The NBA is in absolute chaos.
The top three teams in the Power Rankings from last week had a losing stretch in the past seven days (is the curse of the top spot back?). The Utah Jazz continue to win and screw up everybody’s Victor Wembanyama expectations. The Brooklyn Nets might be pulling it all together. The Minnesota Timberwolves are getting worse by the hour. The defending champion Golden State Warriors look really bad at times. And things are just all over the place in terms of the standings.
Advertisement
This week, I wanted to take a step back and start trying to figure out what looks like good and bad marks on each team’s schedule so far. There are good wins (yes, all wins are good, but some of them are more meaningful), and there are bad losses (all losses are bad, but some are abhorrent). There are plenty of outcomes about which we don’t know what to feel yet. Let’s see if there’s more reason for optimism with certain teams and if there’s reason to panic with others.
Reminder: The Power Rankings don’t just rank the 30 teams. We divide these teams into tiers, which any of the teams can move in and out of. We have the tiers in the Power Rankings broken into seven categories:
- The hell is happening with you guys? Get it together! — These teams should be winning more and we know they’re not tanking.
- Victor Wembanyama Watch — They’re rebuilding and nothing matters more than development and lottery ping pong balls.
- Looking to make the Play-In — They’ve been rebuilding/retooling and think they can crack the top 10 in their respective conference.
- Play-In Tournament teams Or Better — They should be in the mix unless something disastrous happens.
- Playoff teams — Probably don’t have to worry about dropping down to the Play-In Tournament.
- On the brink of contention — A piece away from us believing they can win the title.
- Contenders — They are contending for the championship, barring a massive injury.
As always, I am sure we will all agree on the placement of all 30 teams, especially your favorite team.
Here’s how the Power Rankings work:
- It’s up to my discretion how the rankings shake out. For some teams, they’ll be hit in the short term. Others will be given the benefit for the long term. Yes, it is entirely subjective.
- If I have a team ahead of another team, there’s no reason to ask why they’re ranked above the team you like. The answer is pretty simple: I think that team is set up better for success.
- Yes, I watch the games. And yes, I watch your favorite team.
- Only 15 teams will be deemed worthy of a GIF or video. That’s to limit how much we eat up your data and computer’s processor.
- This is supposed to be fun, so let’s have fun with it.
With all that said, let’s dive into Week 5 of The Athletic’s NBA Power Rankings. All stats and records are through Sunday’s games:
Tier 1: The Contenders
1. Milwaukee Bucks (previously first) | 10-2 | +6.0 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Hawks, Win at Thunder, Loss at Spurs
Good wins: Philadelphia and Atlanta. The Milwaukee Bucks took down Philadelphia on their opening night when the 76ers were looking formidable. The win over Atlanta was really good.
Bad losses: None. Considering the loss to San Antonio happened without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, it’s hard to hammer them for that.
Not sure how to feel: Brooklyn win. They faced Brooklyn early on and I don’t know what we do with whether those Nets teams were worthy of feeling good about victories over them at the time.
What does it mean? For the most part, the Bucks have been pretty straightforward. Losing to San Antonio without their three best players isn’t enough to knock them down. Atlanta manhandled them in the second half of their loss to the Hawks, but there’s no shame in losing to them. I still think the Bucks are track to be the best team in basketball beyond their record. They’re still missing significant players and have been mostly dominant.
Advertisement
GIF ON THE BEAT:
2. Boston Celtics (previously fourth) | 10-3 | +6.5 net rating
Weekly slate: Win at Grizzlies, Win over Pistons, Win over Nuggets, Win at Pistons
GO DEEPER
Jayson Tatum's consistency, Celtics milking the clock and more: Win streak observations
Good wins: Philadelphia, Memphis and Denver. The Boston Celtics controlled the second half of their win over Philadelphia on opening night, they took down Memphis in a close one, and they dominated Denver. Three really impressive wins against good teams.
Bad losses: None. Their two losses to Cleveland aren’t bad at all.
Not sure how to feel: Chicago loss and the win over Miami. If Miami gets its act together and plays like it has two of the past three years, then this win looks a lot more impressive. The Celtics caught Miami when it was a mess. And it’s just hard to know if the Bulls are part of the upper echelon of the East or just stuck in the middle.
What does it mean? The Celtics are on fire right now, winning six straight games. Nothing embarrassing on their ledger with the schedule, although they’d like to have at least split with Cleveland so far. Jayson Tatum is playing like he’s arguably the best player in the world for the time being, and their offense is demolishing opposing teams in the half court. Their poor defense hasn’t even mattered because the teams in front of them can’t stop Boston.
Tier 2: Brink of Contention
3. Phoenix Suns (previously second) | 8-4 | +6.9 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Sixers, Win at Wolves, Loss at Magic
Good wins: Dallas, Clippers, Golden State, New Orleans and Portland. The Phoenix Suns have really showed up against the good teams so far. They came back from down big against a growing Dallas rival in the opening game. And those other four good wins were all blowout victories by an average of almost 20 points.
