Category: Sports News

The first week of the regular season saw the top two teams from our preseason rankings (Knicks and Spurs) each drop their first two games. That has led to a lot of movement at the top, as there always is early in the season as teams are sorting themselves out and we see small sample size theater. That said, not a surprise to see the Thunder on top, they look like a team on a mission.

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

Record: 3-0
Ranking last week: No. 3
Games this week: Suns, at Mavericks, at Rockets

The entire vibe of Oklahoma City's opening week changed with 1:14 left in its win Sunday against the LA Clippers. Jalen Williams suffered a gruesome leg injury and had to be stretchered off the floor. As of this writing there is no word on exactly what the injury is or a timeline, but after seeing it happen, it feels like he will be out for the season. Which sucks. Especially after Oklahoma City made a statement to start the season with back-to-back double-digit wins over arguably its two biggest rivals in the West, including one on a night Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was just off (and didn't score 20+ points). As always, everything starts with the Thunder's defense, which held Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic to a combined 6-of-32 shooting this week. The most positive OKC highlight of the week came from the opening-night win against the Spurs, when Aday Mara shut down Wembanyama at the rim.

2. Detroit Pistons

Record: 3-0
Ranking last week: No. 6
Games this week: at Knicks, Hornets, at Nets

Jalen Duren being out for at least a couple of weeks with a strained hamstring is a blow. Paul Reed has looked good this young season and will start with Duren out, but the drop-off comes when he sits, don't be surprised to see JB Bickerstaff lean into some small-ball lineups with John Collins at the five. One thing that was clear in the opening week: The Pistons are putting the ball more in Ausar Thompson's hands and giving him a chance to be a secondary playmaker. He does that by attacking downhill and finishing in the paint (6-of-10 shooting there), but he's 0-of-3 from outside the paint in the first two games.

3. Houston Rockets

Record: 3-0
Ranking last week: No. 7=
Games this week: Hawks, at Bucks, at Mavericks, Thunder

Fred VanVleet's return seems to have the Rockets playing at a much faster pace than a year ago, including 29 fast-break points in the season-opening win over Dallas. Last season, the Rockets ranked 29th in the league in the percentage of offensive possessions started in transition, it's just two games, but they're 10th right now (stats via Cleaning the Glass). Also through two games, VanVleet has 16 assists to zero turnovers, helping solve one of the Rockets' biggest issues from last season. One thing that hasn't changed is that Alperen Sengun will win this team a lot of games — he had 14 of his 29 points against the Spurs in the fourth quarter. Then Amen Thompson saved the win with a block of Wemby at the rim.

4. Minnesota Timberwolves

Record: 3-0
Ranking last week: No. 11
Games this week: at Cavaliers, Warriors, Clippers, at Spurs

Minnesota and LaMelo Ball walked all over opponents this week… literally walking. Look at the non-call below. Through two games, the Timberwolves have a ridiculous 154.2 offensive rating when Ball and Anthony Edwards share the court (in just 45 minutes, so a very small sample size). Edwards has thrived in the new offense, dropping 45 on Miami in the season opener. That came one season after he dropped 41 in the opener in Portland, and with that Edwards joined Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players with multiple 40+ point games in season openers in NBA history. That's good company. Tough back-to-back this weekend, playing at home against the Clippers on Friday night, then flying to San Antonio for a Halloween Saturday night game against the Spurs.

5. Philadelphia 76ers

Record: 3-1
Ranking last week: No. 4
Games this week: at Pacers, Knicks, at Hornets

Philadelphia's first two wins last week — over the Knicks and Cavaliers — feel like a proof of concept for this roster. Tyrese Maxey looks like a winner with the revamped roster, he is unquestionably their best overall offensive player, and things looked simple for him on opening night, playing off the ball more while LeBron James was the facilitator. Maxey dropped 28 points on the Knicks while Jaylen Brown and LeBron drew the defense to them. Maxey had 32 against the Cavaliers, and I love the Maxey and LeBron two-man game. One early concern: The 76ers offense can get very stagnant. My other concern? The one we all talk about, health. Not having Joel Embiid against Detroit was telling.

