The first week of the NBA season is in the books. Who won the week? What are we overreacting to? Our writers break down the best and worst of the season so far.
1. Name a big winner from the first week of the season.
Vincent Goodwill: The Oklahoma City Thunder (beating teams by almost 20 points a night). They are looking to break the trend of a new team at the top of the West every year. Granted, the schedule wasn’t difficult, but 3-0 is 3-0, including that demolition of the Denver Nuggets in Denver. It looked like a JV vs. varsity team, especially now that Chet Holmgren (23.7 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks!) seems to be in full bloom. The Thunder look like the best defense in the league, and this is without Isaiah Hartenstein. We have a problem here, folks.
Kevin O’Connor: JJ Redick. The Lakers are 3-0 and look like a night and day difference compared to last season. The offense plays with a lot more motion, and has different layers to their actions. And Anthony Davis was unlocked: AD averaged 34 points while collecting 11 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.7 steals. The team has a fairly similar roster but has an entirely new process and dramatically better results. Redick is the difference.
Dan Devine: Picking the Celtics feels too easy. They tripled down on the championship-winning offensive formula from last season, winning their first two games by a combined 43 points, and Jayson Tatum’s averaging 33 points per game and shooting 54% from outside the paint with that I guess it it is not broken-on jumper. So…let’s go with:
Ivica Zubac. A Clippers team that will be without Kawhi Leonard for the foreseeable future needs someone besides James Harden and the ever-ready-to-shoot Norman Powell to pick up more offensive slack. Through three games, Zubac was the biggest beneficiary of the redistribution, averaging 5.6 more field goal attempts per 36 minutes than he did last season, posting by far the highest usage of his careersitting second in the entire NBA in front yard touches, post-ups and dots in the paint per game, and leading the league by a mile in touches at the elbow and in the to paint.
Zu is also making something of all those extra chances, scoring 22.7 points per game — almost double last season’s mark – on 59.2% shooting to go with a league-leading 14 rebounds and 4.3 assists while serving as the back eraser on a Clipper defense that lines up. fourth in points allowed per possession. LA exits the first week at 2-1, with road wins in Denver and Golden State, thanks in large part to a very big Croatian who relishes the opportunity to stretch and explore.
Morten Stig Jensen: The Orlando Magic. Young teams tend to be good at one thing to begin with, such as defense, which we saw from them last season, but struggle to find secondary skill. The Magic asked us all to hold our beer, as they started the season shooting 3-pointers over 42 times per game. Last year’s season high in tries for them was 46. They have already eclipsed that twice in three games.
Rohrbach: Evan Mobley. The Cleveland Cavaliers are off to a 3-0 start, and wouldn’t you know it: Mobley has the second-highest usage on the team behind Donovan Mitchell. We’ve been screaming about this for years now, and it looks like new head coach Kenny Atkinson has unlocked Mobley in a way that maximizes the offense. (Their 125.5 points per 100 possessions are second only to the Boston Celtics.) We already knew his impact on defense, but if Mobley can continue to shoot — and make — 3s, the Cavs might just solve their spacing problems.
2. Name a big loser from the first week of the season.
O’Connor: Nikola Jokić. Ah, so you thought you could work with Russell Westbrook, huh? Unfortunately, Westbrook is shooting 11.1 percent from the floor through two games. The Nuggets have a 54.9 offensive rating in the 24 minutes Jokić has sat, and Russ has been throwing bricks for 22 of those minutes. But it would be foolish to blame Westbrook entirely. Jamal Murray continues to show signs of regression. And the departure of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (after the loss of Bruce Brown the year before) is seriously felt. Jokić continues to be individually excellent. But Denver still doesn’t look like a contender.
Goodwill: The entire Denver Nuggets outfit. Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray, your presence is required at the front of the line. It’s two games, which is worth repeating, but MPJ is shooting 30 percent and Murray is hopefully shaking off a sluggish postseason and summer. Jokić (41-9-4) had a decent for-frame performance against the testing Clippers and it still wasn’t enough. The Nuggets defend the 3 well, but they don’t make either (28.8 percent), which means the lack of space around Jokić will make him claustrophobic pretty soon.
Rohrbach: Tyrese Maxey. The Philadelphia 76ers generated a lot of excitement during the offseason, adding Paul George and a revamped supporting cast around Joel Embiid and Maxey. They were supposed to be major championship contenders. Only for Maxey to find himself at the wheel of the same old situation. George is injured. We’re not quite sure what’s wrong with Embiid, although it’s serious enough to keep him out since the start of the season. And Maxey isn’t equipped to handle the pressure that comes his way when his co-stars can’t shoulder his load. His 31.3 points required 28.7 shots per game. This is not a sustainable model.