Bad losses: Philadelphia and Orlando. Philadelphia was without James Harden and following a couple of anemic losses. Orlando is not a team that should be able to take down Phoenix at all.
Not sure how to feel: Wins over Minnesota. Phoenix’s wins over Minnesota might have been over a mediocre team. If Minnesota can’t get it together and find a surge, these aren’t impressive wins at all.
What does it mean? The Suns have had a strong enough schedule so far to test them, and they have played extremely well. They’ve answered some lingering questions from the end of last season, but they still have some more in need of solutions. The Jae Crowder situation is still unresolved, and the Cam Johnson injury hurts them. But Devin Booker has carried this Suns team so far.
GIF ON THE BEAT:
Tier 3: Playoff Teams
4. Atlanta Hawks (previously fifth) | 8-5 | +1.2 net rating
Weekly slate: Win over Bucks, Loss to Jazz, Win over Sixers, Loss at Sixers
Good wins: Milwaukee and New Orleans. The Atlanta Hawks’ most impressive win happened against Milwaukee when they dominated the Bucks in the second half of that game. Outlasting New Orleans in overtime was a really fun, good victory.
Bad losses: Charlotte. Atlanta couldn’t stop Nick Richards and Kelly Oubre Jr. in that loss to a depleted Charlotte team.
Not sure how to feel: Losses to Philadelphia and Utah, and wins over New York and Philadelphia. Atlanta’s games against Philadelphia are tough to judge so far because I just don’t know what to make of that team with or without Harden. Still trying to figure out if Utah and New York are good wins or bad losses.
What does it mean? I believe the Hawks are one of the better teams in the NBA right now, hence their placement here. I’m not sure how much of it holds though. They had an absolute cake schedule in the first five games and went 4-1. Since the schedule started getting tougher against playoff teams, they’ve cooled off with a 3-4 stretch. None of that is an indictment, necessarily. As mentioned above, they have a few very impressive wins. But the Hawks will have to continue to take down good teams to justify this level of ranking. A nice surprise is their defense has been better than their offense.
5. Denver Nuggets (previously eighth) | 9-4 | +2.6 net rating
Weekly slate: Win at Spurs, Win at Pacers, Loss at Celtics, Win at Bulls
Good wins: Golden State. The Denver Nuggets don’t really have too many impressive wins on their schedule so far. Golden State was in a good spot when Denver took it down.
Bad losses: Lakers. Denver has a reputation of playing to its level of competition; absorbing the Lakers’ lack of powers and losing to them fits that bill.
Not sure how to feel: Loss to Utah and win over Utah. The Nuggets got blown out by Utah on opening night and then enacted their revenge. If Utah would just tank already, we could know how to feel about those results.
What does it mean? Denver has benefited from a pretty easy schedule. Of the Nuggets’ nine wins, Golden State was good, Utah was potentially good, and Chicago is a solid team they should take down. Everything else happened with them feasting on OKC (twice), the Lakers, San Antonio (twice) and Indiana. Their schedule through the end of November is very easy, and even the rest of their 2022 isn’t much to worry about. This is their opportunity to stop playing lazy defense and start approaching their potential brilliance on offense.
Advertisement
GIF ON THE BEAT:
6. Memphis Grizzlies (previously sixth) | 9-5 | +0.9 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss to Celtics, Win at Spurs, Win over Wolves, Loss at Wizards
Good wins: Portland. The Memphis Grizzlies, surprisingly, don’t have a ton of good wins on their books so far. Portland is the only one I’d put on there, and even that happened with no Damian Lillard.
Bad losses: None. Washington would’ve qualified if they lost with Ja Morant playing, but he sat that one out.
Not sure how to feel: Losses to Utah and wins over New York, Brooklyn and Minnesota. I’m more convinced the wins here will end up looking good by the end of the season, but that’s assuming three franchises that historically struggle with their identity figure it out.
What does it mean? Don’t think we need to kill Memphis for not having a lot of good wins. They’ve mostly just beat the teams in front of them, which is what they’re supposed to do. The Grizzlies aren’t whole yet, but they’ve shown a consistent resilience to keep winning when guys are missing. What I want to see from the Grizzlies is their defense ramp up. Even without Jaren Jackson Jr., they shouldn’t be this rough defensively. Nine of their next 14 are at home, so let’s see if they can settle their defense in the friendly confines of Memphis.
7. Portland Trail Blazers (previously 10th) | 9-4 | +1.9 net rating
Weekly slate: Win at Heat, Win at Hornets, Win at Pelicans, Loss at Mavs
Good wins: Phoenix, Denver and New Orleans. The Portland Trail Blazers actually have two victories over Phoenix, and one of them happened without Damian Lillard. Their win over New Orleans was also without Lillard, and they put up 135 points on Denver when they beat them.
