1. Denver Nuggets (9-2)

The Nuggets stormed out of the gate looking like a defending-champion juggernaut. Then Jamal Murray got hurt, out for several more weeks with a hammy, and the Nuggets have kept on winning.

Jokic is already No. 4 all time in triple-doubles. ALL TIME! The Joker has also taken his scoring up to 30 points per game and he’s averaging the most rebounds per game in the NBA at 13.9.
Did you know that Aaron Gordon has shot over 60 percent on 2s ever since he joined the Nuggets? It’s true. He’s at 62 percent again this season.
With Murray out, the youngin’s are all getting a lot more run: Christian Braun, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson and Collin Gillespie. Michael Malone trusting these guys so early could pay massive future dividends.

The No. 5 offense and the No. 6 defense, the Nuggets currently have the No. 2 net rating behind only the Celtics. Denver has yet to lose at home (7-0), but a 5-game road trip awaits.

2. Minnesota Timberwolves (8-3)

On the second leg of a back-to-back, the Suns did just end the T-Wolves 7-game winning streak. But the No. 1 defense in the NBA belongs to the wilderness of Minnesota.

Ant-Man has leveled up. His evisceration of the Celtics last week on both ends of the floor was a marvel. And you gotta love him assisting the game-winning shot on Tuesday night in Golden State.
The Twin Towers lineups have been working with KAT and Gobert. It has helped having Mike Conley running point from the jump.
Jaden McDaniels defense has also been a connector. McDaniels absence was glaring after getting ejected against the Warriors.

The T-Wolves are 5-0 at home, but there should be some battles ahead: Knicks, Sixers and Kings.

3. Dallas Mavericks (9-3)

The Mavs offense has been a well-oiled machine with Luka and Kyrie coexisting nicely. The No. 2 offense behind only Indiana.

LukaMagic has been in the air. And Kyrie has been on his best behavior. But we always wonder for how long… Maybe Dallas, TX was where he belonged after all.
Derrick Lively just had his best game in the NBA, a new career-high 17 points, rim running and catching lobs from Luka all night. Lively’s career high at Duke was 14 points, which he’s already bested three times.
It seems like this group respects the hustle of Grant Williams, who does a lot of the dirty work and yaps like crazy.

Some spicy opponents for Dallas ahead: at Milwaukee, home for the Kings, and then back on the road to L.A. for the Lakers and Clippers.

4. Oklahoma City Thunder (8-4)

A top-10 offense (No. 8) and a No. 10 defense (No. 7), the Thunder are 7-1 when they score 110 or more points and 1-3 when they don’t.

SGA is not getting to the line as much, but he’s still putting up 28.8 points a night and leading the league in steals.
Chet has been the big-man godsend that we knew he would be for this team. He provides the missing rim protection and spaces the floor, 44 percent from 3, opening up driving lanes for SGA and Giddey.
And Jalen Williams, too. J Dub is coming alive and has really been attacking the rim the last couple of games. The Thunder are at their best when J Dub is involved and scoring from all three levels to lighten SGA’s load.

So far the Thunder are the rare team with a better road record (4-1) than home record (4-3).

5. Sacramento Kings (6-4)

Life without Fox for two weeks was rough with three straight losses, but the Kings have righted the ship and looked world’s better with Fox back in the fold.

Fox’s return allowed all of the Kings players to shift back to their normal roles. He’s the engine to this offense that completely stalls out without him. He’s rocking high tops now, so hopefully that helps with his ankle issue.
One good thing about Fox being out is that it did force Sabonis to step his game up. That might sound wild for an All-Star and All-NBA player, but Sabonis had a slow start to the season. But now he’s up to averaging his same 19-12-7 from last season.
Sasha Vezenkov is the latest Euro sniper to rip nets when he enters games. Kevin Huerter has also been dialed in from 3 lately. Red Velvet canned six 3s in back-to-back games.

The Kings Western Conference road trip continues: at San Antonio, at Dallas, at New Orleans (twice) and at Minnesota.