6. Los Angeles Lakers

Record: 3-0
Ranking last week: No. 8
Games this week: Trail Blazers, at Clippers, at Warriors, Raptors

Walker Kessler has the jokes. "Contrary to my name, I run a lot," Kessler told the media after his impressive opening night. He can afford to joke around because after three games (two against teams with underwhelming front lines), the Kessler and Luka Doncic connection has looked smooth. As has the Kessler and Austin Reaves connection (or just about any other Laker). The best evidence is that he went 12-of-12 with 10 dunks in the opener against Golden State, and through three games he is 23-of-28 from the floor— and he has yet to take a shot outside the paint. Which is good. He should roll hard to the rim and dominate (especially against the Warriors and Clippers, two teams without a quality five to match him). The Lakers' soft schedule to start the season continues this week, although Portland is interesting (Tuesday night, watch it on NBC and Peacock) and Sunday against Toronto will be a real test.

7. Toronto Raptors

Record: 2-1
Ranking last week: No. 14
Games this week: Magic, Magic, at Lakers

It may be early, but Toronto's defense looks fierce. It's small sample size theater, but through three games the Raptors have the third-best defense in the league with a 97.8 defensive rating (which falls to an 88.6 defensive rating in games Kawhi Leonard plays). This isn't a surprise. After playing Toronto just once in the preseason, Clippers coach Ty Lue had high praise for the Raptors' defense. "With Toronto, they're going to make you pay on the defensive end because if offensively you're not taking care of the basketball, you're not owning your space, if you don't have your physicality on the offensive end, they can embarrass you," Lue said. The Raptors start a four-game road trip on Sunday and will play both Los Angeles teams first.

8. San Antonio Spurs

Record: 1-2
Ranking last week: No. 2
Games this week: Kings, at Jazz, Timberwolves

Through three games, the jury is still out on starting the three guards together — De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper — with the group posting a +1.4 net rating when on the court together. With that trio, the defense has been spectacular, but the offense has struggled (granted, on an exceedingly small sample). One issue with starting the three-guard lineup is that the Spurs now lack the bench punch Harper brought last season. It's wild to say it, but the bigger problem for the Spurs — especially against the Thunder on opening night — was Victor Wembanyama. Against OKC, he held the ball too long, which disrupted the three-guard offense's flow. Wemby shot 1-of-13 in the opener, partly because the Thunder are an elite defensive team, collapsed on him, and have three seven-footers to throw at him. In the Spurs' second game against Houston, Wemby had a much better first half but struggled after halftime, then against Dallas he looked more like himself. The Spurs need that version of Wemby.

9. Boston Celtics

Record: 1-1
Ranking last week: No. 10
Games this week: Bulls, Nets, Bulls, at Magic

Paul George would like to remind you that he is very good at basketball. He was one of the biggest stories of opening day, dropping 38 on the Pistons with five steals, even if Boston lost. More concerning was Jayson Tatum's rough opening night, going 6-of-23 with just one free-throw attempt. As Brian Windhorst pointed out on his podcast, the number to watch with Tatum is the free throws — when he was a consistent top-five player in the league, he was getting to the line six to eight times a game (at least). He had 35 points and five free throws in the win over the Knicks. Just something to monitor.

10. Atlanta Hawks

Record: 2-1
Ranking last week: No. 15
Games this week: at Rockets, Heat, Cavaliers, at Pelicans

Aaron Wiggins' impressive start to the season has made fans forget, or maybe at least forgive, the team for letting Jonathan Kuminga go this summer. Wiggins is averaging 17 points and three rebounds per game, shooting 52.6% from 3-point range, and is doing it in 27 minutes a night off the bench. Atlanta is off to a strong 2-1 start with a top-10 defense, but just how good are the Hawks? We'll get a better early-season picture of that this week after they face Houston, Miami and Cleveland.

11. Cleveland Cavaliers

Record: 1-1
Ranking last week: No. 5
Games this week: Timberwolves, Wizards, at Hawks, at Bucks

Cleveland has struggled in the fourth quarter in its first two games, losing those quarters by a combined 24 points and posting a -51.9 net rating. The fourth-quarter defense has been bad, but the bigger concern is how the team struggles when opponents turn up the defensive pressure, leading to turnovers: 27.8% of Cleveland's fourth-quarter possessions have ended in a turnover this season. That's more than one in four trips down the court. "We got to clean up the turnovers," Kenny Atkinson said, stating the obvious.

