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Welcome to Week in Review: a Monday feature that looks back at the week that was for the San Antonio Spurs, takes a look at the week ahead, and more. Enjoy!

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Week 1: 1-2 (1-2, 9th in West)

104-116 loss vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

It wasn’t the season opener the Spurs had hoped for. With the Thunder out for revenge for the Western Conference Finals and red hot from three in the first half, the lethargic Spurs went ice cold in the second quarter to fall behind by 26 points and, despite an admirable effort in the second half, couldn’t rally all the way back.

On a side note, keep Jalen Williams in your thoughts after he suffered a brutal looking leg injury last night (I don’t recommend making the same mistake as me and watching it). Assuming it’s as bad as it looks, he’s more than likely out for the season and faces an even harder road back.

110-114 loss vs. Houston Rockets (in Austin)

The Spurs looked better in their second game as they continued to shake off the rust and find some rhythm, but it still wasn’t enough against a healthy Rockets squad that finally has a true point guard. Alperen Sengun was unstoppable down low no matter who guarded him, and Amen Thompson blocked Victor Wembanyama’s game tying attempt for the heart-breaking loss.

106-122 win at Dallas Mavericks

The Spurs finally got their first win of the season against a depleted Mavs team that was missing Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving, among others. While nothing special, the Spurs’ starters did their jobs and put the opponent away with a few timely runs, and we even got to see what Tarris Reed could bring to the table in rotation minutes.

Power Rankings

John Schuhmann, NBA.com — 6 (last week: 1)

OffRtg: 110.5 (14) DefRtg: 111.3 (14) NetRtg: -0.7 (14)

A season with big expectations got off to a rough start for Victor Wembanyama (1-for-13 against the Thunder) and the Spurs. After losing to Oklahoma City and Houston, they trailed the shorthanded Mavs (no Kyrie Irving or Cooper Flagg) late in the third quarter on Saturday before pulling away in the final 13 minutes.

Two takeaways

1. The Spurs’ new starting lineup played limited minutes (just 9.4 per game) and the results were mixed. It outscored the Thunder by 10 points on Tuesday, but scored an anemic 30 points on 45 offensive possessions (67 per 100) against the Rockets and Mavs over the weekend. The offense was at its best with last season’s starter (Julian Champagnie) on the floor.

2. Victor Wembanyama has struggled with his jump shot. Combining preseason and Week 1, he’s shot 2-for-11 from mid-range and 5-for-28 from beyond the arc. But the Spurs have allowed less than a point per possession with him on the floor, while allowing 133 per 100 with him on the bench.

Coming up: The Spurs’ win in Dallas over the weekend was the start of what seems like a pretty soft, 12-game stretch of schedule that should have them at or near the top of the West in mid-November. Minnesota is the toughest opponent on that stretch, but the Spurs will have a rest advantage when they host the Wolves on Saturday.

Law Murray, The Athletic — 12 (last week: 5)

Opening week question: Do De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle complement one another well enough?

Defensively, the trio has been fine — it helps to have Victor Wembanyama back there. But these three are only starting together because that’s the team Mitch Johnson has to manage this year. Last year, Johnson could bring the second pick of the draft (Harper) off the bench, have Fox minimize his touches and play primarily through Castle while Wembanyama enjoyed his ascent to MVP finalist. This year, the Spurs are letting their guard trio dominate the ball. San Antonio is shooting only 41.5 percent from the field and 28.1 percent from 3.

Kurt Helin, NBC Sports — 8 (last week: 2)

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.

Brett Siegel, Clutch Points — 9 (last week: 4)

This was an unprecedented start for the defending Western Conference champions. While falling to the Thunder in the first game of the season wasn’t all that shocking, losing to the Rockets in a game they never really controlled was.

Not only is Victor Wembanyama struggling to find his shot early on, but the Spurs are still trying to figure out what their three-guard approach looks like on a nightly basis with De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper.

Getting Tobias Harris back on the floor from his calf injury will be important for this team, especially since he brings extra rebounding and secondary scoring. Nonetheless, this team’s success revolves around Wembanyama’s production, which was lackluster during the first week of the season.

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Coming up

• Tues. 10/27 vs. Sacramento Kings (7:00 PM CT)
• Wed. 10/28 at Utah Jazz (8:00 PM CT)
• Sat. 10/31 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (7:00 PM CT)

When people said they wouldn’t care if the Knicks went 0-82 this season, I don’t think that they meant it as an invitation.