Bad losses: None. All four of their losses are against good or good enough teams so far.
Not sure how to feel: Win over Miami and loss to Miami. As mentioned with a few other teams, we don’t quite know what to make of this Miami team. They’ve had a weird, slow start, and it’s safe to wonder if they might be good or if they might look like they did after the bubble.
What does it mean? The Blazers have been one of the better stories to start the season after the way they let things fall apart last year. A lot of their success has happened without Lillard on the floor. Anfernee Simons has been brilliant. Jerami Grant has been an incredible pickup. And the team is just jelling in a very encouraging way. They’ve had one of the tougher schedules in the league, and they’ve thrived despite Lillard missing a handful of games.
GIF ON THE BEAT:
8. Utah Jazz (previously 12th) | 10-5 | +4.6 net rating
Weekly slate: Win over Lakers, Win at Hawks, Loss at Wizards, Loss at Sixers
Good wins: Denver, New Orleans, Memphis, Clippers and Atlanta. The Utah Jazz have been baffling a lot of people early on, and I’m sure all five of these teams listed didn’t expect the level of excellence displayed in those wins. The opening drubbing of Denver should’ve tipped everybody off the Jazz are taking this seriously early.
Bad losses: Houston. Tanking or not tanking, the Jazz were playing far too well to come back down to earth briefly against one of the worst teams in the NBA.
Not sure how to feel: Minnesota win and Washington loss. The Jazz actually exposed a lot of the issues we’re seeing with Minnesota on a nightly basis. The Washington loss might be the start of regression to the mean, but are we sure Washington will be better than Utah by the end of the year?
What does it mean? The Jazz players have sent a blazing middle finger toward everybody wondering when they’re going to tank. And guess what? We’re right to question it! It’s weird and borderline systemically broken to chastise a team for winning basketball games. I get it. You’re supposed to do that, and the players are never going to tank. I’m going to put this on the front office for not being more active in the trade market before the season started. All tanking half-joking aside, the Jazz have been really fun and overly competitive to begin this season. They mostly have a tough schedule through the end of 2022, but Utah will probably keep bucking the expectation of losing until Danny Ainge’s hand is forced.
GO DEEPER
Donovan Mitchell Unplugged: On early Cavs success, leaving Jazz and Gobert, plus how close he was to joining Knicks
9. Cleveland Cavaliers (previously third) | 8-5 | +6.8 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Clippers, Loss at Kings, Loss at Warriors, Loss to Wolves
Good wins: Boston. During the Cleveland Cavaliers’ eight-game win streak, they took down Boston twice, once on the road and once at home. Those were two great victories.
Bad losses: Sacramento. You can’t lose that game on the road to Sacramento. That was supposed to be the gimmie on the trip out west.
Not sure how to feel: Wins over Chicago and New York, and loss to Minnesota. Loss to Minnesota was without Donovan Mitchell, but I’m still not sure how to feel about giving confidence to a team that was reeling like that.
What does it mean? What a horrendous fall back down to earth for the Cavs this week. The West Coast road trip was brutal to them, and it even messed them up for that home game against Minnesota. Ultimately, the Cavs are off to a very good start, even with this four-game losing streak. Darius Garland missed a bunch of time, and the Cavs are still learning their new star guard Mitchell. We don’t need to overthink it. The Cavs have been one of the best offensive and defensive teams in the NBA, and they haven’t had an easy schedule.
Advertisement
GIF ON THE BEAT:
10. Dallas Mavericks (previously seventh) | 7-5 | +3.6 net rating
Weekly slate: Win over Nets, Loss at Magic, Loss at Wizards, Win over Blazers
Good wins: Memphis, Toronto and Portland. The Dallas Mavericks have some pretty impressive performances on their résumé so far this season. They beat Memphis by 41, outlasted Toronto in a really fun game and bounced back from two confusing losses by taking down Portland this weekend.
Bad losses: Oklahoma City, Orlando and Washington. The Mavs have some curious losses on their schedule so far as well, and two of them happened back-to-back this week. The Washington loss is less egregious, but how the hell did they not even crack 90 points against Orlando?
Not sure how to feel: Wins over Brooklyn and Utah. They caught Brooklyn at a very dysfunctional time for the Nets (when isn’t it, though?), and the Utah victory might not look so hot by the end of the season.
What does it mean? The Mavs possess one of the toughest schedules in the NBA so far, which makes those bad losses even more confusing. They should have looked at those games as gifts, although maybe they did and that’s why they didn’t bring it the way they should. They’re still trying to figure out some balance with attacking around Luka Dončić, as he’s putting up a historic usage rate. Spencer Dinwiddie is on fire as his running mate, but they’re going to need Christian Wood to be healthy and Tim Hardaway Jr. to get going soon. Tough schedule this coming week, but all four are at home.
