Sport-Blog.com

No, three games does not a season make. And yes, teams often come out of the chute fast only to fall miserably once the games begin to pile up. But the amazing 3-0 starts of both the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers is turning the common wisdom of the NBA upside down.

However, the Bucks really should not be all that much of a surprise. Once the team resigned their premiere shooter Michael Redd, added the number one pick in the draft Andrew Bogut, got a healthy T.J. Ford back in the line up and then traded for Jamal Magliore, the Bucks clearly had the makings of a solid team.

Two wins the opening nights of the season, both on the road served notice that this team was indeed much improved. Saturday night's triumph over the Shaq-less Heat verified that this is a team with playoff potential.

Redd has stormed out of the gate, averaging more than 31 points a game over his first three starts. Ford has been the playmaker the Bucks always thought he could be and is averaging more than 10 assists per outing thus far. And Bogut has proven worthy of his first round selecting, averaging a shade under 10 points per game and a shade over 10 rebounds per outing. The addition of Magliore and former Clipper Bobby Simmons gives the team excellent depth.

The Bucks are of course in the same division as the Pistons so remaining on top of the division is unlikely. But this is a team that should be solidly in the playoff mix come season's end.

For the Clippers, the running joke is that the current players on this year's team were in elementary school or diapers the last time the NBA dormat started a season 3-0. But the Clippers could be a factor this year, especially with their new starting backcourt of Cuttino Mobley and Sam Cassell to go with one of the NBA's most productive players, Elton Brand.

The 3-0 start for Clippers is their first since 1985-86. That year the team began the season with 5 straight victories, only to lose 12 of their next 13 and finished 32-50 on the season. Though one of this year's triumphs is over the hapless Hawks, Los Angeles has also beaten Seattle in Seattle and Minnesota at the Staples Center. To go 4-0, the Clippers will have to knock off the T-Wolves again, this time in Minnesota.

Cassell, Mobley, and Brand are all averaging more than 18 points a game in the early going, giving the team excellent scoring balance. Forward James Singleton is actually tops on the team over the first three games in rebounding,a veraging 9 an outing, but he should return to the bench once an injured Corey Maggette returns to the Clipper lineup. That bench could be the one issue for the Clips over the course of the 82 game season.

Yes it is still early and there could be another 12 losses in 13 games ahead for this team, but with the veteran backcourt in place the Clippers could actually make a run at a playoff run in a depleted Western Conference.