By the end of Monday night, there will only be one undefeated team left in the NBA. That's because the only two teams to start the season 6-0 will be facing each other as the Toronto Raptors head to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks (albeit without each team's top star).
One asterisk on these teams' perfect start: Neither team has been challenged much on the road. Five of the Raptors six games have come at home; four of the Bucks six games have come at home. Both have had some impressive home wins, like the Raptors beating the Celtics and the Bucks handling the Pacers and the 76ers. But the beginning of each team's schedule hasn't exactly been a gauntlet like, say, the Los Angeles Lakers, who've played likely playoff teams in five of their first six games. Both of their schedules so far rank in the bottom third of the league in terms of strength of schedule.
The Bucks might be the most surprising team in the NBA two weeks in. New coach Mike Budenholzer has transformed this team into a Giannis-centered spread-the-floor wonder. The offseason additions of Brook Lopez and Ersan Ilyasova played right into that plan. The Bucks are averaging 39.8 three-point attempts per game this season, second-highest in the NBA. (Last season the Bucks ranked 25th with 24.7 three-point attempts per game.) When former president Barack Obama visited Wisconsin recently, he took notice: "Giannis is ballin'," he said. But the most impressive part hasn't been Giannis. It's been the players around him. Khris Middleton has been remarkable, shooting 57.1 percent on seven three-point attempts per game.
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We'll see if the Bucks' hot start is real, or if it's just the small early-season sample size of a team with a home-heavy schedule. But right now the Bucks certainly feel real.
Biggest Movers
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| Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | -- | 6-1 | |
I gave a thought to putting the Raptors in this No. 1 slot. But come on: It's going to take a ton more from the Raptors to prove they're in that conversation. With a single loss in a one-possession game at Denver as the only blemish on the Warriors' resume, this Warriors team looks just as impressive as we expected them to be. As Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant have sizzled -- Durant's 25-point fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden was one of the most impressive scoring displays of the season -- Klay Thompson has really struggled. Needless to say, Klay won't remain a 13.9 percent 3-point shooter for long.
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| 2 | -- | 2-6 | |
What made the Raptors so great last regular season was their bench unit. The Raptors' bench led all bench units in net rating, and Dwane Casey used his bench more than any NBA coach but one. But thanks to some injury concerns, the Raptors rank 20th in the NBA in bench minutes, and their bench actually is posting a negative net rating. That doesn't seem to matter much, though, because Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry have been magnificent.
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| 3 | 1 | 7-1 | |
The Celtics still have the best defense in the NBA; no team has a better defensive rating than the Celtics' 95.2 points allowed per 100 possessions. It's on the other end where the Celtics have really struggled, ranking 28th in the NBA in offensive rating. The Celtics rank 28th in the NBA in shooting percentage as well, down there with the Magic and Knicks (welp). This will not last. Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford are all shooting 33 percent or worse from 3. The Celtics' dominating win at Detroit on Saturday was the best the Celtics have looked since opening night.
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| 4 | 5 | 1-6 | |
Mike Budenholzer appears to have unlocked the key to maximizing Giannis' skill set: Surround one of the most impressive physical specimens in the NBA with a bunch of shooters, and let him go. Giannis hasn't even had better than what he terms a "B game" so far this season, and it hasn't mattered. The Bucks have absolutely stomped people, and have the highest point differential in the NBA, winning their first six games by an average of 16 points apiece.
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| 5 | -- | 1-6 | |
There was a good bit of worry over Donovan Mitchell's sluggish start to his sophomore campaign; he shot 34.4 percent from the field and 27.6 percent from 3 during the first three Jazz games. Then came his 38-point game at Houston. He's all right, and so are the Jazz, who on Saturday became the first team to beat the New Orleans Pelicans this season -- and did so in New Orleans.
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| 6 | 3 | 4-3 | |
To be "going back to the drawing board" on defense, as Chris Paul said after the Rockets' blowout loss to the Clippers Friday, is not a great position to be in five games into a season where the Rockets were expected to provide the biggest challenge to the Golden State Warriors. But the Rockets' switch-everything defense, its most underrated strength last season, has been atrocious. The Rockets rank 25th in the NBA in defensive rating after finishing last season ranked seventh. Injuries and Chris Paul's suspension have hurt, but early returns on the Rockets are not encouraging.