The first three games have gone from disappointing to annoying to bewildering as the Knicks sit at the bottom of the standings with a 0-3 record after three close losses to Eastern Conference rivals, all of which were winnable with better execution. It’s the first 0-3 start since David Fizdale was coach in 2019-20 (yikes).

In these games, the Knicks have scored 103 or fewer points in all of them. Raw point totals aren’t everything with this team’s preferred slow pace, but that doesn’t work in the modern NBA. This is early-Thibsian-level offense.

Is it process-based or just shoddy shooting? It could be both.

On Opening Night, the Knicks fell to the Sixers not only due to inconsistent shooting at the perimeter, but also startlingly bad finishing at the rim. As a team last year, they shot 66.3% in the restricted area and 58.3% on shots in the paint. On Opening Night? 58.6% and 42%.

These shots make up half the team’s shot diet, so shooting 16% worse at it can decide games. That’s especially concerning against a team with incredibly little rim protection, even if it were the freshest Joel Embiid you’ll ever see.

The jarringly bad shooting continued through Boston and Orlando. They’re 26th in FG% at the restricted area (63%) and dead last in total FG% in the paint (50%).

The main culprits? Andre Drummond (8-for-15 at the rim, 8-for-18 in the paint), Jalen Brunson (4-for-18 outside the restricted area), and Josh Hart (4-for-8 at the rim, 7-for-13 in the paint).

Those last two are the ones we can directly compare to last season. Brunson shot 47.9% on incredible volume outside the restricted area last season, while Hart shot 67.4% at the rim and 60.4% in the entire paint. The sample is small, but important in three close losses.

The perimeter shooting has been pretty bad, too. Outside of Deuce McBride’s Boston heater, nobody has had the touch to start the season. Four players have attempted at least 14 threes so far, and all of them are below league average (Brunson 26.7%, Anunoby 28.6%, Hart 33.3%, Shamet 35.7%). Mikal Bridges is also doing his best October 2024 impression, starting the year 0-for-10 from deep.

On Sunday night against the Magic, the Knicks shot 32 open and wide open threes and made only nine of them. There were some bad looks in there, but a lot of them were clean looks that you’re used to them making. Last season, they only averaged 30.5 of those attempts per game, but shot 37.3%. That’s equivalent to three extra made threes last night, which could’ve swung the game.

Really, they lost on Sunday because the Magic, an extremely poor shooting team, shot 43.6% on those looks and had just their third game in the last two years where they shot 40 threes and made at least 40% of them, but you could’ve also made shots yourself.

As if their shooting at the rim and behind the arc wasn’t bad enough, they’ve also been ghastly at the foul line.

As a team, they’re shooting 70.8%, which in prior years you’d think would be dragged down by the Hack-a-Mitch, but there’s no excuse this year. Even if you remove the only poor free-throw shooter on the roster, Drummond, they’re at an unacceptable 72%. If you removed Mitch last year, the team shot 81.6% from the line.

It added up against Philly; it didn’t help against Boston; and it directly hampered their chances at a late comeback against Orlando.

Anunoby is at 81.8%, but after him? Brunson is 14-for-20, and Towns is 12-for-17, both around 70%. For two guys who are career 85% free-throw shooters, it’s a back-breaker.

Looking at the splits (and turnovers, which are also a small problem) through three games, the Knicks aren’t close to where they need to be as a team:

vs PHI: 37/33/70, 14 TO
@ BOS: 44/40/71, 16 TO
vs ORL: 41/24/68, 14 TO
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25-26: 48/37/79, 12.9 TO

The only game they shot adequately was against Boston, but they committed a season high in turnovers and still didn’t make their free throws. In the other two games, it was poor play at all three levels.

In the modern NBA, three-point shooting is everything. For the Knicks under Mike Brown, they are as reliant as a team can be without being Joe Mazzulla-esque.

2025-26 Knicks, including playoffs:
22-0 when shooting 44% or better
0-7 when shooting 25% or worse

Last season, when the Knicks shot worse than 33.3% from downtown, they went 11-19.

When they shot 33.3% or better, a mark that is not even league average, they went 58-13.

It’s a cheat code for their success, and considering they returned every shooter from last season’s roster, it’s one that needs to show up to right the ship.

To quote new Timberwolves commentator Kevin Calabro, “Nothing but cord.” Fresh off another hot shooting night where Minnesota was 15 for 31 from deep (48%) they prepare for their first back-to-back of the season. Coach Chris Finch rewarded the effort of his squad with frequent breathers and deployed 11 players in non-garbage minutes. Some of this was due to LaMelo Ball foul trouble. Or was that Melo’s strategy all along for saving his legs for the next day?

