NBA Power Rankings: Lakers keep rolling in LeBron James’ debut; Rockets soar

Thunder
The Thunder have lost one game and that required them coughing up a 22-point lead. Their second-best player hasn’t even suited up yet. They’ve had multiple core players miss multiple games. Doesn’t matter. Best team in the league by a wide margin and only going to get better when Jalen Williams returns. — 14-1
2

Nuggets
Denver had its seven-game win streak snapped by a good Chicago team that had Josh Giddey back. So what? The Nuggets remain top three in offensive, defensive and net rating. They’re still losing the non-Jokić minutes at minus-6.8 per 100, per CTG, but that’s actually the best non-Jokić rating Denver has had dating back to the championship season. — 10-3
3

Rockets
The Rockets have won four straight and nine of their last 10 by way of the league’s best offense and a frontline that is pulling down offensive rebounds at a literal historic rate. The point guard “problem” is becoming a distant talking point. 3 9-3
4

Pistons
The win streak is up to 11. Elite defense and an offense with an MVP-level leader in Cade Cunningham and the best offensive rebounder in the league in Jalen Duren, who is blowing up in front of our eyes. Duren is averaging 25 points on 75% shooting and 12.8 boards over his last five games. — 13-2
5

Lakers
LeBron James tallied 12 assists in his season debut, a win over the Jazz, and the Lakers have now won three straight and four of their last five with a super soft schedule coming up to get LeBron up to speed. One thing to watch: Can James give the Lakers a transition presence? Entering LeBron’s debut, the Lakers were recording the fourth-fewest fast-break points with the league’s lowest transition frequency, per CTG. 2 11-4
6

Spurs
The Spurs got back on track with a couple just-what-the-doctor-ordered wins over Sacramento and Memphis after Steph Curry single-handedly ripped their hearts out with 95 points in back-to-back losses. Now Victor Wembanyama is out a couple weeks with a calf strain and the Spurs have a pretty tough stretch of games over that span. 3 10-4
7

Cavaliers
The Cavs are sitting in the East’s No. 2 spot and Darius Garland is expected back soon. Donovan Mitchell is having an extraordinary season and he’s doing it without having to significantly up his usage with Garland missing so much time. Cleveland is in a good spot and ultimately still feels like the team to beat in the East. 2 10-5
8

Timberwolves
The Wolves are quietly the No. 5 offense in the league. No. 3 in true-shooting percentage. No. 5 in 3-point percentage. Minnesota is 9-5 with three very winnable games coming up against the Wizards, Suns and Kings. Things could be looking very good by this time next week. 3 9-5
9

Knicks
The Knicks have won six of their last eight, but now Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby are hurt. Hopefully Brunson won’t be out for long with a sprained ankle, but the offense is going to suffer while he is, as is the defense without Anunoby, as the on/off numbers in both cases indicate. 1 8-5
10

Raptors
Don’t look now, but the Raptors have won eight of their last nine games. This team really pushes (No. 1 in fast break points) and shares (No. 3 in assists) the ball. They have three legit 20-point scorers and a sensational rookie in Collin Murray-Boyles. Scottie Barnes would be a lock for an All-Star spot and maybe All-NBA if voting were held now. Still, it’s hard to know how legit all this is or if a lot of shots are just going in at the moment. Last season, Toronto ranked 24th in eFG%, per CTG. So far this season, they’re No. 6 despite an average shot diet. 5 9-5
11

Hawks
Atlanta fell to Detroit on the back end of a back-to-back on Tuesday. No shame in that. The Hawks are 8-3 since Trae Young went down (counting the win over Brooklyn in which he played seven minutes) by way of a top-five defense and a suddenly equitable offense that is leading the league in assists. 9 9-6
12

Bulls
After crashing back to earth with a five-game losing streak, Chicago scored a huge win over Denver on Monday. Not coincidentally, it was Josh Giddey’s second game back after he missed three straight. Chicago has a soft stretch of games coming up, a good opportunity to once again build up their record in the early going after falling back to .500 pre-Denver. 1 7-6
13

76ers
The Sixers are treading a little bit of water at 3-4 over their last seven. Narrow wins over the Celtics and Clippers, by two points each, helped the cause. Paul George is back. Joel Embiid is hurt again and hasn’t played in more than a week. That might not hurt the offense, which is way less reliant on him these days, but Philly’s defense falls to what would register as the second-worst rating in the league without him (he’s only played in six games this season so make of that what you will. but it’s something to note). 3 8-5
14

Suns
The Suns have been one of the biggest early season surprises. They let a big one get away by coughing up a 22-point lead to the Hawks on Sunday, but they rebounded by beating Portland on Tuesday. That was big, because the Suns are about to enter a treacherous schedule stretch that lasts through Christmas and they are going to need every bit of cushion they’ve built so far to come out of it anywhere near .500. 3 9-6
15