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| 7 | 1 | 4-3 | |
Turns out that story line about the Nuggets having turned from a miserable defensive team (23rd in the NBA in defensive rating last season) to a great defensive team (the only team in the NBA that held opponents below 100 points in their first three games) was a bit premature. The Nuggets allowed 112 points to the Kings and 121 to the Lakers last week. But this defense has certainly improved over last year, with Paul Millsap's health being a big reason why.
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| 8 | 2 | 3-5 | |
So the Pelicans finally lost, getting spanked by the Jazz, though you can put an asterisk next to it because Anthony Davis was out with a sprained elbow. Any sort of injury to Davis is worrisome, though head coach Alvin Gentry said there's "not any long-term concern." Pelicans-Nuggets on Monday will be one of the most fun games of the week -- two fun, fast-paced offenses going at it.
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| 9 | 1 | 3-4 | |
Is Domantas Sabonis a more productive player than Myles Turner? In fewer minutes, he's outscoring and outrebounding Turner. I wish these two could play together more often -- they've only played 17 minutes together so far this season -- but the results haven't quite worked out. Side note: The Pacers are leading the NBA in 3-point percentage.
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| 10 | 2 | 3-5 | |
The Blazers have the NBA's third-most efficient offense. Damian Lillard has picked up this season where he left off in the second half of last season: as one of the frontrunners in the MVP race. He's leading the NBA in points per game (33.8). Of course, the way that Lillard wins an MVP isn't by putting up bonkers statistics. It's by the Blazers staying in the mix at the top of the Western Conference.
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| 11 | 4 | 1-5 | |
Here's a small-sample size stat that'll change soon: The 76ers rank 18th in the NBA in net rating, between the Hawks and the Kings. More offensive movement when the ball is in the hands of Joel Embiid -- an extremely talented passer -- would be helpful. It seems like they just stand around and wait for Embiid to do something.
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| 12 | 1 | 4-3 | |
The silver lining to the rough beginning to the Lakers' season: The suspensions of Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo forced the Lakers to start Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma. Ball is going to remain in the starting lineup, which is good, because this team is better with him than Rondo. It will be intriguing to see what Luke Walton decides to do with Kuzma.
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| 13 | 1 | 3-4 | |
Here's a sentence I never expected to type: Gregg Popovich's San Antonio Spurs rank last in the NBA in defensive rating. The Spurs have not ranked outside the top four over the past six seasons.
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| 14 | 6 | 3-5 | |
We can cool off on any of the Blake Griffin early-season MVP talk, but Griffin has been truly remarkable, returning to his All-Star form of the past but doing so in a completely different fashion. He's shooting upwards of 50 percent from 3.
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| 15 | -- | 3-3 | |
A big win over a talented Blazers team. The Heat's lack of star power is concerning, but the depth is impressive. The Heat have eight players averaging 10 points or more per game.
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| 16 | -- | 3-4 | |
Just an incredibly solid, incredibly deep team. Every team they've played so far was a playoff team last year except the Nuggets, who missed the playoffs by a game (and are much better this season). Can we start calling Tobias Harris a star?
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| 17 | 4 | 7-0 | |
The Thunder finally won, but they had to beat the Devin Booker-less Phoenix Suns to do it. This team has two very big problems: The defense, which was so good last season when Andre Roberson was in the lineup, is once again mediocre with him injured, ranking 12th in the NBA in defensive rating. (Roberson isn't due back for another month or longer after a setback in his rehab from knee surgery.) And they can't buy a shot. The Thunder are dead last in the NBA in three-point shooting. Alex Abrines has been the Thunder's most reliable three-point shooter, and he's only making 31.6 percent of his 3s.
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| 18 | -- | 2-5 | |
Thanks to the brilliance of Kemba Walker, the Hornets currently have the sixth most efficient offense in the NBA. He's letting it fly; only Stephen Curry has attempted more threes than Walker's 79 three-point attempts. The next closest? J.J. Redick, who has taken 24 fewer 3s than Walker.
