Every team in the NBA has played between 19 and 23 games, which means the 2024-25 regular season is about 25% complete. (To be exact, 318 of 1,230 games have been played, so it's 25.85% complete.) Storylines will surely shift over the next 20ish games, but the sample sizes are big enough now that it's fair to draw some conclusions.
This means the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers should be considered the cream of the crop in the East until further notice. In our first-quarter grades, they are the only two teams in the conference that earned an 'A.'
We have first-quarter grades for every Eastern Conference team below.
Atlanta Hawks: B-
- Record: 11-11
- The basics: 21st in offense, 20th in defense, 19th in net rating (-2.6)
- Reason for optimism: Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher are a super fun collection of young wings.
- Reason for pessimism: Their level of play on both ends varies too much from night to night.
The Hawks just might be the most confounding team in the league. They won their NBA Cup group, which featured the defending-champion Celtics and league-leading Cavaliers, and have handed those two contenders three of their combined seven losses. On the flip side, they dropped back-to-back games to the 2-17 Wizards earlier this season and are the only team to lose to that lowly bunch.
You don't know what you're going to get from this group on a night-to-night basis, but they are entertaining. Acquiring defensive dynamo Daniels from the Pelicans in the Dejounte Murray trade looks to have been a stroke of genius, Johnson is a leading contender for Most Improved Player and for all the talk pre-and-post draft, Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick, seems like he was a fine selection. Those young wings should give the Hawks a lot of hope for the future, but finding the right mix of players around them could be a challenge with their lack of shooting. -- Jack Maloney
Boston Celtics: A
- Record: 17-4
- The basics: 3rd in offense, 8th in defense, 2nd in net rating (+10.2)
- Reason for optimism: Have you seen them play at any point in the last 14 months?
- Reason for pessimism: The only real concern is whether their frontcourt of Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford can stay healthy.
The defending champions started the season by making 29 3-pointers in an opening night destruction of the New York Knicks, and haven't looked back. They're on pace for 66 wins, which would be two more than they had last season, and boast the second-best net rating in the league at plus-10.2 points per 100 possessions. They've done all of that largely without Porzingis, who missed the first month while recovering from offseason ankle surgery.
Jayson Tatum has come back with a vengeance after his frustrating summer in Paris and Payton Pritchard is running away with the Sixth Man of the Year award. If you thought they shot a lot of 3s last season, they're putting up 50.9 per game so far, which would break the record (45.4 by the 2018 Rockets) by more than five. As a result, they're on pace to smash the 2023 Warriors' record of 1,363 made 3s in a season. Perhaps the most telling stat, though, is that their four losses have come by one, three, four and six points. It's just extremely difficult to beat this team given their depth and versatility on both sides of the ball. -- Jack Maloney
Brooklyn Nets: B
- Record: 9-13
- The basics: 13th in offense, 26th in defense, 22nd in net rating (-4.0)
- Reason for optimism: Everyone loves Jordi Fernandez, who has had the Nets playing hard and with physicality from Day 1. (On opening night, they committed 32 fouls, leading to 46 free throws.)
- Reason for pessimism: It's a long season, so it's fair to wonder whether the shooting and the outwork-everybody ethos are sustainable. (This time last year, Brooklyn was 12-10.)
The Nets have been so competitive that, to some of their fans, it's annoying. This was supposed to be the year that they bottomed out, as it's the first time since they moved to Brooklyn that they entered the season with their own draft pick and without any expectation of making the playoffs. If the front office decides to go full tank mode, it can do so from a position of relative strength: Dennis Schroder, Dorian Finney-Smith and especially Cam Johnson have increased their trade value, and the Nets have outscored opponents by 13.7 points per 100 possessions with the three of them on the court.
Johnson has scored a career-high 18.1 points per game on a career-high 65.6% true shooting, and there's a case for keeping him unless another team is willing to pay a premium. Cam Thomas, currently out with a hamstring injury, has increased his 3-point volume (good!) and increased his turnovers (bad!), but, encouragingly, has not been chucking 20-plus shots every game. Brooklyn isn't always a fun watch -- it is sloooooow, especially when Ben Simmons is off the court, and the fouls can be frustrating -- but there has been much more good than bad here. And if Nic Claxton, who has been managing a back issue, finds some consistency, maybe the defense can improve. -- James Herbert
Charlotte Hornets: C
- Record: 6-15
- The basics: 25th in offense, 17th in defense, 25th in net rating (-4.7)
- Reason for optimism: Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball are a dangerous tandem.
- Reason for pessimism: Ball's injury history is starting to get concerning.