12. Denver Nuggets

Record: 1-1
Ranking last week: No. 12
Games this week: Warriors, at Pelicans, at Suns

Wing depth is an early-season concern in Denver. Part of that is Julian Strawther's knee injury, with him out now until likely December. Then Cameron Johnson tweaked his ankle, missed the win over the Pelicans, and will likely miss Monday against Golden State, maybe longer. That has meant more of the athletic rookie Trevon Brazile — and he has been up to it, averaging 10.5 points and 10.5 rebounds a game. Brazile said before the season he had to adjust his game style to the NBA: "It's just learning where to go on the floor. It's different from college. In college I was just trying to run in the rim, I can get a lob or something, but it's a different type of space in the NBA." It looks so far like he's figuring it out.

13. New York Knicks

Record: 0-3
Ranking last week: No. 1
Games this week: Pistons, at Bulls, at 76ers

Ignore all the off-court drama about who gets their rings and when (though that was unnecessary drama born of the culture James Dolan has fostered) — the Knicks need to figure some things out on the court. As coach Mike Brown noted, that starts with the fact that the Knicks got pushed around physically in their first three games, it's something they need to address. It's early in the season, this roster has proven itself, no need to stress too much about losses in October (consider it a championship hangover). New York picking up Dalton Knecht on a two-way deal was smart, he has good size and can shoot. It's worth the low-risk move to see if a new home gets him looking more like the guy he was in his first couple of months with the Lakers.

14. Indiana Pacers

Record: 2-1
Ranking last week: No. 9
Games this week: at Bucks, 76ers, at Heat, Nets

You have to love just how much being on the court and playing again matters to Tyrese Haliburton, who had 23 points — 16 in the fourth quarter — and 13 assists in the season-opening win. You can see it in the video below. Unfortunately, injuries are already hitting the Pacers, who could use to get T.J. McConnell back from his hamstring strain, although Quenton Jackson has held his own. Also, shooting guard Ben Sheppard tore his left knee meniscus in the season opener and will miss time. Just how good are the Pacers? It's early, but they face some interesting tests this week against the Heat and 76ers.

15. Washington Wizards

Record: 2-1
Ranking last week: No. 20
Games this week: at Hornets, at Cavaliers, Hornets

Maybe my favorite stat from opening week: With their opening-night win over the Bucks, the Wizards were above .500 for the first time since November 28, 2022. The reason the Bucks won that game is that Anthony Davis looked like he was all the way back — he was the best player on the court, making plays on both ends (check out the video below). The problem is that in the next two games combined he scored a total of 28 points on 33.3% shooting. Also, not having AJ Dybantsa for the first couple of games sucked a little excitement out of watching the Wizards.

16. Portland Trail Blazers

Record: 2-0
Ranking last week: No. 21
Games this week: At Lakers, Grizzlies, at Jazz

It's a small sample size, just 29 minutes, but the Ja Morant and Damian Lillard starting backcourt looks good – in the opening blowout win over the Suns they combined for 39 points, eight 3-pointers and 14 assists. Through two games, the Blazers have a 126.6 offensive rating and a +29.9 net rating when they are on the court together. Portland started the season 2-0 and looked dominant, but those wins came against the Suns and the Kings, so the jury is still out. Real tests start this week, most notably when they take on the Lakers Tuesday night in a game you can watch on NBC or stream on Peacock.

17. Memphis Grizzlies

Record: 3-0
Ranking last week: No. 25
Games this week: at Jazz, at Trail Blazers, Kings

Cameron Boozer is still finding his shot in the NBA. He averaged 16 points per game through his first three, but he's shooting just 28.6% from the field. That said, he's still impacting the game pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out 5.5 assists per night. Boozer can afford an off night when analytics-darling Ty Jerome goes off for 45 points, as he did on opening night.