11. LA Clippers (previously 13th) | 7-6 | -2.8 net rating
Weekly slate: Win over Cavs, Win over Lakers, Loss to Nets
Good wins: Cleveland. It’s a little surprising to see that this LA Clippers team only has one good victory this season, but that’s the case. Taking down Cleveland at home is the only win against a good team so far.
Bad losses: Oklahoma City. Dropping two to OKC — even with Kawhi Leonard missing both and Paul George missing one of them — was a bad pair of losses. Their depth isn’t supposed to give them guaranteed victories over really good teams, but you’ve got to at least get a split there.
Not sure how to feel: Losses to Utah and Brooklyn. Much like everybody else, we just have to wait and see if Brooklyn truly gets it together or if Utah eventually succumbs to the tantalizing permutations of trying to bring a 14.0 percent chance to get Victor Wembanyama.
What does it mean? Obviously the questions about Kawhi Leonard’s health are going to saturate any conversation trying to project what the Clippers can be. The Clippers have had a pretty easy schedule so far — with or without Leonard — and they’ve been a bit disappointing. Their offense is at the bottom of the entire league, which should not be the case with or without Leonard. They’ve kicked away a couple of gimmies, and they’re still trying to get their footing.
GIF ON THE BEAT:
12. New Orleans Pelicans (previously 11th) | 7-6 | +3.2 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Pacers, Win at Bulls, Loss to Blazers, Win over Rockets
Good wins: Dallas and the Clippers. The New Orleans Pelicans took apart the Dallas Mavericks without Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, then they beat the Clippers without Ingram. Those are two very impressive wins.
Bad losses: The Lakers and Indiana. The Pelicans didn’t have Ingram against the Lakers, but that’s still not an acceptable loss. Game against Indiana showed how far their defense still needs to come.
Not sure how to feel: Win over Brooklyn and loss to Utah. Brooklyn was at the beginning of the season when the Nets looked like they’d just tried to get their coach and GM fired. The Pels were yet another team that wasn’t ready for Utah, but does that make it a bad loss yet?
What does it mean? The Pelicans also have a win over Golden State in there, but Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson all missed it. Still, the Pelicans have shown a lot of resolve despite Ingram and Williamson both missing some games. Three of their losses happened in overtime. so we could easily see this record look a lot more dominant if the coin flips correctly in their favor. Their offense is really good, and their defense is pretty average (although streaky). The Pelicans look poised to go on a run with 10 of their next 13 at home.
13. Toronto Raptors (previously ninth) | 7-7 | +2.5 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Bulls, Win over Rockets, Loss at Thunder, Loss at Pacers
Good wins: Cleveland and Atlanta. Out of nowhere, the Toronto Raptors obliterated the Atlanta Hawks when they faced off earlier this season. They also started off the season beating Cleveland, which looks like a very high quality win.
Bad losses: Oklahoma City and Indiana. Back-to-back losses against OKC and Indiana have soured their start to the season a little bit. Can’t give up 130-plus to OKC and can’t lose by double-digits to Indiana when you’re up eight going into the fourth quarter.
Not sure how to feel: Wins over Miami, Philadelphia and Chicago, and losses to Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami and Brooklyn. We don’t really know how these teams who have been middling in the East and full of issues are going to look by the time the season is over. Ultimately, the wins should be good and the losses shouldn’t be terrible.
What does it mean? The Raptors have had one of the toughest schedules so far, and the results are all over the place. Considering they’re .500 on the season and have some quality wins with the potential for more of their wins looking like quality results, they should be pretty happy with how things have started off. Their defense has slipped a little, but their offense looks strong. They need to get Scottie Barnes back up to where his efficiency should be, but this team continues to handle what’s in front of it really well.
Advertisement
GIF ON THE BEAT:
Tier 4: Play-In Tournament Teams Or Better
14. Washington Wizards (previously 20th) | 8-6 | -1.5 net rating
Weekly slate: Win at Hornets, Win over Mavs, Win over Jazz, Win over Grizzlies
Good wins: Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas and Memphis. The Washington Wizards have been one of the more entertaining NBA League Pass teams, and these four good wins show why. Chicago is the type of team they need to measure themselves against, and the other three are the Wizards punching up and knocking out their opponents.
Bad losses: Indiana. Washington was asleep to start that game against Indiana and never recovered. Not a game they’re supposed to lose just yet.
Not sure how to feel: Utah. It’s probably a good win for the time being, but what if Washington finally kicked off the losing stretch that brings the Jazz back down to something that makes much more sense to us all?
