During the first month of the NBA season, it's difficult to separate real trends from ones that won't persist through an 82-game regular season. This time a year ago, the Phoenix Suns were one of the league's hottest starters with an 8-2 record. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks started 2-8, putting them three wins behind the Brooklyn Nets in the East standings.

Those fluke starts shouldn't cause us to ignore everything that happens early in a season. After all, the Cleveland Cavaliers ' undefeated start last season and the Houston Rockets going from the lottery to near the top of the West standings proved to be lasting indicators.

Not all unexpected performances are created equal, and looking closely at factors that tend to be more stable (like shot quality) and those that tend t

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