Minnesota’s opponent the Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling to find their Eastern Conference Finalist form in the early goings of the season. They will have the advantages of rest and home court as they host the undefeated Wolves.

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Game Info

• Who:Minnesota Timberwolves (3-0) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (1-1)
• When: Monday, October 26 at 6:00 PM CT
• Where: Rocket Arena – Cleveland, OH
• Local TV: DAZN-MIN
• Radio: 830 WCCO

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Some Numbers

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Playing for Each Other

Maybe it was something in the Parisian water. Maybe it was the iron sharpening iron team organized practices before training camp. Maybe it was the trade for LaMelo Ball and the full court press to get Jonathan Kuminga to sign in Minnesota. Whatever it was, this Wolves team is knit tighter and more defined than a Norwegian sweater.

No matter the lineup that Finch runs out, every player knows what is expected of them. In the Raptors game, every player bought in on relentless defense regardless of assignment as seen most prominently in Bones Hyland posting as many points as he did blocks and rebounds (three of each). The early efforts have taken some of the load off the regular rotation and allowed the deep bench to get some run. Rookie Isaiah Evans has played in each of the first three wins.

These Wolves are not playing with their food. When they build a lead they add to it. They have only lost three quarters thus far and two of those were in the fourth quarter of 20+ point victories. Even the players “sitting” on the bench understand what is expected of them.

Target the Bad Defenders

The Cavaliers deploy two bigs in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley who will roam the paint looking to swat shots. Cleveland has averaged eight and a half blocks in their two games, good enough for first in the league. They outbid the Denver Nuggets in a sign-and-trade for Peyton Watson to defend on the wing, and that’s where the strength of their defense trails off. James Harden presents some effort when he can guard in the post, but when asked to move his feet, he runs into problems.

As the Wolves did against the Miami Heat’s Klay Thompson, they should hunt the Harden and Donovan Mitchell on the perimeter. The rest of the Cavs rely on the shot creation of those two players to get their offense going, so pulling them into a recurrent defensive stance will wear them out. Off the bench, Cleveland relies on the scoring of wings Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill, and former Trey Lyles Real Madrid teammate Mario Hezonja, none of whom offer much more defensive resistance than who they replace.

Rebounds and Turnovers

The Raptors won the offensive rebounding and turnover battle against the Wolves allowing them to hang around until early in the third quarter. I’d imagine Finch and the coaching staff will be in the player’s ears on the flight to Ohio about ways to clean that up. This will be a unique test for the Wolves playing on the second night of a back-to-back. They rank number one in the league in rebounding, predicated on effort and gang rebounding. They will need to summon that same sweat equity to nullify Cleveland’s bigs.

The Cavaliers have choked away one game against the Philadelphia 76ers and barely hung on against the Brooklyn Nets with fourth quarter turnovers. They have coughed up the ball over 20+ times in each of their first two games with Mitchell and Harden among the biggest culprits. Perhaps a student of the Shaquille O’Neal school of taking the season to play into shape, Harden has shown limited burst to get to the cup. Staying in front of him should allow for off-ball defenders to swarm passing lanes and juice the score in transition.

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Prediction

The Wolves have momentum, a clear thesis of what they want to do, and the spirit of youth. The Cavs guards will look to put Minnesota into compromising positions and if the Wolves play clean, they’ll run out to an early lead. Off of tired legs, less Wolves three-balls will drop, but second efforts on the glass will sap the confidence of their opponent. Cleveland will try to get back into the game launching errant three-point shots and Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson will assure the media that by every number but the final score, they won the game. Isaiah Evans will record his first regular season point.

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Our blogging buddies are over at Fear the Sword. Be respectful of our sword swinging brethren!

The Phoenix Suns’ first two games of the season couldn’t have gone more differently. A historic beatdown from the Portland Trail Blazers commenced their season, which they followed up three days later with a solid victory over a Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors team in their home opener. Nonetheless, it was a 1-1 week despite losing by 41 in their first game. The beauty of a singular game only being worth one loss, no matter the outcome.

Now having our first glimpse of the 2026-27 regular season Suns, here’s what we want your responses on:

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Thoughts on the new guys

Luke Kennard and Miles Bridges are in Phoenix and contributing early. While Kennard didn’t play in the season opener and Bridges scored just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, both were impactful in the team’s first win of the season. Kennard hit three three-pointers, including a few late, and Bridges showed his inside-out game, scoring in the paint and hitting a few triples against the Warriors.