What does it mean? What a week for the Wizards! For the season, they’ve had a pretty strong schedule so far, and they missed Bradley Beal for four games already (they went 3-1). Their net rating says this thing will crash for them at some point, but I do like the way they’re rallying and gutting out these wins. Their offense hasn’t been good and their defense has crashed, but they keep winning games. Three of their next five games are against Miami, so let’s see which team can establish itself better.
15. Philadelphia 76ers (previously 17th) | 7-7 | +2.3 net rating
Weekly slate: Win over Suns, Loss at Hawks, Win over Hawks, Win over Jazz
Good wins: Toronto, Phoenix and Atlanta. The Philadelphia 76ers’ wins over Phoenix and Atlanta showed Joel Embiid getting back to the MVP-worthy level we saw the last two seasons. Since their horrendous start, Philly has started to look a lot better.
Bad losses: San Antonio and Washington. The San Antonio loss was in that first week of the season with the Sixers not knowing what they were supposed to be doing. The Sixers are supposed to be above Washington so dropping a game to them, even without Embiid, shouldn’t happen when Harden and Tyrese Maxey went off.
Not sure how to feel: Wins over Chicago and Utah. Mentioned this elsewhere in the Power Rankings, but we don’t really know what to feel about Chicago and Utah yet. The win over Utah happened without Harden, and the win over Chicago happened with Harden and Maxey shooting horribly.
What does it mean? Tough to take the Sixers seriously as an upper echelon team when Harden is out. Since starting 1-4, the Sixers have won six of their next nine games. Some of that has come without Harden as he’s missing a few weeks. The important part of this entire stretch without him is getting Embiid back to dominance. It’s starting to round into shape, which is a good sign of things to come. How does it all fit when Harden gets back though? How do they maximize Embiid completely engaged and Harden doing his thing?
GIF ON THE BEAT:
16. Chicago Bulls (previously 15th) | 6-8 | -0.2 net rating
Weekly slate: Win over Raptors, Loss to Pelicans, Loss to Nuggets
Good wins: Boston and Toronto. The Chicago Bulls struggled so much beating good teams last season, that these two victories over Boston and Toronto should absolutely be celebrated as a step in the right direction.
Bad losses: San Antonio. They made Keldon Johnson look like Paul George, and they made the Spurs look like the franchise that made the playoffs for 22 straight years.
Not sure how to feel: Wins over Miami and Brooklyn. If this were last year, we’d be congratulating them on figuring out how to solve this Eastern Conference Rubik’s Cube. Miami and Brooklyn haven’t exactly been the standard for good basketball.
What does it mean? Last season to start things off, the Bulls looked incredible. They were taking down all of the bad and mediocre teams, and it looked like they might figure out how to remain toward the top of the East. We have a much more grounded Bulls team to start this season. Some of that is Zach LaVine not looking like he’s back athletically from the knee stuff and Lonzo Ball being out. Some of that is the East being deeper and a team like Cleveland leapfrogging them. The Bulls are battling though, and we’re seeing them give some pretty good teams trouble, even in defeat.
Tier 5: Looking to make the Play-In
17. Miami Heat (previously 18th) | 6-7 | +0.3 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss to Blazers, Win over Hornets, Win over Hornets
Good wins: Toronto, Portland and Golden State. The Miami Heat have three high quality wins in a frustrating start to the season. The interesting part about these three good wins listed is they all came after a loss. Impressive way to recover.
Bad losses: Sacramento and Indiana. Started out flat against Sacramento and couldn’t recover enough to take the road victory. The Heat couldn’t crack 100 against a bad Indiana defense.
Not sure how to feel: Loss to Chicago. Maybe Chicago is going to end up being a threat in the East, or maybe the Heat won’t recover to an elite status like last season. Until we know the answer to either of those, this loss is a toss-up.
What does it mean? The Heat are off to a mediocre start, especially compared to how they finished last season. No offense to P.J. Tucker, but they can’t possibly be missing him that much. Miami has only had one double-digit loss, so the Heat are mostly competitive even when things are going right. But this team is a disappointment so far. They’ve boosted their record with two recent wins over a bad Charlotte team. The Duncan Robinson contract might be worse than the Dion Waiters or Hassan Whiteside deals they signed years ago.
Advertisement
GIF ON THE BEAT:
18. Sacramento Kings (previously 21st) | 6-6 | +0.1 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Warriors, Win over Cavs, Win at Lakers, Win over Warriors
Good wins: Miami, Cleveland and Golden State. The Sacramento Kings under Mike Brown have had some surprising victories. The Kings have won six of their last eight games, and all three of these good wins have happened during this stretch.
Bad losses: None. The Kings have played three bad teams and beaten all three of them.
Not sure how to feel: Win over the Lakers. Ultimately, a win is a win, but I’m not sure they should have to go down to the wire against a Lakers team that didn’t have LeBron James.