Morten Stig Jensen: Surprised it took this long to make it to Wisconsin. The Bucks just lost to Chicago and Brooklyn back-to-back, which necessitates at least a bemused sigh of disappointment. This is peak Giannis Antetokounmpo, and a presumably healthy Damian Lillard. Even if the rest of the roster consists of random guys named Doug and Chris from the local YMCA, you have to win those over.
Divinely: The Walkers After needing a big fourth-quarter run to avoid an opening night loss to the (probably looking more competitive under JB Bickerstaff) Pistons, Indiana proceeded to get its doors blown down by the Knicks and drop an overtime decision at home to a 76ers squad missing Joel Embiid. and Paul George. Not ideal!
The Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference finals on the strength of one of the most powerful offenses in NBA history; through three games, they sit just 24th in points scored per possession. They turn the ball over more than last season, score in transition less, and take a smaller portion of their shots either at the rim or from beyond the 3-point line. Tyrese Haliburton has missed 30 of his first 44 shotsincluding 20 of his first 25 3-pointers, and has no looked exactly like himself until now; making matters worse, going into Sunday, his teammates were shooting only 28.1% of his passes. This Indiana offense has yet to resemble the one that torched the league last season. Until it does, you can expect to see more losses than wins.
3. What is the biggest overreaction of the first week?
Devine:… will Cam Thomas lead the NBA in scoring? I mean:
I mean:
me means:
Through three games, Thomas is averaging 30.7 points in 34.6 minutes per game on 48/46/90 shooting splits, coolly and comfortably slicing and cutting opposing defenses. He is just outside the top 10 in usage ratetaking nearly eight more shots per game than the next most ambitious Nets (Dennis Schröder) in a Brooklyn team that many expect to hold a fire sale as the season continues … which, in theory, should open even more shooting assets for him, an even wider canvas on which he can paint magnificent true hoop masterpieces.
How many games the Nets will win, how hard they’ll actually try to win them now that they have their own 2025 first-round pick, how complete a player Thomas can be: these all remain open questions. As for how he puts the ball in the basket, however, it feels like the only thing to learn is whether or not Jordi Fernandez will give him the ball enough to do it more often than anyone else in the league. Because if Jordi does, Cam will definitely try.
Rohrbach: Are the Los Angeles Lakers for real? They are 3-0 against three good teams – Minnesota, Phoenix and Sacramento – and owners of a top-five offense. A recipe for success, especially if Anthony Davis will play like an MVP candidate (34-11-3-2-2 on 57/40/80 shooting splits). But they are +35 in Davis’ 31 minutes on the bench, which seems anomalous. What if another number — the 8.9 points per 100 possessions they’re outscored when Davis and LeBron James are on the floor together — is closer to the real-life version of these Lakers?
O’Connor: The Bucks have a problem. They’re 1-2, the defense is in shambles, and the offense continues to be inconsistent despite Damian Lillard looking healthy and Giannis continuing to do Giannis things. Doc Rivers seems to be struggling, but he doesn’t have much depth to work with either. This bench stinks. Khris Middleton is also still sidelined. But later on their schedule: Boston, Memphis, Cleveland twice, Utah, New York, and then Boston again. It’s going to get ugly.
Jensen: Are the Nuggets already in trouble too? Denver’s loss to the Clippers wasn’t great, but you can justify the L to Oklahoma City, and you also have to consider that this team needs some time to gel with the changes in personnel. Not to sound too simplistic, but Russell Westbrook isn’t going to shoot 11% from the field all season – and if he is, removing him from the lineup altogether should solve some of their problems. Neither Michael Porter Jr. will hit only 30%. The sample size is too small for panic to set in yet. If they’re still under .500 in mid-November, then we’ll have another conversation.
Goodwill: Do we know exactly when Joel Embiid will play? Being in the Olympics not too long ago, one would think, would have kept him in shape and had him ready for the season. But it doesn’t feel like he’s even going five-on-five yet with his own team. Announcing that he wouldn’t play back-to-back games was pretty bold, considering the league is launching an investigation into it, and wanting to be fresh for the playoffs is admirable.
But the regular reason has to matter, and they can’t leave all the responsibilities to Tyrese Maxey – you don’t want to discourage him by having to cover for Embiid and Paul George. He’s at 43 minutes a night and shooting 35 percent. He woke up in the fourth and OT against Indiana, but the 76ers could be playing with fire if this continues.