18. Orlando Magic

Record: 1-2
Ranking last week: No. 16
Games this week: at Raptors, at Raptors, Celtics

Somebody needs to burn some sage around the Magic locker room, the Kia Center and maybe the entire city of Orlando because this team needs to ward off some injuries. Paolo Banchero is out 4-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain. Jalen Suggs left Sunday's game with a scary non-contact knee injury. That's on top of Anthony Black missing time with his own sprained ankle. It's early, but the Magic also need to find a way to close games better: They shot just 1-of-12 in the fourth quarter of the season-opening loss to Atlanta. Shooting is again an early concern for this team. The Magic have a tough early schedule (which makes them difficult to rank), and it doesn’t get easier this week, with Orlando playing two games in Toronto before taking on Boston.

19. Charlotte Hornets

Record: 2-1
Ranking last week: No. 26
Games this week: Wizards, at Pistons, at Wizards, 76ers

Brandon Miller got his payday (five years, $209 million), and for those of us who are all in on the petty, giving him $1 million more than Amen Thompson is *chef's kiss*. Now he's got to show he can be the face of the franchise, the guy at the top of the scouting report. Through two games, he's averaging 19.3 points a game, but shooting just 29.7% overall and 20% from three. Part of that is not having Kon Knueppel (hamstring). It's not just the 18.5 points a game or floor spacing from 3, it was having him as a shot-creation threat and just his steadiness — he played in 81 games last season. He missed all of preseason, and it doesn't help that new point guard Coby White, who can also provide some shot creation, is out as well.

20. LA Clippers

Record: 1-2
Ranking last week: No. 23
Games this week: Lakers, at Timberwolves, at Warriors

Big opening night game from Darius Garland, who put up 30 points with four assists in a Clippers win over the Kings. The Clippers are going to need a lot more of that this season, especially until Brandon Ingram returns from injury. Garland's backcourt mate, rookie No. 5 pick Keaton Wagler, has looked solid through two games, averaging 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists a night while shooting 45.5% from the 3-point line. Wagler is the third Clippers rookie to open the season with back-to-back games of at least 13 points and three assists (the others were Blake Griffin and Lamar Odom). After the opening night win at home, coach Tyronn Lue said, "First off, that win was for Mr. Ballmer. Just want to say thank you for everything, and we're still fighting for him."

21. Dallas Mavericks

Record: 1-2
Ranking last week: No. 15
Games this week: at Heat, Thunder, Rockets

Fortunately, Cooper Flagg's shoulder injury isn't serious, but he'll miss a handful of games (he'll be re-evaluated next week). Dallas is giving Zaccharie Risacher a real chance this season, he's playing 30 minutes a night and, so far, is averaging 8.7 points per game on 38.5% shooting (18.2% from beyond the arc) while grabbing 5.3 rebounds a night. His spot in the rotation is something to monitor over the course of the season. It's a rough week to potentially be without Flagg, with the Heat, Thunder and Rockets coming up.

22. Chicago Bulls

Record: 1-2
Ranking last week: No. 22
Games this week: at Celtics, Knicks, at Celtics

Caleb Wilson might well have been the highest-ceiling player in last June's draft, but he's also more of a project than the three players selected ahead of him. This season should be all about his growth, and we saw that across the first two games. In the season opener, he shot 7-of-21 and had nine turnovers on his way to being -45 in a blowout loss against an elite Toronto defense. However, he bounced back against the Bucks — 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting, with key free throws and a rebound down the stretch — showing his potential. The Bulls start the season with six of their first eight on the road, including two games in Boston this week.

23. Miami Heat

Record: 0-3
Ranking last week: No. 13
Games this week: Dallas, at Atlanta, Indiana

The Heat have issues on both ends of the court, and have trailed by at least 20 points in each of their three losses. Miami's defense was supposed to be the anchor of this team (while they figured out the offense), but through one week the Heat have the fourth-worst defense in the league, and that's mostly because they aren't getting stops in the half court. Specifically, they have struggled against good guard play, such as the loss to Minnesota with LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards. On the other end of the court, the offense is unbalanced, and there hasn't been much outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo's ability to get downhill. They need to run more Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo actions to get the long-time Heat big man more involved. Miami needs a win this week to start building confidence.