What does it mean? The Kings are on a hot streak since losing their first four games, and it’s hard to pour cold water on this stretch of not just competence but actual success. They have a few home games this coming week, but 10 of their next 16 games are on the road. Sacramento hasn’t fixed its defense under Brown yet. The Kings are bottom five in the league in defensive rating, but it’s negated because they’re tied for fifth in offense. They’ll be tested for the next month, but if they can come away not buried in the standings, maybe this can result in a Play-In Tournament appearance.
19. New York Knicks (previously 16th) | 6-7 | -2.3 net rating
Weekly Slate: Win at Wolves, Loss at Nets, Win over Pistons, Loss to Thunder
Good wins: Philadelphia and Minnesota. While Philadelphia and Minnesota certainly have their problems, the New York Knicks are trying to re-establish themselves as a good team and a threat, so these are good wins in that process.
Bad losses: Oklahoma City. They gave up 145 points at home to OKC. That’s a really bad loss.
Not sure how to feel: Loss to Brooklyn. The Knicks had a chance to take down a vulnerable and chaotic Brooklyn team and they just couldn’t get it done. Getting blown out by Brooklyn wouldn’t look bad most seasons, but if the Nets fall apart further, it ends up looking like a truly horrendous effort by the Knicks.
What does it mean? The Knicks have mostly boosted their record against bad teams. They have wins over Detroit (twice), Orlando and Charlotte for two-thirds of their victories. Other than the loss to OKC, the rest of them are truly justifiable. Still not sure about the Brooklyn loss on the surface, but losing to Memphis, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Atlanta is totally fine. Their next five games are all out west, so we’ll see if they can stay afloat or maybe even come away with an improbable winning record on this excursion.
GIF ON THE BEAT:
20. Indiana Pacers (previously 19th) | 6-6 | -0.1 net rating
Weekly slate: Win over Pelicans, Loss to Nuggets, Win over Raptors
Good wins: Brooklyn, Miami, New Orleans and Toronto. I’m not sure how many people (outside of diehard fans) had the Indiana Pacers having big victories over these teams on this list. The Pacers were down 15 against Toronto and came back to win by 14.
Bad losses: San Antonio. Until the Pacers trade off their good veterans, losing that game to San Antonio looks rough.
Not sure how to feel: Loss to Washington and win over Washington. If Indiana keeps this together and decides not to tank, is it better than Washington? It’s close enough to not know if those were good or bad efforts.
What does it mean? The Pacers don’t know how to defend, but their offense has been overwhelming at times. They’ve had a pretty tough schedule so far, and they’ve handled it really well. They’ve won five of their last seven games, and we haven’t seen them lose to a bad team in that stretch. Only Brooklyn and Denver, and they almost beat Denver. They might be fun all season long, regardless of potential moves, because of Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin.
21. Golden State Warriors (previously 22nd) | 5-8 | -3.3 net rating
Weekly slate: Win over Kings, Win over Cavs, Loss at Kings
Good wins: Cleveland. Kind of crazy how mediocre the Golden State Warriors have been in their title defense this season. All of their wins — outside of the victory over Cleveland — are games they should have won and dominated.
Bad losses: Charlotte, Detroit, Sacramento and Orlando. Three of these four bad losses happened during a five-game losing streak, and the Sacramento loss on Sunday had their defense look far too inept for an intact, defending champion.
Not sure how to feel: Loss to Miami and win over Miami. Much like the Warriors, the Heat have been off to an odd and disappointing start, so it’s hard to tell if the loss was meaningful or if the win was meaningful outside of just additions to their respective columns in the standings.
What does it mean? The Warriors look like they’re in trouble, even though the season is still very early. You have to expect (and hope?) this Warriors team will get better every month moving forward and that the depth issues with the young guys looking lost doesn’t have dooming implications for them. The Warriors are wasting an amazing Curry season to start out because is atrocious on defense and just OK on offense.
Advertisement
GIF ON THE BEAT:
22. Minnesota Timberwolves (previously 14th) | 6-8 | -1.1 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss to Knicks, Loss to Suns, Loss at Grizzlies, Win at Cavs
Good wins: Cleveland. The surprising win on Sunday over Cleveland was the first “good win” for the Minnesota Timberwolves this season. Everything else came against bad teams. And even this one against Cleveland didn’t include Mitchell.
Bad losses: Utah, San Antonio and New York. The losses to all three teams has everything to do with not just who the teams are but also the way they lost to them. Minnesota is supposed to be serious about this stuff now and it got embarrassed in these three games. Just not acceptable.
Not sure how to feel: None. The wins have been straight-forward and so have the losses.
What does it mean? Minnesota has just looked like a mess for most of this season. There isn’t room for Anthony Edwards to dunk. The Wolves have been outrebounded on the season despite acquiring the best rebounder in the league. Karl-Anthony Towns looks more lost on defense than ever. And their offense has been putrid. The vibes around the Wolves are really bad, and they need to right this ship quickly.