6. Houston Rockets (6-3)

These are not your Stephen Silas Houston Rockets. These Houston Rockets are for real and have currently won 6 in a row, including takedowns of the Lakers and defending-champion Nuggets.

Head coach Ime Udoka has this Rockets team prepared on a nightly basis to take advantage of mismatches and opponent’s weaknesses. He has instilled accountability and stability just as we knew he would.
Sengun has taken his Jokic impression up a level, from Walmart Jokic to Target Jokic. He’s quickly become the best player on this team.
Dillon Brooks brings contagious tenacity and hard-nosed defense. Between Brooks, Jae’Sean Tate and Tari Eason, the Rockets have high energy and hustle flying around the court.

These Houston Rockets are sure feeling like the Young Surprise Team that was Promised. (Along with the Indiana Pacers, of course.)

7. Los Angeles Lakers (6-6)

The Lakers beginning-of-the-season shooting woes from last year showed up again this season, shooting a PUTRID 29.6 percent from 3 over the first eight games, by far dead last in the league. But over the last four games, the Lakers have more than found their way: 44.5 percent from 3, good for No. 1 in the NBA over that span and winning 3 of the last 4.

It must be said once again: what LeBron is doing in Year 21 is absolutely incredible. 24-8-6 while shooting 57 percent from the field and nearly 34 minutes a night. KING SHIT.
AD has taken some flack in the media (looking at you, Stephen A.), but the dude is averaging 3.5 blocks per game. And he and LeBron have only missed one game each so far.
There has been a lot more Cam Reddish and Christian Wood than anticipated. That’s due to the Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent injuries. And Reddish and C-Wood have actually been playing quite well in their roles.

Darvin Harm moving Austin Reaves to the off the bench Ginobili role has worked wonders so far. Reaves needs the ball in his hands to create for others.

8. Phoenix Suns (5-6)

The biggest story in the desert has been the availability of the Suns Big 3 which has yet to play a single game together. However, the Suns are fresh off beating the breaks off the T-Wolves on Wednesday night, Phoenix’s best win of the season to date. (It’s worth noting the Wolves were on a back-to-back.)

Devin Booker has played just three games (2-1) and has been insanely efficient when on the court, shooting 56.5 percent from the field.
Bradley Beal has played just three games (1-2) and has been insanely IN-efficient when on the court, shooting 39.1 percent from the field. The latest from Woj is that Beal’s lower back is expected to keep him out at least the next 3 weeks. Oof.
Meanwhile, KD has played every single game and is averaging 30-7-5 while playing 36.6 minutes a night. He’s having to keep things afloat, but at what long-term cost?

The Suns have a top-10 offense and a middling defense, which sounds right. But will their offense get to the height that they envisioned?

9. New Orleans Pelicans (5-6)

The No. 24 offense and the No. 18 defense, the Pelicans currently have the No. 23 net rating. They have even worse marks over the last two weeks. However, they did whoop the Mavs in their last game on Tuesday at Smoothie King.

Zion has been healthy but hasn’t played his best. And yet, he’s still averaging 21-6-4. It’s just not the Zanos we have come to expect from him. But at least he’s healthy…
It’s the injuries to others that are really holding back this team. McCollum and Grand Theft Alvarado and Trey Murphy and Larry Nance — all out. That’s four of the team’s top-10 players in terms of Win Shares last year.
Ingram has missed time, too. And he’s shooting an awful 21 percent from 3. That has nowhere to go but up.

Most games this season with 25+ points among rookies: That would be a tie between Victor Wembanyama and Jordan Hawkins, who has been very impressive and has already started 7 games.

10. Golden State Warriors (6-7)

The Warriors were 6-2 and looking like a revamped version of themselves, but a 5-game slide has flipped that outlook entirely.

Steph was somehow playing some of his best ball yet. Seriously. 44.6 percent from 3 on 12.6 attempts per game. But a knee injury has sidelined him the last two games and the Warriors have been toast without him.
Wiggins has had a quiet start to the season. Klay has yet to really get going at all. The Warriors need their main guys to get it together.
With CP3 off the pine, the Warriors have the No. 2 bench-scoring differential in the league. A slightly steadier presence than Jordan Poole.