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| 19 | 2 | 2-4 | |
Pretty early for a talented team to be coming apart at the seams, but that's exactly what's happening with the Wizards. Sunday night's loss at the Clippers should put the Wizards into full-on panic mode. They end a five-game road trip in Memphis on Tuesday, which will set up a nationally televised Friday night game against the Thunder, the only other team in the NBA that may be panicking as much as the Wizards. Schedule makers didn't do the Wizards any favors; they have played the toughest schedule in the NBA to date.
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| 20 | 1 | 4-3 | |
The Friday night matchup between the Timberwolves and the Bucks -- with two of the brightest young stars in the NBA in Karl-Anthony Towns and Giannis Antetokounmpo -- should have been a fun, fun game. Instead, it was one of the most depressing sporting atmospheres I've ever seen. Fans booed the home team starting in the first quarter. I don't know what the path forward is for this team, but the status quo feels unsustainable.
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| 21 | -- | 4-3 | |
Harrison Barnes is back from the hamstring injury that sidelined him for a month. He looked spry as the Mavericks lost his first two games to the Raptors then the Jazz. This Mavericks team will be a work in progress, and making the playoffs would be a big stretch, but this franchise appears heading in the right direction.
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| 22 | -- | 4-4 | |
The Nets have the makings of a solid backcourt, as Caris LeVert has been remarkable, D'Angelo Russell is making a boatload of his 3s and Spencer Dinwiddie is a super-sub. I can't imagine this team will make the playoffs, but they're a well-coached team that's been right there in three of their four losses.
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| 23 | -- | 4-4 | |
The Grizzlies beating the Jazz in Salt Lake City was one of the more eye-opening results so far this season. But then the Grizzlies lost their next game at Sacramento, taking some of the shine off that big-time road win. Garrett Temple is quietly making a big impact on the Grizz.
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| 24 | -- | 3-4 | |
Looking for some positive news about a team where half the roster seems injured (Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn, Bobby Portis and Denzel Valentine)? How about this: The Bulls are currently fifth in the NBA in 3-point percentage, shooting 39.4 percent from beyond the arc. All the injuries have made it so rookie Chandler Hutchison has already started a couple of games. I'm intrigued by his potential as a prospect.
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| 25 | 3 | 4-3 | |
The Kings are doing exactly what a team should do when they have a speedy, athletic point guard like De'Aaron Fox: Get out and run. The Kings have the second-fastest pace in the NBA this season; while Fox is still struggling from 3, he's averaging 17.7 points and seven assists per game. Add a reliable 3-point shot, and Fox will become an All-Star.
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| 26 | 1 | 6-1 | |
Here's the best stat of the beginning of the Igor Kokoskov era: The Suns, who ranked 27th in the NBA in assist percentage last season, rank No. 1 so far this season. But the most surprising development of the Suns season so far is that T.J. Warren appears to have become a shooter. He's taking a ton more 3s (3.8 a game after averaging 1.3 attempts per game over his career), and he's making them (47.8 percent after shooting 22.2 percent last year).
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| 27 | -- | 3-5 | |
Not sure what to make of a team that loses a one-possession game to the 76ers one night, beat the Celtics in Boston the next game, then get trounced their next two games by an average of 18 points per game. That's likely going to be the story of the Magic this year. A talented young team that'll win some games but has too strange of a roster to string together any winning streaks. It will be interesting to see if/when youngsters Jonathan Isaac and Mo Bamba will get starter's minutes; they're averaging 23.2 and 20 minutes per game respectively.
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| 28 | 1 | 3-5 | |
Things might get ugly for the Hawks once they start playing good teams. They have so far played the easiest schedule in the NBA. This team could hover around .500 until mid-November, when their schedule gets brutal.
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| 29 | 1 | 3-3 | |
This is the part where I point out that losing games is what the Knicks need to do. Next year's draft isn't a deep one, so securing a top-five pick should be this team's central mission. Then next year, with Porzingis and a free agent or two, they can add a free agent or two. And so, with that in mind: Great start, Knicks!
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| 30 | 4 | 8-0 | |
Firing your head coach six games into the season - five months after that same coach took your team to its fourth straight Finals - is grounds for earning the bottom spot in any reputable power ranking. This is going to be a long, long season in Cleveland. Are we sure that Kevin Love's contract, which was intended to be tradable, is really all that tradable?
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