They’re still the team to beat as you can’t put down the Big 3. But losing Posey is going to be quite glaring in the playoffs and it looks like a rough road ahead  if they go up against the Magic or the Cavs in the early rounds.

3. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (26-5) – King James has a little helper named Mo Williams now, and the Cavs look rock solid. They lead the league in point differential at more than 12.5 points a game, and they are tops in points allowed which is a testament to their defensive mindset They are also the only team in the league with a perfect 16-0 slate at home and will challenge the Celtics in this year’s playoffs and have a very good chance at toppling them this time around.

4. ORLANDO MAGIC (24-7) – whoever doubted that the Magic would be one of the elite teams in the league this year are now hush hush. Dwight Howard has been an absolute monster posting career numbers yet again this year. He leads the league in rebounds (13.8 a game) and blocks (3.7 a game) coupled with 19.8 points a game and shoots 54.7% from the field. You put him alongside 2 of the best 3 point shooters in the league in Rashard Lewis (leads the league with 90 makes) and Hedo Turkoglu (with 50 makes) and their much improved court general in Jameer Nelson (who also has 47 threes made) makes this Magic squad a team to be reckoned with. I’m 100% sure no one wants to play this team in the playoffs this year and rightfully so.

5. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS (19-9) – with the best point guard in the league running this team, the Hornets are off to a solid start. Chris Paul leads the league in assists (11.5 a game) and steals (2.93 a game) and now holds the NBA record for consecutive games with a steal at 108!  With the demotion of Mo Pete (finally) and the rise of Rasual Butler and with their key acquisition this year in James Posey from the Celtics, the Hornets look to improve on their playoff performance last year and get to the Finals. And with this lineup, that is a very distinct possibility.

CAN THESE 5 TEAMS GET ANY WORSE?

1. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (13-18) – with the acquisition of Elton Brand in the off-season, the 76ers looked like one of the strongest contenders to come out of the East. 30 games later, they are 10th in the East and seem to be playing better without Brand, who is now out with a shoulder injury. It’s definitely bad chemistry and it doesn’t seem like he’s a good fit. Dalembert and Iguodala have suffered when Brand is on the court and they are only picking it up now that he isn’t.

The 76ers are doing a little better now, but what happens when Brand comes back? They have an outside chance of making the playoffs, but it doesn’t seem like they would get past the 1st round even if they did. That’s a far cry from their Beast of the East tag before the season began and they are hands down the most disappointing team this half.

2. TORONTO RAPTORS (12-20) – yet another very disappointing team that was expected to do very well this season. With the addition of Jermaine O’Neal in the off-season to tandem with Bosh alongside the great development of Calderon at the point, the Raptors looked poised to take on all contenders this season and come out as one of the top teams in the East, at least. After 31 games, they are 12th in a very weak Eastern conference and don’t look like they are getting up from it.

3. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (8-23) – you could say it’s Baron’s karma for leaving the Warriors, who could have had an amazing season with him running the point, but can you blame him if he thought he would have Brand running beside him? But after a trade that brought Z-Bo to the Clips, their lineup looks very potent, but doesn’t seem to be delivering the goods either. They have the best defensive player in the league in Camby up front, Kaman waiting to come back from injury, Z-Bo playing a career-year this year (though he’s injured right now), and Thornton playing on the wings, with Baron running the point. On paper this team ROCKS and could have a chance at a playoff run if they toted a better record at the end of this half. But with an 8-23 slate, it looks quite impossible for them to get to the 8th spot in the powerhouse Western conference.

4. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (10-24) – am I the only one surprised that the Warriors are THIS bad? Sure, Baron was gone, but their lineup was still pretty good to be much better than the record they are holding now. Oh, I know, maybe it’s because they have one of the crappiest and most over-rated coaches in the league. A coach who doesn’t realize he needs a REAL point guard running his team for them to be successful, not to mention have the knack for sitting his main players and giving up on games at the START of the 4th quarter, while shuffling his lineups constantly and confusing the basketball world AND having “player flavor of the weeks” every month! For God’s sake, please fire Don Nelson.

5. INDIANA PACERS (10-21) - it’s a mystery to me how this team has this bad a record. Danny Granger is a proven superstar and is the leader of this team. He has a solid team built around him across all positions but they can’t seem to buy any wins! Troy Murphy is posting great numbers, Marquis Daniels is having a career-year, Ford and Jack are timesharing the point duties very well. Sure, Dunleavy hasn’t played a single game, and would definitely help the Pacer cause, but 10 wins in 31 games?! That’s just unheard of for a team with such talent.

Now, there definitely are worse teams around like the cellar-dwelling Thunder (4 total wins) in the West and the Wizards (6 total wins) in the East. But those 2 teams were expected to be at the bottom of the pile. The teams above are the ones that were expected to either be a lot better compared to last year, or not have the terrible records they have now due to the sheer talent they have on their rosters. Let’s see what happens to these 5 teams after New Year is over, hopefully they’ll get back on track and finish the season with more respectable records.