Dudes actin' like they street when they barely sidewalk

Scattered Ashes

Nuggets 111 - Pacers 93/Nuggets 122 - Nets 94
I alluded to this last week but I will say it again: there is a sea change afoot in the NBA and the wary, wavy waters are causing everyone to stumble a little bit. How else to explain an overwhelmed, underage Thunder team pushing the defending champs to the brink of a mammoth upset? The monsters of the Magic losing to the passive and pencil-thin Pistons? The MVP-heavy Cavs losing 3 of their first 4 (Wait, that one's easy. Their offense was designed by following the pawprints of a dog chasing birds on a beach. Case closed)?
The point that I am trying to make is that the NBA, while hardly possessed by parity, is starting to even out. I don't know if it's early season jitters, diminishing of talent on benches, or just some scrubs throwing their best shot at Goliath, and connecting more often than usual. But the fact is that a lot of teams that were expected to dominate aren't (San Antonio, Portland, Cleveland). Conversely, a lot of teams that were supposed to sink from the start are looking downright frisky (T-Wolves, Thunder, Rockets).
So how does this distinction disparity relate to the Nuggets? Well, after five games the Nugs could be deceptively described as a powerhouse. They have beaten four bad teams by double digits and stolen a thriller from a good team by three scant points. Melo looks most valuable, and the bench looks strong and spry, like it came from a park that had just been renovated. But two of these teams (Memphis and Indiana) hung around much longer than they should have, gripping onto the game despite being short-handed. The interior defense has been passive and phony, practically afraid to come outside and play. Melo's dropping buckets like raindrops, but the rest of the team is suffering severe drought, waiting for hurricane JR to get things wet.
So this is where we are in these, the nascent stages of an exhaustingly long season: we don't really know where we are. Nobody does. And yes the Nugs are undefeated. But for the most part they are also untested. And, as there always are, there are problems in the post, if not in the mailbox already. Just waiting for someone to open the top and reach inside, anytime, maybe even...