Analysis: As NBA’s first quarter ends, the contenders emerge

By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer

Miami Heat President Pat Riley has a longstanding belief: After 20 games, a team knows its identity. He’s right. And after 20 games, title contenders are usually known as well. Think of this as the end of the season’s first quarter. That’s basically where the NBA is right now, with teams starting to approach the 20-game mark. There’s much basketball left to be played, but 20 games has proven almost without fail to be more than enough of a sample size when determining which teams have a legitimate shot at a championship. The numbers show it. The teams know it, too.