GO DEEPER
D'Angelo Russell arrives, and not a moment too soon for the Timberwolves
23. Brooklyn Nets (previously 23rd) | 6-8 | +1.5 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Mavs, Win over Knicks, Win at Clippers, Loss at Lakers
Good wins: Toronto and Clippers. Considering the chaos leading up to this Brooklyn Nets season and the chaos that has happened to begin this Brooklyn Nets season, all of these wins should be considered good wins. These are the two best so far.
Bad losses: Indiana, Chicago and the Lakers. The Nets should be good enough to take down Chicago, and they certainly should be good enough to beat Indiana and the Lakers. Maybe we want to make the excuse the Lakers was the second night of a back-to-back in Los Angeles, but that’s a bad loss.
Not sure how to feel: Win over New York. I think a pretty good team resides in the Knicks, but I don’t know if they’re actually there. Because of that, I’m not comfortable calling it a good win yet.
What does it mean? What can you say about the Nets season that hasn’t already been said? Yes, they fired Steve Nash. Yes, Kyrie Irving threw this team into a PR nightmare. Yes, they got a lot of well-deserved flak over their reported plans to hire suspended Boston coach Ime Udoka. But with all of that, the Nets are 5-3 since their 1-5 start to the season. Jacque Vaughn has them mostly looking more engaged on defense. I’m not saying it’s fixed, but it’s better? This stretch of seven road games in an eight-game stretch puts them to a very real stress test on the court.
GIF ON THE BEAT:
24. Charlotte Hornets (previously 24th) | 3-11 | -6.2 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss to Wizards, Loss to Blazers, Loss at Heat, Loss at Heat
Good wins: Atlanta and Golden State. The Charlotte Hornets have two really good wins despite their injuries and missing players to begin this season. Both the win over Atlanta and the win over Golden State are actually pretty surprising.
Bad losses: Loss to Orlando. Even without LaMelo Ball, this team got obliterated by Orlando. It didn’t have Terry Rozier either in that game, but this team should have competed.
Not sure how to feel: Losses to Sacramento and Washington. If the Hornets get it together, the loss to Washington is going to be costly and tough. If Washington keeps around .500 or better, the loss doesn’t seem like a big deal. Same with Sacramento.
What does it mean? I’m giving them a little bit of a pass because Ball is just now getting back on the court. They’ve been missing their best player for the first big chunk of the season, and now that he’s back, we can judge them a little clearer. The concerning thing for the Hornets’ start outside of missing their star is their schedule has been pretty easy. And they can’t win. They’ve lost eight straight, but Ball has only been back for one of those.
Tier 6: Victor Wembanyama Watch
25. Oklahoma City Thunder (previously 27th) | 6-7 | -0.1 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Pistons, Loss to Bucks, Win over Raptors, Win at Knicks
Good wins: The Clippers, Dallas, Toronto and New York. The Oklahoma City Thunder — much like last season — have come out of the gates surprising quite a few people. Their two wins over the Clippers, and their victories over Dallas, Toronto and New York have all been really good wins for them.
Bad losses: None. Other than a loss to Detroit, their six other defeats have come at the hands of Minnesota, Milwaukee and Denver.
Not sure how to feel: Loss to Detroit. I guess there is a chance that either OKC becomes surprisingly good all season or Detroit gets its act together. But that loss to Detroit could potentially have real implications for the lottery.
What does it mean? Even with Minnesota looking like a mess, you can’t knock what the Thunder have done to start this season. They’ve competed against a pretty tough schedule (for them), and we’ve seen them give some good efforts as of late in trying to look competitive. I mentioned this last week, but the team’s defense is an incredible surprise so far. We know guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey can play, but this team has no business being top 10 in defense. The Thunder are fun to watch right now.
Advertisement
GIF ON THE BEAT:
26. Orlando Magic (previously 28th) | 4-9 | -1.9 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss to Rockets, Win over Mavs, Win over Suns
Good wins: Golden State, Dallas and Phoenix. The Orlando Magic took the defending champs down to the wire and won, shut down Dallas and then kicked Phoenix’s collective butts. No way to throw salt on those wins.
Bad losses: Houston. The Magic probably shouldn’t be losing to Houston, but it also might end up helping them in the lottery?
Not sure how to feel: Losses to Detroit, Oklahoma City and Sacramento. Detroit isn’t good yet, and it has a chance to be. OKC is expected to have a downturn soon enough, and Sacramento is Sacramento (although the Kings are trying more and more to be like Sacramento less and less). Those might not look like bad losses when the season is done.
What does it mean? The Magic have been extremely competitive lately with those three good wins happening the past two weeks. They’re going to have a lot of down moments this season, but their defense has remained pretty respectable. Four of their next five are very winnable, so let’s see if they can keep this competitive streak going.