The Hornets have been underwhelming to start the season, in part because of injuries. But when this team has been healthy, primarily when Miller and Ball share the floor, they look like an incredibly potent offensive duo. There was concern about how Miller would fit alongside Ball, but those concerns have fallen to the wayside as Miller is averaging 20 points while Ball was putting up an insane 31.1 points a night before hurting his calf.
But as I said, the Hornets have been wrecked by injuries. Grant Williams has been ruled out for the season with a torn ACL, Miles Bridges has been in and out of the lineup with various ailments, Mark Williams just made his season debut Tuesday night and Ball has just been ruled out for at least two weeks. Ball's injury should be the most concerning because of his status as the franchise star, and due to the fact that he's managed to play in 60-plus games just once in the five years he's been in the league. Most of Ball's injuries have been ankle injuries, forcing him to miss a significant amount of time over his career. -- Jasmyn Wimbish
Chicago Bulls: C
- Record: 9-13
- The basics: 12th in offense, 27th in defense, 23rd in net rating (-4.1)
- Reason for optimism: Rookie Matas Buzelis is starting to peak with more opportunity.
- Reason for pessimism: The defense is really, really bad.
Depending on what cohort of Bulls fans you ask, you could make this grade lower or higher based on what path you expected them to walk down this season. Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic are still there, but -- and this is a short-term positive for the Bulls -- they look great which should boost their trade value ahead of the deadline. The Bulls should be trying to trade both guys sooner rather than later because, if they wait until February, they might have already won too many games to remain in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, or worse, their pick could drop out of the top 10, which would mean they would have to surrender it to San Antonio. Not ideal for a team still in search of "the guy" in a draft class that should have lots of talent near the top.
But draft projections aside, the Bulls have played competitively most nights, and have seen positive improvements from Coby White, who was a Most Improved Player finalist a season ago. We're also starting to see rookie Matas Buzelis get more opportunity, and in turn he's put up some impressive numbers -- averaging 10.4 points and 3.2 rebounds on 51.3% from the field and 40% from 3-point range, including a 20-point outing in his last appearance. If Chicago manages to trade LaVine, it would naturally open up more minutes for the rookie, which should be the plan going forward. -- Jasmyn Wimbish
Cleveland Cavaliers: A
- Record: 19-3
- The basics: 2nd in offense, 9th in defense, 3rd in net rating (+10.1)
- Reason for optimism: Kenny Atkinson has transformed this team in just a quarter of a season.
- Reason for pessimism: Are some of these shooting numbers, primarily 3-point shooting, sustainable?
There were questions about how Atkinson would be much different from J.B. Bickerstaff, and how he would harness the talent of this roster that Bickerstaff just couldn't manage to do. Well, early results suggest that those questions were a bit overstated, as the Cavaliers ripped off a ridiculous 15-game winning streak to start the season. The start highlighted all the ways in which this version of the team is different. Evan Mobley specifically has been more featured on offense, as he's been given the ball to run the offense more frequently. He's averaging 3.1 more drives per game this season and has seen a bump in efficiency in that regard, making those shots at a 52.4% clip.
A big reason why the Cavaliers are winning so many games is 3-point shooting. They lead the league in that category at 40.5%, but in two of their three losses so far they've struggled to produce on offense when the 3s aren't falling. The Hawks, who are responsible for two of Cleveland's three losses, held the Cavaliers to 31.3% and 28.9% from deep last week. -- Jasmyn Wimbish
Detroit Pistons: B
- Record: 9-14
- The basics: 24th in offense, 14th in defense, 18th in net rating (-2.6)
- Reason for optimism: Jaden Ivey is finally getting the freedom to spread his wings.
- Reason for pessimism: Jalen Duren seems to be regressing.
At this point a season ago, the Pistons were in the midst of what ended up becoming a record-breaking 28-game losing streak, so the fact that they've managed to more than quadruple their win total at this point is a massive success. New coach J.B. Bickerstaff has instilled a new culture in Detroit, one that includes a stronger defense, which holds opponents to 45.8% shooting from the field.
Cade Cunningham has been the steady, guiding hand on offense, while Ivey has broken through as the possible second star in the backcourt. Ivey had a standout rookie season, but was hamstrung last year by former coach Monty Williams' confusing lineups and rotations that included -- at times -- playing the now-waived Killian Hayes over Ivey. Ivey is now the Pistons second-leading scorer, averaging 18 points per game and should be amongst the Most Improved Player candidates at season's end. While Ivey is ascending, Duren seems to be fading after a sophomore season where he averaged 13.8 points and 11.6 rebounds. Duren's averaging just 8.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, and while his field goal percentage is at a career-high 70.4%, the 6-foot-10 forward not looking like the defensive anchor many expected him to be coming into the season. The Pistons will need him to find his footing if they want to seriously contend for a play-in spot. -- Jasmyn Wimbish
Indiana Pacers: C-
- Record: 9-13
- The basics: 17th in offense, 25th in defense, 24th in net rating (-4.7)
- Reason for optimism: The Pacers' transition offense won't be mediocre all year, will it?
