Lots to get to this week, so let’s jump right into Sports Illustrated’s latest NBA power rankings.
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Can we talk about the ageless Mike Conley Jr.? At 36, he is averaging 10.4 points, connecting on a career-best 45.9% of his threes with a 6.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. He also ranks in the top 30 in defensive win shares.
Categories Jayson Tatum has been top five in since Jan. 1: points, minutes played, threes, fourth-quarter points and (most importantly) wins. Boston is 10–1 with all five starters healthy, but with injuries hitting Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis, the C’s depth will be tested.
Joel Embiid’s stat line in a 44-point drubbing of the Lakers on Monday: 30 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. He did it all in three quarters. Meanwhile, Nic Batum has shot 54.8% from three since coming over from the Clippers. Philly may not need any pre-deadline deal.
Cason Wallace is shooting 60.9% from the floor and 53.8% from three. The draft matters, folks.
The Nuggets’ skeleton crew squeezed out a win over the Clippers on Monday—we’ll get into more of that below—and Jamal Murray’s return appears imminent. Meanwhile, Nikola Jokić has nearly as many triple doubles (six) as the rest of the league combined (seven).
The Bucks needed to erase a 26-point deficit to beat Portland on Sunday, but they have now won seven of their last eight with the lone loss a three-point squeaker in Boston. Brook Lopez leads the NBA in blocks per game (2.9) and has swatted away 48 shots in his last 13 games.
Do you believe in Magic? Er, sorry. Still, a seven-game winning streak—which includes triumphs over Denver and Boston—is proof this team has staying power. Lots of impressive stats, particularly defensively, but how about this one: The Magic were 9–13 in games decided by five points or fewer last season. So far this year: 4–2. Signs of maturity in central Florida.
How good has Devin Booker been? The Suns are outscoring opponents by 15.3 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor. Phoenix has won seven straight games without Bradley Beal. How good can they be when Beal gets back?
Matt York/AP
Their defense has been downright stingy, particularly in the first half, with Houston giving up a league-low 50.6 points per game. Consistency has been a key: After using 18 starting lineups last season, the Rockets have used the same starting five in every game this season. Houston’s past five losses have been by an average of 5.4 points. Now, if the team can just find a way to win on the road.
Dallas’s defensive rating during this recent 1–3 stretch is 120.3, which ranks 26th in the NBA over the last four games. Now Luka Dončić is playing through a thumb injury. A three-game homestand beginning Tuesday against Houston will be revealing.
They rebounded from back-to-back losses to New Orleans with a nice win over Minnesota last week. Malik Monk is making a strong Sixth Man of the Year case, ranking in the top 10 among reserves in points, assists and threes made while sitting in the top 20 among all players in clutch scoring this season.
The Heat went 2–3 on a recent road trip, with losses in Chicago, New York and Brooklyn. Miami will have a chance to turn it around with nine of its next 11 games at home. That’s good news for Jimmy Butler, whose field goal and three-point percentages are seven points higher in Miami.
Just when you think the Pelicans are onto something—notching three straight wins over the Kings (twice) and the Clippers—they stumble, as they did in two straight losses in Utah. CJ McCollum, who is targeting a return from a lung issue this week, should help stabilize things.
That Suns loss was brutal, wasn’t it? Jalen Brunson continues to rack up numbers—he’s led the Knicks in scoring in each of the last five games, with 30-plus points three times—but he isn’t getting much help. Julius Randle’s shooting numbers (sub-40% from the floor, 30% from three) have been a disaster.
Nell Redmond/USA TODAY Sports
How concerned is Rick Carlisle with the Pacers’ defense, which ranks last in the NBA in points allowed per game (125.5) and 29th in defensive rating (120 points per 100 possession)? He told reporters this week he’s willing to pull offensive-minded players in favor of guys who will defend. “I can just start pulling guys out of the game, and it could get ugly, and maybe that’s what has to happen,” Carlisle said. “We got guys on the bench that would be more than willing to do that kind of stuff. We’re trying to develop a culture where people want to do the hard things.”
L.A. has dropped two of its last three, including a 44-point pounding to the Sixers on Monday. The Lakers really need Jarred Vanderbilt back. Vanderbilt, who has missed the entire season with a left heel injury, would help improve a mediocre defense (13th in defensive efficiency) and bring some versatility—and energy—to the rotation.
The Cavs had a top-10 offense last season. They rank in the bottom third so far in this one, among the reasons Cleveland has stumbled early.
Seriously—what is going on with Andrew Wiggins? We’re nearly a quarter through the season, and Wiggins is averaging career lows in virtually every offensive category, including three-point percentage, where he is averaging a Minnesota-esque 25.5%. The Warriors can’t win anything without Wiggins playing to his potential.
The good news for Atlanta: Trae Young is starting to cook. He is averaging 32.4 points over his last five games, shooting 48.1% from the field and three-point range. The bad news? The Hawks had an NBA-worst defensive rating (123.6) during that stretch.
Russell Westbrook’s numbers have cratered since James Harden joined the team, with Ty Lue showing no interest in playing them together. Harden, meanwhile, has attempted just 12% of his shots in the restricted area (h/t The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor for that one), by far a career low. A loss to the depleted Nuggets sent a pretty clear message: This mix just doesn’t work.
It’s a make/miss league, and so far the Raptors—17th in field goal percentage, 24th from three—are not making many of them. That includes from the free throw line, where Toronto is 28th (72.7%). Not great.
The injury-ravaged Nets picked up a couple of wins this week. Now Brooklyn needs to address its defensive issues, which Nic Claxton calls “a big problem.” The Nets, a middle-of-the-pack defensive team last season, are sitting in the bottom third in the league in this one.
Welcome back, Walker Kessler! He returned to the Jazz lineup after a two-week absence, averaging 12.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in back-to-back wins over New Orleans.
Seriously … just blow it up already.
LaMelo Ball appeared to avoid serious injury after a scary fall against Orlando. But even with him putting up All-Star level numbers, the Hornets were going nowhere, not with the NBA’s 30th-ranked defense.
Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA TODAY Sports
Look, the Blazers are rebuilding. But they picked up wins over Utah and Indiana in the last week and are a blown lead against Milwaukee away from riding a three-game winning streak into Thursday night’s game in Cleveland. Jerami Grant may never justify that contract—not in Portland, anyway—but he’s averaging 23.4 points while connecting on 42.6% of his threes.
Cameras caught Marcus Smart chewing out his teammates for their effort during a blowout loss to the Timberwolves. I don’t think Ja Morant’s return to the lineup next month will salvage this season.
Victor Wembanyama continues to produce eye-catching stat lines—including a 22-point, 11-rebound, six-steal effort against Denver on Sunday with four blocks—while the Spurs, who have dropped 12 straight, keep losing. Gregg Popovich’s chewing out the home crowd for booing Kawhi Leonard—a time-honored tradition, not one adopted in recent years—only adds to the early-season mess.
Kyle Kuzma is averaging a career high in scoring (23.4 points per game) and shooting 36.3% on three-point attempts. Trade bait!
The Pistons are embarrassing. Four straight years in the lottery, and they still can’t win. Dating back to last season, Detroit has lost 44 of its last 49 games. The team was blown out Monday by Washington. That’s a staggering level of ineptitude. In the aftermath of the loss to the Wizards, Monty Williams said there “wasn’t fight on the floor.” For an NBA team a month into the season, that’s ridiculous.