Heat
When you play four straight games against the Cavs and Knicks and come out 2-2 you’ll take it. Norman Powell is becoming an honest-to-god star and the Heat play a drag-race pace, but neither the offense nor defense is a top-10 unit and a tough stretch of games awaits. The Heat have been a surprise, but it feels like they’ll be at or below-.500 before too long. 6 8-6
16

Magic
Orlando scored a win over a clearly tired Golden State team on Tuesday. The Magic have now won four of their last five with the only loss being a OT thriller against the Rockets that they had all but won in regulation. Paolo Banchero is out with a groin strain and, at least against the Warriors, the offense did look more energized. 2 8-7
17

Bucks
The Bucks continue to survive on a lot of shots going in. They are No. 1 in the league in team eFG% and have five guys shooting at least 42% from 3 on at least three attempts per game. That doesn’t include Gary Trent Jr. at 37% on high volume or Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 9 for 18 start from deep. But now Anteokounmpo is hurt and the Bucks are just one game above .500 with a bottom-10 defense. Check back when all these shots stop going in. 5 8-7
18

Warriors
Stephen Curry saving this team with superhero performances is not a sustainable model. It is, however, fun to watch. Curry went for 95 points in consecutive wins over San Antonio, but his shot betrayed him after a hot start against Orlando and nobody was there to pick up the slack. This is a tired team with only one real source of consistent juice, and that source is 37 years old. 2 9-7
19

Celtics
The Celtics have won three straight and five of their last seven. Now, their three most recent wins have come against the Grizzlies, Clippers and Nets, who are a combined 10-33 this year, so let’s not get too excited. But look, the Celtics are top 10 in both offense and defense and with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard all having down years from 3. As soon as that turns around, well, then we’ll just have to worry about all the offensive rebounds the Celtics give up. 2 8-7
20

Trail Blazers
A top-five defense early on has fallen into the bottom 10. Now the Blazers are having players-only meetings and the ledger ain’t looking so hot with five losses in their last six games. Missing Jrue Holiday in the loss to Dallas (ouch) didn’t help. Still waiting on Shaedon Sharpe’s 3-point shot to look something north of awful. 6 6-8
21

Jazz
Lauri Markkanen continues to be too good for the Jazz to be as bad as they probably want to be. Dude is averaging over 38 PPG over his last four. Utah has split those four games and has a tough stretch upcoming against the Thunder, Lakers, Warriors and two against the Rockets. 2 5-9
22

Clippers
This is so bad. The only win the Clips have mustered over the past two weeks was in overtime against the equally hapless Mavericks. L.A. is 4-10 and trending toward a high lottery pick, which they will then have to turn over to the Thunder. Good times. — 4-10
23

Hornets
The Hornets compete. They had the Raptors on the brink on Monday and took Milwaukee to OT with Giannis playing. It appears they hit the jackpot with Kon Knueppel and fellow rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner. Brandon Miller has returned to basketball activity. His on-court return will be a big evaluation piece as everyone tries to figure out what, if anything, there is to make of this team big picture as the core is currently constructed. But this bears repeating: Knueppel is awesome. 2 4-10
24

Grizzlies
Who’s trading for Ja Morant? Anyone? Bueller? Other than this intrigue, there’s no reason to pay much attention to the Grizzlies, who have lost nine of their last 10. 1 4-11
25

Mavericks
There is exactly one bit of good news for the Mavericks right now: Cooper Flagg has looked better since being removed from Jason Kidd’s “let’s throw the burden of running an NBA offense on the shoulders of a teenager” bright idea. Now he’s at his natural position and playing better. Otherwise, the Mavericks are imploding. 1 4-11
26

Kings
Cover your eyes. The Kings have lost six straight by an average of 22 points. They have a 1990s shot profile and don’t play a lick of defense. Not much else to say. 2 3-11
27

Pacers
Make it eight straight losses for the Pacers. This is too sad. This team was so fun. One game from the NBA championship. Now Tyrese Haliburton is out. At least Ben Mathurin, who started out like gangbusters, is back in the lineup and the Pacers own their 2026 pick, so all this losing won’t be for nothing. — 1-13
28

Pelicans
The good news is Derik Queen looks like he’s going to be a very good player. The bad news is the trade to get him was still a disaster as New Orleans gave its unprotected 2026 first-rounder to the Hawks in a loaded class and the Pelicans are sure to be in the running for a top-three pick. I also like what I’m seeing out of Jeremiah Fears, at least to the degree that you can like small scoring guards who are going to have to prove a lot of people wrong just to be an average shooter. — 2-12
29

Nets
Hey, Michael Porter Jr. has scored at least 20 points in seven straight games. Don’t care? Yeah, me neither. The Nets are 2-12, right on track to secure the maximum 14.5% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick. — 2-12
30

Wizards
There was a time early in the season when I thought the Wizards were going to be one of those bad teams nobody wanted to play. Not so much. They are a defensive doormat. They’ve lost 11 straight. Their next three games are against Minnesota, Toronto, Chicago and Atlanta, who are a combined 11 games over .500. So we’ll see you in this same spot a week from now. — 1-12