- Reason for pessimism: Their halfcourt defense can totally remain terrible.
Why has Tyrese Haliburton put up All-Star numbers at home and averaged 13.4 points on 47.2% true shooting on the road? Why, after having a historically good offense last season, are the Pacers no longer consistently playing to that identity? Pascal Siakam is great, but should Indiana be completely collapsing when he's off the floor? Through 22 games, I find this team thoroughly confusing.
Ideally, Andrew Nembhard, who just returned from a knee injury, will relieve some of the pressure on Haliburton without disrupting Bennedict Mathurin's breakout. Ideally, even though the Pacers won't make another NBA Cup run, they will soon find their form and remind people why they were so hard to stop. Aaron Nesmith and Ben Sheppard are weeks away from returning, though, so it'll have to look a bit different. -- James Herbert
Miami Heat: C
- Record: 9-10
- The basics: 20th in offense, 11th in defense, 15th in net rating (0.0)
- Reason for optimism: Bam Adebayo isn't going to be this bad as a scorer all season, right?
- Reason for pessimism: Even if Adebayo rights the ship, do they have enough firepower?
Despite getting waxed in the first round of the playoffs, the Heat made very few changes this offseason because, as president Pat Riley put it, "I wasn't comfortable in just saying, 'OK, I'm going to give up on this team this year because we're a play-in team.'" The hope was that their continuity, toughness and elite coaching could get them back in the mix at the top of the East, especially if they had some better health luck.
It is clear now, though, that the magic of the run to the Finals in 2022 is gone, and this could very well be the last season that this core is together. The Heat are never going to be fun to play -- they have a borderline top-10 defense and have only lost by double digits three times -- but they don't have enough top-tier talent or offensive firepower to compete with the true title contenders. Perhaps the most worrying trend on that front is Adebayo's scoring and efficiency has declined for the third consecutive season. He's averaging just 15.6 points and has a 49.4% true shooting percentage. Of the 165 players averaging at least 25 minutes per game, Adebayo's true shooting percentage ranks 159th. -- Jack Maloney
Milwaukee Bucks: C+
- Record: 11-9
- The basics: 9th in offense, 13th in defense, 12th in net rating (+1.8)
- Reason for optimism: They have Giannis Antetokounmpo.
- Reason for pessimism: This seven-game winning streak has come against some of the worst teams in the league and they've only beaten one team with a winning record all season.
The first few weeks of the season were a disaster, but even then some of the more extreme Bucks doomerism felt like a little much. There were serious discussions about the organization possibly blowing it up and trading Antetokounmpo. That was never going to happen, certainly not at this juncture. Fast forward to now and the Bucks are not only back in the playoff picture, but in striking distance of a top-four seed.
Antetokounmpo, who is leading the league in scoring, looks as good as he ever has, and there's more cohesion between him and Damian Lillard. Khris Middleton appears to finally be on the verge of a return, and Taurean Prince and AJ Green -- the best development story for the team in a few years -- are leading a dynamite 3-point attack. As good as the Bucks have looked during this seven-game winning streak, though, they only have one victory against a team with a winning record all season. There's still more for them to prove. -- Jack Maloney
New York Knicks: B+
- Record:13-8
- The basics: 1st in offense, 21st in defense, 6th in net rating (+6.9)
- Reason for optimism: Precious Achiuwa (soon) and Mitchell Robinson (eventually) should give the defense a boost.
- Reason for pessimism: If playing KAT at the 4 is the path to a decent defense, that defensive boost might be canceled out by a corresponding dip on offense.
Karl-Anthony Towns has never put up better numbers, and he has transformed the Knicks offensively. They are elite on that end now, even though they're no longer dominating the offensive glass. With more space to operate and more mouths to feed, Jalen Brunson has tweaked his game exactly how you'd hope: his scoring is down slightly, his efficiency is up and it's the best playmaking season of his career.
It's notable, though, that New York has fared better with only one of Towns and Brunson on the court than with both. Despite OG Anunoby playing at an All-Defense level individually, the Knicks' collection of switchable wings has not consistently made up for the two defensive weak links in the starting five. For someone who didn't even have to move, Mikal Bridges' adjustment period has been strange: he's been money from midrange and the right corner, but he's made just 22.1% of his above-the-break 3s, his usage rate is lower than Naji Marshall's and, oddly, he's had issues navigating screens. -- James Herbert
Orlando Magic: B+
- Record: 15-8
- Basics: 23rd in offense, 2nd in defense, 9th in net rating (+5.4)
- Reason for optimism: Franz Wagner has stepped up in Paolo Banchero's absence.