24. Utah Jazz

Record: 1-2
Ranking last week: No. 18
Games this week: Grizzlies, Spurs, Trail Blazers

Utah's defense was always going to be a potential issue this season, but giving up 45 to Ty Jerome in the season opener and then 52 to Luka Doncic on Sunday seems like a red flag. Through three games, the Jazz have the 28th-ranked defense in the NBA. Another area of concern, one the Jazz should be able to clean up, is ball-handling under pressure, which leads to turnovers. Memphis gave Utah problems with its pressure in the opener, and every other team in the league took notes.

25. Phoenix Suns

Record: 1-1
Ranking last week: No. 19
Games this week: at Thunder, Nuggets

Phoenix's starting five — Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Miles Bridges, Jalen Geen, Khaman Maluach — has struggled to start the season with a -48.2 net rating. It's a very small sample size, it needs more time (especially considering Bridges and Maluach were not here or in these roles a season ago), but the group's struggles on both ends of the floor are concerning. It was mostly the bench, led by Luke Kennard and Collin Gillespie, that got this team a win against Golden State. Tough week to build momentum for the Suns as they take on the Thunder and Nuggets.

26. Brooklyn Nets

Record: 0-3
Ranking last week: No. 28
Games this week: at Celtics, Pistons, at Pacers

Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randall have accounted for 49.1% of Brooklyn's points this season and 39.3% of the 'Nets' shot attempts, including 43.8% of attempts from 3-point range. Just something to monitor. After missing a chunk of the preseason with an ankle injury, the Nets are easing Mikal Brown Jr. into the rotation, with him coming off the bench and on a minutes limit (20 minutes a night right now). This is expected to continue for a while. Brown had eight points on 3-of-10 shooting and five assists in his 20 minutes against Cleveland on Saturday.

27. New Orleans Pelicans

Record: 0-3

Ranking last week: No. 27

Games this week: Nuggets, Kings, Hawks

Starting center Yves Missi is out with a left knee bone bruise (which is a lot better than it looked like when he had to be carried off the court). While the team hasn't put a timeline on it, expect him to miss at least 2-3 weeks and potentially longer. That's good if we get to see more Derik Queen (and Karlo Matkovic), although the Queen/Zion Williamson pairing doesn't have a great history. One good thing to start the season is new coach Jamahl Mosley starting Jeremiah Fears, although it means bringing Herb Jones off the bench (and he's got to play more than the 17 minutes he got in the opener). Don't let the record completely deceive you, the Pelicans have been competitive in games to start the season.

28. Golden State Warriors

Record: 0-3
Ranking last week: No. 24
Games this week: at Nuggets, at Timberwolves, Lakers, Clippers

Kristaps Porzingis' health issues are much bigger than basketball, but they are also a setback for a Warriors team that gave him a new contract this summer and was banking on him. "You can't deny the fact that Kristaps was plugged in our starting lineup," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "Super talented guy, and his absence is definitely a blow." It showed against the Lakers when the Warriors had no answer for Walker Kessler. Warriors fans need to find the bright spots early in the season, and that means embracing Yaxel Lendeborg and the fact that he won't back down — the Warriors need that edge.

29. Milwaukee Bucks

Record: 0-3
Ranking last week: No. 30
Games this week: Pacers, Rockets, Cavaliers

We all knew Tyler Herro was going to put up points as he stood at Milwaukee's all-he-can-shoot buffet (23.7 points per game, hitting 41.7% from 3), but the surprise standout of the opening week has been Jaime Jaquez Jr., who has been the Bucks' most consistent player, averaging 20.7 points per game on 61.1% shooting. Taylor Jenkins has the Bucks playing hard, they are not rolling over for anyone, and that's a good place to start.

30. Sacramento Kings

Record: 0-2
Ranking last week: No. 29
Games this week: at Spurs, at Pelicans, at Grizzlies

This is the roller coaster you ride when you turn a team's offense over to a rookie: Darius Acuff shot 5-of-24 in a season-opening loss to the Clippers. Then he looked better with 33 points (on better but not great 10-of-26 shooting)against Portland (but still a Sacramento loss). Being a rookie point guard in the NBA is rough, expect a lot more highs and lows across the season as Acuff figures out how to play at the next level.