The chokehold heard round the world. The Warriors will be without Draymond for another matchup against OKC, the Rockets, at Phoenix and back home for the Spurs.

11. Utah Jazz (4-7)

The Jazz offense has not been the same this season (No. 17) and the defense is in the bottom 5 at No. 26. It’s also important to note that their four wins have been against the Clippers, Grizzlies twice and Blazers.

Markkanen is putting up really good numbers again, almost identical to last season’s breakout. But the Jazz offense as a whole misses the direction that Mike Conley provided at the beginning of last season.
It is cool, though, that Will Hardy is already starting the youngin’s in Ochai Agbaji and Keyonte George together. The sign of a team willing to see what they have and let the young guys loose.
The Jazz are an excellent rebounding team (No. 2) and they in turn put up the third-most second-chance points.

Utah has 10 straight Western Conference opponents, including the next two against the Suns and then a trip to LA to face the Lake Show.

12. Los Angeles Clippers (3-7)

The Clippers started 2-1 and looked fine. Then they traded for James Harden and immediately lost six straight.

The Clips failed to get the memo that Superteams have long been dead.
Four ball-dominant players. Who could have seen it coming?
The best the Clippers have looked was against the Mavs when they were down by 30 and had the deep bench in. They did hang in against the Nuggets, but that was because the Nuggets only made eight 3s.

The Rockets on Friday in LA should be a battle. Then the Clips get a trip to San An. Is it safe to call that a must-win game in November?

13. San Antonio Spurs (3-8)

The Spurs started 3-2 with those back-to-back awesome wins at Phoenix but have since lost 6 in a row. They currently have the 2nd-worst defense in the league and the worst net rating at -13.4.

The Slenderman/Alien, Wembanyama has been exactly that. Those two games in Phoenix were a spectacle. Something to monitor: his turnovers at 3.9 a game.
Devin Vassell is still flying too far under the radar. His attempts have gone down but his efficiency has increased and his defense has remained stout.
The Spurs play sound team ball (of course, a Pop staple), but they aren’t deep and don’t get a lot of bench production. San Antonio’s bench has the worst point differential in the NBA.

The Western Conference gauntlet continues: Kings, Grizzlies, Clippers (twice) and then at Golden State and at Denver. Shoo wee.

14. Portland Trail Blazers (3-8)

The Blazers actually have a top-10 defense (No. 9). But an abysmal offense. The worst in the league.

Simons was first to go down with a thumb injury that required surgery and missing six weeks.
Then Scoot has been out with an ankle, which actually worked to the Blazers’ benefit as Brodgon brought table-setting experience into the starting unit. Now Brogdon is dealing with a hammy and missing games as well. Skylar Mays has popped off with some big-assist games.
And Time Lord also went down and out with a season-ending knee surgery. The tank might have started early and without having to sit anybody.

But don’t let the injuries overshadow that Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant have been holding it down as best they can, playing a ton of minutes and giving it their all.

15. Memphis Grizzlies (2-9)

The Grizzlies messed with their winning formula and it’s really bitten them in the ass. People talked about how good the Grizz were without Ja, but that was two years ago with Kyle Anderson, Melton, Tyus Jones, Dillon Brooks. All gone.

Bane and JJJ are putting up decent numbers, but there just hasn’t been enough scoring (No. 28) and the defense has been way worse than expected (No. 20). It’s a mess.
Marcus Smart has been Marcus Smart. Now out with an ankle. Shooting 29.5 percent from 3 before that and still taking 5.5 attempts per game.
Losing Steven Adams was detrimental. Biyombo has been a boon. And 5-foot-9 Jacob Gilyard has started three games… WHO HE!?

The Grizz get the Spurs in San An on Saturday, but then it’s the Celtics, at Houston and back home for the Suns and T-Wolves. The season might be cooked long before ever Ja suits up.

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