- Reason for pessimism: There still isn't enough 3-point shooting depth.
Things looked rough in the early going when Banchero went down with a torn right oblique during the sixth game of the season. The Magic proceeded to lose the next four games, as Orlando struggled mightily without their All-Star forward. But since that losing streak, Orlando has gone 12-2 in large part due to Wagner's play. During that span, Wagner is averaging 26.9 points per game, showing he too can lead this team when needed. While not having Banchero right now isn't ideal, it will aid Wagner's development and confidence knowing the Magic can lean on him, especially in clutch situations, like his game-winning 3-pointer against the Lakers in late November.
But while Wagner, as well as Jalen Suggs, have stepped up in Banchero's absence, one concern that the Magic still need to address is the lack of 3-point shooting depth. They tried to answer that concern this summer by adding Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but the veteran guard is struggling to shoot to begin the season. As a team the Magic rank next-to-last in the league at a 31.3% clip. Perhaps KCP, Wagner, Suggs and Banchero -- when he returns -- will be able to improve from deep, but if not then it's an issue Orlando will certainly need to address on the trade market. -- Jasmyn Wimbish
Philadelphia 76ers: F
- Record: 5-14
- The basics: 28th in offense, 15th in defense, 26th in net rating (-6.4)
- Reason for optimism: Jared McCain has emerged as the best player in this rookie class.
- Reason for pessimism: Why should we believe this team will ever be healthy?
The Sixers have been the most disappointing team in the league by a mile. Much of that is injury-related, but that was always a major concern when they put this group together. The way they've handled the Joel Embiid situation, particularly at the beginning of the season, hasn't done them any favors either. To this point, the new big three of Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey have only played six minutes together.
The only silver lining is that all of the injuries gave McCain, the No. 16 overall pick, a real opportunity and he's run with it. Any foolish concerns about his TikTok activity were quickly swept aside after he put up multiple 30-point games and was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for November. If the Sixers can ever get everyone on the court at the same time, McCain's emergence will give them some real firepower off the bench. -- Jack Maloney
Toronto Raptors: B-
- Record: 7-15
- The basics: 18th in offense, 22nd in defense, 21st in net rating (-3.0)
- Reason for optimism: RJ Barrett has been one of the league's most improved players (when playing at home, at least).
- Reason for pessimism: Toronto hasn't been impressive defensively and it can't expect opponents to continue shooting just 34.5% from deep.
The Raptors have lost eight games by six points or fewer, and their point differential suggests they "should" have two more wins than they do. In a way, their rebuilding season is going perfectly: there have been a bunch of good development stories (Barrett, Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji), but four rookies (Ja'Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamison Battle, Jamal Shead) have had opportunities to play meaningful minutes and they're still very much alive in the race to the bottom.
For now, at least. Scottie Barnes missed 11 games because of an orbital fracture and hasn't been particularly efficient overall, but it looks like he's going to flirt with triple-doubles just about every night. Immanuel Quickley has only played three games, but when he returns from an elbow injury, his pull-up shooting should open up the offense (which has not generated nearly enough 3s). If/when the team is close to fully healthy -- Bruce Brown and Kelly Olynyk have yet to make their season debuts -- Toronto's front office could be in an interesting position. -- James Herbert
Washington Wizards: D
- Record: 2-17
- Basics: 30th in offense, 29th in defense, 30th in net rating (-15.0)
- Reason for optimism: In Bilal Coulibaly's first eight games of the season, he averaged 17 points on 68.2% true shooting (with .575/.387/.828 shooting splits).
- Reason for pessimism: In Coulibaly's next 10 games, he averaged 8.5 points on 43.9% true shooting (with .375/.200/.690 shooting splits).
If we're just evaluating their on-court performance, the Wizards obviously deserve an F. They haven't won a game since the night before Halloween, and, with the exception of their nine-point loss in San Antonio -- the one in which Wemby gave them 50 -- these have all been double-digit defeats. Washington has shot terribly from every area of the court. Its halfcourt defense has been horrendous. It is absolutely hopeless on the glass whenever Jonas Valanciunas is on the bench.
What the franchise is doing now, though, is so much better than what it was doing for the last five years of the Bradley Beal era. I like their young guys! Alex Sarr is more of a project than a typical No. 2 pick, but it's easy to see the upside when he's going coast to coast or moving his feet on the perimeter defensively. In early November, Draymond Green shouted out Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George for the way they competed -- and talked trash -- against the Warriors. Coulibaly couldn't sustain his hot start, but the tools are still there. If I'm going to concern-troll other teams for potentially messing up their chance to Capture The Flagg, I can't be too harsh on the Wizards, who have put themselves in prime position. -- James Herbert
