The Golden State Warriors entered the season as the reigning NBA champions, so, obviously, expectations were quite high in the Bay Area.
The same could be said of the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that pretty much broke the NBA trade market by giving up a massive haul to pair Rudy Gobert with Karl-Anthony Towns.
Of course, the Los Angeles Clippers were also in the mix, as you could never rule out a team featuring Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, on the other hand, were expected to be bottom-feeders again, looking to gather as many top-10 NBA Draft picks as they possibly could.
Fast-forward to today, and these four teams are tied with the seventh-best winning percentage in the Western Conference at .489.
That means these teams could wind up playing for the final two playoff spots in the West in the play-in tournament at the end of the season.
4 teams are tied for the 7th seed in the Western Conference.
T-Wolves (23-24, .489%)
Clippers (23-24, .489%)
Warriors (22-23, .489%)
Thunder (22-23, .489%)Will these be the teams in the play-in tournament? pic.twitter.com/81P4UDb4EG
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 20, 2023
It’s worth noting that the Thunder have shocked the NBA and have outperformed all expectations thus far, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing like a legit top-10 player in the league.
As for the other three teams, one would expect to see some improvement at some point in the season, as they’ve all struggled with injuries to their best players.
The Warriors just got Curry back, while Leonard and George have been in and out of the rotation.
As for Towns, there’s still no timetable for his return.
The NBA is where amazing happens, and this season is yet another proof of that.
NEXT: Top-Selling NBA Jerseys Provide A Few Surprises