27. San Antonio Spurs (previously 29th) | 6-7 | -5.1 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss to Nuggets, Loss to Grizzlies, Win over Bucks
Good wins: Philadelphia, Minnesota and Chicago. No matter the status of these three teams to start the season, the San Antonio Spurs taking them down qualifies as good wins for the Spurs. And those are bad losses for those three teams, no offense to the Spurs.
Bad losses: None. Other than Charlotte on opening night without Ball, there isn’t even a questionable loss on their résumé so far.
Not sure how to feel: Loss to Charlotte, and wins over Indiana and Milwaukee. We’ll see if Charlotte is actually kind of solid or if the Hornets sink into the tank at some point. The win over Milwaukee looks good on the ledger, but they really just beat Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis and Jevon Carter. The win over Indiana is interesting. The Pacers aren’t a bad team until they start making deals, and this win over Indiana might end up affecting the final lottery odds totals by the end of the season for the Spurs.
What does it mean? The Spurs have too many wins so far if they’re looking to ensure they finish with a 14.0 percent chance to win the Victor Wembanyama lottery sweepstakes. Their net rating shows they’ll eventually trend toward not winning a lot of these games, but so far, they’ve been fun and competitive a lot of nights against teams you wouldn’t necessarily expect.
GIF ON THE BEAT:
28. Houston Rockets (previously 30th) | 2-11 | -8.1 net rating
Weekly slate: Win at Magic, Loss at Raptors, Loss at Pelicans
Good wins: Utah. No matter if Utah ends up being for real or not, the Houston Rockets taking them down was a really good win for this young squad.
Bad losses: None. The Rockets don’t have bad losses because their losses are all understood and justified.
Not sure how to feel: Win over Orlando. Good win, but does it mean anything in the jostling for position they’ll be doing with Orlando all season? The Rockets may end up regretting that victory if it hurts them in the lottery, which is a ridiculous idea but it’s where we are with Wembanyama.
What does it mean? I don’t think we have to make too much out of the Rockets losing because that’s the design of this team. They’ve had one of the toughest schedules in the NBA, which compounds the losses and the blowout losses. Just want to see them get Jalen Green on track and help Jabari Smith Jr. find some easy buckets to get his confidence going.
Tier 7: The hell is happening with you guys? Get it together!
29. Los Angeles Lakers (previously 25th) | 3-10 | -6.0 net rating
Weekly slate: Loss at Jazz, Loss at Clippers, Loss to Kings, Win over Nets
Good wins: Denver, New Orleans and Brooklyn. The Los Angeles Lakers are in a dire situation when it comes to winning games, so pretty much every win they garner right now is a good win. But against these three teams? Those are three very respectable performances by the Lakers.
Bad losses: None. That’s how bad they’ve been to start this season. Not even the Sacramento loss was bad (because they played it without LeBron James).
Not sure how to feel: No, we know how to feel about everything so far. The Lakers just don’t have it, and I’m not sure there’s a path to them figuring out how to have it.
What does it mean? I do like the Darvin Ham move of bringing Russell Westbrook off the bench. It’s a big way for the Lakers to try to balance out the talent on the roster and when it’s in the game. But this Lakers team has been mostly garbage on the court. To be fair, they’ve had a pretty tough schedule, especially when it comes to them trying to figure out how to win these games. It’s about to ease up with three of their next five games coming against San Antonio and one of those games against Detroit. If the Lakers can’t go 3-2 here, we should probably start shopping for houses in New Orleans that Victor Wembanyama will be happy in.
Advertisement
GIF ON THE BEAT:
30. Detroit Pistons (previously 26th) | 3-11 | -9.9 net rating
Weekly slate: Win over Thunder, Loss at Celtics, Loss at Knicks, Loss to Celtics
Good wins: Golden State. I don’t care how much the Warriors are struggling, the Detroit Pistons taking them down was a good victory.
Bad losses: Indiana. If the Pistons are going to end up trading veterans and tanking, then it’s not a bad loss. But weren’t the Pistons supposed to be moving toward the Play-In?
Not sure how to feel: Wins over Orlando and Oklahoma City, and loss to Washington. Orlando and OKC are supposed to be definitely worse than the Pistons, but again, the Pistons might not be any good by the end of the season either. If the Pistons do get it together, then the loss to Washington becomes very frustrating in Detroit’s move toward the Play-In Tournament.
What does it mean? The Pistons have been atrocious, and now Cade Cunningham is going to miss a few games with an injury. I am legitimately worried about the Pistons and their progress. This is a really bad team right now, and it doesn’t look like Dwane Casey is making any progress in getting the young guys to recapture the magic they finished with last season. Their schedule has been tough enough, but this upcoming West Coast trip has the potential to bury their season.
(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; photo of Jayson Tatum: Brian Sevald / Getty Images)