How do you think the two have fit in so far, and how do you expect their roles to evolve as the season goes on?

Starting guard drama looming?

Early returns on the Jalen Green and Devin Booker starting backcourt have not been promising. The first game of the season saw the Suns go down 21-0 en route to getting blown out, and in 13 minutes against the Warriors, the starting lineup had a -21.6 net rating.

In comparison, when Collin Gillespie was replaced by Green, the rest of the starting lineup had a +85.7 net rating.

Two games into a season is no time for seismic changes, and the Suns as a whole mightily struggled in their first game of the season especially, but how concerned are you about Jalen Green’s fit next to Devin Booker in the starting lineup?

Early returns on Khaman Maluach as the starter?

There’s a new starting center in Phoenix, and his name is Khaman Maluach, and he’s been quite passive on the offensive end so far. In 44 minutes in his first two games, the Duke product has taken just five shots and six free throws, averaging 5.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and two assists per game.

As the team continues to play without a traditional point guard in the starting lineup, it might take Maluach some time to find his role on the offensive end, and his 136.4 defensive rating leaves a lot to be desired on defense, but the team has been significantly better on the glass when he’s in the game.

It was well-known that the big man was going to take some time to get comfortable in his new role, but have early returns given you more or less confidence in his future as a starter?

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On the Suns’ Plate This Week

Another two-game slate this week starting on the road and ending at home against the Western Conference for the Suns.

Phoenix will face the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight at 5 PM AZ time in a rematch of the first round of the 2026 Western Conference Playoffs that saw the Suns go down in four games. Then on Friday, they’ll host the Denver Nuggets at 7 PM AZ time for their first game of NBA Cup play. The Thunder and Nuggets were the West’s first and third seeds a season ago and once again project to be some of the conference’s best teams.

By first quarter’s end on Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers looked a bit of a mess and trailed the Utah Jazz, 47-29. By halftime, they had righted the ship and already stormed all the way back to enter the break with a 74-71 lead. For much of the second half, the two sides engaged in a back-and-forth affair before Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves made a handful of key plays down the stretch to propel Los Angeles to a 132-123 victory and a 3-o start to the year.

After the win, head coach JJ Redick emphasized the importance of a game like that so early in the season for a team still growing together with so many new rotation players. Of course, doing so in a win is preferable but Redick made clear it would’ve provided valuable information regardless of the outcome.

“I talked about this earlier in the year last year. For, particularly, a new group of guys and this feels like a newer team, right, because of all the new faces, you need to build reference,” Redick told reporters. “Really, whether we had responded to the adversity of that first quarter, not being ready to play and not doing any of the stuff that we had talked about pregame, it still would be a reference point. Because we ended up coming back and winning, now it becomes a positive reference point and it’s a reference point for resiliency, right?”

Once Utah had built an 18-point advantage to close the first quarter, Redick saw his team quickly respond in the second quarter to extinguish the deficit and, ultimately, nab a road victory — something that shouldn’t be discounted, especially against a team that’s given the Lakers trouble in recent years.

“Winning on the road is hard in the NBA. These guys always play us tough, particularly here, at least since I’ve been here,” Redick said. “So I wasn’t surprised with how they came out and played offensively. But our guys were, we talked to them at the beginning of the second quarter and there was an immediate response and then we had to gut out a win. We had to gut out a win and I’m just proud of the group for that.”

You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.

Maxey named East Player of the Week for standout start to season  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

True to form, All-NBA Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey earned another award at the very start of the 2026-27 season. 

Maxey was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday. The Grizzlies’ Ty Jerome won the award in the Western Conference. 

Maxey averaged 28.8 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds for the new-look, 3-1 Sixers. He posted at least 26 points in all four games and ranks fifth in the NBA in scoring average. 

The 25-year-old also impressed on defense. He’s already racked up eight steals and his full-court pressure on former teammate James Harden helped fuel the Sixers’ home-opening comeback win last Thursday over the Cavs. 

“He totally changed the game,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “He’s out there doing that and the rest of the guys are in the back watching. And all of a sudden, they start saying, ‘I’ll be in on this, too.’

“He provides not only the physical effort to start it, but also kind of a spark that got everyone emotionally going.”

Maxey has won five East Player of the Week awards in his career. His first also came in Week 1. Maxey took home the honor in late October of 2023 right before the Sixers traded Harden to the Clippers.